Fine-Tuning 15, British English/American English

I met an American in Texas once, and he told me his name was Kee-in.

Later I found out it was Ken.

McT

Texan is a whole separate language, McTag. We could fruitfully start a new thread just on that basis. It's almost like the difference between Brit English and Scots English when spoken by a crofter from the Marches.

Y'all know about the bluesman, Keb' Mo'?

Seems Mr. and Mrs. Moore named their son Kevin...

Quote from Roberta's thread:
Expression--British/ American
rubber--an eraser/a condom

Oh God, that cannot be found in the dictionaries (up to tens digit) in my hands. Thanks Roberta. Would you mind to offer an example as context to help me understand it exactly?

Regarding "paternoster", one of its meanings is a special elevator, but it can be a fishing line when the speaker is not at prayer ... So the context is needed.

PS. Hi Craven de Kere:
I cannot figure out why British fanny equals to American vagina. I guess fanny is a slang can be refered to a lot of different things that a dictionary would not collect them. Am I on the right track?

Sure Oristar, Have safe sex; wear a rubber. (American) The rubber on my pencil is worn down. I guess I change my mind a lot. (British)

Thanks Roberta. Rubber, when as a slang, can mean a condom, which has been indicated by AHD in my hand. So in previous post, I acturally meant "eraser" matching condom could not be found in any dictionaries in my hand.

Oristar, So far as I know, eraser and condom are not synonyms in any language. However, they both are synonyms for rubber--one in American English and one in British English.

I have lived in north Alabama and Georgia for all of my life. When I first moved to the Atlanta suburbs, the first thing I noticed was that, because of the economic superiority drawing in people with other cultural identities(I'm assuming that's what it is; I could be wrong) in Georgia, their accents were quite generic indeed. In fact, Alabama is considered a laughingstock in another deep south state (based merely on the universal assumption that Alabama must be an inbred roach-motel where visitors do not check out). When I eventually moved back to Alabama, I realized that those residing here make fun of the Mississippians for the very same reason. It's just so amusing. :wink:

Who do the Mississippians make fun of, I wonder?

Anyway, I read online that the majority of the Deep South uses a non-rhotic form of English, but this is simply not true where I've lived. In fact, in all my life, having lived in north Alabama and North Georgia, I have never heard a non-rhotic native speaker. Am I misunderstanding the meaning of the word non-rhotic? Does it not mean one who does not always say R's and elongates vowel sounds that precede it?

By the way, (I realize I might be going off-topic, but I just wanted to say this) every teenager here has been programmed by the media to hate the French for their wartime opposition. I am the only liberal in a deeply conservative community. Once it spread that I'm "one of those damned liberals", I've been called everything from traitor to Napolean. I hate cultural ignorance.

Hi, looknorthward. Welcome to A2K. I think you've found a very congenial place here.

Hi Looknorthward and welcome, You introduced me to the term nonrhotic. It sounds like it could apply to some middle Atlantic accents.

And whom do the Mississipians make fun of? Noo Yawkers, probably. :-)

I have always thought that the word "bomb" was interesting in Britain. Correct me if I am wrong, but if something is reffered to as a bomb in Britain, it means that it went well. Where as in the United States, when something bombs, it is a complete failure.

xifar ======== that's correct. I'm sure there are other examples of opposites, can't think of one just now. Ah hang on -------------------------

Vest is worn over the shirt in the USA as part of a suit. We call a vest a waistcoat. To us a vest is an undershirt.

Thanks, Xifar and OAK, I had no idea about either of these words. Can you think of any others?

looknorthward,
Thank you for describing nonrhotic! My daughter has grandparents who live in Noath Caaolina... maybe it's the part of the South they're in, but to them it's the paaat of the Saoth they-aa ee-un.

Where does South give way to Middle Atlantic?

well actually it's a funny one - it depends on context and phrasing

if you say it 'went like a bomb' it means it was a great success

if you say 'it bombed' you mean it was a dire dire failure

confusing!

What about yard? In England it is a garden.

A yard to us belongs to an inner city house with a tiny tiny concrete or slabbed area at the back, or a similar area at the back of a shop or factory.

Yards can be tricky, Vivien. When I was a child growing up in the tenements of the Bronx, the back yard was, in fact, a paved alley. (This made my desire to keep a horse back there especially strange, but that's another story.) When I grew older and discovered a bizarre phenomenon called suburbs, I learned that yards could have grass and trees. Who knew?

My dad is a lumberjack.
-What does he do?
He cuts trees down.
-What does he do then?
Then he cuts them up.

"You da bomb" is universally a compliment, among those who know what it means - can't say I've ever used it myself!!!!

One I've noticed recently is the word "momentarily".

In the UK it means "for a moment" (short duration)
In the US it means "in a moment" (short time from now)

Strange, but true, unless I'm about to be corrected by Americans who use it in the British way.

[Just thinking what a beautiful word "ephemeral" is...did you know that dragonflies/mayflies etc. belong to the family of insects known as Ephemera, because of their short (adult) life spans]