[Idiom] Total Comes <Out> To

[NatashiaA]

[1] "The total comes to $100."
[2] "The total comes out to $100."

Could there be usage errors in one of the sentences?

 

[White Hat]

Both sound correct.

 

[White Hat]

"comes up to" is also possible.

 

[Raymott]

[1] "The total comes to $100."
[2] "The total comes out to $100."

Could there be usage errors in one of the sentences?

I've never heard 2. Maybe somewhere in the world they say it.
1. is correct everywhere.

 

[Amigos4]

I've never heard 2. Maybe somewhere in the world they say it.
1. is correct everywhere.

Raymott, you really must get out of the house more often! :lol:;-) A quick jaunt through Google provided 437,000 results for "the total comes out to..." "The total comes out to" - Google Search

I've used the expression many times (but I prefer to add the word 'be', as in 'the total comes out to be'...) The expression is commonly used in AmE.

I agree with Bennevis: Both sound correct.

 

[5jj]

Raymott, you really must get out of the house more often! :lol:;-) A quick jaunt through Google provided 437,000 results for "the total comes out to..." "The total comes out to" - Google Search

How many times do we have to say that google searches are not a reliable guide to acceptability?

The Corpus of Contemporary American and the Google Books Corpus are rather more reliable places to check this sort of information. The former has 13 citations for 'total comes to' and none (that's right, none) for 'total comes out to'; the figures for the latter are 1,362 for 'comes to' and 50 for 'come out to'.

What did Raymott say?

I've never heard 2. Maybe somewhere in the world they say it. 1. is correct everywhere.

Hmm. Right again, Ray.:up:

 

[Tdol]

Interestingly, Google only gave me 177,000 results for "the total comes out to" against 642,000 without out. 2) is clearly in use, but I can't see that it adds anything- it's a bit like off of.

 

[emsr2d2]

I agree with Tdol - I think the word "out" is redundant even though frequently used.

The total is $100.
The total comes to $100.
It comes to $100.

 

[Raymott]

Raymott, you really must get out of the house more often!

If this bizarre form is not used in Australia, getting out more wouldn't help me much unless by "getting out" you mean travelling to the US. Surely I'd do better to stay in and watch American TV?

 

[White Hat]

I'm really surprised at so much resistance to using "out", when native speakers have been saying so for countless years.

 

[5jj]

I'm really surprised at so much resistance to using "out", when native speakers have been saying so for countless years.

Native speakers have been saying ain't for countless years. It's still not accepted as standard English. From the corpus figures, it appears that quite a small minority of native speakers actually use "out".

 

[Tdol]

I'm really surprised at so much resistance to using "out", when native speakers have been saying so for countless years.

Not universally, it would seem. Australian and British speakers don't use it, or not much- the recommendation by Paymott was to use the universal form rather than one that is not used in all variants, which seems sensible advice to me, and the corpus evidence suggests it may not be that common in AmE. The Google searches also suggest that it is considerably more common without it.

 

[White Hat]

Native speakers have been saying ain't for countless years. It's still not accepted as standard English. From the corpus figures, it appears that quite a small minority of native speakers actually use "out".

Yes, but how can we make people stop using certain words and speech patterns even if, supposedly, such usage is incorrect? It sounds right to them and has become a part of their everyday vocabulary. We can only tell them it's wrong to say that, but will they listen?

 

[5jj]

Yes, but how can we make people stop using certain words and speech patterns even if, supposedly, such usage is incorrect? It sounds right to them and has become a part of their everyday vocabulary. We can only tell them it's wrong to say that, but will they listen?

Nobody has suggested any desire to stop people using anything. Some of us native speakers have simply pointed out that it is not commonly heard in our parts of the English-speaking world.

 

[Raymott]

the recommendation by Paymott ...

Was this a Freudian slip signifying that my cheque is in the mail? :-D

 

[Tdol]

Was this a Freudian slip signifying that my cheque is in the mail? :-D

Sure- it comes out to a total of...