Running Errands

As I write my companion novel to 'Cape Town' I'm putting myself back in the South Africa of the late '80s. To my surprise I find, on going over newly-written pages, that sometimes I slip into a more modern, North American idiom.

Having said that, today I'd like to explore a phrase, in common usage here, that's seldom heard in SA or the UK. This is, running errands, as in: "I need to run some errands today".

So, what are those of us across the pond or down at the tip of Africa more likely to say? Well, the probability is that we'd be more specific. "I'm off to the post office", say, or my daughter in England would inform "I'm just nipping out to the coop" (i.e. the Co-op mini market). Add on the library, or whatever.

This means that the whole concept of going off to run some errands carries a different connotation for me. I'm influenced by the fact that the French verb 'errer' means to wander. Nice thought, hey? Also, think about an errant knight... He's not erring, or maybe he is?? So there's the possibility to err as well.

I think that 'running errands' somehow leaves you delightfully free. I intend to adopt that phrase in future!