Regional Dialects/Odd Sayings

[phat32]

Originally Posted by Belfastgirl

Just read on another site that Americans don't know what a fortnight is. (it's 2 weeks) Is that right?

Absolutely. It was something I always associated with, for example, Shakespeare.

I saw it for the first time on a comic book from the UK: "Published fortnightly."

Me: Say what? How much does this thing cost? Two "guineas," or something?

Another one we don't do: stone, as in a person's weight.

First week I was in England, and the family I was staying with asked, "So how many stone do you weigh?" This question typifies many differences between the UK and the US. First of all, Americans wouldn't ask that question. (I didn't mind, though.) Secondly, and most obviously, my response: "Well, hell, I don't know. How much does a typical stone weigh in this country?" The answer, my fellow Americans, is 14 lbs. Always.

[Google]

 

[Lotuslander]

My mother spent part of her childhood in England, uses expressions like " Keep your pecker up", which means keep your spirits up, but sometimes people have taken it the wrong way. I can spot an American accent with 1 sentence, even if your from the North, and they're always so surprised that it's that noticeable.

[ravs]

Originally Posted by phat32

I know there's a whole big cultural thing between England and Australia that I don't understand and shouldn't try, but just like the Irish, I'm interested why some Queen's English expressions made it and some didn't. It's very interesting to me.

Mmm.....I don't know...200 years of resentment towards the English maybe?

Since Mother England is so irrelevent in Australia's society (we will eventually become a republic), and so different in culture like you have mentioned, Australia has just developed its own style, language etc. Its hard to keep the Queen's expressions when Australia is completely the opposite of England. Aussies always make fun of the English as being snobby & uptight + we beat them in nearly every sport. Therefore Aussies don't want be seen as being in the same light as the english.

Another popular slang word that aussies love to use - Whinging Pom (pom or pommie meaning englishman)

[Lotuslander]

Originally Posted by Qboots

I know there's nothing wrong with condom, I was being whimsical.

And your bathroom correction got me thinking: I actually call it a washroom if I'm in a public place, but in a house I call it a bathroom. Is that weird?

No Qboots, I do too, I think most Canadians do. Also, I never hear Canadians refer to their couch's as sofa's, I don't know if that's the same in the US.

[J.D.]

Oh my heck! (Remember Julie the Mormon from the Real World?) I've even seen tee shirts with that on them. :rolleyes

[Qboots]

Originally Posted by Lotuslander

No Qboots, I do too, I think most Canadians do. Also, I never hear Canadians refer to their couch's as sofa's, I don't know if that's the same in the US.

Don't you mean chesterfield?

[Belfastgirl]

My parents generation called their sofa and chairs, a "three piece suite".
Don't hear the phrase used as much today.

[KaiCee]

Originally Posted by phat32

(I tried to do the ol' nod-and-smile, but he caught me after about ten minutes when he stopped talking and I--along with everyone at the table--realized he had just asked me a question that demanded more than a "yes" or "no" and I had just stupidly tried to nod along.

Oh, I do the nod n' smile thing all the time! I have a hearing loss and it's way easier than trying to get the person to repeat themselves. This nod n' smile has got me in trouble more than once (but that's a different thread) so I don't recommend it.

My maternal grandparents were straight from England - I only knew my grandmother (both grandfather's passed away years before I was born)...and my fraternal grandmother was from Arkansas. Add that with my step-grandfather (who was the only grandfather I knew) -- he was a Swedish immigrant. I had the most bizarre combinations of pronounciations and phrases! My Granny (Arkansas) used things like "cute as a bug in a rug" "cute as a bees knees" "I'm gonna knock you into the middle of next week" "I'm gonna tear your arm off and beat you with the bloody end of it" (I have no idea why we weren't all traumatized by that last one...but it was just a normal saying in my family. Then my Grandmother (English) called the boys I knew "fine young chaps" -- tea was never just tea...it was a "lovely cup of tea" -- now that I think of it, just about everything was lovely to her. My Swedish grandfather's heavy accented speech was more interesting that it was odd. "Gots Dammit" was his choice of swear words. My smarty-pants teenage self would ask him if he wasn't using God's name in vain...he would always tell me that the Lord has never been referred to as "Gots"...so he was safe.

This is such an interesting thread...I love reading it. Truely a "lovely" thread

Oh, and my in-laws are from New England...my mother in law can't say "door"...it's always "shut the do-uh" no matter how much we tease her. I visited Maine last month and we went to Bar Harbour...the locals call it Bah Ha Bah.

[Matt64]

This is a great thread. It's actually really interesting to read some of these posts and I suppose because I'm really paying attention, I've spotted colloquialisms just in the general banter. Lucy's posts specifically spring to mind.

Anyway, I don't really know what would be a specific regional saying in Vancouver/West Coast of Canada. I've seen a few of the East Coast/Central Canadians post things that I know we on the West Coast don't say. "Eh" for example. It's not prevalent among people who were born and raised in British Columbia, the only people who say "eh" in Vancouver are Torontonians and East Coasters.

That said, I know Canadians in general spell things differently than our American counterparts. I always use the spell checker when I post, and my use of the letter "s" instead of "z" in a number of words ALWAYS shows up. Also, the addition of the letter "u" in words like "colour".

Just a few 'funny' stories. I was in Florida a few years ago, and my brothers and I were standing in line at this funky little outdoor pancake restaurant. As we ordered our food, the man working the grill asked us what part of England we were from. Apparently to Floridians, Canadians sound like Brits.

One night I was serving a family from Georgia (I think) and they all ordered Coke. I walked away and brought each of them a Coke. All 5 of them looked at me and were like "why didn't you ask us what type of Coke we wanted?" and I was like, "well.. we only have regular Coke. We don't have diet." and they were all like "but we wanted 7-up" and I was like "but I thought you ordered Coke" and they were like "yeah, we wanted a 7-up Coke" and I proceeded to stand there with a very confused look on my face, and said "so, you want me to mix the 7-up and coke?" and they were like "no, we just want 7-up" and I was like "uhm, ok" and I walked away, brought them their 7-ups, and when it was time for refills they all said "we'd like refills of coke" and I was like "7-up or coke?" and they were like "7-up". It was VERY confusing until later on they explained that all pop is called Coke.

Oh, and for all the Americans thinking of traveling to Canada in the foreseeable future.. our Iced Tea is pre-sweetend.

[Qboots]

Originally Posted by Matt64

That said, I know Canadians in general spell things differently than our American counterparts. I always use the spell checker when I post, and my use of the letter "s" instead of "z" in a number of words ALWAYS shows up. Also, the addition of the letter "u" in words like "colour".

I thought it was the Brits who used "s". I've always used "z". And I love the letter "u" so much I keep inserting it in words where it truly does not belong.

Originally Posted by Matt64

Oh, and for all the Americans thinking of traveling to Canada in the foreseeable future.. our Iced Tea is pre-sweetend.

As are our citizens.