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

[Chris]

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

I know what you mean about regional dialect in Britain...I originally hail from the east end of London (although you'd never know it with my Grammar School polished vowels)...my girlfriend origiates from Gateshead (Newastle upon Tyne)...to start with it was like learning a completely foreign accent

however after 15 years up here in co durham I can understand a certain amount of the lingo..whey Bonnie lad..hows ya fettlin and etc...although I am still what is termed as an interloper or foreigner as i wasn't born up here..and still come a cropper with certain slang words

[Optimistic discord]

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

I love some of the region specific terms that spring up here in the UK. Grockel, lovely word.

The differences in pronunciation between UK and US English always entertain me. Not a day goes by where someone at work doesnt ask how we are meant to pronounce saline.

[ThorsSon]

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

Do you have nicknames for people from various parts of the US/Canada?

I mean the Welsh are sometimes referred to as Taffies by the English (and by others....) but in Wales we are a little more precise. For example, people from North Wales are often referred to as Gogs. And people from the valleys as Sionis (pronounced Shunnies).

While, outside of the US, "Yankee/Yank" is slang for Americans in general, in the South, "Yankee/Yank" refers to people from the northern states of the US... in particular... particularly, the states that fought on the Union side of the Civil War.

Coon-Ass is a slang term used by the Cajuns of southern Louisiana, to describe themselves. I have noticed that people of northern Louisiana
use it derogatorily, while the Cajuns wear it with pride... at least some do.

I can't think of any other slang terms for people from certain areas, off-the-top-of-my-head.

Redneck/hillbilly/hick has SOME ties to region, but it refers to a type of person more than the location... although, the difference between redneck and hillbilly is mostly location... hillbilly refers mostly to the people of the Appalachian and Ozark Mountains... but even that is fuzzy, since the origin of the word redneck comes from coal miners in the Appalachian Mountains... and ironically, it was born of an effort to embrace racial diversity. The members of the miners' union "United Mine Workers of America," took to wearing red-bandanas around their necks to indicate that they were union members, and try to achieve social cohesion among the various miners.

[thalassa]

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

Not a day goes by where someone at work doesnt ask how we are meant to pronounce saline.

erm...

as a former medic...how do you pronounce saline?

(here, its SAY-leen...or, if one is *really* Southern perhaps say-LAYEE-nh--I worked with a girl from somewhere in Georgia, that busted it out like it was 5 syllables long, lol)

[LuThorgh]

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

Anyone else find it oddly amusing that UK and US both have what they call, "oakeys" "rednecks" "hill-folk" or "hillbillies?"

I just get blown away by some of the similarites. Like, whether in city or in the country-side, they have different accents and ways of saying things, and it's funny how similar they sound to american hillbillies sometimes.

Like, there's American Ebonics type slang, and British ebonics type slang, American northern accents and language, and southern drall.

Like, Californian and Bostonian, northern and southern, east and west. Same in Britain as US. I never noticed it until I was watching Snatch for the first time and remember thinking, "Blimey! I can't understand a single word that brit is saying! He sounds like a redneck! And that one sounds like he grew up in the inner-city, while that guy is obviously from up-town." Kind of dumb analysis, but I thought it was very neat, and made me realize that we are very similar. Also made me realize that "british" isn't really an "accent" at all.

[Rick]

[Tylluan Penry]

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

Not sure whether this link has already made it to this thread, but here goes anyway!

http://todayilearned.co.uk/2012/12/04/what-the-british-say-vs-what-they-really-mean/

[ThorsSon]

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

Not sure whether this link has already made it to this thread, but here goes anyway!

http://todayilearned.co.uk/2012/12/0...y-really-mean/

A lot of those are the same here.. or at least similar:

I hear what you say: "OK, you've said your piece, and now I'm going to tell you what is wrong with it."
With the greatest respect (here, we say "With all due respect"): "I'm about to politely tell you that you are an idiot."
That's not bad: "That is very good."
I would suggest: this is usually said by parents/grandparents, and it usually precedes a demand, rather than a suggestion.
I'll bear it in mind: "You are annoying me and wasting my time... please go away."

That's not bad, makes me think of one of my favorite compliments for food. If something is said to be "fit to eat," here in the South, it doesn't mean that it is simply edible... it means that it is excellent.

[Tylluan Penry]

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

In Wales we use the word 'Tidy' to mean good. 'That's tidy that is,' means 'that's very good.'
'That's half tidy that is,' means 'that's really very very good.'
And 'That's three parts half tidy that is,' means 'That's just brilliant.'

[Doc_Holliday]

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

If I may add in some Canadian differences.

Ontario Canadian word for baby bottle tip is "Nipple"
Newfoundlanders call it a "Dumb Tit"

Ontario Canadians/western/central Canadians pronounce boy "B-OI"
Newfoundlanders say By

Central/West canadians pronounce the name "George" exactly as you expect.
Newfoundlanders pronounce it "Jarge"

All in all newfies have crafted a new language.

[Denarius]

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

Central/West canadians pronounce the name "George" exactly as you expect.

H~ore-HAY?

[Doc_Holliday]

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

H~ore-HAY?

No no no.

Ti-Wa-Na-Ku-Sho-Knee-Ra

George

[Tylluan Penry]

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

If I may add in some Canadian differences.

Ontario Canadian word for baby bottle tip is "Nipple"
Newfoundlanders call it a "Dumb Tit"

Ontario Canadians/western/central Canadians pronounce boy "B-OI"
Newfoundlanders say By

Central/West canadians pronounce the name "George" exactly as you expect.
Newfoundlanders pronounce it "Jarge"

All in all newfies have crafted a new language.

In my part of Wales the dummy or pacifier is sometimes called a Titty.
And in the South West of England you often hear George pronounced as Jarge too.

[Clive]

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

A few things I've noticed about "Hawaiian English":

"He wants them to do this" = "He'd like 'em do"

"To" = "Fu," as in "Don't tell me what fu'do."

"A lot" = "Choke"

"What's up?" = "Howzit?"

"Goodbye" = "Shoots"

"A" and "an" are often replaced with "one," as in "I got me one bike yesterday."

And then there's the catchall term, "Da kine," pronounced phonetically, which is Hawaiian Pidgin (essentially broken English), literally means "the kind," and is comparable to "whatsit," "whatchamacallit," "what's-his-name." It can refer to any noun, and is often as effective as saying, "The thing, over by the thing, with the thing."

A few Hawaiian words are commonly inserted into otherwise English sentences, such as "pau," (pronounced "pow"), which literally means "consumed by fire," and is used to mean "finished." We use that one at work a lot.

[anunitu]

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

Having learned just a little Hawaiian English, I can say "Yo broder,we gone go get some grinds?"