Regional Dialects/Odd Sayings

[AmandaFabulous]

Originally Posted by John

How about the eternal "in line" versus "on line" debate?

We say "in line" here. I was standing in line...

I know New Yawkers say "on line", and I just don't get it. you're not standing on a line, you're standing IN a line.

In London they say in queue rather that in line

I'll never forget...me...16 years old...on a trip with my high school travel club...heathrow international....the lady checking my luggage tells me to stand in queue and wait for my bags. I was like..stand how?


I've lived in the south most of my life and I can not stand the 'fixin to' phrase and the universal 'coke' thing. Drives me nuts. I don't say those...but I'm sure I'm guilty of all the rest.

[Google]

 

[phat32]

Hey, it's the resurrection of the Regional Dialects/Odd Sayings thread. Very, very cool.

Originally Posted by ozjod

Root, in the US you root for a team, in Australia that's what Betty and Bob do in private

Heh. That's interesting in and of itself, of course, but I also find your use of "Bob and Betty" interesting.

What had me thinking about this from years ago was reading one of Colleen McCullough's (The Thorn Birds) novels set in Rome. (She's written tons, and I lost interest about a book or two into it.)

For some reason, she provided a footnote about the Romans not having a "generic" name for the Everyperson. As an example, she cited the American use of "John Smith" and the English use of "Joe Bloggs."

This got me thinking about the American use of "John Smith and Jane Doe" when referring to the "typical" American man and woman and the use of "John Doe" and "Jane Doe" when referring to unidentified people involved in crime (either as the criminal or the victim).

A bit outdated now but still in use is "Joe Blow" to refer to the "typical" American male, although I'd imagine "NASCAR Dad" to fit the description once given to "Joe Blow."

So can I assume "Bob and Betty" does the job for the Australians that "John and Jane" does for the Americans?

You cook with bell peppers, we call them Capsicums.

Kooky. I love it! I always wondered how the English came up with "aubergine" for an eggplant, but I have the same question about a "capsicum."

You have egg rolls, we have spring rolls.

Hmmm. Y'see, I'm Asian-American, and this one makes my head spin! From the time I was a kid, if I ate in a Chinese restaurant, an "egg roll" was the crispy one.

Then Vietnamese restaurants started creeping into the Bay Area (California) where I hail from originally, and things got interesting. The Vietnamese have some Chinese influence in their cooking, of course (long story--war and colonization and such; guess you had to be there). But in some of the Vietnamese restaurants, an "imperial roll" indicated the crispy one, and a "spring roll' had a soft outer layer and was filled with, among other things, cilantro, crispy rice noodles and cold, cooked shrimp(!).

But, wait! There's more! (As they say in our infomercials.) Go into Chinatown and ask for "egg rolls" and you may be handed a tin of sweet, cigar-shaped cookies. Confused yet? I know I am.

[dreaminginblond]

Originally Posted by John

How about the eternal "in line" versus "on line" debate?

We say "in line" here. I was standing in line...

I know New Yawkers say "on line", and I just don't get it. you're not standing on a line, you're standing IN a line.

In England they call it qeueing. (I think that's spelled right)

Also England

lift= elevator (us)
shopping cart = trolleys (us)
jumper = sweatshirt (us)

[phat32]

Originally Posted by BamaFabulous

I'll never forget...me...16 years old...on a trip with my high school travel club...heathrow international....the lady checking my luggage tells me to stand in queue and wait for my bags. I was like..stand how?

I had my college trip to England when I was 21. After nine hours into a 10+ hour flight, we were all getting pretty punchy and, of course, couldn't sleep. We started having discussions of English pronunciation of common words: "aluminum," "vitamin," "schedule," and so forth and decided that "schedule" was the funniest. (To everyone else in the world: We Americans pronounce it with a hard "c," like "schooner." The English, of course, pronounce it the same way "sure" is pronounced, with the "sh" sound.)

About five minutes after our discussion, the pilot made the announcement about the blah-blah temperature and so on and then: "We are on SHE-DULE to land at Heathrow." All 30 of us were laughing, and the Britons in the cabin no doubt wondered why.

I had tried to prepare myself for the American and Queen's English differences in language, but nothing ever prepares you. Hell, I felt less alien my first time in Paris armed with nothing more than two years of high school French. ("Hello, my hat is green.")

Americans can deal with "lift" for elevator and "lorry" for bus and "town centre" for downtown, but I think the one that catches Americans off-guard the most, the one they are most prudish about switching to is toilet for "restroom," "bathroom," or "men's/ladies' room."

[Lucy]

When I was in London during college, I once asked an old man outside a pub what the score was in a big football (soccer) game. He said what sounded to me like "not-not." It took a few tries before I realized he was saying "naught-naught" -- zero to zero.

[phat32]

Originally Posted by Lucy

When I was in London during college, I once asked an old man outside a pub what the score was in a big football (soccer) game. He said what sounded to me like "not-not." It took a few tries before I realized he was saying "naught-naught" -- zero to zero.

Huh. When the score is, say, "3-0," I've always heard them say, "three nil." I've never thought about how they handled a double goose egg score.

[Muduh]

Then of course there's whatever my MIL speaks. It isn't exactly English, although she has never been more than 200 miles outside Tennessee. If I cook turnip greens for FIL she always comments on the "sallit". A grocery bag is a "poke". A prescription is a "scripture". And of course, tomatoes and potatoes are "maters and taters." Occasionally my husband still makes me cringe when he comes out with one of the jewels from his childhood. He never says seven or eleven. I don't know if spelling is enough for you to get the picture, but it's sebum and lebum. A child in the family is named Joseph. I don't know if the ph is actually there, but they pronounce it like it ends in P.

[phat32]

Originally Posted by Muduh

Then of course there's whatever my MIL speaks. It isn't exactly English, although she has never been more than 200 miles outside Tennessee.

What's an "MIL"? "Mother-in-law"?

Since I originally hail from California and now live in Alabama, I've noticed plenty o' differences, that's for sure. I've noticed differences between Alabama and other Southern states, even. How about: instead of "give you a ride" to the grocery store, it's carry you to the grocery store. That's just one. I don't know if it's in use in Tenn.

If I cook turnip greens for FIL she always comments on the "sallit". A grocery bag is a "poke". A prescription is a "scripture". And of course, tomatoes and potatoes are "maters and taters."

Often in Alabama, a salad is greens. Even in McDonald's! The poster on the wall will say "Try our new crisp greens!"

Occasionally my husband still makes me cringe when he comes out with one of the jewels from his childhood. He never says seven or eleven. I don't know if spelling is enough for you to get the picture, but it's sebum and lebum. A child in the family is named Joseph. I don't know if the ph is actually there, but they pronounce it like it ends in P.

The one that makes me cringe in Alabama is when even well-educated people say heighTH instead of "height" (as in, "width," "length," etc.). Another one, and this may be a Birmingham thing or a Southern states thing, is ReeSIE Cup instead of "Reese's Peanut Butter Cup." Don't ask me why it drives me crazy. It just does.

[Lucy]

Mudah, my grandparents (from eastern Tennessee and western Virginia) say some of those things. They also always said "warsh" for wash and "orter" for "ought to."
My grandfather still tells my very skinny sister that she looks "poor as a snake."
On the "fixin' to" thing -- a couple of months ago, the Democrats in this state (Virginia) had a big dinner that was shown on C-Span because they had most of the Democratic presidential candidates there. The emcee was a good ol' boy state legislator who announced to everyone there, and everyone watching on C-Span, that they were "fixin' to start."

[Boredom]

Down here, we have a few of them, like 'y'all' and 'mkay' and 'young'ns'. All of those are very useful