And then there's 'knock up'.

Do Brits and Yanks pronounce the word "pedantic" the same?

No, the yanks don't pronounce the T

well, the yanks never did care much for tea anyway, did they?

I always get a kick out of England's Spastics shops - handicapped

the word Spastic in American parlance is very derogatory and not usually applied to handicapped folk but general folk who act like spastics - "you spastic"

Spastic has precisely the same connotations in England, hence the charity has changed its name to Scope.

In our local surburban Berkshire park, nobody says fetch. Either the dogs are completely manic about chasing and retrieving and zoom off to grab the item long before their owner has a chance to say anything or they have absolutely no interest in fetching whatsoever and nothing their owners say or do will inspire them to do more than give the object in question a cursory sniff, followed by a look back that clearly says, if you want this stupid thing so badly, come get it yourself.

I haven't read every post on this thread, so forgive me if this has been said/asked.

I was told that the pronounciation of "leftenant" was a throwback to when "u" and "v" were the same letter and hence used to be spelled "lievtenant". At some point, the spelling of the word changed or permanently set to use "u", but the pronounciation stayed the same.

Does anyone know if there's any truth to that?

Seems so - that's what several folks above say anyway.

<<
pants = trousers
>>

I was in London visiting a friend (origianlly Canadian) this year and went shopping. She bought a pair of "trousers". At the counter the following conversation took place:

Me: That's a nice pair of pants.
Friend: They're trousers
Me: I'm Canadian, they're pants.
Friend: Trousers.
Me: Whatever, you know what I'm referring to
Sales Clerk: If trousers are pants, what do you call pants in Canada?
Me: [confused look to friend]
Friend: Panties

So, now I will refer to "pants" as "trousers" whilst in England. :)

Pants also means pathetic in English.

That's total pants.

Anyway, if what we call a caravan, you call a trailer, what do you call what we call a trailer?

I have a suspicion you don't have word for it.

Flanneruk:

Regarding this "Unprovoked agression of Britain in 1812"

The provocation was the fact that Britain had impressed many of our sailors into the British Navy....

and anger at British military support for American Indians defending their tribal lands from encroaching American settlers.

We might have a word, but without knowing what you referring to... Describe what your trailer is.

For caravan, does that only refer to something that is pulled, or does it also refer to an RV (recreational vehicle)?

Other terms I've heard:

Winnebago: A case of the brand name being the object name (similar to Kleenex/facial tissue) It's not used so much now, but was popular when I was young.

Camper: Often a prefix to "van" or a suffix to "truck", so you have a camper-van or a truck-camper.

5th Wheel: big RV trailer that requires a special mount installed in the bed of a pick-up truck to be pulled.

Pop-Up or Tent Trailer: Small trailer that is pulled on a regular trailer hitch and has soft sides that fold down/into the hard top/bottom for storage/transport.

A caravan is a tin box with beds etc towed behind a car.

A trailer is just an open box on wheels towed behind the vehicle. No soft sides.

What you call a trailer, we also call a trailer. Most are open, but some have tops. If you attach it to a trailer hitch and pull it behind a vehicle, it's a trailer.

What you call a trailer, we also call a trailer. Most are open, but some have tops. If you attach it to a trailer hitch and pull it behind a vehicle, it's a trailer.

And what you call a caravan, we call a trailer for same reasons above.

<anger at British military support for American Indians defending their tribal lands from encroaching American settlers>

too bad they didn't stop their colony Canada from doing the same to their Native Americans (Indians of course being perjorative).

<<
too bad they didn't stop their colony Canada from doing the same to their Native Americans (Indians of course being perjorative).
>>

I think current PC term in Canada is First Nations People.

>I think current PC term in Canada is First Nations People.<

What if it is discovered that there were people there before them, would they become Second Nations People?

((I))

<<
What if it is discovered that there were people there before them, would they become Second Nations People?
>>

LOL :) I dunno...

However, I actually prefer that term to "Native xxx". I consider myself a native Canadian as this is where I was born and do not consider any other country as my place of origin.

what happened to 'aboriginal peoples'

>>what happened to 'aboriginal peoples'<<

They stood up for themselves, the term having been understood in various derogatory ways.

"A case of the brand name being the object name (similar to Kleenex/facial tissue)"

Another case being that of my English-born friend who doesn't "vacuum" the rug but "hoovers" it - even though they own an Electrolux...

I think Bill Bryson noted that Americans use "creek" indiscriminately to describe any small watercourse, whereas in Britain it's applied to an inlet from the sea, other little rivers being "streams"?

In Australia they're all "creeks", just as we have a lot of paddocks, but no fields. But I was interested to see during a driving holiday (US, "vacation") in New Zealand that I crossed nothing but "streams" in the North Island but always "creeks" in the South Island.

Also, we were taken aback to be told by a motel owner within a couple of kilometres of the centre of Christchurch that there was a "dairy" (pronounced something like "deary") up the road. The neighbourhood seemed far too built-up to accommodate cows, and so it proved - the place in question was a milk bar.

Lastly, to my ear Canadians don't go oot and aboot, they go oat and aboat.

British don't say "creek" they say inlet or estuary.
also lake or pond, river or stream/brook

>British don't say "creek" they say inlet or estuary.

In the US, a creek is any small stream of fresh water running into a river or estuary.

Of course we say "creek": it's in a fair number of place names (I live opposite one), and we frequently find ourselves up one without a paddle. However, I will admit we don't, on the whole, use it as a generic term. If it's less than a river, it's usually a stream (or a beck in the north). A creek would be a bit of backwater. It might be an inlet; but it wouldn't be an estuary, let alone a lake or pond.

Incidentally, there's been a lengthy thread on this sort of topic at
http://slowtalk.com/groupee/forums/a...4/m/4101007861

Great fun! I need to decide if erudition is being flaunted or a limited philology. I attended a sports meeting in England. At one point in the conversation, I asked my London neighbor what the man from the North was saying. He replied, "I don't have the foggiest!". There are many English dialects in use and all are accepted by the users even if not understood by others. Words are pictures. You don't need to know which Lt. to use - Simply note the gold or silver bar on the collar. Incidentally, why is silver rated above gold?

I suspect the word creek varies from one part of the US to another. I know that locally in Southeastern Massachusetts we call bodies of water ponds that would be called lakes in most places.

On Cape Cod, a vacation house on a body of water would be the cottage on the pond. In New Hampshire, the same property would be the camp on the lake.

And creek is also pronounced differently in different parts of U.S. - formally creak but in southern climes it's often "crick"

My wife is from Long Island, I'm from Florida. I don't understand half of what she says...ha ha.

Wanna cupuh kawfee?

dave

flanner and waring have some real inferiority problems.

Lighten, up, as we say in the States. No one criticizied the Brits. The OP just asked about the origin of the pronounciation.

I mean, it's not as if someone questioned your dental hygiene.

Like English mummies tell their kids: "Brush your tooth!"

but i think flanner and waring are fine folk - if you really read their many posts - sometimes sarcasm comes across as sincerity.

Their oft feigned bark is worse then their bite.

But hey i often agree with their 'inferior' comments and i'm a yank.

I have beautiful teeth.

PS: It's a superiority problem we have.

;)

They may have a superiority complex but neither of them can say Lieutenant properly I'd wager.

If folks are into this sort of thing, they might enjoy McCrum, Cran and MacNeil's "The Story of English" - companion volume to the PBS series.

Jewela, thank you for getting me to look up 'press gang' - I had never before heard 'impressed into service' nor known that 'pressed into service' or 'press gang' were colloquial abbreviations.

If Fodors should ever fall short of contributors, should the publisher start impressing people into service? ;)

I haven't dropped in on this thread for some time but have 2 additions.

1. Suspenders and gareers are not the same thing.

2. Youse guys quite often think that we Brits are having a pop, when we're only taking the mick. This most often applies to David and Michael, but, as on this thread, sometimes does to waring too. Rarely to me. I'm too nice:)

PS, I just ahd an email from an Northern Englander advising that he's leaving my city to go home shortly- the message read "leaving Furryboots on 24th". Can any of you translate THAT?

Sheila, forget the Furryboots. I'm still working on "pop" and "mick".


But yes, the British image of a man sitting around in pants and suspenders is a LOT different from sitting around in his trousers and braces. In the US, the two would appear to be the same thing.