Things I've learnt Americans say/don't say from the internet (cartoon, dictionary)
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Either way, I think it's quite obvious there are far more Britishisms/Aussieisms that Americans are ignorant of than the other way round.
Why is it "ignorant"? Hospital is a noun, not a verb. To say we are going to eat makes sense because you're about to do an action (eat). Unless Brits use 'hospital' on a different context, those big old medical buildings are. . . uh. . . things. Nouns.
And isn't "cannot" the proper way to say it??????????????
I don't know why people even compare the two. That's like comparing Europe's French with the French dialect of Louisiana (which I've read is hardly familiar to European French).
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluesmama
Why is it "ignorant"? Hospital is a noun, not a verb. To say we are going to eat makes sense because you're about to do an action (eat). Unless Brits use 'hospital' on a different context, those big old medical buildings are. . . uh. . . things. Nouns.
And isn't "cannot" the proper way to say it??????????????
I don't know why people even compare the two. That's like comparing Europe's French with the French dialect of Louisiana (which I've read is hardly familiar to European French).
Who BLOODY cares??????
Cool down sister, I meant ignorant as in 'unaware', not as stupid or wrong. A word has more than one definition.
To us it makes sense to say, 'I went to hospital,' although 'I went to the hospital' doesn't sound wrong. It's kind of the same as saying 'I went to school', you Americans don't say 'I went to the school' usually.
Well yeah, never said 'cannot' wasn't proper, I just notice you guys say 'cannot' alot more than plain old 'can't.'
Yes, hospital is a funny one. If I were going to a hospital for treatment, I'd say "I'm going to hospital tomorrow". If I'm going to visit a patient, I would say "I'm going to the hospital to visit Jane". I wouldn't say "I'm going to hospital to visit Jane".
So - to me - leaving out the word "the" infers that the speaker is referring to themselves (or another person) being a patient in the hospital.
You probably meant "I shall not disappoint you." (Simple future.)
That reminds me of a funny story:
A college freshman was swimming in a lake. Taken by cramps, he began to sink. He called out for help: “Oh Lord! I will drown and no one shall save me!” A group of college grammarians were having a picnic nearby. Being well brought up as well as tenured academicians, they honored his wishes and permitted him to drown.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kobber
Yes, hospital is a funny one. If I were going to a hospital for treatment, I'd say "I'm going to hospital tomorrow". If I'm going to visit a patient, I would say "I'm going to the hospital to visit Jane". I wouldn't say "I'm going to hospital to visit Jane".
So - to me - leaving out the word "the" infers that the speaker is referring to themselves (or another person) being a patient in the hospital.
I've noticed a few different posters on city-data have used the word 'barrow' when it appears - from the context - that they mean 'borrow'. It's not an obvious typo since the letter 'a' is some distance from the letter 'o' on a keyboard. Can anyone fill me in on this?
When I first came to America I noticed New Englanders say things like,
"so don't we", "so aren't we" "let see if we can't" when they should be saying "so do we" "so are we" "lets see if we can". It made the people sound like they weren't very bright. And you absolutely cannot correct them or point out their error.
My Mother who is from London said once "we had a terrific storm" meaning it was an intense storm. My friends laughed and said "what was so good about it?"
As someone who's lived in New England my entire life, the only time I ever heard anyone say "so don't we" and "so aren't we" was in elementary school by a little girl. I distinctly remember it because it sounded so wrong. That's probably just a childish grammatical error and if you were hearing it from adults.....hmmmm. I don't know the answer.
Also, we do say "There was a terrific thunderstorm." My mother (family from New England since 1640) used to say it and so do I. It means a horrible or really strong thunderstorm.
There are probably little pockets of sub dialects within New England and definitely there are different levels of education.
The British use the term "vexed" a lot, which is rarely used in the US. We would just say "angry."
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