Confused

[Lorelei]

Yep aluminum = US
aluminium = UK.

We also say Herbs here, not 'erbs. That is more French sounding.

 

[ephemery1]

There have also been several incidents of "jewelery" being written on this forum.... and that is definitely NOT acceptable!!!

(Or maybe people are just taking it upon themselves to combine the British and American spellings into one?)

 

[Ellen]

Date: 7/9/2007 7:50:48 PM
Author: belle
oh, you ARE talented!

okay, i''m getting waaaay too punchy and i haven''t even tipped a glass yet.
maybe it''s deprivation quixonation

I used to love spelling when I was a kid, always in spelling bees, I was pretty good. Now, not so much.


Sometimes (in my defense) my keys stick and I don''t catch it til it''s too late. But what I''ve found myself doing much more lately is using the wong spelling/word altogether. i.e. there for their (and I DO know better), or just recently, I typed greatful for grateful.

I''m losing my mind. lol

I seriously thought about about putting "Have mercy on my posts" in my sig.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/10/2007 7:50:08 AM
Author: ephemery1
There have also been several incidents of 'jewelery' being written on this forum.... and that is definitely NOT acceptable!!!

(Or maybe people are just taking it upon themselves to combine the British and American spellings into one?)

Jewellery is the Brit way of spelling jewelry! Actually I do take it upon myself to cross reference British and American spelling as I have to skip between the 2 having an American Hubby, I do as I feel like here!

Aaagh I see what you mean - spelling jewellery with one L and extra E = not acceptable! Hehehe...

 

[Pandora II]

I will admit to being a grammar nazi...

- spelling I am less fussy as it is easy to slip if you are typing fast and without spell check, unless of course it''s a continual thing such as I was noticing with the "rose pedals".

My personal bugbear is:

Similar to
Different from
Compared with

Even in good newspapers and on the BBC I constantly see/hear "compared to" - it really puts my teeth on edge!

I will say that Pricescope has one of the highest levels of spelling, punctuation and grammatical correctness I have come across. The Internet Infidels is another one. Both boards have a large number of highly educated contributors which tends to pull the overall standard up I think.

I find posts without punctuation, capital letters or good use of paragraphs really hard to read - and don''t even get me started on text speak, I don''t even bother trying to read them!

On the "Jewellery" point, an American left a comment on Chantal Mallett''s website - www.18thcenturycorsets.com saying that they would never buy from a site that didn''t know how to spell ''jewelry'' correctly and they suggested she asked someone scholarly to edit her webcontent so that she didn''t lose sales.

Chantal was fuming!

Someone throw out a few more UK/USA/AU idiosyncrasies...

I''m endlessly fascinated. I think it''s really interesting how different languages/dialects develop.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/10/2007 8:30:40 AM
Author: Pandora II
I will admit to being a grammar nazi...

- spelling I am less fussy as it is easy to slip if you are typing fast and without spell check, unless of course it's a continual thing such as I was noticing with the 'rose pedals'.

My personal bugbear is:

Similar to
Different from
Compared with

Even in good newspapers and on the BBC I constantly see/hear 'compared to' - it really puts my teeth on edge!

I will say that Pricescope has one of the highest levels of spelling, punctuation and grammatical correctness I have come across. The Internet Infidels is another one. Both boards have a large number of highly educated contributors which tends to pull the overall standard up I think.

I find posts without punctuation, capital letters or good use of paragraphs really hard to read - and don't even get me started on text speak, I don't even bother trying to read them!

On the 'Jewellery' point, an American left a comment on Chantal Mallett's website - www.18thcenturycorsets.com saying that they would never buy from a site that didn't know how to spell 'jewelry' correctly and they suggested she asked someone scholarly to edit her webcontent so that she didn't lose sales.

Chantal was fuming!

Someone throw out a few more UK/USA/AU idiosyncrasies...

I'm endlessly fascinated. I think it's really interesting how different languages/dialects develop.

Behaviour = behavior
Flavour = flavor
anaesthetic = anesthetic
Car boot = trunk
Car bonnet = hood
Tyre = tire
biscuit = cookie
Scone = biscuit!
Jam = jelly
Jelly = Jello

ETA - that snippy comment about jewellery spelling backfired on the poster somewhat, she even made a mistake trying to spell the wrong version ( in her own mind

) jewellry...

 

[chrono]

Date: 7/10/2007 8:39:01 AM
Author: Lorelei

Behaviour = behavior
Flavour = flavor
anaesthetic = anesthetic
Car boot = trunk
Car bonnet = hood
Tyre = tire
biscuit = cookie
Scone = biscuit!
Jam = jelly
Jelly = Jello

ETA - that snippy comment about jewellery spelling backfired on the poster somewhat, she even made a mistake trying to spell the wrong version ( in her own mind

) jewellry...

That''s the way I still write, spell and speak even though I''ve been here in the USA for over 15 years.

A very hard habit to break.

I still don''t under the following:

Herb = sounds like "erb"
Flour = sounds like "flower"
Flower = sounds like "flower" too?

Route = sounds like "raout"
Advertisement = sounds like "advertiesment"

Prawn = shrimp

 

[Lorelei]

Chrono - are you English?

ETA - Potato chips = crisps

IG, we now use pants as those on the WWT know

, to describe something rubbish, but yes, pants are underwear to Brits, and we call pants trousers.

 

[Independent Gal]

Mea culpa! mea maxima culpa! I have to plead guilty to Kristy Darling''s pet peeve of misspelling ''dilemma'' ''dilemna''. I have NO IDEA why I do this. It''s like some kind of weird compulsion. I mean, I know it''s wrong. I do. But i just keep doing it. WHYYYY!???

Sorry Kristy Darling.

Well, I guess there are worse compulsions.

My favourite British vs. English-elsewhere thing is ''pants'' vs. ''trousers''. In Britain, pants are underwear. I studied in England for a couple of years, and I remember going out for coffee with a friend who was becoming a priest and a Canadian girl who had just arrived. She spilled coffee on her TROUSERS and then made a comment about her wet... pants. My priest friend''s jaw went

Sorry if that''s a little much first thing AM.

 

[Independent Gal]

Another weird one:

In the UK jumper = sweater
In the US jumper = a sleeveless dress a child wears over a shirt or turtleneck (aka a pinafore)

How did 'jumper' come to mean EITHER of these things?

C'mon Gypsy! Let's hit the OED.... [goes to check the OED...]

OK, here's what links the two. It originally meant:

"1. a. A kind of loose outer jacket or shirt reaching to the hips, made of canvas, serge, coarse linen, etc., and worn by sailors, truckmen, etc.; also applied to any upper garment of similar shape, e.g. a hooded fur jacket worn by Eskimos." - OED

So, you could see how this could morph into meaning either a sweater or a pinafore. Hmmm... interesting. OK, maybe only to Gypsy and me!

 

[chrono]

Lorelei,
I''m not English but educated in the Queen''s English since I am from one of her former colonies. Plus one of my favourite Aunts in England writes regularly so I don''t get "corrupted" quite as easily.

Gosh, pinafore - I haven''t heard that in the longest time. I used to wear pinafores to school.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/10/2007 9:17:30 AM
Author: Chrono
Lorelei,
I''m not English but educated in the Queen''s English since I am from one of her former colonies. Plus one of my favourite Aunts in England writes regularly so I don''t get ''corrupted'' quite as easily.

Gosh, pinafore - I haven''t heard that in the longest time. I used to wear pinafores to school.

Thanks Chrono! I have been known to don a pinafore too for schoolwear...

 

[hlmr]

Can someone help me out with this one?

I''ve noticed the majority of people here say ''tide me over'', as in these new gold earrings will tide me over until I get my diamond studs.

I''ve always thought it was tie me over.....does anyone know the correct way to express this?

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/10/2007 9:31:57 AM
Author: hlmr
Can someone help me out with this one?

I''ve noticed the majority of people here say ''tide me over'', as in these new gold earrings will tide me over until I get my diamond studs.

I''ve always thought it was tie me over.....does anyone know the correct way to express this?

It has always been pronounced '' tide me over'' in the UK, maybe it origins from the tide of the sea, meaning the temporary status the saying implies.

 

[hlmr]

Date: 7/10/2007 9:34:29 AM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 7/10/2007 9:31:57 AM
Author: hlmr
Can someone help me out with this one?

I''ve noticed the majority of people here say ''tide me over'', as in these new gold earrings will tide me over until I get my diamond studs.

I''ve always thought it was tie me over.....does anyone know the correct way to express this?

It has always been pronounced '' tide me over'' in the UK, maybe it origins from the tide of the sea, meaning the temporary status the saying implies.

Ah, now that makes sense, but I wonder if there is anyone else out there that says tie me over?

Lorelei, we Canadians spell the same as you Brits too!! I was thinking we write colour instead of color and gosh there are so many more!!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/10/2007 9:37:30 AM
Author: hlmr

Date: 7/10/2007 9:34:29 AM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 7/10/2007 9:31:57 AM
Author: hlmr
Can someone help me out with this one?

I''ve noticed the majority of people here say ''tide me over'', as in these new gold earrings will tide me over until I get my diamond studs.

I''ve always thought it was tie me over.....does anyone know the correct way to express this?

It has always been pronounced '' tide me over'' in the UK, maybe it origins from the tide of the sea, meaning the temporary status the saying implies.

Ah, now that makes sense, but I wonder if there is anyone else out there that says tie me over?

Lorelei, we Canadians spell the same as you Brits too!! I was thinking we write colour instead of color and gosh there are so many more!!

Thats cool to know H ! I just remembered, my American Hubby got that saying wrong years ago by saying he needed a snack to '' tidy him over until dinner'' and it stuck and we still say it

 

[hlmr]

Thats cool to know H ! I just remembered, my American Hubby got that saying wrong years ago by saying he needed a snack to '' tidy him over until dinner'' and it stuck and we still say it

That is so cute Lorelei!!! LOL

How is your new girl doing?

 

[Lorelei]

She''s great thanks Heather! She is such a good girl, flighty but basically safe and sensible and SO loving! I have bonded with her even more recently which is wonderful, not to mention she is so beautiful and I have always loved black Thoroughbreds - now I have one!

She is greedy though so I am having to watch her rations closely, she has lost weight since she has been here which she needed to and she looks good. I think about another 30kilos should do the trick.

 

[chrono]

Lorelei,
Have you also wondered about the Centre = Center thing? I was only to glad to spell racquette as racquet. Less typing for me.

 

[Harriet]

Date: 7/10/2007 2:28:15 AM
Author: Sparkster
I hate it when people say ''Vunerable'' instead of vulnerable. It''s now becoming very common in Australia to say that. What really bugs me is that news readers here are now saying it. GGRRRRRR.

By the way, to everyone outside of Australia, the correct way to pronounce this country is ''Ostralia'' not Oztralia. But Aussie is pronounced Ozzie. But to be a REAL Aussie, you pronounce Australia as ''Straya''

Sparkster,
Please teach us more strine!

 

[hlmr]

Date: 7/10/2007 9:46:50 AM
Author: Lorelei
She''s great thanks Heather! She is such a good girl, flighty but basically safe and sensible and SO loving! I have bonded with her even more recently which is wonderful, not to mention she is so beautiful and I have always loved black Thoroughbreds - now I have one!

She is greedy though so I am having to watch her rations closely, she has lost weight since she has been here which she needed to and she looks good. I think about another 30kilos should do the trick.

That''s great to hear! I am sure she is beautiful girl.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/10/2007 9:48:16 AM
Author: Chrono
Lorelei,
Have you also wondered about the Centre = Center thing? I was only to glad to spell racquette as racquet. Less typing for me.

Yep C, thats another one!

 

[Harriet]

Lift = Elevator.
Queue = Line.
Cheque = Check.
Tomato sauce (for me at least) = Ketchup.
Sweets (lollies for Aussies) = Candy.

My pet peeve:
The incorrect use of "begs the question," even amongst lawyers.

Chrono,
I remember my pinafore days too.

 

[onedrop]

Color me even more confused. My husband speaks French, so when I am speaking of certain American things he has no clue what I am talking about. For example, to Americans fried shoestring-like potatoes are called "french fries." In France and other French-speaking countries they are called "frites." In England I believe they are called "chips." Another "lost in translation" thing for us is "soda." Here in some parts of the US, soda is a sugary carbonated beverage right? But in other countries (including his) "soda" is "soda water" akin to seltzer water. So when I asked him if he wanted a "soda" he was expecting something totally different. These little differences make for a lot of laughter in our house.

I was born and raised in the US, but I have always loved how the Brits (and others) add a "u" to words like color and honor, and add double l's to words like traveling and jewelry.

Edited: ironically for spelling and grammatical errors.

 

[ephemery1]

Date: 7/10/2007 8:39:01 AM
Author: Lorelei

ETA - that snippy comment about jewellery spelling backfired on the poster somewhat, she even made a mistake trying to spell the wrong version ( in her own mind

) jewellry...

Haha... wow, I''m not sure I''ve seen any "jewellry" spellings on PS, yet... I thought the "jewelery" ones were bad enough.

UK/US differences that always catch my attention (my best friend''s mom is English):

nappy = diaper
dummy = pacifier
pram = stroller
plaster = band-aid
whilst = while
crisps = chips
chips = french fries
biscuit = cookie
lorry = truck
rubbish = garbage
petrol = gasoline
flat = apartment
indicator = turn signal
prawn = shrimp

 

[Christa]

Date: 7/10/2007 7:50:08 AM
Author: ephemery1
There have also been several incidents of ''jewelery'' being written on this forum.... and that is definitely NOT acceptable!!!

(Or maybe people are just taking it upon themselves to combine the British and American spellings into one?)

I was reading the first page of this thread, just waiting for someone to bring up the "jewelery" issue.

I think what bugs me even more is how many people pronounce it "joolery". Gaaah!

Oh, and how about "exspecially"?

 

[poptart]

Here is a phrase that really just gets to me, and I have a family member that says it all the time: Yes, I seen that before... etc. *twitch* I have yet to correct her but I flinch a little every time she says it.

Another one is the incorrect use of "anymore." DH and family do this sometimes and it also requires me to bite my tongue so as not to be rude! It''s kind of like their own little dialect because I''ve never heard anyone else use this word in the same way. Funny!

Do any of you ever catch yourself correcting people by accident? I don''t do it to be rude or arrogant, it''s just that I hear what they say and immediately correct the grammar in my head... and it seems to almost always slip out. I''ve tried to curb it, but it''s like a knee-jerk reaction.

*M*

 

[sumbride]

I hate to hear people say SimUlar. It''s not Sim-you-lar!!! it''s SIMILAR. similar. similar. similar.

I just want to beat it into their heads when they do this.

 

[iwannaprettyone]

Date: 7/9/2007 7:38:34 PM
Author: Ellen

Date: 7/9/2007 6:43:48 PM
Author: belle
definitely bad spelling on the rose petals

we do have herbs, i just don''t know any. i think there were a lot more around during the 60''s and 70''s.

why am i so dry today?

Ok, I almost inhaled my italian beef there.

Lmao, Ellen I am crying over here.

 

[Gypsy]

Date: 7/10/2007 9:05:36 AM
Author: Independent Gal
Another weird one:

In the UK jumper = sweater
In the US jumper = a sleeveless dress a child wears over a shirt or turtleneck (aka a pinafore)

How did ''jumper'' come to mean EITHER of these things?

C''mon Gypsy! Let''s hit the OED.... [goes to check the OED...]

OK, here''s what links the two. It originally meant:

''1. a. A kind of loose outer jacket or shirt reaching to the hips, made of canvas, serge, coarse linen, etc., and worn by sailors, truckmen, etc.; also applied to any upper garment of similar shape, e.g. a hooded fur jacket worn by Eskimos.'' - OED

So, you could see how this could morph into meaning either a sweater or a pinafore. Hmmm... interesting. OK, maybe only to Gypsy and me!

Probably. But I''m glad you checked it. I don''t have the OED at work (I wouldn''t get much work done!).

I didn''t know that pantsy= crappy on the WWT thread. That''s explains A LOT.

And KD-- I do the Dilemna thing all the time. Dilemma Dilemma. Maybe my fingers just want to hit a different key? They prefer N to M? Inquiring minds don''t care! LOL.