Some linguistics for non-linguists

[HDNB]

there is all kinds of localisms in canada. one of the most common is the ending of a sentence with eh? (pronounced hey?) it means the same thing as a brit or an aus saying "yeah?" at the end of theirs....do you agree with my statement? yeah?

some of the most confusing ones come from Newfoundland and other points east in canada, like "how's your feet an ears?" the meaning is obvious; it's friggin cold there too, so literally is anything at risk of freezing off at the moment? or in a warm house meaning the same, "is everything good in your world?"
the rest of Canada uses something along the lines of "Howzit goin' eh?"

this one confounds me....in newfienese (what we teasingly call our friend's linguistics from the "rock") they say "where ya to?" and that apparently means "Where are you from" (what town, are you a bayman or a townie?)
Newfoundland has the most colorful language and accent of all of Canada by a long measure. You'll know one when you meet one. They are also fundamentally some of the best humans you'll meet too.

[Eire Whiskey]

Weird. I would have thought reading "where ya to" would mean where ya going, or where ya off to, where are you going, etc.
What always got me was pop and soda in the US.
Having traveled to several countries and all over the US, I barely notice the differences in English, except Chinglish, it's all goofed up. You'd think while they are stealing everyone elses tech, they would also grab some Engish language books. Chinglish is as bad as ebonics.

[Twisted Brick]

Weird. I would have thought reading "where ya to" would mean where ya going, or where ya off to, where are you going, etc.

Many years back, I used to watch a cajun cooking show on tv hosted by an entertaining guy (Justin Wilson) who said this frequently during his demonstrations, and innocently picked it up. Same kinda (southern?) thing, starting a sentence off in one tense, but finishing it in the past tense

"So, what I'm gonna did..."

some of the most confusing ones come from Newfoundland and other points east in canada, like "how's your feet an ears?" the meaning is obvious; it's friggin cold there too, so literally is anything at risk of freezing off at the moment? or in a warm house meaning the same, "is everything good in your world?"
the rest of Canada uses something along the lines of "Howzit goin' eh?"

The guys getting together to have a beer just ask "how's it hangin'?"

[Boozewaves]

May I address a bit strange question to the native BE, AE, CE, NZE and other native speakers, please?

"Jane's house, that we visited yesterday, is in terrible state" — what's wrong/odd in this expression from your own point of view?

First / intuitive / average opinions are highly appreciated.

Thank y'all..

I studied sciences and languages in my non native language and i'm thick as fuck, the differrence is how much you want to learn , proof is in the pudding . at the end of the day you will come out on top if you are determined to learn , persistence pays .

[Yonder]

”Many years back, I used to watch a cajun cooking show on tv hosted by an entertaining guy (Justin Wilson“

Damn me, I used ta love that ole man. Even bought one a his books on cooking. Remember one day he grabbed the wrong spice, realized what he’d done and tossed it aside sayin’ “Take yourself outta here an’ don’t brought you back!” Then went on cooking.

[Twisted Brick]

Yeah, he's one of the reasons to this day I will never turn down a plate of spicy jambalaya or bowl of gumbo.

[VLAGAVULVIN]

Weird. I would have thought reading "where ya to" would mean where ya going, or where ya off to, where are you going, etc.
What always got me was pop and soda in the US.

It's more or less like "where [are] ya [about] to [go back]?". But it's just my guess, eh? Here in Russia, the northern frost also pushes us to use more narrow vowels, "chopped" expressions and so on. The Russian South would still try opening his mouth wide while the North could finish the entire story.

"So, what I'm gonna did..."

May I interpret it as "so, what am I going to have done..."?

I studied sciences and languages in my non native language and i'm thick as fuck, the differrence is how much you want to learn , proof is in the pudding . at the end of the day you will come out on top if you are determined to learn , persistence pays .

Sounds moar like slang, but the most of it is still rather clear so, I'mma pick some stuff up, innocently all of a sudden

[Eire Whiskey]

I like to speak plain English, but living in the South I do have the Southern accent. My English has been influenced from countries I have been too. My mom would tell you I don't have a Southern accent. She says I sound British, but mainly because after 9 years in England with the military, and living with the Brits I picked up some of their words. A Brit would never think I had an English accent. lol
I think due to the lack of somewhat uneducated and lazy people I have to be around drives their opinion on where I am from. lol
Ebonics is just pure laziness on the part of the user.
Even on this forum with English speakers there are misunderstandings due to variations in usage and local meanings.

[HDNB]

I always find a bit of humour in the american "i'm going to go ahead" i've even heard them say a few times i'm gonna go ahead and go ahead.

at that point i think they must work for uncle sam in the department of redundancy department.

couple of years back during a seminar, the guy was gonna go ahead and go back over some of the topics that were soon-to-be the standard procedure.

nothin' odd about that there, that he went and dun did that, now is there?

[Bushman]

Why is bra singular yet scissors is plural? This thread reminded me of the redneck translator thread that was going around the forum a few years ago.

[Twisted Brick]

I always find a bit of humour in the american "i'm going to go ahead" i've even heard them say a few times i'm gonna go ahead and go ahead.

Yup. We Americans love that saying. As in "I'm gonna go ahead and get behind you..."

Redundant "I'm gonna go ahead" type statements can be clever. Take the tv reporter interviewing a row of hopeless fitness candidates on on their weight loss plans when a guy answers:

"Yes, I'm thinking about seriously considering doing a marathon...." Hmmm.

[HDNB]

"I'm gonna go ahead and get behind you..."

i'm feeling not just a wee bit uncomfortable.

[VLAGAVULVIN]

Hehe, that 'gonna' is gonna tend a bit modal but so far, we are canning to can some laugh at this thang

In Russian, bra is also singular and scissors are plural... but people is and money are.

What's interesting for me of the above: "there is all kinds of localisms in Canada" (and not "are"). Or smth. like "there are the bottles that we found" (not which or those). And the most odd thing for the people who learnt some British English at the Soviet school well is usage "this" instead of "it" in cases like "I know not so much of this". In Russian, we do use "this" and not "it" but it was making the worst lapse to say "I know this" in English lesson from the point of the teacher's view.

[HDNB]

laziness or casualness or speed.

the difference in talking to your friends or speaking with a business associate. talking to and speaking with are the same thing; brits would almost for sure use the Queen's english in business...it was a pleasure speaking with you today, sir. Goodbye. (or "it was a pleasure speaking with you today James. Cheers " if they feel casual)

on the phone with a friend, a Canadian may (or might) say "yeah, good talkin' to ya Jimmy", and hang up without signing off. in business, it would likely be "Thanks for the help, have a good one."

here is something interesting: when calling a business that answers "hello, xyz company this is Jimmy?" a Canadian will always ask EVERYTIME: How ya doin'? Or Hi Jimmy, howzit going? or How are you today?
it must be different in the USA, when i call there (and do that out of habit) there is always a short pause on the other end while the guy rolls his eyes and thinks to himself..."another Canadian" it seems when making a business call in the states one is supposed to jump right into the task at hand without exchanging pleasantries.
"hello, xyz company this is Jimmy?"
Hi Jimmy, i need a new 1" ball valve.. can ya go ahead and help me out with that?

[Twisted Brick]

the rest of Canada uses something along the lines of "Howzit goin' eh?"

Opposite of the Italian speaking with his hands as he says: "Ah, that woman, she has beautiful legs, no?"

What's interesting for me of the above: "there is all kinds of localisms in Canada" (and not "are").

Yeah, this drives me nuts about European/Australian sports announcers when they stuff like: "China are regrouping their defense to stop the Russians". To me, it should be "China is regrouping"...

couple of years back during a seminar, the guy was gonna go ahead and go back over some of the topics that were soon-to-be the standard procedure.

See? It's not just an American thing...

[The Baker]

Couple years back would be an Americanism, not commonly used in Australia.
A couple of years back is fine, probably anywhere.
Soon-to-be sounds fine.

And purely for interest:
If an American speaks of a woman's fanny, he means her rump, backside, rear...
But if an Australian does he means her, er, snatch/ external sexual equipment...!

Geoff

[VLAGAVULVIN]

See? It's not just an American thing...

At least, still we can see of there. Okay, that's the way the languages is changing

But if an Australian does he means her, er, snatch/ external sexual equipment...!

Haha, in Russian, we'd say she's pizdataya, formally literally — ehm,,, cuntable!

[cob]

"soon come"

[contrahead]

While reading an old paper-backed Western novel recently, I encountered the word “puncheon”. Determination to discover the definition of puncheon or “puncheon floor” the next day, eventually led me astray to be distracted by yet another topic. One YouTube led to another... Kilts.

(A puncheon floor is a wooden floor that's nice and flat, perhaps sanded and/or tongue and grove. “Puncheon Floor” or “Bullfrog on a Puncheon Floor” was also the name of a once very popular square dance tune in the 1800s).

To state that “No True Scotsman wears under-britches”, might be true. However No True Scotsman itself is a name for a noteworthy fallacy of logic in the discipline of philosophy.

Anyway: music videos inadvertently led to this informative video - How to fold a Scottish plaid.

When I e-mailed the link of the kilt video to an acquaintance (who's approaching 90 now- my parent's generation and he drinks expensive Scotch) he then replied with this next video...

The Scotsman

[The Baker]

It was a barrel, too.

'The puncheon was a British unit for beer, wines and spirits.[1] It was also an American unit of capacity for wine.[2]

Historically, the puncheon has been defined somewhere between 70 to 120 imperial gallons (318 to 546 litres; 84.1 to 144 US gallons).[1]'

from Wikipedia

Geoff

[VLAGAVULVIN]

A vid just for lulz

[tombombadil]

It makes me think the house is in a state named terrible.

[VLAGAVULVIN]

It makes me think the house is in a state named terrible.

State like territory?

[tombombadil]

Ya, similar to "she lives in gator country" or "that restaurant is in north port city". where gator is a country, or north port is a city. I would wonder if there's a state named terrible. Like, "do you want to vacation in Florida or Terrible?"

[contrahead]

[VLAGAVULVIN]

Ya, similar to "she lives in gator country" or "that restaurant is in north port city". where gator is a country, or north port is a city. I would wonder if there's a state named terrible. Like, "do you want to vacation in Florida or Terrible?"

So, these are the proper names, like Gator and NorthPort (and not adjectives to "country" and "city")... hope, I got you right, thank you.

P.S. Yeah, that "ghoti's creative respelling" rules for a couple of centuries but still nobody cares of the English spelling reform. And that's not so bad "as is", in fact.

[VLAGAVULVIN]

Hey native speakers, may I ask you if you ever heard of "seeing" a film instead of "watching" it? Is it acceptable to see the movie in meaning of "going out to watch it" in contrast to sitting on a home sofa for the same reason? Thanx.

[seabass]

"Seeing" a movie implies going out to see a movie. I don't think it's proper to say you're seeing a movie if you're at home. You watch movies at home but you can watch or see a movie at the theater.

[VLAGAVULVIN]

Thank you, Seabass!

You watch movies at home but you can watch or see a movie at the theater.

So, talking about that theater... seeing means definitely act of watching, not going out (as necessity of walking or driving), right?

[The Baker]

Hey native speakers, may I ask you if you ever heard of "seeing" a film instead of "watching" it? Is it acceptable to see the movie in meaning of "going out to watch it" in contrast to sitting on a home sofa for the same reason? Thanx.

Well I first went to the movies BEFORE we had television.

As to the other I think either is probably acceptable.

Geoff