The tipping double standard for Americans
Jun 7th, 2006, 08:19 AM
#162
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I think I say sorry sounding like "sari," come to think of it. Maybe it is a regional thing. If I remember correctly, Ira lives in Georgia. I'm in Minnesota, and as best I can recall a lot of us up here (at least those who have lived around here for many years) pronounce it as "sari" also. I think one of my bosses, who is Canadian, says "sore-ree."
Jun 7th, 2006, 09:06 AM
#165
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<<Just about all English speakers in North America speak the same flavor of General American English.The regional differences are tiny ...>>
Wow - Texas vs Virginia vs Boston vs Louisianna vs California vs Brooklyn vs New jersey????
I don't think so Anthony.
I recall being in Virginia and asking for directions. The native told me to turn right at the Sta Sta (he was saying "Star Store").
Compare Newfoundland with ... well just about anywhere in North America.
Wow - Texas vs Virginia vs Boston vs Louisianna vs California vs Brooklyn vs New jersey????
I don't think so Anthony.
I recall being in Virginia and asking for directions. The native told me to turn right at the Sta Sta (he was saying "Star Store").
Compare Newfoundland with ... well just about anywhere in North America.
Jun 7th, 2006, 09:15 AM
#166
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to add to the thread... how many of you tip on take out? I usually round up or at least give a buck or two - which I don't necessarily think you should have to considering they only carry it from the kitchen. I don't typically tip at Starbucks though!
tipping has gone mad in the US.
tipping has gone mad in the US.
Jun 7th, 2006, 09:21 AM
#167
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Not take out, but definitely take off. Getting that thing into the air is an accomplishment worthy of monetary reward. But to an even greater extent, I tip generously on landing. As any pilot knows, making a flying machine stop flying at a precise spot in space-time is definitely the hard part, and therefore deserving of a token of appreciation. Ten percent of the fare is my usual contribution, although I have tipped up to 25% on a CAT II approach with gusting crosswinds at 40°.
Jun 7th, 2006, 09:44 AM
#168
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Ira - I think this is indeed the reverse phenomenon of aboot!
Your description of Sorry as Sarry and Sari as Sahri sounds very close to each other when compared to a Canadian sorry, which doesn't have the a sound like in tarry, but more of an oar sound like in boar. (Very close to what Poohgirl described).
If you said Sorry, then Sari, I would hear the difference, and I am sure if I said about and then a boot, you would hear the difference - but they are much more similar to each other than the way I say sorry, or you say about. Which is why Americans hear Canadians saying aboot and Canadians hear Americans saying Sari. OMG - I think I finally understand the aboot thing!
Your description of Sorry as Sarry and Sari as Sahri sounds very close to each other when compared to a Canadian sorry, which doesn't have the a sound like in tarry, but more of an oar sound like in boar. (Very close to what Poohgirl described).
If you said Sorry, then Sari, I would hear the difference, and I am sure if I said about and then a boot, you would hear the difference - but they are much more similar to each other than the way I say sorry, or you say about. Which is why Americans hear Canadians saying aboot and Canadians hear Americans saying Sari. OMG - I think I finally understand the aboot thing!
Let's call the whole thing off. 
Jun 7th, 2006, 11:33 AM
#172
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"Compare Newfoundland with ... well just about anywhere in North America."
When I worked in St. John's, one of my colleagues who lived on Bell Island called to say she wouldn't be able to make it to work because the ferry had stopped running: "Buddy at the ferry says there's frot' in the tickle and it's commin' up breezin'." Translation: the ferry operator told her that there were white caps in the channel and it was becoming very windy.
Definitely not General American English, nor is the word swile for seal, spell for carrying something on your shoulder, or dout for extinguishing a flame.
Anselm
When I worked in St. John's, one of my colleagues who lived on Bell Island called to say she wouldn't be able to make it to work because the ferry had stopped running: "Buddy at the ferry says there's frot' in the tickle and it's commin' up breezin'." Translation: the ferry operator told her that there were white caps in the channel and it was becoming very windy.
Definitely not General American English, nor is the word swile for seal, spell for carrying something on your shoulder, or dout for extinguishing a flame.
Anselm
That kind of talk makes my Jamaican patois not so bad! 
Jun 7th, 2006, 12:28 PM
#176
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Robespierre - not in my comfort level. yes, this is worth a huge tip.
CRJs get squirrelly at what, 30-ish crosswinds? not sure about bigger jets. we had one nearing touchdown at Charlotte this spring that even as we were landing tipped sideways a little due to the winds. as in, had we been any lower we would have scraped wing. needless to say I was stuck in Charlotte until late that evening.
CRJs get squirrelly at what, 30-ish crosswinds? not sure about bigger jets. we had one nearing touchdown at Charlotte this spring that even as we were landing tipped sideways a little due to the winds. as in, had we been any lower we would have scraped wing. needless to say I was stuck in Charlotte until late that evening.
Jun 7th, 2006, 12:41 PM
#177
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In the last century when I was in college I had a professor whose hobby was American accents. He would listen to you, then write a couple of words down and have you pronounce them, then tell you exactly where you were from. He didn't get me because, while from Cleveland, I had spent a couple of years in Chicago and apparently picked up something there.
He said it was getting harder and harder to do, as TV "talent" is schooled to have a central America accent (or no accent, if you live here), and people are losing their regional accents from watching too much TV.
He said it was getting harder and harder to do, as TV "talent" is schooled to have a central America accent (or no accent, if you live here), and people are losing their regional accents from watching too much TV.
Jun 7th, 2006, 02:18 PM
#178
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The South in the US doesn't speak GAE. That's why I said "just about," and not "all." Similarly, there are a few cities with distinctive accents. But overall, all Americans sound pretty much the same, and Canadians sound just like them.
Regional accents are disappearing. Even people from the Deep South may have no obvious accent, especially if they live in large cities. I attribute it to high mobility and mass communication.
Regional accents are disappearing. Even people from the Deep South may have no obvious accent, especially if they live in large cities. I attribute it to high mobility and mass communication.
Jun 7th, 2006, 02:47 PM
#179
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True, though many native St.Louisans eat with a fark and when at church pray to the Lard. My job requires that I speak with people all over this border state, and I can usually guess from which of our state's 2 southern area codes a call originates. The northern half is more homogenous.
