Proof Americans and Brits speak a different language

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Comments

  • orfeo wrote: »
    mousethief wrote: »

    Looks more like 16 to me: 48÷3. Are you sure you've got the right Oregon?

    The bigger question is why are we trying to do a Texas-based conversion instead of a direct comparison? The opportunity for rounding errors is considerable.

    The true answer is actually about 17 and 3/4 using the total area figures on Wikipedia.

    EDIT: Never before has the phrase "you're a couple of Connecticuts short of an Oregon" entered the lexicon.

    Sorry @mousethief I posted that from my phone while cooking, and wasn't concentrating, you're right it's 16.

    @orfeo because that's the only comparison I could find that listed states in relation to each other, there wasn't a direct comparison of Connecticut to Oregon, which is what mousethief mentioned, and it followed on from a discussion about the stupidity of the national measurement comparators that are usually trotted out in articles or news programmes to help people visualise the size of something. We were pointing out they weren't helpful. I tried visualising Oregon and Connecticut (from playing Sporcle) before trying to find an answer and was a factor of 2 out
  • Fawkes Cat wrote: »

    A quick show of hands please: who else thought that this must link back to @Eirenist's post about liking someone's donkey being a good chat-up line?

    As my eyes scanned down the page, I read "I like your ass!" "It's the size of Connecticut."
  • Fawkes Cat wrote: »

    A quick show of hands please: who else thought that this must link back to @Eirenist's post about liking someone's donkey being a good chat-up line?

    As my eyes scanned down the page, I read "I like your ass!" "It's the size of Connecticut."

    Bahahaha!
  • Fawkes Cat wrote: »

    A quick show of hands please: who else thought that this must link back to @Eirenist's post about liking someone's donkey being a good chat-up line?

    As my eyes scanned down the page, I read "I like your ass!" "It's the size of Connecticut."
    Baby got back.

  • My wife (from the eastern part of the middle of England) has spent over 25 years in south Wales and still finds some things we say 'a bit odd'. One of these is to say school and pool with two syllables - 'skoo-wul' and 'poo-wul' (approximate pronunciations). She also feels that towel should be one syllable instead of 'tow-wul', but then in my opinionshe can't say 'tooth' properly...!
  • TheOrganistTheOrganist Shipmate
    edited February 15
    Ah, you refer to the south Walian tuth. Nothing wrong with that, your yerrs 👂👂 aren't deceiving you.
  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    Sheffield is the only place I know where road has two syllables (Row-ad) and where 'here' and 'there' rhyme.
  • I apologise in advance if this has been raised here before, but here goes: 'goose-pimples' or 'goose-bumps'. The former was what they were know as here in the UK when I grew up post WWII, the latter has only appeared since the turn of the century. Does anyone know why or whence it comes?
  • SparrowSparrow Shipmate
    Same here, I always knew them as goose pimples. Goose bumps is American I think, probably came here via TV and movies.
  • I think of goose pimples as the result of swimming in the sea in April, with just a costume, and it takes me back to childhood, shivering in a towel being given hot chocolate from a thermos flask. Goosebumps were a series of children's horror books (aimed at 9 year olds) written by RL Stine, around when my daughter was of an age to read them.
  • Penny SPenny S Shipmate
    I think mine have always been goosebumps in Sussex and Kent
  • Goosepimples - to describe that soggy, frozen flesh after outdoor swimming in places like Skegness!
  • Raised in central southern England - only ever used "goosebumps"
  • Raised in central southern England - only ever used "goosebumps"

    So was I - maybe its an age thing?
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    How many people have seen a plucked goose these days, and therefore been struck by the resemblance? I suspect 'pimples' lost out to 'bumps' as the more yeuch word.
  • BroJamesBroJames Purgatory Host, 8th Day Host
    Raised in central southern England - only ever used "goosebumps"
    Like you, but for me it was ‘goosepimples’.
  • Firenze wrote: »
    How many people have seen a plucked goose these days, and therefore been struck by the resemblance? I suspect 'pimples' lost out to 'bumps' as the more yeuch word.

    Anyone who's had one for Christmas?
  • Vietnamese refer to the phenomenon as "chicken skin." (Mr Lamb takes great delight in tickling me in ways that create it, drat him.)
  • My father said "gooseflesh", learned his English before WW2 in Singapore and later in Toronto. He also said khaki as car-key and coupon as Q-pawn. Habits I also have. I've eaten geese, but they are Canada and snow geese, hunted with shotguns. Don't see domestic geese for sale much. I did buy a domestic duck last fall. They're quite fatty compared to the wild ones- we used eat to mallards, pintails, green and blue wing teals when my father hunted.
  • CaissaCaissa Shipmate
    Goosebumps is used in New Brunswick (Canada not New Jersey).
  • Penny SPenny S Shipmate
    edited February 23
    Change of subject (though friend, London, came up with gooseflesh at first). Tomorrow, DHL is making a delivery. "Your parcel will be delivered Wednesday". Whereas I would expect "on Wednesday".
  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    How else would one say khaki?
  • KarlLB wrote: »
    How else would one say khaki?

    I've heard people say "cacky"...
  • That's what I would say and have always heard.
  • Gill HGill H Shipmate
    I have herd Americans admire someone’s khaki pants, which brings to mind a whole different image for a Brit.
  • To this Brit "khaki" and "car key" are homophones.

    LC, it seems Vietnamese and Dutch have something in common. We say chicken skin here too - kippenvel.
  • Great minds!
  • Goosebumps and cacky here.
  • I’ve never heard anything except “cacky.”


  • Sounds like poop to me. Ca-ca. Which you do in the kybo.
  • To this Brit "khaki" and "car key" are homophones.

    LC, it seems Vietnamese and Dutch have something in common. We say chicken skin here too - kippenvel.

    Homophobes? What?
  • Sounds like poop to me. Ca-ca. Which you do in the kybo.

    cacky and cah-cah don't sound a bit alike. We also had kybos but only in Boy Scouts.
  • The DHL notification is correct either way.
  • Gramps49 wrote: »
    The DHL notification is correct either way.

    Not in Anglo-English it isn't; as a Brit @Penny S is right to spot the omitted 'on'.
  • EnochEnoch Shipmate
    To this Brit "khaki" and "car key" are homophones. ...
    Not quite for this one. The stress pattern is slightly different. It's a bit like the difference between ' a Blackbird' and 'a black bird'.

  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    Fawkes Cat wrote: »
    Gramps49 wrote: »
    The DHL notification is correct either way.

    Not in Anglo-English it isn't; as a Brit @Penny S is right to spot the omitted 'on'.

    Yeah, but its omission didn't sound wrong either.
  • KarlLB wrote: »
    Fawkes Cat wrote: »
    Gramps49 wrote: »
    The DHL notification is correct either way.

    Not in Anglo-English it isn't; as a Brit @Penny S is right to spot the omitted 'on'.

    Yeah, but its omission didn't sound wrong either.

    It may not sound wrong (I don't know the proper term, but as a Brit I would assume that the speaker had just swallowed the 'on' - it was in their mind but just didn't make it out of their mouth) but (to this Brit at least) it reads wrong.
  • orfeoorfeo Shipmate
    edited February 24
    I'm sure I've seen that particular difference between British and American forms before. That is, in American English you can link an action to a day directly, but in British English (and Australian) you have to describe an action as occurring on a day.
  • Gill HGill H Shipmate
    mousethief wrote: »
    Sounds like poop to me. Ca-ca. Which you do in the kybo.

    cacky and cah-cah don't sound a bit alike. We also had kybos but only in Boy Scouts.

    Cacky would imply ‘covered in cack’ (ie poop) to me, and ‘pants’ would imply underpants - hence the ‘ewww’ reaction.
  • Gill H wrote: »
    mousethief wrote: »
    Sounds like poop to me. Ca-ca. Which you do in the kybo.

    cacky and cah-cah don't sound a bit alike. We also had kybos but only in Boy Scouts.

    Cacky would imply ‘covered in cack’ (ie poop) to me, . . .
    I don’t think I’ve ever heard “cack” before. As far as that goes, I know what “ca-ca” means, but I rarely hear it. And “kybo” is a new one on me too. We had “latrines” in Scouts,

    Is there a difference in the UK pronunciation of “khaki” and “cocky”?

  • School joke from 1940s: A soldier, a sailor and an airman got into a car. Who drove? Answer: The soldier, because he had the car-key. Groan.
  • EnochEnoch Shipmate
    Nick Tamen wrote: »
    ... Is there a difference in the UK pronunciation of “khaki” and “cocky”?
    Yes. Their first vowel in BrEnglish is completely different. The first vowel in 'cacky' (i.e. covered in actual or metaphorical cack) is different from either of them.
  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    edited February 24
    Kakhi the first vowel is ah. This is a long vowel.
    Cocky the first vowel is as in "sock". This is a short vowel.

    Even without the vowel length differences they're distinct sounds. Ah is an open vowel, short o much more closed.

    Mind you, to our ears, many Americans seem to wear 'sahks' rather than 'socks'
  • SparrowSparrow Shipmate
    orfeo wrote: »
    I'm sure I've seen that particular difference between British and American forms before. That is, in American English you can link an action to a day directly, but in British English (and Australian) you have to describe an action as occurring on a day.

    Reminds me of another one creeping Americanism - to refer to a person living "on" a street rather than "in" which would be the UK usage.
  • How abut this one: 'Homage: Hommidge or HOmaazh? Former is trad Brit, me.g. swearing allegince tomonarch (perhaps not used much in the USA), the latter is affected by luvves in Britland, to refer to some kind of tribute to a fellow artist or performer.
  • Memo to self: ALWAYS PROOF-READ BEFORE POSTING.
  • EnochEnoch Shipmate
    edited February 24
    Hommidge, for all purposes. The other pronunciation in a BreEnglish speaker is an affectation, with no exceptions.
  • Sparrow wrote: »
    orfeo wrote: »
    I'm sure I've seen that particular difference between British and American forms before. That is, in American English you can link an action to a day directly, but in British English (and Australian) you have to describe an action as occurring on a day.

    Reminds me of another one creeping Americanism - to refer to a person living "on" a street rather than "in" which would be the UK usage.

    I've been saying "on" for 70 years, Mancunian maybe.
  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    Sparrow wrote: »
    orfeo wrote: »
    I'm sure I've seen that particular difference between British and American forms before. That is, in American English you can link an action to a day directly, but in British English (and Australian) you have to describe an action as occurring on a day.

    Reminds me of another one creeping Americanism - to refer to a person living "on" a street rather than "in" which would be the UK usage.

    I've been saying "on" for 70 years, Mancunian maybe.

    Possibly; my father came from Blackburn and "on" sounds natural to me.
  • SparrowSparrow Shipmate
    Eirenist wrote: »
    How abut this one: 'Homage: Hommidge or HOmaazh? Former is trad Brit, me.g. swearing allegince tomonarch (perhaps not used much in the USA), the latter is affected by luvves in Britland, to refer to some kind of tribute to a fellow artist or performer.

    Yes, I first noticed "Homaarsh" in cookery programmes (I think it was the Hairy Bikers) using it in the sense of a tribute to a different genre.


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