BS: USA/ European word definitions

Subject: RE: BS: USA/ European word definitions
From: Mrrzy
Date: 03 Aug 17 - 11:15 AM

Pygmalion - pronounced success.

Subject: RE: BS: USA/ European word definitions
From: Mr Red
Date: 03 Aug 17 - 02:08 AM

Language is best as a conversation, a duologue. As GBS put it "Two countries separated by a common language" - but posts, and monologues we don't have the same querying option, so assume.

In Europe (but not the UK) eventually is taken to mean it depends on events. In UK English, and I assume USeeze, it mean sometime. Imagine the fun and games in contracts!

Quite good we take to mean nothing special (reliable, average, no sparkle, unvoiced caveats). Whereas good is more praiseworthy, and very good is one step below excellent.
genius ? - reserved for the assessor!

Subject: RE: BS: USA/ European word definitions
From: Mrrzy
Date: 02 Aug 17 - 02:12 PM

Here, I'm a Socialist; over there, I'd probably be average.

Meanwhile, at my old company, we were owned by a Dutch-British firm who sent someone from the British side to run us for a while, and she and I has a long conversation about the differences between British and American English. One thing she told me was that she'd gotten in trouble with the term "quite" as in, when asked how someone was, being told they are quite good at their job. In the US, it means (in that context) something like Very, and apparently to her, it meant something a lot closer to Not Very.

She wondered why those Americans kept dissing their underlings!

On a related topic I had a friend who was fluent in sign language, who was told by a deaf friend about another person who was, in the terms of the deaf friend, very hard of hearing. My friend understood that to mean, the other person didn't hear well at all. But no, the *deaf* person meant actually that the person did hear well, so they were *socially* hard of hearing rather than identifying as a member of the deaf community. So, there you have it.

Subject: RE: BS: USA/ European word definitions
From: Mr Red
Date: 02 Aug 17 - 01:10 PM

so where on this political scale do we place the yella-bellied pinko liberals?

Subject: RE: BS: USA/ European word definitions
From: Nick
Date: 02 Aug 17 - 10:52 AM

It will be interesting going to the west coast of america soon and relating the concepts.

The first thing my son noticed is that the USA accepts a homeless problem that evn staunch (C)conservatives in this country would not accept so trivially.

From an outsiders point of view it seems that the fault is yours if you are less advantaged than others and then you should just be them. Regardless of whether you can or not. A bit like the folks who keep trying to work for Trump in its extreme case. And if you can' it's still your fault. In an equal classless society, that I believe the USA thinks it is, then everyone has an equal opportunity.

But - again from an outside persepctive - that's what it is.

Which is where it is similar though - [choice] - more advanced? - than the UK. People with money in the Uk think that everyone has an equal chance.

But they don't.

From my perspective

The Labour in the UK nowadays looks to redress a balance that, after Thatcher, the Blair governement didn't address. Not to go back to Keir Hardy in the 20's and start the mines again etc but to address some idea of fairness

The Liberals/Liberal Democrats sold their souls to the devil for the hope of changing things and failed. Got in bed with the wrong people and broke things.
As a Liberal (capital letter and lower) I think that's sad.

The Conservatives are the others. (UKIP to BNP irrelevant now)

There used to be a broad coalition of the middle in this country which was to be fair and reasonable - which is what you would expect from what is described as a 'liberal democracy'. And that people would pitch for that middle ground of everyone being ok.

But in the UK it is polarising more and more. And needs sorting.

Happily talk more on this :)

Subject: RE: BS: USA/ European word definitions
From: artbrooks
Date: 02 Aug 17 - 10:05 AM

I really don't think any of the definitions cited by the OP are in common, accepted, use in the US. What is true (and probably always has been) is that people call others by names intended to rouse the ire of others.

Subject: RE: BS: USA/ European word definitions
From: meself
Date: 02 Aug 17 - 09:54 AM

In the US, 'Communist' means 'Russian', that's all. So on various on-line forums and 'discussion'(ha, ha) sites, you will see Trump, Putin and their apologists being referred to as 'Commies'. And this coming from the more informed end of the political spectrum ... !

Subject: RE: BS: USA/ European word definitions
From: David Carter (UK)
Date: 02 Aug 17 - 08:42 AM

In Australia, Liberal means "ranting right wing fringe looney". Such as Tony Abbott.

Subject: RE: BS: USA/ European word definitions
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 02 Aug 17 - 08:28 AM

Americans have different words than the British,
ie. Americans say ' Mr President '

we say ' seriously deranged git '

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: USA/ European word definitions
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 02 Aug 17 - 07:12 AM

No good asking on here, Kenny, people just make their own definitions up all the time! But, generally speaking, the political spectrum has swung so far to the right that the definitions are probably about right.

DtG

Subject: BS: USA/ European word definitions
From: Kenny B (inactive)
Date: 02 Aug 17 - 06:56 AM

I discovered this when reading the resurrected McCarthyism thread do the definitions still apply ? It wasn't challenged at the time!

From: Jon Corelis - PM
Date: 27 Feb 12 - 12:25 PM

Since this forum has an international membership, maybe someone should explain that in US political discourse, "communist" means "socialist," "socialist" means "liberal," "liberal" means "moderate", "moderate" means "conservative," and "conservative" means "ranting right wing fringe looney."