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Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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I've realised they don't use the term 'fortnight', generally use the word 'rude' only in the sense of lacking manners, say 'half hour', 'a couple of times' (instead of half an hour, a couple of times), use plenty of acronyms for everything (SO, DH, PDA), have this phrase to 'call someone out', don't use the word 'cheeky' nearly as much as us.
Have other non-Americans learnt/noticed anything? I'm talking things you've personally noticed, not the well known differences (lorry/truck, hood/bonnett, color/colour, well known regional slang).
Oh and learnt/learned, spoilt/spoiled tends to be an American/British thing.
This is just get the impression I got but Americans tend to say 'will not', 'cannot' alot more than us. I never use the word 'cannot'.
Any Americans noticed anything other 'strange' usages from non-Yanks?
My American friend comments on phrases he hasn't heard/finds strange. Oh another one, he said in American you would say, 'I went to the hospital' instead of 'I went to hospital' a small one but one he picked up on.
Either way, I think it's quite obvious there are far more Britishisms/Aussieisms that Americans are ignorant of than the other way round.
The majority of American slang is heard in Canada, so most of it is familiar to me. Some, but not all of the British ones are.
I am and I suspect that many Canadians are, aware of at least several Britishisms even if they don't use them often.
There are certain Britishisms I like, such as "put paid to", which I don't see used much by Americans. I like fortnight as a term because it avoids the ambiguity of biweekly, but I've actually never heard fortnight used in speech in any of my social circles, though it is also used in the country.
In terms of spelling of letters in specific words, Canadian English follows Brit spelling in some words and Yankee spelling in others, but some words are variable. The -ize vs. -ise ending in words like realise is one of the variable ones, and sometimes I don't realize (heh) which form I'm using unless I'm made aware of it, like now.
Once in a (Canadian) handbook I even saw analyze/analyse written with both forms on different pages of the book!
I also notice saying "North American" as in "North American culture" etc. in the context of Canada and the USA together is a particularly Canadian thing and not done as much in the States. As is Canadians using "the States" to refer to the US, as in "I'm going down to the States next month".
Calling people "folks" is also a pretty American thing (I believe it's common in the Midwest) but I seemed to have picked it up from somewhere (it's not that common in my social circle either).
With regards to your example on the contractions, "cannot" or "will not" sound way too formal and awkward to be used in daily speech or writing in a natural conversation in my opinion. They sound like things that belong on a legal document or instruction manual.
OAny Americans noticed anything other 'strange' usages from non-Yanks?.
Yanks sounds strange. The term "Yankees" only refers to a sports team here. As in a t-shirt I've seen in Massachusetts:
"I support two teams:
1. The Red Sox
2. Any team that can beat the Yankees"
But oddly, Yankee used to mean anyone from New England, particularly of English Protestant descent (as opposed to Irish Catholic / other immigrants).
Quote:
Oh another one, he said in American you would say, 'I went to the hospital' instead of 'I went to hospital' a small one but one he picked up on.
I've noticed British people tend to leave out articles in some phrases I'd expect them . What else does rude mean? I've seen in very old writing it used to mean primitive / poorly made.
I
My American friend comments on phrases he hasn't heard/finds strange. Oh another one, he said in American you would say, 'I went to the hospital' instead of 'I went to hospital' a small one but one he picked up on.
I guess we don't take our hospitals as personally as we do our churches.
Either way, I think it's quite obvious there are far more Britishisms/Aussieisms that Americans are ignorant of than the other way round.
I confess: I thought "chuffed" meant aggravated. I like the sound of it. It's an abrupt little word and I so dearly wanted to say, "I'm chuffed with this blasted checkout line."
I confess: I thought "chuffed" meant aggravated. I like the sound of it. It's an abrupt little word and I so dearly wanted to say, "I'm chuffed with this blasted checkout line."
Which would make no sense at all.
I don't know about the context that it is being used in this thread, but I know that "chuffing" is what they call the sound a tiger makes when it is happy.
Here ya go: [URL="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chuffed"]Chuffed[/URL].
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