Category: Let's talk
Hello everyone,
This may seem more suitable under the language and culture board but I'm talking about English only here albeit variations thereof and not about a comparison between english and another language hence putting it under the "let's talk" board!:))
I am interested in variations in different English countries almost as much as I'm as I'm about other languages which I stress again is not what I'm trying to talk about here.
I was reminded the other day on another board that sometimes from those of you from America, sometimes you say "Dog Guide" as opposed to "Guide Dog", I don't think streching my mental faculties I have ever heard it in reverse in Britain, so wondering what's the subtlety/nuance in saying "Dog Guide" compared to "Guide Dog"?
Be interested in views, and apologies if despite not been about other languages this should go under "Language & Culture"; therefore feel free to move it to there!
Kind regards,
Timber Aka Timothy Bamber (User #7902)!
I am not sure why some people say dog guide rather than guide dog; I am from the states and use the latter.
I'm sure you already know this, but in each English-speaking country, there are a range of English variations and dialects. England and the US have regional dialects, and dialects amongst different ethnicities, socioeconomic classes, and social groups. So this choice of using dog guide over guide dog in either country may be due to any of those factors.
My understanding of guide dog vs dog guide is that dog guide is a generic term for a dog from any school while guide dog is meant to refer to dogs from Guide Dogs for the Blind in California / Oregon. I have a dog from GDB and have encountered a handful of people who get hung up on that, although,nothing like the freak outs I have encountered from Seeing Eye grads who go ballistic if adog from another school is referred to as a seeing eye dog. Don't know if that's the real reason for the distinction, but that's what I heard somewhere. It's all kind of silly if you ask me.
Hello everyone,
Interesting if true that would explain why it is always Guide Dog in the UK where I'm from, because unless I'm corrected their is only one Guide Dog school and that is Guide Dogs For the Blind (UK), and yep aware of the factors mentioned above, I personally when I first heard people say 'Dog Guide' I thought to myself really the reverse a person guiding a dog, well I thought that sound more than strange anyway, but each for there own, even if it is/was used where I am from I wouldn't use that one myself always Guide dog, not that I have one myself one day but that's a sore topic!:((
Kind regards again,
Timber AKA timothy Bamber (user #7902)!
So if this is a topic on words that mean different things:
In the U.S. we say getting pissed, when meaning angry, while you all say it to mean getting plastered or drunk.
Also is it true that a rubber in the UK is an eraser? In the U.S. it's a condom.
I have also heard that people in other English-speaking countries don't say that a person is 'done,' only 'finished'. That 'done' is only for a food being cooked.
Wondering how much of this is true or mythology.
Hello again and responding to LeoGuardian in particular:-
Interestingly at an event I was the other week heard pissed come up RE UK vs US, as you described.
You are right RE rubber, though gosh didn't know your meaning in the US, wonder how that came about?
Not sure RE your last one, I heard it used in first instance as well as the second, but may have been influenced not sure, maybe traditionally that is true, but not certain so won't say one way or the other beyond my own opinion.
I shouldn't extend it to spelling which can cause a subject in itself huh! *SIGH* Anyways!...
Kind regards,
Timber AKA Timothy Bamber User #7902
I think comdoms were actually made of rubber at one time and that's where that came from.
Hello again,
Interestingly as pointed out to me earlier, so the material rubber do you call that a different name in America, huh to give an example which reveals our different spelling as you're find out 'y' in British English and 'i' in US English, but a Rubber Tyre/Tire I mean here? Interesting that spelling thing which I know should be a new topic but something similar went on with the English original place Plymouth and think in America isn't there a Plimouth? Maybe not as JAWS doens't liek it, not sure what I recall there oops! If wrong feel to let me know therefore already feel remembered that one wrongly, can't recall what I heard once re that but that's I know going off my own topic here so forgive me! *HO*/:((
Kind regards, Timber AKA Timothy Bamber (User #7902)!
As a teacher of English this is something I encounter all the time. By far the biggest difference between English as used in England and in America is the fact that American English is "rhotic", meaning that it pronounces the letter "r" wherever it occurs in words. Standard British English is "non-rhotic", in that it drops the "r" in most places except initially or between two vowels. Some dialects in England are rhotic too, most famously West Country, from which American is largely derived. Another major difference is vowel pronunciation, in that American dialects don't tend to have short vowels such as "o" in words like "got", but instead make them longer.
let's see:
1: when I had just arrived in England, I went out with friends to get some food. Not being overly hungry, I just asked for some chips...meaning chips in the american sense. The woman behind the counter proffered, salt and viniger? Yeah, why not, salt and viniger chips are ok by me, but wait...what the hell? Why have I just been given a massive bag of french fries? By the way, the brits do put salt and viniger on their french fries...so this entire episode was highly confusing until someone spelled it out.
2. When heading over to see friends in the US after having been in England for a while, I asked them where the bog was. Apparently, saying that the toylet is a bog is a very british thing to do.
Other words which have caused some embarrassing situations include:
1: pance...in the UK, they're underwear
2: fags...cigarettes, not gay people|!
3: rubbers...erasers, not condems
4: fanny: in the UK, vagina, in the US, ass. Don't mix those up!
enjoy!
Me
Wow. Sort of reminds me of something that's happened to several German ladies of my acquaintance. This situation arose because the German word for Shower is pronounced very similarly to the American word Douch (obviously pronounced Doosh). Wellwhen she wanted to know where the sower was she asked where it was, but used the German word and needles to say walked right into a rather embarrassing situation given the terminology. And then a lady friend told me about how her brother had a friend from England visiting and he asked for a fag, meaning of course a smoke. Needless to say he got a few raised eyebrows.
All very interesting indeed and gave me quite a ood laugh.
I know personally that the bits like to use s instead of z a lot and by the way brits say zed and americans say zee. So some examples are recognise and recognize and Elisabeth and Elizabeth and realization and realization.
Here’s a few words
Aeroplane (brit) and airplane (American).
For brits Mad meaning crazy or mental or nutters and American mad being angry.
Drop it meaning to drop something as in to put it down in the states and to forget it or to leave it alone in bitain.
Snigger in british English, and Snicker in American English.
Chips for fries in great Britain and chips as in potato chips.
Football as in soccer (brit and football as in American football in the states.
Philosopher as in a sorcerer in Britain and philosopher just as a thinker in the united states.
Torch as in flashlight, I think or I gathered in Britain and torch as in like firery ones?
Mental as in crazy in british English and mental as in disabled in the states.
And there are words that americans do not use and have no clue what they are.
Like bugger, rubbish, nutter, I don’t think people in the states say drop me a line. And hmmmmm. Can’t think of any more right now.
I have heard the Brits have a dessert called "Spotted Dick". Sorry, but I'm a average raised American, so, um, well sounds like you could catch that in a third-world country somewhere.
LOL I know. That's why Tim Alan dropped his last name for show business.
Hello Everyone again,
Just comment on one or two above, the s versus z, well this is true, though think I've read technically 'ise' at end of words is a variation on 'ize' and till just a few decades ago in Britain 'ize' was used, like is still the case in America. Some British people still use 'ize' and have met people who thought it was the other way round and know wrong, that is I mean the first way round. I do use the 'ise' though interesting I till my early teens did use 'ize', taking the 's' versus 'z' into the suffix 'ise'/'ize' as you will have noticed. Finally on this, there are a few words that you cannot use 'z' in America, so have to use the 's', can't recall which ones at the moment, but a very small number I recall!
RE the word philosopher, I don't think that is quite right, maybe in the past philosopher meant sourcerer more and maybe Harry Potter brought this idea back as it were, but I know of philopsopher to mean a 'thinker' as well and sure it used in Britain too and not just me therefore!
Anyways I 'll leave it there, decided before not to comment it on earlier posts, apparently started something on this (I meant earlier posts since I last posted), they have come in small proverbial 'waves' the interest in this thread, probably by far my most popular topic too date, a year ago thought only premiums could post new topics silly me,and one day I might look at becoming one of those, and Silly is a word that has changed a lot but think/unless hear otherwise is that shared, oh not good at deffinitions but silly meaning a 'foolish' person or daft, sorry should be finishing as I write this so even if wrong I know what it means? Think it had a religious meaning originally in the Middle ages, and then, something quite opposite to that, and then its current meaning, and if you have heard of the Isle of Scilly not that I've been there myself, but no connection that is mysterious I'll start a topic on place names one day but not now, and yes "Spotted Dick" goes back to the 19th century, and is a sponge pudding (oh you probably say desert) with rainsins in it it is, not keen on raisins, so not that keen myself plus didn't know Snigger vs snicker, but is that ewhere the chocolate bar gets its name from asuming the name of the chocolate bar is the same in America also!:((/*SIGH(*
Kind regards,
Timber AKA Timothy Bamber User #7902
Hmmm, so is spotted dick similar to bread pudding?
Oh wow. I don't think I could eat something called spotted dick. I'm sure it's good and all, but yeah...lol. Bangers and mash is another one I don't get, I know what it is, but the name alone sounds unappetizing.
Hello everyone again,
Had to check my facts after going past this board yesterday again!
Different between Spotted Dick and well I'm not sure what your bread pudding is but I'll describe in a moment another UK pudding "Bread And Butter Pudding"!
In simple terms if I remember correctly! *SMILE*
Spotted ick Dick is a sponge filled with raisins and sultanas and the like, of course both dried grapes in case that isn't clear, so presumably currents too. That pudding was origianlly from a pub somewhere in England I understand but have to check further.
In the north of england, a Bread and Butter pudding is one, that has a layer of bread, often can be in my experience left over French Croisants (think misspelled that) or some other bread like that, not sure how much of these you have in America, but another is something called Brioche, but guess any bread would do, well maybe not all but you know some left over bread. Then layered in between in some butter, hence the name. Then although there will be raisins and the like in it, you pour over custard over the bread and butter layers.
Oh still think I've got the description a bit muddled and being from the UK despite the fact I'm a night owl, not best help due to the late hour!:((
Finally, "bangers and mash" think is from the East end of London, and for others benefit is yep sausage and mash, have heard why they got that name, not that well I'm only nearly 30 (next year) but think it has a World War 2 connection the name has, but might be wrong here so again further research would have to be carried out!
Anyways turned into a 'food' board! LOL/:):)
Kind regards,
Timber AKA Timothy Bamber User #7902
Life is full of adventures: and adventures make up life!...:):)/*SMILE*
Our bread pudding is sort of a custard made with bread (not sure what kind), and it usually has raisins and sometimes other fruits in it, such as apple. I hope that's a good description. Some people put whipped cream, caramel sauce and the like on it, but I think those things ruin this otherwise delicious dessert.
Why to Americans put an s at the end of 'anyway', and say, anyways? A lot of these habits seem to be done without thinking, another similar trait for English folk is the term 'round', when they actually mean 'around'.
But what I intended pointing out here is the reason fot eh term 'dog guide', although I too failed to understnad it until explained to me on another list some time ago.
In the states, as I understand it, a lot of schools training blind folk in the use of a dog for mobility purposes have different brand names, and dog guide is one of them. Other examples are: Seeing Eye, Guiding Eyes, Leader Dogs and Pilot Dogs.
Internationally, guide dog is the accepted terminology, but the aforementioned brand names are copyrighted by guide dog training centres, or schools as they're known in America, for purposes of distinction.
Apologies for the typos there, I didn't proofread my last post before sending, despite the invitation, but hope you understood its main point.
The one that really gets me is the Brits calling a doctor's office a surgery. Oh, and car park instead of parking lot. Car park sounds like a place for auto racing.
anyways is grammatically incorrect in either. it's anyway.
and, that reminds me. grammer and grammar.
and couch and lounge
oh, I love the word daft too hahah!
hmmmm don't know yeah, the candy is called snickers, so when someone says snickering over here I asssociate it more with candy then with laughter. Yeah, I am weird like that snicker is now a strange word for laughing for me, when I say it I usually say sniggering myself. I don't really use the american version, but then again, I don't anyway, I use mum a lot more then mum. and, I've been starting to call chips crisps or at least in my head.