Vocab question for UK people

Subject: Vocab question for UK people
From: Marion
Date: 29 Nov 02 - 12:30 AM

Hi. I'm writing a song from the point of view of someone from the Isle of Wight, and I want to know what someone from one of the small islands would call the rest of England. I'm tempted to call it "the mainland" but that seems a little strange for what is also a small island.

Does anyone know what Isle of Wighters call the "mainland"?

Marion

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 29 Nov 02 - 02:28 AM

In Swanage, which has a splendid view of the Needles, the visitors from IoW call it 'over thur'.

LTS

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: IanN
Date: 29 Nov 02 - 04:14 AM

Having spent a lot of time on Scottish islands I can inform you that "the mainland" is generally referred to. On some islands of Harris & Lewis, even Harris & Lewis are referred top as "the mainland". I guess it's just a matter of perspective.

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: Skipjack K8
Date: 29 Nov 02 - 06:38 AM

I grew up in the marshlands of Essex, and the Mersea islanders referred to the southern side of the River Blackwater as 'The Main' (or the Suthard), which is a corruption of the Mainland. Always liked that word.

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 29 Nov 02 - 07:00 AM

Whenever I've been on the IOW, it's been called "the mainland", but more often by visitors than natives, I think.

Here, what do you mean, "also a small island"?!

Steve, from the big island!

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: Dave Bryant
Date: 29 Nov 02 - 07:18 AM

You could try PMing VECTIS - After all she's originally from the I-O-W and could probably help you with any details (Vectis was the Roman name for the I-O-W).

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: Marion
Date: 29 Nov 02 - 09:08 AM

Thanks.

Yes, Steve, England is a small island.

Marion with a Canadian perspective

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: Snuffy
Date: 29 Nov 02 - 09:10 AM

"Fog in the Channel - Europe cut off"

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: An Pluiméir Ceolmhar
Date: 29 Nov 02 - 09:27 AM

I reckon it's only a matter of time before someone mentions the use of the term "mainland" in the discourse of the North-eastern part of the island off the West coast of the Isle of Man.

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: KingBrilliant
Date: 29 Nov 02 - 09:57 AM

Damn! Are we small?

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: Noreen
Date: 29 Nov 02 - 10:02 AM

Never noticed it meself- don't think size is relevant(!) unless you're within easy walking distance of the coast. If the vast majority of the population were within easy walking distance of the coast, THAT would be a small island.

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: GUEST,stringman
Date: 29 Nov 02 - 10:05 AM

How Big,smelly,nosey, Shall I go on.:)

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: allanwill
Date: 29 Nov 02 - 10:19 AM

As Crocodile Dundee would say "England? that's not an island - AUSTRALIA is an island!"

Allan

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 29 Nov 02 - 10:27 AM

Antarctica is an island!!

Fair enough, Marion: I've been to Canada, and that's what really struck me about the place: it's BIG! When I come again, maybe I'll look you up--are you anywhere near Edmonton?

Steve

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Nov 02 - 11:17 AM

Marion, England is NOT a "small island". The "small island" is the mainland of Scotland, Wales and England.

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: Declan
Date: 29 Nov 02 - 11:46 AM

Is Man a Mountain ?

No. Man is an Island.

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: Long Firm Freddie
Date: 29 Nov 02 - 12:54 PM

I heard that Tasmanians call the larger part of Australia "The North Island"

LFF

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: MudGuard
Date: 29 Nov 02 - 01:00 PM

No. Man is a male human being ;-) SCNR ;-)

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: allanwill
Date: 29 Nov 02 - 01:27 PM

... and those upstart New Zealanders call us the West Island. What a nerve!

Allan

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: Shonagh
Date: 30 Nov 02 - 12:51 PM

Well, having been in the Isle of Man a few times, all my friends call it the mainland. And even in Skye they seem to call it the mainland as well.

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: Boab
Date: 01 Dec 02 - 04:54 AM

"I.O.W." ---the Three Drunken Maidens came from there didn't they?

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: Penny S.
Date: 01 Dec 02 - 07:58 AM

Acquire a globe, to avoid Mercator bias. You will see that there are a variety of island sizes. There are Very Big Islands/Small Continental Masses - Oz, Antarctica, Greenland. There are Very Small Islands - many, many, volcanic islands, rocky things on the fringes of larger masses, etc. There are Small Islands - in the Mediterranean, for example, Indonesia, etc. There are Large Islands - Madagascar, Borneo. And the rest- Sumatra, Java, Japan's main island, Newfoundland, Iceland, NZ North and South. I'm not sure where Papua/New Guinea and Baffin Island fit, But Britain is not in either of the small groups, nor debatably near either of the boundaries. It's a medium sized, average-sized island. Don't compare it with the few large islands, or the continental masses, in order to put it down.

A small island is like Graham island in the Med. Any island whose extremities are out of sight by reason of the Earth's curvature cannot be described as small, and may be called, locally, the mainland. It was probably called the mainland before America and Australia were even dreamed of by its inhabitants.

Penny

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 02 Dec 02 - 06:01 AM

Mudguard: "No. Man is a male human being ;-) SCNR ;-) "

No, 'Man' is a collective term for the human race, whether male or female.
Neither Neil Armstrong "One small step for (a) man", nor Fred Dallas "The family of man" were being sexist.

Nigel

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: Marion
Date: 02 Dec 02 - 02:35 PM

GUEST makes a good point - England isn't even a whole small island, it's just part of a small island!

Seriously though, I don't mean to "put it down" to say that England is small from my perspective. And of course large and small are only a matter of perspective - I'm well aware that Canada is smaller than Russia, and much smaller than, say, the Milky Way galaxy.

Steve, my town (Toronto) is about 3400 km - or 2111 miles - from Edmonton. That's about the distance from London to Istanbul. And I'm in central Canada, nowhere near the opposite end of the country! It's a shame you probably can't pop over to visit me too, but I think this makes my point.

Anyway, here's an honest-to-God exchange that I heard on an American game show:

MC: "In terms of land area, what is the largest nation in the Americas?"

Contestant: (thinks about it for a minute) "Asia?"

Cheers, Marion

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: Penny S.
Date: 02 Dec 02 - 05:16 PM

OK Marion, its not as big as Canada - but you did say "small island". If you'd stuck at small, I wouldn't have cavilled.

Penny

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: vectis
Date: 02 Dec 02 - 06:24 PM

We call the rest of the world "the mainland". We call the Island "home". Those living across the Solent from us are "furriners" or "overners".

If you want any dialect terms let me know, I can still remember how to talk proper even if I have to speak English now I've moved to the chilly north, or Sussex as it is commonly known.

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: vectis
Date: 03 Dec 02 - 06:58 PM

refresh

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: Marion
Date: 17 Jun 03 - 12:53 PM

I'm working on another English-themed song and have a new vocabulary question.

I'm looking for synonyms for "pregnant" that could be used in the WWII era.

Thanks, Marion

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: Mrs.Duck
Date: 17 Jun 03 - 12:57 PM

expecting, in the family way, blooming

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: C-flat
Date: 17 Jun 03 - 12:59 PM

In the "pudding club"
"A bun in the oven"
I'm sure I can come up with a few more like them.

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: songs2play
Date: 17 Jun 03 - 01:03 PM

"She is with child", has always been my favorite.

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: C-flat
Date: 17 Jun 03 - 03:01 PM

or "starting a bottom drawer"

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 17 Jun 03 - 03:54 PM

A lot would depend on whether the pregnancy was welcomed or not. There's a difference between being "up the duff" and "expecting a happy event".

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: GUEST,CraigS
Date: 17 Jun 03 - 05:34 PM

in the family way
sprogging
bigging a hump she humped hersel' (Scots)

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: Snuffy
Date: 17 Jun 03 - 07:59 PM

"In an interesting condition"

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: LadyJean
Date: 18 Jun 03 - 12:09 AM

Are you Marion Kee? I've been trying to let you know I've got email, if you are. Now you know. If you aren't Marion Kee disregard this message.

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: mouldy
Date: 18 Jun 03 - 02:40 AM

"Increasing" was one from the 18/19th centuries that I always liked.

Andrea

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: GUEST,ozmacca
Date: 18 Jun 03 - 03:11 AM

having " One up the spout" was popular for some time. Given certain circumstances, it could also refer to the condition of the bride's father's shotgun.....

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: GUEST,KingBrilliant
Date: 18 Jun 03 - 05:38 AM

"in the family way" sounds about right for the time. Or if its an unwanted (unmarried) pregnancy then "in trouble" would also suit.

Any further clues? eg class, situation etc

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: HuwG
Date: 18 Jun 03 - 08:17 AM

Ozmacca beat me to the draw. Having "a round up the spout" translates into american as having "a bullet/shell in the chamber", and would have been the euphemism most commonly encountered in the military.

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: Mr Happy
Date: 19 Jun 03 - 05:33 AM

island?- land surrounded on all sides by water- all the land on earth is surrounded by the oceans- so aren't all the continents ultimately 'islands'?

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: Marion
Date: 19 Jun 03 - 04:02 PM

Thanks gang. The song is about war brides, i.e., the British girls who married Canadian soldiers. I like the rhythmic sound of "one up the spout", and it shouldn't be too hard to rhyme either. Would you consider it vulgar?

Marion

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: Snuffy
Date: 19 Jun 03 - 08:15 PM

vulgar as in "proletarian" rather than "obscene"

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: Joe_F
Date: 19 Jun 03 - 08:21 PM

I read once about a schoolgirl on Martha's Vineyard, during W.W. II, who began a class paper on Mussolini with the words "Mussolini is an off-islander".

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: GUEST,John
Date: 19 Jun 03 - 09:03 PM

If the British can refer to Derry as Londonderry then I think its time we referred to Britain as East Ireland.

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: GUEST,NODDY
Date: 20 Jun 03 - 08:26 AM

The English are not very good at Geography. They think Liverpool is in the North West when it is really in the Midlands. and that Birmingham is in the Midlands when it is Southern England.
But then again many think that Manchester United are a football team.

Subject: RE: Vocab question for UK people
From: GUEST,JTT
Date: 20 Jun 03 - 03:07 PM

The question of what someone in England either now or in the 1940s would call being pregnant depends on a buncha stuff.

What class are the people speaking? BIG difference in phrasing. An upper-class type might have said jokingly that she was preggers, though that's a vulgarity; she'd never have referred to a bun in the oven unless she were deliberately mocking working-class usage.