posted
Every now and then I come across a phrase that I'm not sure means the same thing in England/Australia that it does in the USA.
Today I'm wondering about the phrase: "on hand." Example: "Be sure to make additional copies to have on hand." In the USA it means: keep extras around in case you need 'em.
Does this translate exactly as is? Or is it an odd phrase in England and Australia? If so, do you have a suggestion for a more commonly used phrase that means the same thing?
[This message has been edited by Elan (edited May 16, 2006).]
posted
To have something "on hand" in the UK is, indeed, to have it close by, available at a moment's notice.
"I keep a whole pile of reference books on hand whenever I'm writing; you never know what you're going to need to look up."
"To hand" would be anacceptable alternative; both are pretty common and I don't think there are any particularly subtle class/geographical differences.
"I don't have the information to hand right now, but I can get back to you this afternoon."
posted
sorry... my question was, I know what it means in the USA but does the statement mean the same thing in England and Australia?
I'm editing text for a document that may eventually be distributed abroad. I don't want to have to back-track to remove "Americanisms" soemwhere down the road.
posted
Pantros is right... in the USA we don't ever use the expression "to hand"... the closest variant would be like I had in my example: "to HAVE ON hand." It's not like I've never heard the expression "to hand" or wouldn't understand it. It's just that it's rarely ever used, and not a natural part of our American slang.
Slang will get you if you aren't careful. One of my friendly critics from Ireland reminded me the slang word "mad" doesn't mean "angry" in Great Britain, it means "crazy" or "insane." I watch out for that one now.
This sort of reminds me of when we had foreign exchange students living with us. Both times the kids had been taught English by British speaking teachers. They were both tops in their respective classes in English. They both went through a hideous shock when they arrived in American and realized they couldn't hardly understand what anyone was saying, because they had no clue how to translate American slang. I remember the day Tatiana learned the slang words "pee" and "poop"... she thought it was uproariously hysterical.
[This message has been edited by Elan (edited May 16, 2006).]
posted
No, I've heard both "to hand" and "at hand", but the meanings vary slightly. Saying "at hand" emphasizes the immediate proximity, "to hand" the availability. That is to say, when you use "to hand" you mean that you can utilize it quickly, "at hand" just means that it is in reach.
I may be assuming something, but I think of "to hand" as being more applicable to weapons or other tools. For something that you would distribute rather than use yourself, you'd be more likely to say that it was "on hand" or "at hand".
posted
For my specific purposes, I'm only interested in the meaning: have extra copies of this on hand. This question is regarding handouts in a teaching curriculum.
Weapons would be a big no-no here, as the curriculum is intended for inmates in prison.
Any digression of this discussion into weaponry won't apply to me, so go ahead and muse about it between yourselves. I think I've gotten the answer I needed, unless Hoptoad chimes in to say "on hand" means something different in Australia.
'to hand' is used more often to mean something that has only just become available 'on hand'.
For instance if someone said: 'I have this letter on hand,' that means something you prepared earlier in case of just such an exigency, however if someone said 'I have this letter to hand,' it is more likely to mean that it has just been handed to them. Like an anchorman being handed a newsflash.
TANGENT 02
'I don't have it on hand,' and 'I don't have it to hand' have subtly different meanings. The difference being that 'not having something on hand' is probably a response to an unforeseeable request and 'not having something to hand' is probably a response to a reasonably foreseeable request AND the latter accepts a level of responsibility for the item being unavailable. 'I don't have it and can't get it.'
'I don't have it on hand.' would probably be received with an 'Oh, okay then. Please continue,' and 'I don't have it to hand,' would probably be met with 'Why not?'
All this is my opinion, but I think it's accurate.
CLEAR AS MUD?
PS: Just conferred with my wife, she says: on hand means you have the item with you; to hand means you have access to it. So, there you have it... similar to on my mind as opposed to to my mind I suppose.
[This message has been edited by hoptoad (edited May 17, 2006).]
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CLEAR AS MUD? 
