English variants that cause confusion

POSTED BY: Eloisa
UPDATED: Monday, October 9, 2006 11:31
VIEWED: 8402
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KILYTH

Saturday, October 7, 2006 2:07 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by RMMC:
Quote:
Originally posted by Penguin:
Someday maybe the British will learn how to speak English the right way!

Pssst! Penguin.

Dunno how ta tell you, but the reason for the different spelling and pronunciation for aluminum/aluminium was a spelling error in an early American dictionary.

Actually it wasn't. It's because the discoverer called aluminium first, then decided to change it to aluminum. Europeans kept the -ium ending cos it fits in better with plutonium, uranium and all the other -ium elements.

[/delurk]

PHOENIXROSE

Saturday, October 7, 2006 2:16 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Gladiator32:
Oh, another one that I've been noticing in south Essex:
A bit - very, exeptionally - "it's a bit good"

I use 'a bit' to mean, well, a bit. A little. A piece. A bit. Weird.

Also, we use 'geezer' to mean an old man.

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We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow in sunlight. - Gautama Siddharta

KELAI

Saturday, October 7, 2006 4:03 PM

What most people find odd about me is my ways of spelling -- though I am American, I spell everything the English way [i.e. color//colour].

Also, I use the metric system, which they use all over the world except US... Kinds standard is dumb, metric much easier!

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GLADIATOR32

Sunday, October 8, 2006 7:15 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by PhoenixRose:
Quote:
Originally posted by Gladiator32:
Oh, another one that I've been noticing in south Essex:
A bit - very, exeptionally - "it's a bit good"

I use 'a bit' to mean, well, a bit. A little. A piece. A bit. Weird.

Also, we use 'geezer' to mean an old man.

http://www.bigdamnthankyou.com - show Universal your gratitude!

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow in sunlight. - Gautama Siddharta

Most people use a bit in the usual sense, but then along come the Southend-on-Sea types to confuse everyone else!

Got another for you all:

Chav - term for a young 'un usually from London/Essex; wears Burberry and/or shell suits, but ALWAYS with a baseball cap with a hood over it; drives shoddy, clapped out Corsa's, 205's or Escort's with ground-shaking sound systems, fancy rims and custom rear lights; hangs around outside McDonalds chewing gum, smoking, spitting on the floor and pathetically trying to intimidate folks. Female Chavs like to have their hair in a 'Croydon Facelift' (hair tied into a pony tale at the top of the head, with the hair pulled as TIGHT as possible); male Chavs like to hang around with underage (usually 12 or 13 yo) girls, thinking they're "Playa's".

You probably got 'em the world over, but that's Chavs from my neck of the woods. If anyone ever calls you a Chav, be insulted. VERY insulted.

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PHOENIXROSE

Sunday, October 8, 2006 11:31 AM

All right, not that we need a huge debate going in this thread, but I have to defend my system of measurement, since I'm tired of how many people talk about its cons without talking about any of its pros.
One of its pros is that the words are shorter and easier to say. Stupid? Maybe. But the words flow better, I think. "Going the extra mile" sounds so much better than "going the extra kil-o-met-er". "Inch by inch" likewaise sounds better than, uh, "centimenter by centimeter."
This brings up another thing; the inch. I love the inch. It's a simple, easy measurment, easier to say than "two and a half centimeters". I like the inch. I also like the foot. The foot has no easy equivelent in metrics. I think it's thiry centimenters or somesuch. Ugh.
Anyway, I like my height being "five feet and six inches (or even 'five and a half feet') rather than "one and a half meters" or (more specifically) "one meter and seventy centimeters."
Sure the metric system is based on tens. I get how that makes some mathmatical sense. But in terms of actually measuring stuff and being able to easily say how long or tall or whatever things are, the US system is the best.
And there was a whole article in Discover a few months ago that talked about Celsius and Fahrenheit and how Fahrenheit was able to communicate what it felt like a lot better. I believe it said that there's a big difference in the feel of 74 degrees and 75 degrees Fahrenheit, but they're both the same degree Celsius.
So I like our systems of measurement, thank you very much.

Thread jacking over. We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

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We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow in sunlight. - Gautama Siddharta

KELAI

Monday, October 9, 2006 4:50 AM

Quote:
I love the inch. It's a simple, easy measurment, easier to say than "two and a half centimeters".

In the metric system, you dont use a 'half' YOu would say 2.5 -- all in decimals, in tens.

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KELAI

Monday, October 9, 2006 4:51 AM

Quote:
I love the inch. It's a simple, easy measurment, easier to say than "two and a half centimeters".

In the metric system, you dont use a 'half' YOu would say 2.5 -- all in decimals, in tens.

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GLADIATOR32

Monday, October 9, 2006 11:31 AM

Most folks I know use both the imperial AND metric systems, depanding on the situations. For example, all the road signs in Blighty are MPH, and a recent move to change them all to KPH was chucked out. All speedometers here have the imperial as the primary measurement. Most weather forecasts use Celcius as the main temperature measurement, but MPH for wind speeds. We just seem to use whichever system best fits what you are trying to do/say/measure.

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