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Is it correct to ask "Are you in area?" when you are asking if someone is from that city or township?

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  • In American English, that might be properly understood in the context that there is a particular utility, like a telephone carrier or delivery business, and there is service, or service at a lower rate, "in area", and a higher toll or no service "out of area".
    – user31341
    Feb 7, 2014 at 19:47
  • Seems correct to me, I think it might be an elided expression "are you (located) in (the local) area?" May well be from area codes. Feb 7, 2014 at 20:21
  • It's probably acceptable in spoken English as @jlovegren said, but in written English, note that in the comment it's (correctly, in my view) placed within quotation marks, to denote a non-standard, jargonistic use of the phrase. Feb 7, 2014 at 20:21
  • The title of this question seems to be born out of a misapprehension that regional slang is not correct English. Feb 7, 2014 at 23:11
  • @JanusBahsJacquet There's nothing regional about it. I don't think dialect is the correct tag here. Feb 8, 2014 at 18:29

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No, it isn't correct to ask "Are you in area?" when you are asking if someone is from that city or township. "Do you reside nearby?" or "Do you live around here?" would be more grammatical and more appropriate in conversation.

One could say, "Are you in area?" when arranging for freight pick-up, toll calls, food delivery, utility service zones or talking to dispatchers e.g. for home health aides, taxicabs, childcare services. "Are you in area?" is jargon, although I wouldn't go so far as to call it slang. The expression is used in the USA. It is different in meaning than, "Are you in the area?" which is specific to the current area, and more conversational.

An expression similar to "Are you in area?" but somewhat more socially familiar would be, "Are you local?"

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    I have never heard it used except in service calls, neither as slang nor as a localized idiomatic usage. I agree with your answer otherwise. Feb 7, 2014 at 21:28
  • I don't think I've every heard that one (in the USA). If it is used by service people, I'd consider it another example of them inflicting their own internal jargon on clients. The most prominent example is asking someone for their "social".
    – T.E.D.
    Feb 7, 2014 at 21:44
  • @T.E.D. Shudder, asking someone for their "social"! That's awful, reminds me of "dialoging". Dispatchers for taxicabs, transport for children's field trips, the blind and church groups, kennels, durable medical equipment delivery e.g. oxygen, and in-home nursing aides for the very ill use the expression, "in area". Describing it as "inflicting their internal jargon on clients" might not be applicable. Feb 7, 2014 at 22:42
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    Worse yet, they ask, "The first 4 of your so(sh?)?" for "social security number." Feb 8, 2014 at 2:23
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    For some reason, this expression, being in area or out of area, reminds me very much of the similar being in bailiwick or out of bailiwick used in the context of DNS servers. Feb 8, 2014 at 23:47
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I would ask

Are you from this area?

or

Are you from around here?

You could also ask "Are you in the area?", but that would be asking if someone's present location is reasonably close to your own.

"In-area" could be used as a jargon-ish adjective to describe a person who is within some boundary relevant to the speaker. For instance, a pizza-delivery shop might say "Sorry, that address is not in-area" to indicate that they are not willing to deliver a pizza to you because you are too far away. However, I would not use it or expect to hear it in normal conversation.

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