I'm not usually a nit-picker but this is bugging the hell out of me. by ebonezer

TALK STORY

I'm not usually a nit-picker but this is bugging the hell out of me.

POSTED BY: EBONEZER
UPDATED: Monday, April 18, 2005 13:22
SHORT URL:
VIEWED: 29899
PAGE 2 of 3

Thursday, May 13, 2004 6:36 PM

Not to be confused with 'chippie' apparently. I used this term in front of my american grandma when I was referring to a bad of crisps. She was mightily offended LOL.

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Thursday, May 13, 2004 8:21 PM

MAKEROFPATHS

Gunhand:

"We got even with him though when we told him on no uncertain terms that you do not put mayo on fries. "

Ketchup? Bahhh! Doesn't the 17th commandment say: Thou shalt dress thine fries in bounteous mayo?

RKLenseth:

"It appears they spell the plural of tomato tomatos witout an e while we Americans spell it tomatoes. I even looked it up in my Webster dictionary and it was spelt tomatoes but one of the English people looked it up in their Oxford dictionary and it was spelt tomatos. "

My COD (Canadian Oxford Dictionary*) shows -es.

Iamjacksusername:

"I learned British English spelling in school, but I usually much prefer the USA spelling: color to colour, realize/realise, center/centre (but I don't like the USA "meter" as distance), dialog/dialogue, archeology/archaeology... USA punctuation is illogical tho."

This'll throw you Yankeedudes for a loop: manoeuvre, manoeuvring, manoeuvred. (cf source above*)

In Canada, we blend U.K. and U.S. spellings, although U.K. spellings tend to dominate. We also speak Franglais sometimes (e.g., quel drag) and clean the mukluks (Indian for thongs/flipflops -- okay, not really but they are boots). BTW, meter is a gauge; metre is a length. But we never go so far as to write: archaeology or aesthetics.

BTW, this is a fascinating thread. Thanks, Ebonezer.

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Thursday, May 13, 2004 9:10 PM

ZORIAH

Heeee we call thongs/flipflops/mukluks - jandals.

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Thursday, May 13, 2004 9:23 PM

RUXTON

GUNHAND, pull yer socks up and tell EBONEZER to keep his pecker up. He'll catch on eventually.

[The first of the two phrases above was sorta dirty but the other one was not. My ex-girlfriend's mother, who was British, often told her son to keep his pecker up. And she could have said the same thing to her daughter.]

Oh, and it's vinegar that goes on fries...which are called CHIPS, of course; and one drives screws with a turnscrew, not a screw driver.

SAMURAIX47, I was about to say you got one wrong. American spelling is "specialty." Brits spell it "speciality." But my Merriam Webster's Collegiate gives both spellings, with no national preference. Each is pronounced as spelled.

Going on about accents, do y'all know what nationality James Marsters is? Here's a clue: His trying to sound like a Brit speaking American when he was with Xander once on Buffy was brilliant. He really did sound like a Brit trying to speak American.*

It's time to throw another faggot on the fire.

..........Ruxton

*Marsters is, of course, American.

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Thursday, May 13, 2004 10:25 PM

WREN

Quote:
Originally posted by Ruxton:
GUNHAND, pull yer socks up and tell EBONEZER to keep his pecker up. He'll catch on eventually.

Erm, you might want to start running for the hills now cos Ebo does not have a pecker (ie she is of the female gender) and she tends to get a mite cranky when people refer to her as a male.

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Friday, May 14, 2004 7:34 AM

LIZWHIZ

Um, in Britain, I don't think that "pecker" refers to a certain piece of the male anatomy. I think it's more like "keep your chin up".

And this discussion is fascinating. I majored in Linguistics at University, and this is taking me right back.

Sigh.

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Friday, May 14, 2004 7:39 AM

GUNHAND

Only time I ever heard,"Pull yer socks up." was in the movie Snatch. And no it isn't a porno for those of you with smutty minds.

As for the dipping the fries in the chocolate shake, one of my best friends (the BBQ-Meister) is from Alabama and I picked up the habbit from him. Although he was stationed at El Centro and Pendleton so he may have picked it up in California to begin with. I'll have to ask him.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
"Oh hey, I got an idea. Instead of us hanging
around playing art critic till I get pinched by
the Man, how's about we move away from this
eerie-ass piece of work and get on with our
increasingly eerie-ass day, how's that?"

My eerie-ass website:
http://gunhandsfirefly.homestead.com/Index.html

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Friday, May 14, 2004 8:18 AM

SAMURAIX47

Quote:
Originally posted by LizWhiz:
Um, in Britain, I don't think that "pecker" refers to a certain piece of the male anatomy. I think it's more like "keep your chin up".

And this discussion is fascinating. I majored in Linguistics at University, and this is taking me right back.

Sigh.

Pecker comes from the word peck which the dictionary says is what you do with a beak, like chickens pecking at their food... so yes, that's correct "keep your pecker/chin up"

Jaymes

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Friday, May 14, 2004 8:21 AM

SAMURAIX47

Quote:
Originally posted by Ruxton:
Going on about accents, do y'all know what nationality James Marsters is? Here's a clue: His trying to sound like a Brit speaking American when he was with Xander once on Buffy was brilliant. He really did sound like a Brit trying to speak American.*

It's time to throw another faggot on the fire.

..........Ruxton

Marsters is a California boy. When I saw him in Boston several years ago he said he learn a lot of his accent from following Anthony Head (Giles) around who doesn't speak at all like Giles.

Jaymes

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Monday, May 17, 2004 10:33 AM

AKS

Re: the Swedish/Norwegian discussion.

I'm Swedish, so perhaps I can bring some insight into this.

Everyone's been pretty much right this far. Swedish and Norwegian are different languages. However, not very long ago (we're talking hundreds of years of course) they were indeed as closely "related" as dialects. I have almost no trouble whatsoever understanding spoken Norwegian (unless they're speaking a very strange dialect). However, and this is perhaps interesting for people who're not from Scandinavia, when it comes to *reading*... give me a novel in Danish any day!! Yep, it's easier to read Danish, but I don't understand a word of what they're saying. Odd, perhaps.

There are studies done about this from time to time and the resluts show that Norwegians understand spoken Swedish and Danish very well. Most Danes don't understand spoken Swedish, though, and most Swedes don't understand spoken Danish. However, Danes understand spoken Norwegian rather well, as do Swedes.

The explanation for this is (apparently) that Danes have pretty much the same words for things as Norwegians do and we Swedes have pretty much the same pronunciation (to a certain degree).

I'm betting everyone is *more* confused now. :D

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Monday, May 17, 2004 10:47 AM

GUNHAND

Hej AKS, thanks for the clarification.

And yeah "Hej" is about the extent of my Swedish knowledge. That pretty much is how it was explained to me, but I did a very bad job of explaining it the first time it came around.

So to everyone else, what AKS said.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
"Oh hey, I got an idea. Instead of us hanging
around playing art critic till I get pinched by
the Man, how's about we move away from this
eerie-ass piece of work and get on with our
increasingly eerie-ass day, how's that?"

My eerie-ass website:
http://gunhandsfirefly.homestead.com/Index.html

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Monday, May 17, 2004 12:34 PM

DARKJESTER

One more Anglo - American difference - tyre vs. tire (car wheels)
And my college room-mate spent a year with his family in (I believe) Essex. His younger brother insisted on being called Randall that year, because to be "randy" pretty well anywhere in the UK means you are sexually excited - not a nickname an 12-year-old wants to have!

MAL "You only gotta scare him."
JAYNE "Pain is scary..."

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Monday, May 17, 2004 2:10 PM

EBONEZER

Quote:

Who puts mayo on fries anyways? That is disgusting. Ketchup only. .

You don't put mayo OR katchup on fries.

You put mustard.

yummy.

-----------------------------------
We do the hard thespian, so you don't have to.

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Monday, May 17, 2004 2:24 PM

EBONEZER

Quote:
Originally posted by Wren:
Quote:
Originally posted by Ruxton:
GUNHAND, pull yer socks up and tell EBONEZER to keep his pecker up. He'll catch on eventually.

Erm, you might want to start running for the hills now cos Ebo does not have a pecker (ie she is of the female gender) and she tends to get a mite cranky when people refer to her as a male.

Wern, you're my hero you know that?

-----------------------------------
We do the hard thespian, so you don't have to.

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Monday, May 17, 2004 3:35 PM

RUXTON

To all:
"Keep your pecker up" means Keep a stiff upper lip. As I noted, my friend's mother could have said the same thing to her daughter.

I see no one has touched on "pull your socks up."

I won't either, even tho I put it in here.

.......Ruxton

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Tuesday, May 18, 2004 8:28 AM

AKS

Hej gunhand!

Well, I'm just glad I didn't confuse everyone!

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Wednesday, May 19, 2004 7:22 AM

ANNIGERRIA

Many, many years ago when I was a secretary, we had a gent from Australia working in the plant. He came to me one day and asked me for some rubbers. You can imagine my reaction! I was sure I had misunderstood him, so I asked him what he was going to do with them. "Put them on the end of my pencil so I can rub out mistakes." I gently explained that we call those erasers and what the other word meant to Americans.

**************************************************
Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving and revolving at 900 miles an hour... The Galaxy Song, Meaning of Life, Monty Python
**************************************************

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Wednesday, May 19, 2004 7:52 AM

PURPLEBELLY

Quote:
Originally posted by AKS:
Re: the Swedish/Norwegian discussion.

I'm Swedish, so perhaps I can bring some insight into this.

:D

Hej, AKS

I'm sorry this is OT, but it's been bugging me since someone told me that Danish has no puns. I didn't believe it, but I do believe in the driness of Scandinavian humour. So, my question, is there a difference in the humour of these differently related/differentiated tongues?

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Monday, June 14, 2004 11:04 AM

JASONZZZ

Quote:
Originally posted by ebonezer:
Every sense i joined this site however long agao i joined it, i've been looking at a quote that says something like "I poured my heart and soul into this show. I beleved in it with every fibre of my being."

.....

do you mean "ever since" ?

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Tuesday, June 15, 2004 7:22 AM

SKYDANCE

Wow. Jason dredged up quite an interesting thread.

"Who puts mayo on fries anyways?"

Umm ... I do. *grin* And years after I started doing it, someone told me they do it in Europe. What a surprise!

I can't believe no one commented on the spelling of "beleve" in the original quote, though. That's the word that always gets me.

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Wednesday, June 30, 2004 3:50 PM

LAILING

I'm from the Midwest, and I never even HEARD of MAYO on fries till I read this thread. And as for dipping in chocolate shakes - the same + BLEH!!
Here it's usually ketchup, occasionally mustard, and sometimes chili and cheese (oohh, chili-cheese fries are great!)
Soda is called pop, by the way (maybe after Redpop from nearby Faygo Bottling Company?)
Windsor (Ontario, Canada) is jokingly referred to as a southern suburb of Detroit (Michigan, US).
While in California years ago, I was in a diner and asked for white milk (a common term here in the midwest). The waitress looked at me funny and asked, "What other kind is there?" I pointed at the menu and replied, "Chocolate milk." She got it, but still thought it strange that I'd specifically asked for white milk rather than just milk and only distinguishing if I wanted chocolate instead of "regular".
And EVERYBODY knows Jaguar is pronounced JAG-war!!!! Not Jag-YOO-ar (SHUDDER!!)

"They've gone to *plaid*!"

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Saturday, July 10, 2004 2:42 PM

HOWDYROCKERBABY1

Quote:
Originally posted by SigmaNunki:

My wife (who is Germany)

Your wife is germany? THE Germany?!?! Can i get her autograph(s)

Quote:

She is still trying to figure out exactly what the difference is, but, there definitely is one.

The difference is really evident in how we say OUT and ABOUT which is a common joke...that Canadians say OOT and ABOOT and EH? all the time. but from watching Canadian television, i realized that they don't pronounce it OOT and ABOOT but its not the same way we say it.... very hard to discribe.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
MAL: This is my scrap of nowhere. You go on and find your own.
SAFFRON: You can't just leave me here, on this
lifeless piece of crap moon...
MAL: Sure I can.
SAFFRON: I'll die.
MAL: Well, as a courtesy, you might start
getting busy on that, cause all this chatter ain't doin' me any kindness.

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Saturday, July 10, 2004 3:00 PM

HOWDYROCKERBABY1

Quote:
Originally posted by ebonezer:
Quote:

Who puts mayo on fries anyways? That is disgusting. Ketchup only. .

You don't put mayo OR katchup on fries.

You put mustard.

yummy.

-----------------------------------
We do the hard thespian, so you don't have to.

no no no. you've got it all wrong. you put RANCH dressing on them.

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Tuesday, July 13, 2004 8:31 AM

EGGBERT315

Quote:
Originally posted by howdyrockerbaby1:
Quote:
Originally posted by ebonezer:
Quote:

Who puts mayo on fries anyways? That is disgusting. Ketchup only. .

You don't put mayo OR katchup on fries.

You put mustard.

yummy.

-----------------------------------
We do the hard thespian, so you don't have to.

no no no. you've got it all wrong. you put RANCH dressing on them.

Not a one of you has named the proper topping/dip for [[French | Freedom] Fries] | Chips]. So sad.

You dip them in creamy horseradish sauce.

Amit

Michelangelo: "Are they too Jewish? I made Judas the most Jewish."

Pope: "It's not that. It's that there are TWENTY EIGHT OF THEM!"

Michelangelo: "Too many?"

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Tuesday, July 13, 2004 8:56 AM

RIVERGIRL

Quote:
Originally posted by eggbert315:
Quote:
Originally posted by howdyrockerbaby1:
Quote:
Originally posted by ebonezer:
Quote:

Who puts mayo on fries anyways? That is disgusting. Ketchup only. .

You don't put mayo OR katchup on fries.

You put mustard.

noooooooooo

salt and vinegar

]

Also, I can kill you with my brain.

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Tuesday, July 13, 2004 9:15 AM

ZELDA

The correct dipping substance for fries is a mixture of mayo & mustard.

And we've forgotten my favorite american/english discrepancy, which is gray/grey. I much prefer the British version myself.

And isn't there a British variation on dollar? My fiance's uncle was educated in a British-based system & worked in London for years, and I seem to remember a story about his (American-raised) children mocking him mercilessly for the way he spells when he's writing checks.

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Tuesday, July 13, 2004 9:29 AM

LIZ

I'm a fan of cheese fries, but there are also gravy fries up here in Northern Vt. Gravy fries are quite popular, in fact, Nectar's (of the Phish album fame) have built quite a reputation on it. (no, i don't want to talk about Phish.)

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Tuesday, July 13, 2004 9:29 AM

JUSTANOTHERMUDDER

I dip my fries in tartar sauce.
Yummy.

Just thought y'all wanted to know. ;)

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Wednesday, July 14, 2004 8:40 AM

SIGMANUNKI

Quote:
Originally posted by howdyrockerbaby1:
The difference is really evident in how we say OUT and ABOUT which is a common joke...that Canadians say OOT and ABOOT and EH?

Very true. For something fun to do, watch Strange Brew ( http://www.geocities.com/mckenziebrothers/strange.html) and then try not to say 'eh' after just about every sentence you say.

Quote:
Originally posted by howdyrockerbaby1:
... very hard to discribe.

Very true. There is a definite difference that I can't really qualify. I'll ask the wife and see if she has any updated info on this.

But, with her being Germany, I hope that it's not a long distance call even though we're in the same room

----
"Canada being mad at you is like Mr. Rogers throwing a brick through your window." -Jon Stewart, The Daily Show

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Thursday, July 15, 2004 11:41 PM

OUTSIDER

Quote:
And pronounciation is really what sets us apart.

Amer.
speciality --> spe shul tee

Brit.
speciality --> spe see al i tee

Actually (not to nitpick or anything), but SPECIALITY is a seperate word to SPECIALTY - at least here in the UK.

They mean essentially the same thing, but my dictionary does list both words.

I have to admit that we Brits can get a bit anal about out language sometimes, but you have to realise (or realize, if you prefer) that it's one of the few things we still have left that dominates the globe. We're kind of proud of it.

I have to stop myslef getting p***ed off with American spellings of certain words sometimes, but I'm not convinced you've reached the stage where you can now rename it "the American language". At best it's the American dialect. The differences between UK English and US English (thanks ever so much for that, Microsoft) are not really significantly different than dialect differences even within parts of the UK. As mentioned elsewhere in this thread, there are also different dialects within the US, so does that mean you name the language something else in one state than you do another?

I just got a bit anal there, didn't I?

And no, I did not say "I just got a bit of anal". Sickos.

----
"Today we were kidnapped by hill folk, never to be seen again. It was the best day ever."

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Friday, July 16, 2004 3:16 AM

NERVOUSPETE

Love this thread!

Here's a bit in 'Good Omens' by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, a tremendously funny book about how were all going to die when the three horsemen and horsewoman get together...

American airbase guard in England and Newton Pulsifier, trainee witch-hunter with a pressing need for bundles of sticks not uncommon in his profession.

'Finally the guard's probing intellect found a word he recognized.
"What's this here," he said suspiciously, "about us got to give you faggots?"
"Oh, we have to have them," said Newt. "We burn them."
"Say what?"
"We burn them."
The guard's face broadened into a grin. And they'd told him England was soft. "Right on!" he said.
Something pressed into the small of his back.
"Drop your gun," said Anathema, behind him, "or I shall regret what I have to do next."
Well, it's true, she thought as she saw the man stiffen in terror. If he doesn't drop the gun he'll find out this is a stick, and I shall really regret being shot.'

And to reassure you all, that's pretty much the only stupid hick American character Neil Gaiman's ever penned - read the glorious 'Sandman' comic book series and his 'American Gods' novel to find an almost stunning array of wonderful characters. And he lives in Minnesota now, too. (All hail 'The Flash Girls'! but possibly I am now rambling)

And I like mayo on chips. Not as much as a bit of english or french wholegrain mustard on the side. And yes, garlic mayo is heavenly. I used to like ketchup but went off it. Oh! And don't forget the wonders of 'Brown sauce'. And the proper condiment layout for a hamburger is...

BAP
MAYO
LETTACE/SALAD
CHEESE
BURGER
MUSTARD/KETCHUP
BAP

"If you can keep your head whilst others... eurgh! Ack! I've spilt my ink! Ugh! Ink on my trousers! Agh! Ink on my shirt! My only hope! The window! Aieeeeee!" (Falls to death)
- Jonathan Nash

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Friday, July 16, 2004 3:55 AM

WHISPERING

Quote:
Originally posted by LaiLing:
I'm from the Midwest, and I never even HEARD of MAYO on fries till I read this thread.

Here in finland its used more then ketchup. I never go to McDonalds coz they dont have mayo. Also hamburgers here have usually 2 diffrent mayo's in it, it would be "dry" and tasteless without it.

As for the american english thingy, here in schools they teach both. The only british english word that i refuse to use is:
Flat / Block of flats, i use Apartment / Apartment building. Other then that, i dont know what "english" i speak.

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Friday, July 16, 2004 4:27 AM

RHYMEPHILE

This is such a cool thread...

Here in New Jersey I like mayo on my fries, but others think that's weird. We are also the home to pork roll and something called Scrapple, which is a meat product you eat for breakfast, and contains, as my dad says, "Everything but the oink" of the pig. I love it.

When I went to college in North Carolina, I asked for a hot dog, and got it back with some kind of topping on it. No, not ketchup, mustard, or the usual hot dog toppings, but *coleslaw*. I do *not* want "slaw" on my dog, as the southerners say. I do like mustard and relish however.

They always made fun of me for the way I said "quarter" and "dog" and "nausea." Actually, for northern Jersey the way they speak on the Sopranos is pretty accurate. But we all don't speak like that. It's not New Joisy!

When I mentioned to a clerk that I was from NJ while on vacation on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, he immediately said, "You ever see the Sopranos? Ever been to Asbury Park? Do you like Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi?"

As for the UK/Canuck/US thing, I had a friend once from Alberta who was intrigued every time I said "Close the light off." Apparently it's odd or something. And she used to say intestine to rhyme with the word nine. That I always found odd.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It's because they're stupid, that's why! That's why everybody does everything!"

~~ Homer Simpson

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Friday, July 16, 2004 6:58 PM

THATWEIRDGIRL

not a mayo person myslef, i do the ketchup or cocktail suace thing and vinegar if I can get it. Chocolate shakes and fries were huge growing up but i couldn't stomach them. I like room temp or hot pop. No ice! I have two spelling petpeeves: through/thru and grey/gray.

thru just makes sense. It's not hard to remember and there are no silent letters. Those confuse me. But your reading a post by a girl that once got her name wrong on a spelling test.

This thread is very izzard. Cake or death? I have a flag. Scooby doo.

www.thatweirdgirl.com

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Friday, July 16, 2004 8:01 PM

ZELDA

It's true! It's true! Americans tend to think of British generally as aristocratic British - too many adaptations of Jane Austin, perhaps? But many, many of the British dialects are nearly undecipherable to the American ear. I can't remember which movie it was a couple of years ago (something with "Joe" in the title?), but I think the accents were Glaswegian, and they actually subtitled it in the States because American audiences generally couldn't understand a thing.

To take another example from cinema, a lot of people have trouble for the first section of "Trainspotting," until their ear adjusts, and never end up understanding a word Begby says. (Probably just murdered the spelling of that name.) In college I knew a Japanese girl who was trying to read the book, and she had flawless American English, accent and all, really, really bright girl, and she was just beating her head against the thing because apparently the first chapter(s) are written phonetically in dialect, and she was spending something like 20 minutes a page trying to figure out what anything meant!

Linguistically no, I don't think we would qualify as more than a dialect. Culturally, however, they're worlds apart - as is to be expected. It actually always shocks me how surprised Americans get that Canada has its own culture, but I think that's because, as a culture, we tend to ignore Canada, mainly because it doesn't cause us too many problems. And also, I've thought about it a lot, because as a Minnesotan who moved to Chicago, a lot of idiots around here assume that Minnesota & Canada are culturally similar, because theyre both cold in the winter.

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Friday, July 16, 2004 8:06 PM

ZELDA

And speaking of dialects, thatweirdgirl just outed herself as a midwesterner with her reference to "pop."

Man, in college nothing bugged me more than the endless, ongoing debate of "pop" vs. "soda," and always the smart aleck to throw in "well in the south everything's 'coke'." We have differences, people; discuss them because they're interesting (as we are doing here), celebrate or accept them, but stop trying to be right!

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Friday, July 16, 2004 9:50 PM

OPTIMUS1998

LOVING this thread!

Having lived my whole life in Ohio, for me the BEST frech fry/ chip "topping" as it were would be dipping it in a frosted malt(aka frosty), if you're not familiar with these,and live in the us, drive to your nearest wendy's and order one.
if you are from outside the US, it's texture is somewhere between ice cream, and a milkshake, flavored with chocolate malt (like ovaltine)
otherwise, just good ol' ketchup for me.
and ocasionally McDonalds sweet and sour sauce..

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Saturday, July 17, 2004 6:53 AM

THATWEIRDGIRL

speaking of pop vs soda...
I think of a soda fountain when I think of a soda. somthing I need a pesonto mix with soda water. i think of pop as a prepackaged drink that pops or fizzes when opened. Silly me. Why am I sitting here on Saturday arguing with myself about pop and soda. Why?

Ding, ding, ding, ding, I am mostly a midwesterner.

www.thatweirdgirl.com

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Saturday, July 17, 2004 9:32 AM

DARKJESTER

Edit - sorry, my first double-post!

MAL "You only gotta scare him."
JAYNE "Pain is scary..."

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Saturday, July 17, 2004 9:32 AM

DARKJESTER

My father once took our family to visit a friend's family in Kansas in '68 or '69. It was my first experience with a different culture (we were from Illinois). I was only 5 or so, but I STILL remember one of their children asking if we wanted a "sodee pop" and I wasn't sure what she meant!

MAL "You only gotta scare him."
JAYNE "Pain is scary..."

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Saturday, July 17, 2004 10:55 AM

ANKHAGOGO

Quote:
Originally posted by howdyrockerbaby1:
Quote:
Originally posted by SigmaNunki:
The difference is really evident in how we say OUT and ABOUT which is a common joke...that Canadians say OOT and ABOOT and EH?

Here's what I found funny: I figured that the American impression of Canadians saying "eh" and Aussies saying stuff like "mate" was totally exaggerated -- until I met a bunch of Canadians and Australians. These particular people said those things ALL the time!

Just by the by -- We always called flip-flops "thongs" when I was little, here in Oklahoma. Not just my family,but everyone I knew.

And actually,I did have one friend, in high school, who put mayo on her fries.

"You two are the two who are the two! I'm the other one!"

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Saturday, July 17, 2004 10:59 AM

ANKHAGOGO

Quote:
Originally posted by Zelda:
To take another example from cinema, a lot of people have trouble for the first section of "Trainspotting," until their ear adjusts, and never end up understanding a word Begby says. (Probably just murdered the spelling of that name.) In college I knew a Japanese girl who was trying to read the book, and she had flawless American English, accent and all, really, really bright girl, and she was just beating her head against the thing because apparently the first chapter(s) are written phonetically in dialect, and she was spending something like 20 minutes a page trying to figure out what anything meant!

Yeah, it's not just the first chapter. It's most of the book, and most of Irvine Welsh's books do tend to have Scottish accents phonetically spelled. It IS massively headachey until you get the hang of it.
But some of my favourite books when I was younger were Gone With the Wind, Huck Finn, and Tom Sawyer, and they all have phonetical spellings, so I think my brain is kind of used to it.Also, I'm not a native Japanese speaker. :)

"You two are the two who are the two! I'm the other one!"

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Saturday, July 17, 2004 11:33 AM

SOUPCATCHER

I saw this map of the US a while back that was absolutely fascinating. It breaks down the usage of the terms pop, soda, coke, etc. by counties.

http://www.popvssoda.com/countystats/total-county.html

I shaved off my beard for you, devil woman!

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Saturday, July 17, 2004 3:13 PM

ZEE87

In response to the pop/soda thing..

I, too, live in the Midwest (Illinois, to be exact) and always, ALWAYS call it pop. I work at an ice cream shop, and we had been talking about how we should put ice cream sodas on the menu. Later in the week a woman asked me if we sold soda, and I said no, assuming she meant ice cream soda. Later we cleared up that she meant pop. Or coke. Or whatever. How about carbonated beverage? But that moment was a bit embarassing.

Anyway, even though I say pop, I think soda sounds a bit more sophisticated.

And I have to say, I really like french fries dipped in Frosties.

Zee

Mal: If he calls back, you keep him occupied.
Wash: What do I do, shadow puppets?

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Saturday, July 17, 2004 6:16 PM

THATWEIRDGIRL

Quote:
Originally posted by Ankhagogo:
We always called flip-flops "thongs"... here in Oklahoma.

I know, it drives me crazy when people are looking for "thongs" and I send them over to the shoe department and they really wanted underwear.

www.thatweirdgirl.com

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Wednesday, September 8, 2004 3:19 AM

FEMALEJAYNE

Hey don't worry about spelling. if you can read it than it's fine

There was a test conducted at Stanford or some big college like it. That said if you get the first letter and the last letter in the right place then it doesn't matter what order the middle is.
Methinks that something else was bothering you at the time and you were using displacment because as you say you don't usaully nit-pick.

With Hope because love is nothing without hope.

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Friday, September 17, 2004 7:12 PM

BROWNCOATTROOPER

On the great dialect debate...

Try being a Canadian Infantry Sergeant trying to translate for an Angry Canadian Sergeant Major (Who was born in Glasgow) and an angry Major from Alabama!!!! NOT SHINY!!!
Seems i could understand both of them, and they could understand me but they couldnt understand a damn thing each other was saying...
And proceeded to grow angrier with me because of it.

Interesting point:
"Gawd-Damn *&&%&%%& Helicopter" to an Alabaman is "A Great F&*(-Off Rotating Machine" to the guy from Glasgow

I love cross-cultural exhanges!

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Wednesday, November 17, 2004 12:56 PM

ZELDA

Okay, I'm checking back in after a very long absence, and that map amused me so much I just sent it to nearly everyone I know.

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Saturday, December 25, 2004 3:30 AM

NAGA

Came across this thread quite by chance, and I must say I'm rather tickled by it.

Here's my bit towards this thread:

Not sure if this is common knowledge but the 'All American' brand Marlboro, known worldwide for its wild west image of rugged, tough-as-nails cowboys, wide open country and free-running wild Mustangs thundering across the plain, originally came from Britain, and it was originally spelled MARLBOROUGH.

Won’t bore you with the details but suffice to say a British fellow founded the company but it didn’t really take off in Britain. He later went to America and sold the brand to someone else. The new owner change the brand’s image and made a small change to the name’s spelling, and the rest, as they say, is history.

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Saturday, December 25, 2004 3:43 AM

NAGA

Quote:
Originally posted by Ankhagogo:
Quote:
Just by the by -- We always called flip-flops "thongs" when I was little, here in Oklahoma. Not just my family,but everyone I knew.

Some things from my point of view, and some questions:

I know Flip-Flops as 'Slippers'. What's slippers to you guys?

I know what tomato ketchup is, but ketchup to me is also what you call soy sauce.

We dip our fries in everything, tomato ketchup, mayonaise, vinegar, salt, chilli sauce, tartar sauce, whatever. We're not prejudiced :)

Soda to me is either a very strong corrosive chemical you need a license to sell and buy, or a fizzy drink mixer. We call our soft drinks, well soft drinks, or gassy drinks. Pop to me is a kind of music.

If in American English 'through' is spelled 'thru', then why is 'grotesque' not spelled 'grotes'?

Can someone explain to me why a torchlight is call a flashlight? I understand torchlight because it lights the way like a torch does, but it definitely don't 'flash', unless you're trying to send a signal.

And ORANGUTAN is not pronounced O-raang-oo-ten, its O-rung-uh-taan, just wanna clarify

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