exchemist
Valued Senior Member
I doubt it. French nowadays is full of loan words from English, for instance. But I'm no linguist so not a good person to ask.
U.S. vs. U.K. common terms
- Thread starter mathman
- Start date
We were evacuated from Suez in 56 .From the short time I was there I remember the words "tareq" that I think meant "road" and "imshi" which meant "go" (or perhaps f/o)
Just those two words...
I also remember we had an Egyptian cook who made us hot chocolate souffles that I have never tasted since but keep intending to.
The crust was the best part.
Languages evolve rather quickly, so what may have been true, say, twenty years ago, may not necessarily be true today. Also, how would one even go about ascertaining such a thing? Dictionaries are not always reflective of vernacular speech.
It seemed not that long ago that the word "literally" meant, well, literally; now, apparently it means either literally or figuratively--even the OED includes this latter usage. I personally think that's rather silly, but, hey, language has never actually been about accurately conveying what one intends.
With the British Empire spanning much of the globe, it's quite possible that we took in more than our fair share of words from other languages. At least up until, say, WW2. After that, communication and travel have become far more extensive, we ended our Empire, and with English being the primary language of commerce, it's likely other languages borrow increasingly from English rather than the other way round.
exchemist
Valued Senior Member
Yes I remember imshi = go away.
A friend of mine who works for the Foreign Office is being posted to Morocco in June. Maybe I should get my old Gulf Arabic book off the shelf and try to remind myself of some useful words, before I get invited to visit.
exchemist
Valued Senior Member
Like Mr Pickwick, you mean?Surely the only phrase you ever need is: "Do you speak English?" And if they don't seem to understand you then just repeat more slowly and louder!
I do recall "Atkalam Arabiy muub zayn" = I do not speak Arabic well. But these days that would be an understatement.
Context gave me the general idea of what it meant, but didn't have a clue as to how to you got there.
Never would've figured that one out.
Thanks for the translations.
They used "careening" tonight in the CNN reporting of Trump's hush money trial.Good try at rationalising these but to me it seems obvious they are simple malapropisms, confusing one word for the other.
But one of the niggles of getting old is to see the language getting warped over time, as it has always done of course. The perfect tense is now under attack, at least on the ads in the London Underground, as in: “I just forgot how to use auxiliary verbs”. This is one we can definitely blame on the Americans.
Caitlin Collins described Judge Merchan as "screening off the rails" when he asked the Defense lawyer Blanche to explain what was political about the alleged 11 violations of his gag order.
So they have keels on trains in the good ole US of A now.That or they have put down underwater rails in the canals.
I also heard (I think it was Caitlin Collins again) her "honing in" on something.
She knows her stuff ,so maybe we should just get with the flow?
exchemist
Valued Senior Member
It's just what my father (and his father before him) used to call "higgorance" on her part, the idea of course being that "higgorance" is how an ignorant person might pronounce "ignorance".
Pinball1970
Valued Senior Member
Brits get a bad rap for everyone expecting other countries to speak English.
We are very bad and ignorant when it comes to French German Italian etc.
Probably because we start being taught at 11 (in the 1980s at least) whereas our European friends start 6-9.
So, they have been at it for up to 5 years before we open our first textbook.
Anyway, back to our American brothers and sisters.
I watch true crime investigations sometimes and when a suspect is being interviewed about a missing person the police often ask.
“Where is she at?”
We do not say that in the UK, we simply say, “where is she?” Or perhaps, “where is she now
Its growing on me though.
I got some Beyonce lyrics off the net and they are barely coherent let alone poetic or creative.
“Ego so big you must admit
I got every reason to feel like I'm that bitch
Ego so strong, if you ain't know
I don't need no beat I can sing it with piano
Whoa, whoa, whoa
Whoa, whoa
Ah whoa, ohh
Ohh-oh, ohh-ooh-ooh”
I think this gem had 6 song writers?
We are very bad and ignorant when it comes to French German Italian etc.
Probably because we start being taught at 11 (in the 1980s at least) whereas our European friends start 6-9.
So, they have been at it for up to 5 years before we open our first textbook.
Anyway, back to our American brothers and sisters.
I watch true crime investigations sometimes and when a suspect is being interviewed about a missing person the police often ask.
“Where is she at?”
We do not say that in the UK, we simply say, “where is she?” Or perhaps, “where is she now
Its growing on me though.
I got some Beyonce lyrics off the net and they are barely coherent let alone poetic or creative.
“Ego so big you must admit
I got every reason to feel like I'm that bitch
Ego so strong, if you ain't know
I don't need no beat I can sing it with piano
Whoa, whoa, whoa
Whoa, whoa
Ah whoa, ohh
Ohh-oh, ohh-ooh-ooh”
I think this gem had 6 song writers?
Seattle
Valued Senior Member
Just reading this thread, I have a question for those in the UK. Someone mentioned footballers being pulled early and therefore they got a bath early. I'm pretty sure you are using the word (bath) differently than we (US) would use it.
They are taking a shower, right and not sitting down in a tub? We say shower for the water coming out of the top nozzle and a bath only if you are filling up a tub and soaking in it.
We also only use the word "stocking" to refer to what females wear. For a guy it would just be "socks".
They are taking a shower, right and not sitting down in a tub? We say shower for the water coming out of the top nozzle and a bath only if you are filling up a tub and soaking in it.
We also only use the word "stocking" to refer to what females wear. For a guy it would just be "socks".
Pinball1970
Valued Senior Member
Just reading this thread, I have a question for those in the UK. Someone mentioned footballers being pulled early and therefore they got a bath early. I'm pretty sure you are using the word (bath) differently than we (US) would use it.
They are taking a shower, right and not sitting down in a tub? We say shower for the water coming out of the top nozzle and a bath only if you are filling up a tub and soaking in it.
We also only use the word "stocking" to refer to what females wear. For a guy it would just be "socks".
“going for an early bath” is a commentary favourite when a player is sent off. Historically the players shared a huge (actual) bath after the match.
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...-celebrating-communal-baths-knowledge-special
Shower is the same here, stand in the shower and sit in the bath (tub)
“Bathe” means cleaning not swimming whilst “bathing” can mean both.
“Stockings” are female “socks” male and “tights” are what yanks probably refer to as “nylons” or hosiery.
I wear (compression) stockings and am a bit like our dog who sexually molests his nice new furry bed when he thinks noone is watching.
A bit of a shock when I first put them on and noted how shapely my leg had become.I may try to turn them into cash by standing near the traffic lights this coming weekend .
I'd suggest slightly differently...
Socks and stockings are different in as much as socks generally just cover foot and ankle, and longer ones up to below the knee. They can be worn by men or women, although a much higher percentage of men since they don't have many alternatives (other than no socks). Women, on the other hand, have stockings or tights as common alternatives. Socks are also generally cotton or polyester, or perhaps wool.
Stockings are longer than socks, covering the leg high up the thigh, and needing suspenders (aka garter belt in the USA) to keep them up. There's a variant referred to as the "hold-up" that use elastic or something to stay up without the suspenders.
Tights are a pair of stockings joined by a pant section, so they're a single item that covers both legs, up to the waist, and not needing suspenders. I think the US also refer to them as tights?
Tights and stockings are mostly worn by women, and are usually some sheer material.
Nylons would be either stockings or tights that are made of, unsurprisingly, nylon.
Also, note that what we call a suspender belt in the UK, the US would call a garter belt. And what the US refer to as suspenders we would call braces. Funny old world.