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http://mail.csua.berkeley.edu:8080/mailman/listinfo/gzg-lI hear you
Englanders have broken down and formed an Institute to conserve and protect
the English Language. I was listening to the lady behind the movement,
inspired it seems by the institutes in Spain and France.
Don't get me wrong, there's a lovely lot to conserve of English history, but
before anyone speaking the King or Queen's English is allowed to become
curator of the amorphous nature of English, I think the English have to
'splain some things to us poor colonials...
Listening to BBC radio (which I love for the most part), I am left to wonder
whether the people who originated the language have forgotten how to speak it!
I am left wondering:
Do you have privets in your mlitary as a rank?
Reason: BBC commentators pronounce privacy as 'priv-ah-see' rather than
'prive-ah-see'... and since it has the same root as the word private,
why would you pronounce it with a 'priv' which sounds like 'shiv'? Do you also
then say 'reg-you-late-or-ee' when you pronounce 'regulatory?'?
Why did the BBC decide that 'Drug War' and 'Drug Lord' needed replaced by
'Drugs War' and 'Drugs Lord'? That's probably strictly a usage decision and
therefore not an error, but it sounds very odd to my ears.
Also, what is with 'Drink Driving'? Was there something wrong with 'Drunk
Driving' - as in driving while drunk/intoxicated? That too sounds very
funny to my ears. And if Drugs War is plural, shouldn't Drinks be plural here?
Should it not be 'Drinks Driving'? (Which also sounds barking mad to my ears!)
----
As to Gingers: Term is common enough I've heard it mentioned. There was a
'kick a ginger' day if I recall. The Aussies and Brits probably use it more
than us former colonials in North America, but if you haven't heard it, you
should listen to a bit more world news!:0)
As to Pop/Soda/Coke: Everywhere I've travelled in Canada, Pop seems to
be understood. Soda would be as well. If you asked for a Coke though, you'll
get at least a cola, if not a Coke. And when I say Coke, I mean
Coca-Cola(TM) not some blasted Pepsi(TM) (aka crap) product.
Now, there are funny bits to all linguistic groups. I recall visiting Mike
Sarno and company in Towanda, PA. We went for a late dinner and some drinks
and at about 9 or 10 pm, Mike said they (the Americans) were all really
impressed. I was puzzled and inquired. I'd been there for 4-5 hours and
they hadn't heard me use 'eh?' once. They'd been watching for it.
Of course, having mentioned it to me, I inevitably could not stop saying it
for the rest of the weekend. It's sort of an all purpose punctuation, eh! We
like to add it to interrogative statements as well, eh? Sometimes it can be
just declarative, like saying "Yup, I'm Canadian, eh." I guess that's foreign
to most folks in America. It's nearest equivalent is the equally all
purpose surfer-term 'Dude'.... 'Dude, where's my car?' 'Cool, Dude!',
"Duuuuude!', etc.
I still want to hear the story about the eraser.
And it is 'Cougar' not mountain lion!:0)
T.
> On Tue, Jun 15, 2010 at 05:45:33PM -0400, Tom B wrote:
> Listening to BBC radio (which I love for the most part), I am left to
The BBC charges for internal use of its Pronunciation Unit, so most
programme-makers don't bother.
They have also had for some years a policy of hiring people with regional
accents, presumably on the basis that it's more important for people
occasionally to hear their home pronunciation than for them to be able to
understand what's going on the rest of the time.
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http://mail.csua.berkeley.edu:8080/mailman/listinfo/gzg-lOn Tue, Jun 15,
> 2010 at 4:45 PM, Tom B <kaladorn@gmail.com> wrote:
> Why did the BBC decide that 'Drug War' and 'Drug Lord' needed replaced
Oh, this is easy to explain. They had a bunch of "s"-es left over from
the word "sports". In the U.S. and Canada it is "NBC Sports" or "CBC Sports".
In Britain it is "BBC Sport". They treat "sport" like it's a plural.
So with all those extra letters and all the doping going on in "sport", they
put them on the word "drug".
"Next on sports, Chuck has a report on a new drug abuse scandal." versus "Next
on sport, Charles has a report on a new drugs abuse scandal."
> Now, there are funny bits to all linguistic groups. I recall visiting
Most Canadians don't. However, I have a cousin who says it all the time. My
sister didn't use to say it until she moved to Calgary.
On the flip side, Alana tells me that I don't sound right when I say "y'all",
probably because while it's used all over down here, it still doesn't come
"trippingly" to my tongue.
However, I have caught myself very easily and casually using the term "fixin'
to". As in, "I'm fixin' to go to the store, did you want anything?" (It's
pronounced like it's all one word.)
> I guess that's foreign to most folks in America. It's nearest
Stephen King talks about "ayuh" used in the New England states in much the
same way as "eh". I wonder if it's some sort of French influence...?
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People in Maine drove me crazy when I was trying to talk to them. I visited my
brother there and he and eye were constantly losing patience with people and
their slow, drawn out, meandering mode of speech. It's classic and I wouldn't
change it, but when you have to have intimite knowledge of local history to
get directions anywhere, you tend to start pulling hair out:)
-Eli
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Gzg-l@mail.csua.berkeley.edu
http://mail.csua.berkeley.edu:8080/mailman/listinfo/gzg-lI rather like
the British usage with collective nouns: "The Kra'Vak side have won their last
three outings, but the UNSC promise to give them a stiff test at Mars."
If I have it right, at any rate....
Best, Ken
> --- On Tue, 6/15/10, Allan Goodall <agoodall@hyperbear.com> wrote:
From: Allan Goodall <agoodall@hyperbear.com>
Subject: Re: [GZG] Language Use - was Re: GZG official news - we've
moved premises!
To: gzg-l@mail.csua.berkeley.edu
Date: Tuesday, June 15, 2010, 6:49 PM
> On Tue, Jun 15, 2010 at 4:45 PM, Tom B <kaladorn@gmail.com> wrote:
 Why did the BBC decide that 'Drug War' and 'Drug Lord' needed replaced by
'Drugs War' and 'Drugs Lord'? That's probably strictly a usage decision and
therefore not an error, but it sounds very odd to my ears.
Oh, this is easy to explain. They had a bunch of "s"-es left over from
the word "sports". In the U.S. and Canada it is "NBC Sports" or "CBC Sports".
In Britain it is "BBC Sport". They treat "sport" like it's a plural.
So with all those extra letters and all the doping going on in "sport", they
put them on the word "drug".
"Next on sports, Chuck has a report on a new drug abuse scandal." versus
"Next on sport, Charles has a report on a new drugs abuse scandal."
 Now, there are funny bits to all linguistic groups. I recall visiting Mike
Sarno and company in Towanda, PA. We went for a late dinner and some drinks
and at about 9 or 10 pm, Mike said they (the Americans) were
all really impressed. I was puzzled and inquired. I'd been there for 4-5
hours and they hadn't heard me use 'eh?' once. They'd been watching for it.
Most Canadians don't. However, I have a cousin who says it all the time. My
sister didn't use to say it until she moved to Calgary.
On the flip side, Alana tells me that I don't sound right when I say "y'all",
probably because while it's used all over down here, it still doesn't come
"trippingly" to my tongue.
However, I have caught myself very easily and casually using the term "fixin'
to". As in, "I'm fixin' to go to the store, did you want anything?" (It's
pronounced like it's all one word.)
   I guess that's foreign to most folks in America. It's nearest
equivalent is the equally all purpose surfer-term 'Dude'.... 'Dude,
where's my car?' 'Cool, Dude!', "Duuuuude!', etc.
Stephen King talks about "ayuh" used in the New England states in much the
same way as "eh". I wonder if it's some sort of French influence...?