Wicked Good Guides / Wicked Good Guide to Boston English /

All set

When one is done or ready. "As in when a waitress brings your food and asks 'Now, y'all set?' or when you're ready to leave, 'I'm all set tah go.'
Erica Hruby

Comments

that is wrong because the last thing us "bostonians" say would definately have to be ya'll... I hate it with a passion!!ok i'm done!

amanda on January 26, 2004 09:48 PM.

On trips up to canada to visit friends I often have this problem. "can I get you a beer?" My response is "no thanks, I'm all set." Which often leads them to go and get me one.

danni on March 1, 2004 09:38 PM.

I don't think this one's exclusive to Boston, as I'm a Canadian who's lived in Hamilton, St. John's, Jerusalem, Boston, and a wee cornfield in Iowa, and have been perfectly understood when saying this in each location (as long as the person to whom I was speaking spoke English in the first place).

Liz on April 22, 2004 02:55 PM.

I have to agree with Liz on this one. "All set" is quite prevalent in southwestern Pennsylvania. Now, maybe it originated in Boston, I don't know. It is the 'hub of the universe", or so I've heard...

Dave on May 3, 2004 02:22 PM.

my dads from boston and i did time in summer there-im a cali girl. now, all set is normal in my household, so i cant say wether its "boston" or not, but i get the ya'll thing my family cahnt say you all fah nuthin'. and one of their favorite things to do is have friends over to get me to say words such as quarter and park and car...then they tell me i talk all retahded cause i pronounce all my ahs (r's) and stuff. youall is maybe a better way to write it, its a very round all...anyway, dig the site.

shannon on May 23, 2004 08:48 PM.

I'm from the Mid-west and I travel with the folks alot, and.. is it just me, or don't we all say 'all set'? Well.. I've never been to Boston (completely dying to, though, don't ask me why) so maybe it's more used there.

Megham on June 20, 2004 01:40 AM.

My girlfriend, a third-generation Southie native, uses it when people break up: "Teresa's all set with that guy, he was an ahhshole."

Lissa on July 19, 2004 01:35 PM.

i don't know where the "all set" line stops in the states, but i'm in england right now and when i went out to eat the other day and the waitress came to my table on seeing i'd had a clean plate and asked if i wanted anything i said "no, i'm all set." she walked away for five minutes, came back, looking really confused and asked 1.) if i was american and 2.)did "all set" mean i wanted the bill. i said 1.) yes and 2.) well, yeah, it's kind of implied.

jennifah on August 8, 2004 09:22 PM.

I am a native Cape Coder, but I moved to San Diego and Salt Lake for a brief stint and found the my frequent use of "all set" meant absolutely nothing to my western friends.

Jon on December 3, 2004 03:15 PM.

I grew up in RI, parents from Eastern PA. We used "all set" fluently. I live in Tennessee now and I do get strange looks when saying all set. I agree with Shannon about "y'all". It's definitely different from the southern version, more like "yooall" or "yooaw".

Allen on December 6, 2004 12:26 PM.

"All set" is northeastern/eastern. Y'all is never spoken unless your a transplant. You would hear a person from MA saying "R U all Set?" accompanied by "would you like the check then."

AngelicaR on December 16, 2004 03:14 PM.

I'm a fifth-generation Californian and we use "all set," meaning finished or done, all the time, as well as "set" to mean the same thing.

Emily on January 3, 2005 06:05 PM.

I lived outside Boston for 3 years and of all the different phrases that passed through my ears, "all set" is one I took back home to Chicago with me. I use it all the time! Chicagoans don't really use the phrase - they'll say things like "I'm good," or "I'm fine," or "I'm ok," but I've never had anyone NOT understand "all set" and what it implies. I've even found myself combining the Midwest and New England slang to create "y'all set" and I still don't get any looks. :)

Janel on February 10, 2005 12:23 AM.

I'm originally from Mississippi, and when I moved to Connecticut, "all set" was one of the first things I noticed. People up here say it ALL THE TIME. When I'd first moved here, my mom and I went to a seafood restaurant. The hostess told us it would be about 20 minutes before she could seat us, but we could wait at the bar. So fine, we went and got drinks. No sooner than we'd taken our first sips, the hostess came by and asked, "Are you all set?" I said, "Yes, thanks." Couple of minutes later, she came back and asked again, "Are you all set?" YES, we're fine! Finally she came back a third time, asked the same thing, and FINALLY I realized that what she meant was, "Your table is ready; I can seat you now."

Chris on May 15, 2005 03:55 PM.

I'm originally from Mississippi, and when I moved to Connecticut, "all set" was one of the first language differences I keyed in on. People up here say it ALL THE TIME. When I'd first moved here, my mom and I went to a seafood restaurant. The hostess told us it would be about 20 minutes before she could seat us, but we could wait at the bar. So fine, we went and got drinks. No sooner than we'd taken our first sips, the hostess came by and asked, "Are you all set?" I said, "Yes, thanks." Couple of minutes later, she came back and asked again, "Are you all set?" YES, we're fine! Finally she came back a third time, asked the same thing, and FINALLY I realized that what she meant was, "Your table is ready; I can seat you now."

Chris on May 15, 2005 04:01 PM.

I would hear "you all set?" alot when I lived in San Francisco back 1998-2000. And from people of different walks of life too.

Eduardo on July 4, 2005 07:14 PM.

When I was over in Italy over the summer we went to a local resturant one night. When we were done the waiter asked us if we wanted anything else, i replied "no thanks, we're all set", he then gave us the most puzzled look and asked us to rephrase

Sean on September 9, 2005 10:11 PM.

A note to Amanda, who posted a comment Jan. 26, 2004:

You wouldn't hate it, honey, if you were born sayin' it.

Oh--and the correct spelling is Y'ALL.

With love to all y'all,
A Bama girl

Jillbo on September 16, 2005 10:06 AM.

I'm from Jersey originally and I've always said "all set".

Krissy on October 10, 2005 06:08 PM.

i say all set all the time as in i dont want, i doing fine. My parents would think otherwise (Philly, Denmark natives). So i guess its only boston, but i think ive heard it other places.

Andreas on October 16, 2005 10:23 PM.

It sounds like this isn't purely a Mass thing, but I had no idea that EVERYONE didn't say this. I told my Mom (born in Norwood, now living in Florida) about this site, and we had this conversation:

"So, Mom, there are things on there that I had no idea were strictly New England."
"Like what?"
"Okay, so you're in a restaurant and are ready to leave. The server comes up and asks if you want anything else. What do you say?"
"Um, I think I'd say, "No, thanks, I'm all set.""
"EXACTLY!"

We also didn't know that using "bullshit" to mean "ticked off" was a New England thing (also on this site). It's a good thing this site is here to educate the rest of the world on the correct way to speak. :-)

~ Lisa in Seattle (born & raised in Mansfield)

Lisa in Seattle on October 31, 2005 03:35 PM.

I say "all set" after living in D.C. and hanging out with a bunch of New Englanders. I am now back in California (by the way, no one calls it "Cali" if you're a native) and still say it in exactly the context referenced here and people look at me like, "huh?"

shannon on December 2, 2005 01:41 AM.

I don't know how anyone could live without this indispensible phrase. I say "all set" about five times a day. I don't know how else I could get that idea across.

impropernewtonian on December 3, 2005 02:11 PM.

I am a native of Virginia and like the guy who is living in Tenessee said, we find it strange to use this phrase. I didn't know what it meant as the expression is so vague and moreover, when I first heard it said here in Boston, I thought it sounded so rude from someone I would eventually be paying for my meal. I wanted to ask, "Am I set to do what? What do you mean?"

virginian on December 7, 2005 05:43 PM.

I was working in a call center with a bunch of Chicagoans on my particular row, when I dropped "all set" into one of our conversations. I was immediately clocked as a Bostonian, and was told that Bostonians say that all the time. I had never realized it until that day!

I also had a funny banter with a waitress this evening when I told her that my lemonade was too "taht", I was all set wanted a coffee instead. She gave me one of those looks like when you blow a "silent" whistle at a dog.

Lesley on December 9, 2005 06:14 AM.

Me and my brother and sisters went to california and the waitress asked if we needed anything else and i said no we're all set and she was like so you need anything else, i ended up just telling her i was fine.

LeeAnn on January 3, 2006 03:34 PM.

this is not a native 'boston' term. it's more often than not spoken with serious attitude (had enough and no longer want to deal with it) and has crept into many mouths as a casual idiom (all done/okay).

choqokat on May 5, 2006 10:22 AM.

I asked a co-worker yesterday why everyone here says "all set". Not only because I'm interested in the origination of such phrases, but also because its purpose has had me completely perplexed. We Texans use the simpler words like "fine," "okay," and "ready".

Of course, we DO refer to two or more people as y'all! I get a lot of ribbing whenever I say it. But then, I want everyone else to repeat words with "r".

meesh on May 9, 2006 04:28 PM.

Sorry, but this definition is just flat out wrong. When used in a question, such as by the stupidest and laziest form of waiter or store clerk, "all set?" means absolutely nothing at all. It's like a grunt, but in yes/no format. These stupid people use it to mean (and I'm not kidding):

1. Are you ready to begin?
2. Are you finished?
3. Are you content with everything and want no help?
4. Are you not content and want some help?

There might be even stupider questions to ask, but I can't think of any. Waiters who ask "All set?" should either be retrained or fired. Managers who train their employees to ask this should be shot.

Not only that, but it's a recent stupidity. It's not a charmingly traditional thing. It has only crept into the stupid-people vocabulary around the Boston area in the past 10 years, maybe less. Maybe there were pockets of it earlier, but as a general thing, it's new.

Now, for the stupid people who can't imagine waiters getting along without it, how about, "May I take your order?" or "May I clear any dishes for you?" or "Are you ready for your next course?" or "Would you like anything else?" Or any of the other many, many ways of actually saying what you mean.

The same thing goes for the lazy and stupid people who find their listeners baffled when they use it in an answer. It's not them, chowdahead. It's you.

kent on February 10, 2007 06:55 PM.

Y'all is wonderful if you grow up saying it. I find all sorts of regionalisms charming, even those I don't use. I almost fell over laughing the first time I heard "all set" to mean "I don't need it." My friend was asked if she wanted a beer, and she said "I'm all set." The bartender (in Vermont) looked perplexed. She repeated it loudly. It was kind of rude and awkward. She laughed at my "y'all" and "over yonder" and "I reckon," and I enjoyed her saying "That wicked f##king sucks." Those were interesting and illuminating dialogs.

Vera on March 2, 2007 03:13 PM.

Y'all is wonderful if you grow up saying it. I find all sorts of regionalisms charming, even those I don't use. I almost fell over laughing the first time I heard "all set" to mean "I don't need it." My friend was asked if she wanted a beer, and she said "I'm all set." The bartender (in Vermont) looked perplexed. She repeated it loudly. It was kind of rude and awkward. She laughed at my "y'all" and "over yonder" and "I reckon," and I enjoyed her saying "That wicked f##king sucks." Those were interesting and illuminating dialogs.

Vera on March 2, 2007 03:14 PM.

Hi Y'All, I'm born and bred Brit, and if 'All Set' is Bostonian, it must have come with the settlers - it's a common phrase over here as a question -"Are you all set?" meaning "Are you ready to go?"...

Brian on April 11, 2007 03:27 AM.

what waitress says "y'all" in boston.

matt on May 14, 2007 04:28 PM.

Again, not just a NE thing.

kate on June 3, 2007 11:57 PM.

The reason "all set" is used in Boston is because of the large numbers of Irish and Irish descended people who live there. As a born Dubliner who grew up mostly in the Boston area, I can assure you of this.

Neil P. Howlett on June 29, 2007 03:38 PM.

I've been living in Seattle for 17 years. I regularly hear "all set" meaning "finished," like you're a cashier and tell a customer "You're all set." It never occurred to me that it was a NE thing.

daihard on August 1, 2007 01:38 PM.

I was born in Mass but grew up in Nevada. I have never heard this "all set" phrase until I moved back to MA a month ago, and I just have to say....that phrase SUCKS. It is absolutely confusing and just sounds like the people who are saying it are verbally lazy. My boyfriend and I can't make fun of it enough!

Ashley on November 13, 2007 10:29 PM.

Coming from the UK and now living in the Boston area, the use of "all set" by wait staff around here completely confuses me.

Amongst the uses I have heard are the following:

1. "Are you all set with that?" - meaning are you finished with your meal?
2. Are you all set with the menu? - meaning do you have any questions about the menu?
3. Are you all set? - a. are you ready to order or b. when paying the bill, do you need change??

Graeme on December 3, 2007 12:23 PM.

testing

josh on January 14, 2008 03:18 PM.

Post a comment

NOTE: Due to those durn spammy spammers, your comment won't show up right away - an actual human-type person has to review it first. Sorry!