Differences in UK/US/Canadian/Australian English

Discussion in 'Research' started by Tenderiser, Feb 20, 2017.

  1. ajaye

    ajaye Senior Member

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    tomato sauce (Aus) - ketchup (US)
    fringe (Aus) - bangs (US)
    lollies (Aus) - candy (US) - sweets/sweeties? (UK)
    mobile (Aus) - cell (US)
     
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  2. Shadowfax

    Shadowfax Contributor Contributor

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    Absolutely.

    It sets my teeth on edge to hear it; I just have to tune out the commentator when I'm watching sport, and accept that he's an illiterate moron. Although, I've been at musical performances where the composer was invited to share his wisdom with the audience, and I came to the conclusion that composers are like footballers; much better at doing what they're good at than talking coherently about it; although footballers tend to be less pretentious about their verbalizing!

    Ooh, and another one!

    You can't watch on; you can watch the game; you can look on as the game unfolds.
     
  3. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

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    Does lolly mean any sweet, or just the hard candy on sticks?
     
  4. ajaye

    ajaye Senior Member

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    Any sweet, but it presumably stems from lollipop - and a lollipop's a lollipop.

    Oh that's interesting, you use lolly for money don't you (courtesy of Tim Wonnacott :) ) ?
     
  5. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

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    It's pretty much only that orange twat who uses lolly for money. :D

    Lolly here means lollipop, or icepop (?)
     
  6. ajaye

    ajaye Senior Member

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    Haha.

    I think our icypoles = icepops.
     
  7. Sack-a-Doo!

    Sack-a-Doo! Contributor Contributor

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    Not in Canada. I don't know of any word (or suffix/prefix) that implies carbonated.

    I always took 'ade' to mean 'aids your thirst,' but I've never discussed it with other Canadians, so I could be way off. Funny how it's never come up during my 61 years. :)
     
  8. Sack-a-Doo!

    Sack-a-Doo! Contributor Contributor

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    Not to mention the druggie term: I need a fix

    which has spilled over to other addictions like coffee, cigarettes, etc. It's not uncommon, here in Canada anyway, to hear "I'm off to Starbucks; I need a fix."
     
  9. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    Have others been able to edit the Google Sheet? I think it would be brilliant if that would work (not just for this thread, but for lots of others) but it doesn't seem to, for me...
     
  10. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

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    You should be able to right-click on a cell and add a note. Hopefully... I can give specific people editing powers, but I need their email addresses to do it.
     
  11. terobi

    terobi Senior Member

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    It's an archaic slang term, as far as I can tell. You'll hear people use the term "lolly" to mean money in WW2 movies, but that's about it.
     
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  12. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

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    The fecking (Irish Eng) flags keep moving. Someone good with Gdocs: halp?
     
  13. BBCotaku

    BBCotaku Member

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    I was born in england and moved to Australia, the biggest linguistic change for me was the fact that some aussies call a Duvet a "Doona". Also people, occasionally use the word "lollies" in the same way as english people use "sweets." Such as "A bag of lollies" instead of "A bag of sweets"
     
  14. Shadowfax

    Shadowfax Contributor Contributor

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    And usually fighter pilots? Given that they were (at least in the films) all officers, where the assumption was "and gentlemen", I'm guessing that this might be "upper-class" slang.

    While checking this out, I followed a rabbit down the hole, and came across the bio for an RAF ace...Christopher Frederick "Bunny" (a pun on currant bun!) Currant, DSO DFC
    [​IMG]

    Every inch the stiff upper lip, upper class, etc....except that he joined his first squadron as a sergeant pilot, and made his way all the way up to Wing Commander.
     
  15. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

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    The English voice during the 1940s. Full range can be found here, a very poetic exchange:



    ...I say 'lolly,' used it in a [TMA01, A215] piece...

    Bouncer is the deal. Stand here. Time spent and I shall have fifty pounds in cash. As she says,

    ‘Fifty? As good as seventy of the proper money.’

    Fifty pounds. I can dream off fifty pounds and buy a holiday. ‘It is lolly,’ I say,

    and Pop must go…

    ...

    'pretentious' :)
     
    Last edited: Feb 21, 2017
  16. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    I right-clicked, an option came up to edit/add... but when I started typing, nothing showed up.
     
  17. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

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    I sent you an email invite to edit. Still not sure if you'll be able to do it within my opening post - guess it depends how the embedding works?

    If anybody else wants to be able to edit, PM me your email address. I won't sell it to African princes or spam you, etc etc
     
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  18. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    That worked!
     
  19. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    I'm wary of editing, so, I post! They're all about the US column:

    - In some regions some people say catsup.
    - Also apartment building.
    - Bum, tramp, hobo, OR homeless person. Tramp and hobo have a vintage feel. Bum is fairly insensitive. So homeless person is more often used.
    - It is usually candy bar, but chocolate bar wouldn't sound weird.
    - Janitor or custodian.
    - Cilantro=leaves, coriander=seed.
    - I agree that it's usually movie theater, but so many have "cinema" in the name that cinema wouldn't inspire "Huh?"
    - Grocery store, grocery, or supermarket.
    - Convenience store, mini mart.
    - Stick shift, stick, manual
    - Biscuits and scones are similar, but these days scones are a big thing.
    - Underpants, underwear, briefs.
    - People often use one brand name--Reddi Whip
    - Washer, washing machine.

    There's also chips/crisps, fries/chips, garden/yard...
     
  20. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    I've also heard money called 'kelly' by people in the north of the uk (paricularly the ethnic irish)
     
  21. Aled James Taylor

    Aled James Taylor Contributor Contributor

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    In the UK the word 'tan' means a darkening of the skin whereas in the US (I think) it can mean a specific colour. A British person would never say, 'the tan car' but an American would?
    Also, while we're on the subject of language, a German person who learns English might assume 'half eight' to mean half an hour to eight rather than half an hour past eight.
     
  22. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    Yep.
     
  23. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    That's not entirely true (excepting that not many British cars are tan - we tend to prefer black, red or white for base models). Tan as a colour does exist in the British lexicon, for example the "Black and Tans" were a notorious regiment in the 1916 troubles in Ireland
     
  24. JLT

    JLT Contributor Contributor

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    Which makes sense, in a way, because you're half-way through the eighth hour of the day. Obviously the cause of World Wars I and II go way deeper than politics.

    A note on "trash:" When I was a health inspector in Baltimore many long years ago, we made a clear distinction about this stuff. "Garbage" was scrap food that could decompose and therefore presented a health and vermin hazard if not properly stored and disposed of. "Rubbish" was stuff like paper and cardboard and leaves that didn't present this sort of menace, although there might be a fire hazard. "Trash" was a term that covered both of these categories. So a trash can was not necessarily a garbage can. When we wrote citations for trash violations, we had to be clear about that distinction.

    There are a few other legal nuances that come up from time to time. For example, you often see street signs that say "No Parking" and "No Standing" and "No Stopping." These mean different things, at least in some parts of the US. When you park a car, you leave it unsupervised. When you're "standing" you are in attendance on the stopped vehicle, whether it's running or not; the idea is that the driver can move the car immediately if asked. "No Stopping" means exactly that. (I don't know whether these distinctions apply in the UK or even all of the US.)
     
  25. Daniel

    Daniel I'm sure you've heard the rumors Founder Staff

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    I think this thread is awesome. Regarding formatting/embedding, I think Google Spreadsheets are indeed the best choice. If the list gets too long I'd be willing to set up a separate page for the sheet (outside of the thread) so we can see a fuller view.

    I did come across a term yesterday with such variations in English. I heard a dolly (U.S.) called a trolley (U.K.). In the U.S. a dolly is a two-wheeled device used for moving heavy items, such as furniture or appliances. Trolley appears to have the same meaning in the U.K. When I hear trolley (U.S.) I think of a trolley street car (electric public transit run by overhead wire/tracks).

    I'm not sure about Australian English but it looks like trolley may refer to a cart or shopping cart, not specifically a two-wheeled device for moving heavy items.
     

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