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American Cultural oddities
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Bruce O. Date: 21 Apr 98 - 09:30 PM Hey, can anyone tell me what's behind the greeting, "My good man". I don't want to be anyone's good man, English, American, or anything else. It's always seemed to me to be rather derogatory, no matter who it came from.
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Pete M Date: 21 Apr 98 - 10:38 PM Actually Joe, I wasn't getting at Americans per se, although.... Really, I know America has as much, if not more, diversity of culture, dialect and idiom as Britain. What I think most would depracate is the peddling of, by in particular TV, a bland, guaranteed not to offend anyone delivery (anyone being defined here as a member of the advertisers target audience), as representative of America. It is opposed as "cultural imperialism" in Australasia, but I am sure it is just as insulting to any American who actually cares about their own culture, and who I am sure do not want the world to think America is populated by the people represented on popular TV. Of course, since we are getting down to lowest common denominators, we all have to thank an Australian for dragging the press of the free world out of the gutter into the sewers! Pete M |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Alan of Australia Date: 22 Apr 98 - 04:07 AM Bob & Joe, I'm not too sure about the origins of "haitch" vs "aitch". It seems to me to be pretty evenly divided here; I've heard it said that "haitch" is Catholic, "aitch" Protestant. This is very definitely the case in Ireland - if someone asks you to spell "hospital" they're really only trying to find out whether you're orange or green. Cheers, |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Bert Date: 22 Apr 98 - 10:17 AM Pronunciation as 'haitch' would seem London Cockney to us.... Cockney speech is very carefully tailored for the current audience. When a Cockney is speaking to a Non-Cockney he will exaggerate pronunciation and deliberately mis-pronounce words of three or more syllables, especially if there is a similar word which he can use instead. When talking seriously among friends the accent is considerable reduced. So, a Cockney would usually say 'aitch'. 'Haitch' would be used if a comic effect were intended or for a Non-Cockney audience. TTFN. |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Bob Bolton Date: 22 Apr 98 - 07:40 PM G'day all: Bert: I agree entirely; that is why I carefully used the word "seem" - perhaps I should have said "Stage-Cockney". I know that the Cockney uses quite a lot of private language that has no resemblance to what we here in public or on TV shows. Mayhew's 1850 books on the London Poor and Labouring classes give examples that are very interesting when examing early speech patterns in Australia's colonial era. Alan of Australia: You're right: the Protestant / Catholic (or State School / Church School) split on "Haitch and "Aitch" was a fairly safe indicator in Australia in past years but is now being lost under the levelling effects of mass media. All: Oddities are real but should never be regarded as carrying value judgements. It would be terribly bloody boring if we all sounded the same. My comments on an American style of picking over words is only in contrast to a whole range of different ways other countries' population have of finicking over things. Different - not better or worse. Regards, Bob Bolton |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Sir Date: 23 Apr 98 - 09:43 PM There was a television documentary in America a few years back on the English language. It was run in a series of shows and followed the history of English as it traveled around the world. One point of interest it brought up was that the English of Appalachia (the dialect of the hillbillies) was probably closest to that of Shakespeare. On another theme: (the H) Those in the Jamiaca pronounce an "H" at the beginning of words that start with a vowel and don't pronounce an "H" when it's written at the beginning of a word. Thus "and" is pronounced "Hand" and "Hand" is pronounced "And". |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: alison Date: 23 Apr 98 - 11:00 PM Hi, funnily enough I was never asked to spell "hospital", but I was once asked to spell 'Johannesburg" under the pretence that someone needed it for a crossword puzzle. Managed to confuse them though.... I stuck in a catholic "haitch" and a protestant "ay". ( some catholics pronounce "a" as "ah". Therefore J.O.Haitch.Ah.ect.) They didn't ask again. Slainte Alison |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Bob Bolton Date: 24 Apr 98 - 12:01 AM G'day Sir: That documentary was probably the One that we saw over here (Australia) as "The Story of English", in 11 half hour programmes (I have it on videotape and occasionally re-run segments). I understand that there was also a very good accompanying book, which I have not seen. The series was very good in the area of the old UK regional accents that have survived and prospered in America. Your point about the Jamaican pronunciation of H seems to describe a common feature of rural English worldwide. There are certainly Australian country accents where this feature is very common and I have heard it in other accents of remote areas. Regards, Bob Bolton |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Barry Finn Date: 24 Apr 98 - 10:09 AM Here in Boston, I'm told we have no h's & r's unless they start (sounds like start) the word, horse & hoarse sounds like hoss, & short sounds like shot as does shot. The Bostonian accent changes throughout the city, no one sounds like a Kennedy, South Boston has a slight flavor of Irish & the North End a bit of Italian all very distinct to me but not an outsider. When travelling about the States I need some one with me to translate for me (except in the northeast), I not understood at all on the west coast where (sounds like were, we're, ware, where, weare) they pronunce (sounds like p ah nounce, there's the h where the r should be, & wire sounds like wi ah) everything & on the Pacific Islands & in the west, I'm confused with New Yorkers, who I can spot a mile off, just as they can spot me. I don't know if this is in line with this thread, cause I'm not so 'sh oar' I can understand a wo r d you're saying. Nice talking wit ya. Barry |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Jon W. Date: 24 Apr 98 - 11:02 AM I read the book Bob refers to (come to think of it, I might still have it) but I never saw much of the TV series. The thing I remember most about it is a little scatological ditty from Elizabethan times. (or is that Elisabethan times? I've never understood the English use of "S" when the "Z" is called for). |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Bruce O. Date: 24 Apr 98 - 11:42 AM I didn't see the TV one. I thumbed through the book at a bookstore and wasn't very impressed by it. Special groups have had special terms, and there have been dictionaries of it and songs from the late 16th century. See also Brome's play 'The Beggars Bush', 1641? for examples. English Gypsies still use some of it it. Its called lots of things: thieves jargon, pedlar's French, cant, and so on. I can't remember that term used for it about 15 years ago when describing some Gypsie songs collected in Ireland about 1970. There are whole books of songs in it in the 18th century- The Scoundrel's Dictionary, The canting Crew, and so on. I forgot what play has Shakespere's song with the burden "Hey the doxie over the dale". Last word is misspelled. Doxie is a virgin beggar lass, a dell isn't, and will probably soon be a mort, then autem-mort of some darkman. On my website I mention 'The Bowman's Prigg's Farewell", but don't have the whole song yet. A farcical esecution of Bowman Prigg. A bowman prig is a pick purse, not a cutpurse. If I remember correctly Chapell's PMOT has "The Budge it is a delicate trade'. J. S. Farmer (with Henley?) put out a whole book of old songs in cant in the late 19th century, but I don't have it or remember its title.
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Tim Jaques tjaques@netcom.ca Date: 25 Apr 98 - 04:08 PM I figure the cultural oddities are the English speakers from outside North America. There must be about 300 million speakers of North American English in its many varieties and therefore North America has the force of numbers. The Japanese too speak a strange form of North American English, at least to judge by the slogans they print on shirts and jackets, "Big League Whacker Running Man" being one of my favourites. I have often longed to go to Japan and hire myself out as a consultant for tee-shirt slogans.:) I seem to recall either Boswell or Dr. Johnson using "fall" for "autumn", but I don't have my books at hand. Fowler no doubt has an opinion on the subject. Could "zee" come from the influence of other European languages on American English? I always figured the American "yeah" for "yes" came from the German influence. In Canada, people will say either "zed" or "zee" depending on how close they are to the border. Here where I live most people say "zee" but it is not good Canadian English. The date thing is even more confusing in Canada. Most people use the American form of mm/dd/yy, but some institutions like insurance companies often use the British dd/mm/yy. This can lead to obvious confusion.
fall = autumn Also I think what we call a sedan is called a saloon over in the UK. A saloon over here is a place where cowboys inbibe. |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Ted from Australia Date: 26 Apr 98 - 02:57 AM Bruce O Aint= be it not Bain't (as "can't" for can not)from Sommerset, Dorsett etc Aint english wonderful Regards Ted |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Barbara Date: 26 Apr 98 - 06:26 PM One of the English/American differences I love is automotive: choke = strangler Here's some more: truck = lorry bus = jitney county dump = council tip gasoline = petrol kerosene = gasoline Is that right? freeway = motorway
And then there's 'knock up' which in London, simply means to call on, but in the US means 'make pregnant'.
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Alan of Australia Date: 27 Apr 98 - 04:37 AM G'day, Talking of aitches, what is the normal American pronunciation of herb? Is it the same in all states or does it vary? I've heard it pronouced 'erb by a American singer. 'R' is another letter often used differently e.g. in 'poor' or 'pore' the 'R' is simply a vowel modifier here so that 'poor', 'pore' and 'paw' are pronounced the same. Irish must be similar in this respect to American - Alison keeps having a go at my accent! Cheers, |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Alan of Australia Date: 27 Apr 98 - 05:14 AM Tim, Here is the Aussie version of some of your definitions: (car) horn = horn I think there are a number of words like embed/imbed, entwine/intwine which use a leading e or i depending where you are.
Cheers, |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: judy Date: 27 Apr 98 - 01:41 PM In 1970 my mother and I went to London, Edinburgh(sp?), and Paris for two weeks. It was the first time we'd ever been out of the country. Outside of our hotel we sat in the park and an old man came up and talked to us for 1/2 an hour. Although we didn't understand a word he said, we smiled and nodded, not wanting to be impolite. I remember writing in my journal about the "oddities": the light switches turned on by flipping them down (up here) the outlets had three round prongs (two slots here) underpass=subway subway=tube potato chips=potato crisps (chicken flavored among others) ham=gammon sausage=bangers French fries=chips (which are known in France as pomme frites=fried potatoes. BTW French toast misnomer too. Later trip: French friends wanted to know if Americans really ate marshmallows roasted like they'd seen in movies, had never heard of corn bread which I made for them, and were totally amazed to know that Donald Duck was speaking real words which I could understand) We bought a box of Trifle, having heard of it and wanting to try it. We made it up according to the directions until it said to *put on the hundreds and thousands*. That gave us quite a laugh. Hundreds and thousands of what? We were stumped but finally found the little package of sprinkles at the bottom of the box We ate pizza. They had such unusual things on it as ham, pineapple and chicken; now quite common place here too. We totally enjoyed ourselves and found the people to be exceptionally friendly (something we didn't find in France. Of course it was August and only tourists and the French not able to go on vacation were there.) Later in my life I travelled quite a bit and had fun trying to talk with people when neither of us could speak the others language. I learned to order food by looking at what other people were eating and choosing the same thing. Once when there were no other people in the restaurant (in Germany) I tried to tell the waitress what I wanted by making the (American) noise for chicken: cluck, cluck. She was totally baffled. I finally made the noise of a rooster: er-er-er-er-oooo (not cockadoodle doo). She pointed out *henne* on the menu as I laughed at my stupidity. I have since compared animal noises with various foreigners: Dog American: bow wow, ruff ruff, arf arf Hebrew: hav hav French: ouaou ouaou (sp?) (pronounced wow, wow) Bird American: chirp chirp, tweet tweet Hebrew: tseef tseef Chicken: American: cluck cluck, rooster=cockadoodle doo French: (I forget how to spell it but it) sounds like pyew pyew Spanish: pio pio (pronounced pee oh pee oh. rooster=coo koo roo ku ku Pig: oink oink Cow: moo moo Horse: neigh neigh (pronounced nay nay) Sheep: baa baa Duck: quack quack other languages? I can't seem to find a couple of children's songs in Spanish that starts out: Los pollitos dicen pio, pio, pio. Quando tienen hambre, quando tienen frio. (The little chicks say peep, peep when they're hungry, when they're cold) And there's another song also in Spanish that talks about each animal on the farm and the sound they make. It may be Mi Chacara. Part of it goes Ven ***** mi chacara que es bonita. Los pollitos ven asi: pio pio pio. I learned these songs in elementary school. Perhaps some of you remember them (late 50's, early 60's). Will keep on looking. I really also enjoy the etymology of words. Here are a couple of sites: http://www.word-detective.com http://www.tiac.net/users/rlederer/index.htm http://homepage.interaccess.com/~wolinsky/word.htm enjoy! judy
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: judy Date: 27 Apr 98 - 02:08 PM Sorry, forgot the page breaks
the light switches turned on by flipping them down (up here)
Dog
enjoy! |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Bruce O. Date: 27 Apr 98 - 02:21 PM Notice how cleverly us Americans turned the thread around so it's mostly everybody else's cultural oddities? 'Slang and Its Analogues', by J. S. Farmer and W.E. Henley, 7 vols, 1890-1904, was reprinted by Arno Press in 1 vol., 1970. This covers the British Isles and the U.S. pretty well until date of original publication. |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Bob Bolton Date: 27 Apr 98 - 06:53 PM G'day Jon W, Elizabethan / Elisabethan isn't a question here - the spelling of a person's name is their own problem but my preferred spelling of (say)authorise, against authorize, is more an Australian preference than an American / English thing since both seem to prefer the "Z". I notice the the Standrads Association of Australia persiste with "Z" (out of a desire for standardisation) but most Australian seem to use "S". regards, Bob Bolton |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Tim Jaques tjaques@netcom.ca Date: 27 Apr 98 - 06:58 PM Ah, but it is everyone else's cultural oddities. I remember how indignant I was when I went to England at the age of 12, and people there said I had an accent. To my mind foreigners had accents; Canadians spoke English as pure as tinkled crystal.:) |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Bruce O. Date: 27 Apr 98 - 07:07 PM Sir Walter sometimes spelled his name Rawley, but when I sent something on him to England as Raleigh, it was published as Ralegh. |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Whippoorwill Date: 28 Apr 98 - 10:44 AM I've always preferred ain't to amn't, or as Dave Gardner said, arezn't. Alan of Oz, in the States, herb is pronounced herb, or 'erb, or back in some of the dark hollers, yarb. |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Bill D Date: 30 Apr 98 - 04:28 PM did a search and found this page of comparitive lists it is part of this page which has a LOT of stuff on languages, British-American differences, word histories, etc.... |
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Subject: Lyr Add: DE COLORES From: Dani Date: 02 May 98 - 07:14 PM Judy, is this what you're looking for?
DE COLORES
De colores, de colores se visten los campos en la primavera
Chorus (2X):
Canta el gallo, canta el gallo con su quiri (5x) Chorus (you know, I think you can sing this with us...)
In colors, in colors the Fields bloom in spring
De colores, de colores se visten los campos en la primavera Chorus (4x) |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Jerry Friedman Date: 02 May 98 - 07:18 PM Bob Bolton, I believe (from alt.usage.english among other places) that "-ise" is standard throughout the English-speaking world except for the U.S.--and Oxford University Press. Alan, most Americans don't pronounce the h in herb and herbal, and some don't pronounce in herbivore, herbaceous, and so on. (And some don't know those words.) Tim, where do people say "gumrubbers"? I've never heard it. I think what the British call wellies we down here just call boots, or rubber boots if we're being precise. Also, I think the British write "kerb", not "kurb". On a subject Judy brought up, does anyone know the Russian equivalent of "oink"? A friend of mine remembers it as "like a song" and wants to find it again. |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Will Date: 02 May 98 - 09:58 PM We called them "gum boots" in B.C. (gumrubbers/wellies, that is). |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Barry Finn Date: 02 May 98 - 11:37 PM & doesn't every language have "Na na nana na". Barry |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: RS Date: 03 May 98 - 01:46 AM Over here (in my part of Canada) it's Na nana na na. (Can we post a midi to see if it's the same tune???) |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Frank in the swamps Date: 03 May 98 - 05:46 AM Since this thread is called AMERICAN cultural oddities, I've got one all you fremmit fowk may not be aware of. Has anyone been puzzled by all the references over the last few years to the "liberal media"? I mean, I keep hearing disparaging and negative references relating the "liberal media" to every societal problem we have, from AIDS to Xenophobia (sorry, I couldn't think of a zed). And where do I hear about the "liberal media"? Oh, the t.v. radio, newspapers, mags. etc.... Frank i.t.s. |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: judy Date: 03 May 98 - 11:30 AM Dani,
Great song, thanks but not the one I was trying to find. Jerry: oinich-ke?
enjoy! |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Bob Bolton Date: 03 May 98 - 06:49 PM G'day Jerry Friedman, OK, OK, so you may have caught me out in my addiction to Oxford dictionaries, warts and all. I'm afraid Oxford's various works take up a lot of the four (small) shelves devoted to dictionaries and dictionary references. Regards, Bob Bolton |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Alice Date: 04 May 98 - 01:23 AM Good point, Frank. Have you seen the FOX "News" channel lately?? More like the FOX "Tabloid Gossip" channel. |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: steve t Date: 04 May 98 - 06:53 AM Regarding Na na na-na na, I think I heard on CBC's As It Happens that, yes, the first two notes of the tune were the same everywhere. This came from a guy who was investigating fans at basketball games who chanted "air ball" always at the same pitch. The guy couldn't really explain it, though he theorized that PERHAPS the fans were listening to the hum of the lights whose frequency was the root note of a scale that included "air ball" -- which by the way is chanted to the first two notes of Na na na-na na. And a cultural oddity of them Yanks? They appoint ambassadors as a reward for political campaign contributions. Then said ambassadors, ardent free-enterprise enthusiasts, tell Canadians they ought to subsidize their sporting teams the way US cities do. Do powerful countries emphasize sports more than smaller countries? And FYI, folks, napkin, whatever it used to mean in Canada, just means napkin these days. I just thought my Dad was strange for calling them serviettes all those years. I find pronunciations more confusing than word differences. I remember a guy telling me he was from uh-hia. And when I was twelve in Gettysburg, I was surprised at how poorly I knew US geography -- I'd never heard of the state of Marilyn. |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Bill D Date: 04 May 98 - 11:55 AM a number of years ago in 'Psychology Today', there was an article on "na-na na na NA na"... it said that the notes were a natural spacing which arose in most cultures and seemed not to require being 'passed on'...it seems that kids will find them no matter what.... |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Joe Offer Date: 05 May 98 - 04:32 AM Well, that "na-na na na NA na" seems to come out "neener-neener-neener" (same melody) here in California. Prosecuting Attorney Marcia Clark even said it during the Simpson trial. Being a Midwesterner, it really bugs me that my kids grew up talking like their mother, a Californian. People in California think they don't have accents, but they live in something they call a "haiouse." How they can use all five vowels in the pronunciation of a one-syllable word, I'll never know. -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Tim Jaques tjaques@netcom.ca Date: 05 May 98 - 07:22 PM We always called them gumrubbers where I grew up in eastern Canada. There was even a section of town called Gumrubber Gulch, after the supposed preferred footwear of the people of that area. I've also heard them called gumboots in eastern Canada. Pretty well the same thing as wellies, except that English wellies tend to be all green, whereas over here only hobby farmers and ex-urbanites use those green boots. Most folks wear the traditional black and red or black and orange ones, with or without the steel toe and shank. In fact I would argue that you can rather accurately judge a rural person's view of their social and economic status by whether or not they wear the green wellies or the traditional black and red or black and orange gumrubbers. Rather like U and Non-U in the UK:) But the Stompin' Tom song is titled The Gumboot Cloggeroo. Maybe the US does appoint ambassadors based on political patronage, but what country doesn't? Most of the ones the US has sent up here to Canada have been quite competent. Someone said "ise" is standard English everywhere except the US. I would dispute this in regard to Canada, because "ize" is almost always used nowadays. Perversely, we still spell "practice" the English way. |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Bill D Date: 05 May 98 - 07:26 PM Joe...just like the Texan who explained that he was driving across his 'rainch' (ranch) when his truck broke down, so got a 'rainch' (wrench) out to fix it, but in doing so, he 'rainched' (twisted uncomfortably) his arm, and got his hands dirty, so he had to get some water to 'rainch'(rinse) 'em off ( I also knew some kids who were always going across the 'filled')[field] |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: rich r Date: 05 May 98 - 10:41 PM Not sure but I think I may have seen gumrubbers or something akin to that in an L L Bean catalog. They are from Maine which is the same as eastern Canada, right? Joe - It's obvious they can pronounce "haiouse" with all five vowels becase the "e" is silent. To compensate did you teach your kids that the water fountain or drinking fountain is really a bubbler? In eastern Wisconsin, school teachers even used the term. rich r |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Joe Offer Date: 06 May 98 - 02:54 AM Ah, Rich - I haven't heard the term "bubbler" in years. I moved to Racine, Wisconsin, from Detroit in fifth grade, and got in trouble with the nuns the first week of school for drinking from the forbidden bubbler. I think it must have been the Bubbler of the Knowledge of Good and Evil - but I didn't know what the heck a bubbler was. That's one word that hasn't spread very far - I'd say it's used in just a few counties of southeastern Wisconsin. -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Tim Jaques tjaques@netcom.ca Date: 06 May 98 - 07:54 PM No Rich, those LL Bean boots aren't gumrubbers or gumboots. Gumrubbers or gumboots are entirely rubber. The LL Bean boots, usually called Duck Boots, have a rubber bottom and a leather top. Gumrubbers are for mucking around in the barnyard mud or puddles, while Duck Boots are meant to keep your feet dry while hunting. They lace up and so provide better ankle support as you walk over fallen trees, down hills, etc. |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Bob Bolton Date: 06 May 98 - 10:11 PM G'day all, A sideline on the point about the pitch of the call "air ball" (mentioned on the posting from steve t, on 04-May-98. If the researcher believes the pitch is influenced by the frequency of the lighting (and its hum), he could check to see if the call occurs in countries (such as Australia, UK, etcetera) where the mains frequency is 50 Hertz, not 60 Hertz, and see if there is a commensurate lowering of pitch. I can't give any firsthand gen on this one as I have never seen a basketball game in the flesh - and such TV coverage as I see in passing does not concentrate on the audience. (Generally, you can't hear much at all over the commentators.) Regards, Bob Bolton |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: judy Date: 06 May 98 - 11:14 PM Bill, your mention of "ranch" reminded me of something I got a real laugh out of in an English folder on One Net: Monday, August 25, 1997 12:50:24 PM English Item From: Larry Nordell,METNET-Helena Subject: A southern US Engish lexicon, passed along without comment. To: English Subject: Fwd: Hickphonics The Atlanta School Board, sensing that Oakland is about to cash in by labeling African American slang as the language "Ebonics," has decided to pursue some of the seemingly endless taxpayer pipeline through Washington by designating Southern slang, or Hickphonics," as a language to be taught in all Southern schools. A speaker of this language would be a Hickophone. The following are excerpts from the Hickphonics/English dictionary: HEIDI -noun. Greeting. HIRE YEW -Complete sentence. Remainder of greeting. Usage: "Heidi, hire yew?" BARD -verb. Past tense of the infinitive "to borrow." JAWJUH -noun. The State north of Florida. Capitol is Lanner. Usage: "My brother from Jawjuh bard my pickup truck." BAMMER -noun. The State west of Jawjuh. Capitol is Berminhayum. Usage: "A tornader jes went through Bammer an' left $20,000,000 in improvements." MUNTS -noun. A calendar division. Usage: "I ain't herd from him in munts." THANK -verb. Ability to cognitively process. Usage: "Ah thank ah'll have a bare." BARE -noun. An alcoholic beverage made of barley, hops, and yeast. IGNERT -adjective. Not smart. See "Arkansas native." Usage: "Them Bammer boys sure are ignert!" RANCH -noun. A tool used for tight'nin' bolts. ALL -noun. A petroleum-based lubricant. FAR -noun. A conflagration. Usage: "If my brother from Jawjuh don't change the all in my pickup truck, that thing's gonna catch far." TAR -noun. A rubber wheel. Usage: "Gee, I hope that brother of mine from Jawjuh don't git a flat tar in my pickup truck." TIRE -noun. A tall monument. Usage: "Lord willin' and the creek don't rise, I sure do hope to see that Eiffel Tire in Paris sometime." RETARD -Verb. To stop working. Usage: "My grampaw retard at age 65." FAT -noun, verb. 1. a battle or combat. 2. to engage in battle or combat. RATS -noun. Entitled power or privilege. Usage: "We Southerners are willin' to fat for are rats." FARN -adjective. Not local. Usage: "I cuddint unnerstand a wurd he sed....mus' be from some farn country." DID -adjective. Not alive. Usage: "He's did, Jim." EAR -noun. A colorless, odorless gas: Oxygen. Usage: "He cain't breathe....give 'im some ear!" BOB WAR -noun. A sharp, twisted cable. JEW HERE -Noun and verb contraction. Usage: "Jew here that my brother from Jawjuh got a job with that bob war fence cump'ny?" HAZE -a contraction. Usage: "Is Bubba smart?" "Nah....haze ignert. He ain't thanked but a minnit 'n 'is laf." SEED -verb, past tense of "to see". VIEW -contraction: verb and pronoun. Usage: "I ain't never seed New York City....view?" GUMMIT -Noun. A bureaucratic institution. Usage: "Them gummit boys shore are ignert."
enjoy!
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Bert Date: 07 May 98 - 10:43 AM Nice list Judy, reminds me of the time when I worked in customer support for a software company in Alabama. A customer called in complaining about "an AIR message" Bert. |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Joe Offer Date: 08 May 98 - 03:13 AM Say, Judy, where did you say the capital of "BAMMER" was? What's that fancy-lookin' billin in Mugummery? -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: judy Date: 08 May 98 - 01:20 PM Must be the gummit billin enjoy! judy |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Alice Date: 08 May 98 - 02:46 PM Judy, that was great!! I had to email your list to several friends as a justification for my addiction to the Mudcat forum.
It reminds me of when I was in art school, and a graduate student from North Carolina was really difficult for me to understand. I was working in the print lab, levigating a lithograph stone, when he walked by and briskly said, "MahndefAhturndahntherahdyoh? He had to repeat it three times before I understood 'Mind if I turn down the radio'. A few months later, after Christmas break when he had gone back home to visit, I said to him, "Gee, Lowell, it seems like it's easier for me to understand you when you speak now." He said, "Ya, ma fokes say Ah tawk lak a Yankee now." alice |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Bert Date: 08 May 98 - 02:57 PM Soon after I came over here I was working in Dallas and a girl came up to me and said "Yuuuu shore do have a puurdee aaaaksent" |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Bob Schwarer Date: 08 May 98 - 03:32 PM I'd forgotten about "bubbler". I don't think I've heard it since leaving Wisconsin. Joe may be right about it being a term from SE Wis. I grew up in Rock County many years ago. Bob S. |
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Subject: RE: American Cultural oddities From: Barry Finn Date: 08 May 98 - 10:34 PM mumbutterhunda Mom bought a Honda. Barry |
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