February 06, 2004
Wozzat you say?
Words to the left of us, Words to the right of us, Words may look familiar but fuddle the wits of monkeydom -- Wot does it mean?
a few transmarine translations to aid monkeykind in our unending quest for meaning amid the marvelous maze of chatter.
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Makes me think about the various terms for "soda pop" in the states. "soda", "pop", "cola", or what we say around here - Coke. (or even, "Co'cola") What do you say in the UK or NZ?
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Coke. Soft drinks.
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Whoever wrote the third link seems to have gained their understanding of British slang by watching 1950's Ealing comedies, 1960's sex comedies and closely studying the dialogue of Daphne from Frasier. Oddly, they seem to claim to be British. Don't they know that our language is evolving?... Silly twunt. :-)
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The worst is when you are (slowly) becoming bi or tri- dialectical in English. I can understand American and British English just about equally now - it helps that I started with Canadian, where pissed can mean angry or drunk, and so forth. (Though for some reason, despite the fact I made terrible fun of my British friends for their pants-phobia, I've switched to saying trousers all the time now. The former seems, well, a bit rude. ) But what about writing for an international audience? Do I write braces or suspenders? Either way the wrong meaning can come across. I've also been in the situation where British people have over compensated, and translated in their heads the word that I had already switched to the British version (like the aforementioned braces being turned into dental devices). Should everyone just write and speak in their own dialect, and we just translate in our heads?
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Should everyone just write and speak in their own dialect, and we just translate in our heads? I say yes, and if someone doesn't understand someone else, just ask.
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what's the pants-phobia thing about?
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Stop panting and gimme some slack.
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Just got made fun of today for a "loo" that slipped out. Can I help it if it's a pretty and useful word, even in my barbaric NorthAm accent? Much better than "restroom," or even the back-home style "washroom." Pants-phobia - short form for me making fun of the fact that English people avoid saying pants because it means underwear, not trousers. It's also a minor swear word ("Oh, pants!"). I like saying - "Want to see my new pants?" and then showing them my jeans. It's all very mature.
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We're also known to say that something "was total pants" if we didn't think it was any good. got made fun of today for a "loo" that slipped out Did you mean that as comment for this thread?... What disturbs me - given that American cinema and TV is pretty universal these days - is the extent to which I've become bi-dialectical without really wanting to be. That there are certain contexts - forms of phrasing, the cadence of a sentence - where 'ass' just seems to sound better than 'arse'... it pains me. Possibly it's just that I never really get away from the writer/performer side of my character - endelessly rehearsing and rewriting everything I say in my head, god help me - but whatever the reason, it can be a real cuntybollocking titbiscuit at times. Stop panting and gimme some slack. wendell, your wit has not gone unobserved. six points! (and some banana-flavoured cock-punch.)