translating English into English
Nov 23, 2012, 11:45 am
#826
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: PDX
Posts: 2,284
In the example you attempted to correct, the result would have been that cbn42 had bought 2.3 bananas at 59˘ per lb., which isn't a valid calculation. He bought 2.3 lbs. of bananas at 59˘ per lb.
See the link I posted a couple of entries above that has a quote from a stenography handbook dated 1932. It's been this way for a long, long time.
N.B. I've used, and seen # used to indicate quantity only in a general sense, such as for a column header in Excel where people would intuitively know from the column's position and the data being collected that # used as an abbreviation stands for a count, quantity or 'number of' an item or items.
Nov 26, 2012, 2:08 am
#827
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: London, England.
Programs: BA
Posts: 8,476
There are a range of different ones in different cultures. The Welsh stereotypically say "isn't it" at the end of sentences, seemingly turning a statement into a question. Russians will say "Davei" to one another while talking. The most recent has to be the plague of "Like" which has spread across the English-speaking world in recent years. Now to me this was always, within Britain, a feature of those from Liverpool, where it has always been done (or the extended "you know, like"); the Beatles in interviews (especially Ringo) would just do it naturally, which got picked up and commented on by some USA journalists in the 1960s
Nov 26, 2012, 6:33 am
#828
Join Date: Apr 2008
Programs: Confirmed
Posts: 1,091
You don't even have to go that far to experience it. There are enough dialects in the US that going from region to region can throw people for a loop. I have enough problems after moving to Maine with 1, understanding people, and 2, having them understand me.
For instance:
Going to Wisconsin and asking for the bubbler, someone will point you to a drinking fountain. Do that elsewhere? You'll get a blank stare.
One of the first times I went to North Carolina someone told me to "cut the lights off". That threw me for a loop. Also in NC, at a local restaurant the waitress asked what I wanted to drink I replied "Coke." She replied "Which kind?" I should add that this has happened more than once in the south.
For the longest time, probably up until around 10 years ago, virtually all ATMs in WI were known as TYME (Take Your Money Everywhere) machines. When you'd use a debit card (a TYME card) the most common question you'd hear would be "Credit or TYME?" Growing up with this I didn't think anything of it. And going on my very first vacation and needing some cash I went to a grocery store to buy something to get cash back. I swiped my card, told the clerk "TYME please" they responded "10:30"
Really, next Tuesday, is the Tuesday after this coming Tuesday (also said as Next Week Tuesday), which would be actually be this Tuesday? Confused? You shouldn't be, it all makes perfect sense to me.
I really get a kick out of dialects. Soda V. Pop V. Coke. (http://popvssoda.com:2998/countystats/total-county.html) I personally find it interesting that I grew up in one of the few areas of the Midwest that refers to carbonated beverages as "Soda".
For instance:
Going to Wisconsin and asking for the bubbler, someone will point you to a drinking fountain. Do that elsewhere? You'll get a blank stare.
One of the first times I went to North Carolina someone told me to "cut the lights off". That threw me for a loop. Also in NC, at a local restaurant the waitress asked what I wanted to drink I replied "Coke." She replied "Which kind?" I should add that this has happened more than once in the south.
For the longest time, probably up until around 10 years ago, virtually all ATMs in WI were known as TYME (Take Your Money Everywhere) machines. When you'd use a debit card (a TYME card) the most common question you'd hear would be "Credit or TYME?" Growing up with this I didn't think anything of it. And going on my very first vacation and needing some cash I went to a grocery store to buy something to get cash back. I swiped my card, told the clerk "TYME please" they responded "10:30"
Really, next Tuesday, is the Tuesday after this coming Tuesday (also said as Next Week Tuesday), which would be actually be this Tuesday? Confused? You shouldn't be, it all makes perfect sense to me.
I really get a kick out of dialects. Soda V. Pop V. Coke. (http://popvssoda.com:2998/countystats/total-county.html) I personally find it interesting that I grew up in one of the few areas of the Midwest that refers to carbonated beverages as "Soda".
'cash machine'
'ATM'
Nov 26, 2012, 9:49 am
#829
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: back to my roots in Scotland!
Programs: Tamsin - what else is there to say?
Posts: 47,843
Do you know what they say instead in the UK or Holland? Both places it was pointed out that "uh-huh" was an Americanism that can be misinterpreted (done nicely, I might add). When I think about it, I listen for an equivalent, but haven't picked up on anything used consistently in the same way.
Dec 1, 2012, 8:21 am
#830
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Singapore
Posts: 324
This causes all sorts of problems in the UK, where there's quite a few decent sized chains, all of whom use different terms for the different sizes of drink.
Starbucks: Short, Tall, Grande, Venti
Caffe Nero: Small, Regular, Grande, N/A
Costa: N/A, Primo, Medio, Massimo
My Local One: Italian, Small, Medium, Large
So if you order 'small', 'medium' or 'large', you're never quite sure what you're actually getting - at Nero, it's a Grande (16floz) but at Starbucks, it's the whole pint (yup, a pint is 20floz here...) And how small is that small..?
Starbucks: Short, Tall, Grande, Venti
Caffe Nero: Small, Regular, Grande, N/A
Costa: N/A, Primo, Medio, Massimo
My Local One: Italian, Small, Medium, Large
So if you order 'small', 'medium' or 'large', you're never quite sure what you're actually getting - at Nero, it's a Grande (16floz) but at Starbucks, it's the whole pint (yup, a pint is 20floz here...) And how small is that small..?
I like Nero more than Starbucks when I was in the UK even though I love the latter's Christmas Peppermint latte (I know; totally should just put peppermint flavouring into my coffees). It was basically everywhere, like the train station at Windsor Castle (totally remember this because I was freezing and needed something warm.)
Dec 1, 2012, 8:31 am
#831
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Singapore
Posts: 324
On telephones, you can use uh-huh (different pronunciation from the US version - more like UH-hu than uh-HUH with a downward inflection not a rising inflection) or mm-mmh in the UK to show you are still there and listening. Much less likely to use face to face though where you have verbal cues to go by.
On the # debate which I was reading with this face
, I'm glad the British decided to change it to 100 pence per pound and put all that shillings/bob/farthings/etc. measurement that confused an Enid Blyton fan to no ends (if I'm not being clear, I'm referring to myself)Had loads of fun reading this and getting confused: http://resources.woodlands-junior.ke...s/moneyold.htm
To continue being OT, I'm always irrationally furious when confronted with foot and inches.
Dec 23, 2012, 3:54 am
#832
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 31
To most Canadians (most of whom were educated in the Queen's English) the pronoun "y'all" is taken to mean a contraction of "you all", used to refer to a group of people. It wasn't until my third trip to ATL that I began to realize that "y'all" is actually used in the singular . The plural of "y'all" is apparently "all y'all" .
. The plural of "y'all" is apparently "all y'all" .
Dec 23, 2012, 11:18 am
#834
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: New Zealand/ UK
Programs: NZ, EK, QF, SQ.
Posts: 776
In Australia, many people make a plural out of "you", saying "yous", (pronounced yooze - I'm not sure how it is spelled). As in "What are yous doing for Christmas?"
Dec 23, 2012, 3:42 pm
#835
Join Date: Apr 2012
Programs: United 1K, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 835
Same thing in parts of the northeast U.S. In some places it's "yous guys".
Last edited by KurtVH; Dec 24, 2012 at 1:12 am
Dec 24, 2012, 12:55 am
#836
Moderator: UK and Ireland & Europe
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Biggleswade
Programs: SK*G, Lots of Blue Elsewhere
Posts: 13,611
Dec 24, 2012, 3:40 pm
#838
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: NYC
Programs: AA GLD, AC
Posts: 4,212
In the US I only recall hearing it in southern Pennsylvania, although I'm sure it's in use elsewhere - I just don't tend to go to those places.
