Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

[callmeclemens]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

I have heard "Picking" in that manner before, but oddly enough when I was down in West Virginia.

[Jembru]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

Ah... I get that now. Does any part of the US use the word 'picking' like we do in my part of the world? Here it can mean 'starting to' or 'beginning.' So you get, 'It's picking rain,' meaning that it's starting to rain. Just wondered, in view of the fact that so many Welsh emigrated to the US.

Oh I like that! We don't have that here. We just have 'it's spitting onto rain', which I imagine you also hear in Wales. Can we slightly hijack this thread to include differences between English used in Wales and England too? It would be cool to see how much has spread to the States and how much is purely local usage.

Do you think the Welsh language has influenced how English is used in Wales? I mean, are there expressions or grammar usages that are direct translations from Welsh and thus unique to Wales?

[JamesByrne]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

I have heard "Picking" in that manner before, but oddly enough when I was down in West Virginia.

Ive nothin to contribute but I have to say I find that amazing! Its a really interesting discussion!

[thalassa]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

Ah... I get that now. Does any part of the US use the word 'picking' like we do in my part of the world? Here it can mean 'starting to' or 'beginning.' So you get, 'It's picking rain,' meaning that it's starting to rain. Just wondered, in view of the fact that so many Welsh emigrated to the US.

Interesting...here we have "setting to" and "fittin' to"...

I have a language question for the US citizins actually: I have noticed you use 'have' idiomatically in such expressions as, 'I had the kids wash the car', or 'I had my friend deliver the letter for me'. Although this has definitely filtered into UK English, it still seems more of an American style of speech. My question is, does this always mean, 'I made the person do this thing/requested that they do this thing' or, can it also mean 'I gave permission...'. Could I say, for example, 'I had the kids go trick or treating' with the meaning, 'they wanted to go, so I allowed it'?

If you say something like "I had so and so do such and such", it means that you told them/asked them/requested them to so something in your stead. It isn't (at least now where I'm from) equivalent to giving them permission.

[Jembru]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

Interesting...here we have "setting to" and "fittin' to"...



If you say something like "I had so and so do such and such", it means that you told them/asked them/requested them to so something in your stead. It isn't (at least now where I'm from) equivalent to giving them permission.

Thanks Thal (and Callmeclemens). So it is something done by another, but to your benefit? So, 'I had the kids clean their room', probably wouldn't quite be right, as it is their job to keep their room clean, but 'I had the kids clean my room', maybe because you were sick or too busy and bribed them with money, would be a more natural use?

I guess there simply isn't a single verb in the English language that can express both 'allow' and 'make'. If I had the time and brain capacity, I would love to explore the evolution of English from Saxon through old and middle English. Maybe if I ever win the lotto, I could retire and dedicate myself to linguistics. For now, I'll just aim for not using 'it's' when I mean 'its' and if I master that, who knows, maybe I could even learn to spell! ^^

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

Another big difference - and one I'm always being picked up on by the English - is the use of the word 'after.' We use it the same way as 'later.' So I'll do it after, means 'I'll do it later/in a while.'

[thalassa]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

Thanks Thal (and Callmeclemens). So it is something done by another, but to your benefit? So, 'I had the kids clean their room', probably wouldn't quite be right, as it is their job to keep their room clean, but 'I had the kids clean my room', maybe because you were sick or too busy and bribed them with money, would be a more natural use?

Actually, "I had the kids clean their room" would be right. Its like saying "I MADE the kids clean their room", but a bit less forceful...or the same as "I told the kids to clean their room, and they went a head and completed the task". If you are saying "I had..." then you are basically saying that the task is completed (or in progress--I'm having the kids clean their room) in that instance.

[sharukhshazz2214]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

The differences are not that big

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

The differences are not that big

Well, we'll have to agree to differ there I think. It's very easy to misinterpret what Americans and Canadians say to a Brit (and probably even to even other ) and vice versa. When I first joined PF I would often say things that other people thought meant something quite different....:-)

[Denarius]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

I agree, let's celebrate cultural uniformity with biscuits or perhaps some smarties.

[Juniper]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

By smarties, do you mean that chalk like crap they have in the US or the mm's they have in Europe?

[Jembru]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

Got a quick question. In American English, is hair conditioner also called rinse or is conditioning the hair rinsing the hair? I have recently learnt 'condition ones hair' (it's the phrase of the day for October 2nd), in Japanese and it is given as 'rinsu wo suru', with the 'rinsu' part written in katakana, which they use to write words from other languages. I'm not sure if this is a mistranslation, because rinsing ones hair in UK English means to remove shampoo with clean water; if it is borrowed from US usage; or if it's the Japanese confusing meaning. Obviously, it is life and death that I am able to express this mundane and rather personal aspect of daily bathing, with confidence! Because, you know, the chances that one needs to describe grooming routines while lost in a foreign country are just too high!

[Pellethie]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

The amount of sunlight, forest or wilderness land and wildlife.

[Hoho]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

Got a quick question. In American English, is hair conditioner also called rinse or is conditioning the hair rinsing the hair? I have recently learnt 'condition ones hair' (it's the phrase of the day for October 2nd), in Japanese and it is given as 'rinsu wo suru', with the 'rinsu' part written in katakana, which they use to write words from other languages. I'm not sure if this is a mistranslation, because rinsing ones hair in UK English means to remove shampoo with clean water; if it is borrowed from US usage; or if it's the Japanese confusing meaning. Obviously, it is life and death that I am able to express this mundane and rather personal aspect of daily bathing, with confidence! Because, you know, the chances that one needs to describe grooming routines while lost in a foreign country are just too high!

In american english, conditioning the hair and rinsing the hair are two different things. to condition the hair, (we actually say to put conditioner in the hair) is the act of well, putting the liquid stuff in it (the stuff after shampoo that makes it sleek and shiny). To rinse the hair is to rinse it with water and get all the stuff out of it. Seems like Us and UK are the same.

It's not a mistranslation in Japanese per-say. It's just, kind of obscure english that's been twisted around, there's more than a few katakana-go that are like that. Best thing to do is ignore the english for the most part, and learn it as an entirely new word. I'll research the context of rinsu suru online and see what I can find, did you learn that phrase from a book or a person? A person will be correct but a book may be wrong.

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Newp, it looks like they really do mean hair-conditioning! Weird!

[Jembru]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

In american english, conditioning the hair and rinsing the hair are two different things. to condition the hair, (we actually say to put conditioner in the hair) is the act of well, putting the liquid stuff in it (the stuff after shampoo that makes it sleek and shiny). To rinse the hair is to rinse it with water and get all the stuff out of it. Seems like Us and UK are the same.

It's not a mistranslation in Japanese per-say. It's just, kind of obscure english that's been twisted around, there's more than a few katakana-go that are like that. Best thing to do is ignore the english for the most part, and learn it as an entirely new word. I'll research the context of rinsu suru online and see what I can find, did you learn that phrase from a book or a person? A person will be correct but a book may be wrong.

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Newp, it looks like they really do mean hair-conditioning! Weird!

Thanks! Yeah, I learnt it from a website, but the author is Japanese. I try to clear things up with my native speaking friends, but I feel like I am always bombarding them with questions, so do my best to search out answers on my own where possible. This one just seemed.. weird. Then again, they use the German word for 'work' to mean a part time job, not to mention the 'training pants', so I've met this kind of thing before.