Confused

[Harleigh]

Date: 7/10/2007 1:49:44 PM
Author: 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*

I find myself doing it all the time! I really try hard to control myself, but I correct kids all day long, so I think it''s a hard habit to break. For me, right up there with seen is ain''t and don''t..."No, it ain''t," or "It don''t matter." YES, IT DOES!!! Aaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!

 

[Harleigh]

Date: 7/10/2007 1:58:07 PM
Author: 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.

I went back and checked my posts...I have to admit I have done it, too...not quite sure why, but I''m sure I do it! Ach!

 

[pyramid]

UK Colour USA Color

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 7/10/2007 2:53:46 AM
Author: Harleigh
And my all-time favorite...flustrated...not flustered and not frustrated, but flustrated!!!

Hmmmm. I actually *like* "flustrated". Seems descriptive! I''m also a huge fan of inventing words though. Why must we stick with the old standards?? Why can''t language be fun & casual & kicky ...

Full disclosure: I''m a horrific speller. The worst. And now that I live with my DH, who is a GREAT speller ... I just shout out for spelling help all the time rather than actually *learning* anything for myself. GROAN. Some words I''ve just given up on getting correct. At least in communication that doesn''t "matter" (i.e. -- reflect poorly on me professionally/socially IRL).

 

[Gypsy]

My favorite Aussie word is (if I spell this wrong don''t shoot me)= wingeing or winging... means complaining. I love that one and use it. Quite a bit. It''s funny I spent every summer for 4 years in Australia in my teens and picked up random habits. I still right behaviour .... thank goodness for spell check.

 

[ephemery1]

Here's a grammar/pronounciation question for everyone...

I have always used the phrase "a while" in everyday conversation. For example, "I'm going downstairs a while, I'll meet you outside." or "I'll cut up the tomatoes, if you want to get started on the salad a while." My DH thinks this is the weirdest thing ever, and I've gradually started to realize that nobody else says it! I was born and raised in south-central PA, so it may be a Pennsylvania Dutch thing... I also ask questions weird, with my voice rising on the second-to-last word of the sentence, rather than the last... and people say that's PA Dutch.

Anyone else do this or am I really just THAT weird??

 

[Harleigh]

That''s okay deco, we''ll still love you...

I think flustrated is a personal pet peeve of mine because my brother''s ex-girlfriend used to say it all the time and was CERTAIN it was a real word! We tried to convince her otherwise and showed her in dictionaries, etc... To no avail, she was never convinced...

I, too, am a fan of made up words, like:

Fantabulous-Fantastic + Fabulous

Ginormous-Gigantic + Enormous (My FF''s personal favorite!)

And the list goes on, but had to clarify!

Harleigh

 

[Harleigh]

Date: 7/10/2007 2:08:23 PM
Author: ephemery1
Here''s a grammar/pronounciation question for everyone...

I have always used the phrase ''a while'' in everyday conversation. For example, ''I''m going downstairs a while, I''ll meet you outside.'' or ''I''ll cut up the tomatoes, if you want to get started on the salad a while.'' My DH thinks this is the weirdest thing ever, and I''ve gradually started to realize that nobody else says it! I was born and raised in south-central PA, so it may be a Pennsylvania Dutch thing... I also ask questions weird, with my voice rising on the second-to-last word of the sentence, rather than the last... and people say that''s PA Dutch.

Anyone else do this or am I really just THAT weird??

I use it all the time...for some reason, I even started putting it together when I write it, awhile, which I''m pretty certain is not really a word! My family is from WI and my FF is Dutch, so who knows? I don''t know anyone else who uses it either! I''ll be weird with you!

Harleigh

 

[iwannaprettyone]

I am British and it drives me insane some of the things Texan say...

Bobwar= Barbed Wired
Exspecially= especially
Subtool= subtle
PACARN= Pecan
Cigeratte= Cigarette
nucular=nuclear
Warsh= Wash

Can't complain though, my accent is very confused at the moment!

ETA: My friend from Canada can not just end a sentence, she has to say right? or eh?

 

[Kaleigh]

Here is a Philly phrase, "I''m going down the shore" " Hey when are you going down the shore?? Cracks me up, but find myself saying it all the time.

Ephem I have heard people say that too!! I didn''t know it''s origin was PA Dutch.

 

[decodelighted]

A little off topic but kinda not ...

Did anyone else see Britney Spears'' "statement" on her website .. apologizing to the paparazzi for the "beating a car with an umbrella" incident.

She said "I was preparing for a roll." And later "I take all my rolls very seriously".

Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Later someone fixed it on her site, after lots of folks were writing about/joking about it.

 

[TravelingGal]

I like whinging (that''s how I spell it in my head) because I feel it''s pretty descriptive.

Other ones that may not have been mentioned here that TGuy and I have teased each other about are:

Sneakers vs Sand Shoes. I ask, can you only wear them in the sand? He asks, are you only supposed to sneak around in them?
Footpath vs Sidewalk. He says it''s a path for your feet. I say it''s off to the side where you walk.
Rocket vs Arugula
Aubergine vs Eggplant
Tea vs Dinner
Parking lot vs Car Park
Trash Can vs Rubbish bin

And I am sure there are a ton more. It''s funny the we speak the same language and can''t understand each other sometimes!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/10/2007 2:22:32 PM
Author: TravelingGal
I like whinging (that''s how I spell it in my head) because I feel it''s pretty descriptive.

Other ones that may not have been mentioned here that TGuy and I have teased each other about are:

Sneakers vs Sand Shoes. I ask, can you only wear them in the sand? He asks, are you only supposed to sneak around in them?
Footpath vs Sidewalk. He says it''s a path for your feet. I say it''s off to the side where you walk.
Rocket vs Arugula
Aubergine vs Eggplant
Tea vs Dinner
Parking lot vs Car Park
Trash Can vs Rubbish bin

And I am sure there are a ton more. It''s funny the we speak the same language and can''t understand each other sometimes!

stone the crows - it sure is

 

[isaku5]

Date: 7/10/2007 2:02:43 PM
Author: Gypsy
My favorite Aussie word is (if I spell this wrong don''t shoot me)= wingeing or winging... means complaining. I love that one and use it. Quite a bit. It''s funny I spent every summer for 4 years in Australia in my teens and picked up random habits. I still right behaviour .... thank goodness for spell check.

Lol Gypsy, I thought it was "whingeing". My mom (Irish) used to say that to me -I was never really sure how it was spelled.

Current gripes are: misuse of lie/lay in different tenses

Anyways instead of anyway

Lack of proper punctuation and run-on sentences in novels. Who the heck edits these?

Misuse of "amount" and "number". If you can count it( whether you want to or not is irrelevant), use "number".

Current gripe with DGD (age 11): "Me and Ava went to the mall with Mom".

OK, better stop here as I''m realizing that the English teacher in me didn''t retire

 

[Mara]

LOL deco yeah I saw that...of course all the gossip sites had a heyday with her referring to taking her rolls seriously, they were like 'Parker house must be her favorite!'...

My ex bf was from Boston MA area and sometimes I felt like he was from another country. He would refer to 'dungarees' for jeans and 'pocketbook' for purse or bag. Oh and 'sodapop'. And sometimes I'd have to ask him to repeat himself 2-3 times thinking what is he saying??

Also people sometimes just make up their own words for things. I used to say 'liberry' for library and another friend used to say 'Sawerday' for Saturday. I think people just in generally talk too fast and then start adopting certain shortcuts and don't even realize they do it.

My mom is a teacher so she was always on me to have proper grammar and spelling, so things like bad spelling or incorrect terms drive me insane (aka their and there). However, I still have my own irritating little foibles like 'anyways' (according to Greg it is 'anyway' but EVERYONE I know says 'anyways'!!!) and I tend to use 'alot' instead of 'a lot'.

Oh and recently Greg and I had a 'thing' about the word 'trough'. He was saying it completely incorrectly. He was saying trowe (like trowel)...and I said no it's troff. We had this big thing and then finally looked it up online and I was so right. OH and he was also saying that my definition for it was not right, that it was like 'trothe' like betrothed. I was like WHERE are you coming up with this stuff? This is a totally different word! HAH!

 

[Harriet]

Date: 7/10/2007 2:22:32 PM
Author: TravelingGal
I like whinging (that''s how I spell it in my head) because I feel it''s pretty descriptive.

Other ones that may not have been mentioned here that TGuy and I have teased each other about are:

Sneakers vs Sand Shoes. I ask, can you only wear them in the sand? He asks, are you only supposed to sneak around in them?
Footpath vs Sidewalk. He says it''s a path for your feet. I say it''s off to the side where you walk.
Rocket vs Arugula
Aubergine vs Eggplant
Tea vs Dinner
Parking lot vs Car Park
Trash Can vs Rubbish bin

And I am sure there are a ton more. It''s funny the we speak the same language and can''t understand each other sometimes!

Just like Romaine vs. Cos

 

[sumbride]

Date: 7/10/2007 2:19:21 PM
Author: Kaleigh
Here is a Philly phrase, ''I''m going down the shore'' '' Hey when are you going down the shore?? Cracks me up, but find myself saying it all the time.
.

In Baltimore it''s "Downy Oshun".

 

[TravelingGal]

Ha, pronunciation is another thing where we totally misunderstand one another (or people just generally can''t understand TGuy). We were in a car with American friends and TGuy was talking to an Aussie. He asked his friend to put another friend on the phone and simply said "Chuck him on." To which my friends turned to me and whispered, "What''s a chuckamon?"

Sometimes I can''t understand him, so he repeats himself. I still can''t understand. Then he has to enunciate in SLOOOOOOOWMOOOW and I feel a little mentally deficient.

Some other words that have come to mind:

chewy/gum
shopping cart/trolley
knackered/tired
stuffed/tired (he''ll often say he stuffed and someone else will say they''re hungry)

 

[Harriet]

TG,
Does he also say "chook?"

 

[snuga]

My biggest pet peeve is when people pronounce supposedly "supposubly" ARGH!

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 7/10/2007 2:40:58 PM
Author: Harriet
TG,
Does he also say ''chook?''

Yup. And of course there is "Sauce" vs. Ketchup. He instructed our friends to have shepherd''s pie with tomato sauce and I had to very quickly explain what that meant...otherwise it would have been ruined!

 

[Harleigh]

style="WIDTH: 99%; HEIGHT: 100px">Date: 7/10/2007 2:39:05 PM
Author: TravelingGal

Sometimes I can''t understand him, so he repeats himself. I still can''t understand. Then he has to enunciate in SLOOOOOOOWMOOOW and I feel a little mentally deficient.

That was great, TGal...thanks for the chuckle!!!

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 7/10/2007 2:44:35 PM
Author: kalispera
My biggest pet peeve is when people pronounce supposedly ''supposubly'' ARGH!

I used to hate that too...(TGuy does it as well as my old boss). But "supposably" apparently is a word...here, found a link....

http://www.mtannoyances.com/?p=296

 

[beachbound]

I've been reading this post all day, and I thought I would comment. I have been laughing reading all of these! I came to realize that I do take a lot of shortcuts on words that I say. It amuses me to see how different everyone speaks! I'm surprised that no one has brought up the words "ain't" and "ya'll." I say ya'll constantly! Apparently many people don't say that... A friend of mine says "crick" instead of "creek" and "torlet" for "toliet." Maybe it's just us here though....

 

[Harleigh]

Hi beach,

I think I touched on the "ain''t" one a few posts above...I just heard my future MIL use it last week and it took everything I had not to comment...don''t want to alienate her even before the proposal, you know!

I do say "y''all" all the time...I''m a country girl and have dated many Texans, cowboys, etc..., so I''m not sure if that''s how I picked it up or if I''m just flat-out lazy!

My mom would make my ex-boyfriend from Texas say nativity (he says NAY-tivity) and July (he says JOO-lie)...I think she just really liked when he said, "Yes, Ma''am" & "No, Ma''am" with a Texas drawl, to be honest with you!

My FF''s parents also say AM-ONDS for almonds (we say ALL-monds), PEE-CANS for pecans, etc...

My mom takes the H off of many words...Houston-she says YOU-ston. I dated a guy named Hugh for about a year...she would always say, "How is YOU?" meaning, "How is Hugh?" I finally just told her to call him by his middle name, which was John...it was hysterical! I know there are more, but I''m drawing a blank...

I find it''s easier to just try to keep my mouth shut!

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 7/10/2007 2:08:26 PM
Author: Harleigh
I, too, am a fan of made up words, like:
Fantabulous-Fantastic + Fabulous
Ginormous-Gigantic + Enormous (My FF''s personal favorite!)

Today is your LUCKY day!
"Ginormous" just made it into the Webster Dictonary!!!

See -- if we keep making them up ONE DAY they''ll become official!

 

[Pandora II]

Found a few more here:

Sidewalk = pavement (footpath is a nonpaved walkway through grass)

Almond - I pronounce it ''Arr Mond''

''Jumper'' for me is a big thick knitted woollen top. Then there is ''Jersey'' which is the same but thinner. A ''sweater'' would be made of fabric rather than knitted.

I had an ex who was Italian but went to university in the US. He used to find my use of ''dodgy'' very strange. Do you use this expression in the US or is it strictly Brit?

We endlessly fought about his wish to put ''gas'' in the car and take out the ''trash''!

Which leads to:
trashcan = wastepaper basket

I always talk about the ''washing-up machine'' instead of ''dishwasher'' but that may well just be my family. I have a lot of invented words from when I was very young that I still use and my family and FI do too because they like them. I tend to talk about ''elants'' instead of elephants and ''nakes'' instead of snakes.

I often helped the Italian language evolve

. I invented the phrase "Alla comencia" to replace "al''inizio'' - at the beginning. My group of italian friends thought it was cute and started using it too. I didn''t find out it wasn''t a real phrase for nearly a year!

 

[onedrop]

Kaleigh: I used to live in Philly and I had no idea what people were saying when they said "goin'' down the shore." That phrase is never said slowly or clearly, but more like one word "goindowndashore." It took me a few months to get that one!

Sumbride: You nailed the Baltimore version of "goindowndashore." Downy oshun is spot on!!! Gotta love that maryland accent.

And don''t forget habit in Baltimore with people always calling you "hun."

 

[Aloros]

Here''s a fun website: http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/.

The one that gets me is "here, here!" as opposed to the correct version: "hear, hear!" I was pretty excited to see ginormous get added to the dictionary. I use that one all the time!

 

[Sparkster]

Date: 7/10/2007 9:48:54 AM
Author: 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!

Australian versions of American words

Gaol = jail (still pronounced the same way)
Elevator = lift
Taxi = cab

Now for some Strine

A over T (arse over tit [excuse the language]) = fell over. 'She went A over T' means she fell over
Avagoodweegend = Have a good weekend
Ripper = fantastic (bloody ripper = super fantastic)
Bewdy = Beauty
Squiz = take a look at (have a squiz at this)
Chook (rhymes with look) = chicken
Grouse = wonderful/fantastic, ie, your dress is grouse
Iffy = dodgy
Yonks = forever (I've known him for yonks/It took yonks to get here)
Drongo (drong-go) = loser (person)
Arvo = afternoon
Mozzie = mosquito
Shout = pay for grog (It's your shout = it's your turn to pay for drinks) (who's shout is it? = who's turn to pay for the drinks?) It's tradition here for everyone in a group of friends to take turns in shouting drinks.
Grog = alcohol
Thong - the thing you put on your feet (flip flops). Thong here does not mean bum floss!!
Bludger = lazy person (dole bludger = unemployed person who does nothing to find work and lives off unemployment benefits)