This is surprising to me because seriously, there were like 8 Americans in one room discussing the structure "have got" for a good 30min saying how bizarre it was and generally kicking up a fuss lol. I don't think I've heard of "stonking" actually! What does it mean? Ah, there's a tonal difference (that expresses the difference in meaning). I'd certainly understand what is meant by it, but can't say if we use it in the UK. Like I say, US and UK English is so mixed up nowadays I can no longer tell the difference. I remember trying to explain to an English friend of mine that tones exist even in English - eg. the same sound but uttered in a different pitch renders it a different word or gives it a different meaning. My friend outright rejected the idea, and yet, you see it clearly in "Might do" - between "Might do the job" and "Might do so" - you'd say them different. "Might do the job" would be pronounced with a slightly higher note on the word "do". And "off" and "of" is the same - "of" is lower in tone than "off". Try saying "Get off of her!" - can you hear it? Of course, then we have "This is her bag" and "This is her". "Her" in "her bag" is again lower. I noticed it because I was trying desperately to explain to my English friends how Chinese is tonal... It's rather an amusing challenge.
of course they do!... they use that wording all over the us... even though it's poor grammar... ...your friends probably didn't want to let you know how poorly some americans speak the language, wrey... and americans also use both 'fall' and 'autumn' for the season...
It means terrific, great, awesome. Wow. And yes, of course, English absolutely makes us of tone. Perhaps not in the same syntacticly important way as Mandarin or Cantonese, but tone is undoubtedly present. It's used to emphasize the key element of a phrase and can change the meaning rather markedly. To use your example: Might do the job. - Indicates the probability of the item evincing the desired result Might do the job. - Indicates that the item will function but perhaps not to a desired level of efficacy. Might do the job. - Indicates that the item may function and that simple function, completion of task, is what is important, not perfection in execution. Tone in English can also serve as a flag of one's native speaking region. In America, we say Robin Hood. In the U.K., they say Robin Hood, which pays more respect to the tonality of the origin of the name, Robin of the hood.
Can't believe I missed this example in my first read of your post. Yes! Here you give an example where tone now serves the same true function as in so-called tonal languages. The shift in tone here no longer just emphasizes a given portion of the statement, but changes the meaning utterly. One is ownership the other is a statement of capacity or capability.
What I've noticed in British English and American English is that British English speakers cut short of their dialogue, while American English speakers say it 'fully'. There was one example from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing a Novel Second Edition by Tom Monteleone where he covers dialects: "English Spoken Here. American Understood."
The "her" in "This is her bag" can be higher or lower depending on what question the sentence is intended to answer. If you ask "Whose bag is this?" then the "her" is higher and more stressed. If you ask "Is this her bag or her hat?" (silly example, I know) then the "her" is lower and the stress is on "bag." Context is important.
