Do words have different meanings for Americans than....

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KimJ
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17 Nov 2006, 4:31 pm

Yeah, everyone got carried away.
The context of the sentence;
" . . . parents' cooperation with the diagnosis." means that the doctor or patient will need the help of the parents, ie history, information, et al. "cooperating with the diagnosis" being the key phrase.



Fraya
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17 Nov 2006, 4:33 pm

If you think the dialects in England are bad you should try american dialects.

Not only are the words meanings completely different depending on where you are the accents they use can be so varied and thick it almost sounds like another language entirely (for example brooklyn and texan are so different when I visited new york I had to keep asking people to write down what they were saying and/or use different words).


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Sorce
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17 Nov 2006, 4:49 pm

Fraya wrote:
If you think the dialects in England are bad you should try american dialects.

Not only are the words meanings completely different depending on where you are the accents they use can be so varied and thick it almost sounds like another language entirely (for example brooklyn and texan are so different when I visited new york I had to keep asking people to write down what they were saying and/or use different words).


You think New York accents are thick, wait till you hear some Boston ones.



MrMark
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17 Nov 2006, 5:04 pm

Sophist wrote:
We still call it sandwich.

Sammich. I'm glad Larry the Cable Guy has spread the usage of that colloquialism.

An American trunk is a British boot,
and don't leave your flat
without your bumbershoot.


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pluto
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17 Nov 2006, 5:36 pm

CanyonWind wrote:
This topic is getting me really pissed.


Sorry about this,but I can't resist pointing out that in the UK 'pissed' means drunk or
intoxicated whereas in America it obviously means annoyed. We use 'pissed off' to
mean annoyed.

As KimJ pointed out,it was the context of the original post that mattered and instead we all went off on tangents about words. I suppose (US=I guess) that at least we've learned that
people don't always interpret things in the same way that we're entitled to think they will.



CockneyRebel
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17 Nov 2006, 5:46 pm

I'm not pissed, right now. I'm quite sober. Tonight might be another story, though. :wink:



Emettman
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17 Nov 2006, 5:55 pm

Fraya wrote:
If you think the dialects in England are bad you should try american dialects.


For many years I struggled towards the acquisition of a small aquatic mammal,
which was my Brooklyn guru's prescription for true happiness:

"Y' gotta have a porpoise."



CanyonWind
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17 Nov 2006, 6:04 pm

CanyonWind wrote:
This topic is getting me really pissed.


Oops, sorry, I had absolutely no serious intent there. I was just joking about the brit and yank meaning of the term "pissed." When I was in canada, I was always startled when somebody said something like, "We're gonna get pissed," and I was always like; Is that something you plan?

Ah, aspies, aspies, aspies...


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Aspie_Chav
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17 Nov 2006, 6:15 pm

Sophist wrote:
[size=15]We use "cookie" instead of "biscuit" and our "biscuits" are more like soft, nonsweet scones, real buttery.


Is there anywhere in Blity where I can get some biscuits and gravy or find a Pie & Mash shop.



SolaCatella
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17 Nov 2006, 6:42 pm

And "fanny" isn't impolite over here in the US either. *cough*


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pluto
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17 Nov 2006, 7:19 pm

Yes,SolaCatella,I was once watching TV here in UK when I heard said word on the Golden Girls and was taken aback,even though I know it's a perfectly innocent word in the US. It's
almost taboo in the UK.
A bit like a reversal of the situation with 'fag' being slang for cigarette over here.

*quickly changes topic* I think Canyonwind summed up the meanderings of this thread
in the phrase 'Ah,Aspies,aspies,aspies..



SolaCatella
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17 Nov 2006, 7:34 pm

*grins* You should have seen my mum's face when I mentioned that to her after she was complaining about not being able to find her fanny pack. Or when I told her what bugger means over on your side of the pond (it's used in my family as a totally innocent term of affection, as in "you fat little bugger, come here" as spoken to my beloved dog).


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SteveK
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17 Nov 2006, 7:44 pm

scrulie wrote:
SteveK wrote:
Yeah "american" is just another dialect of english. It is probably closer to british than australian is.

You reckon? That's interesting! I'm not disagreeing with you at all Steve I just always assumed Australian was closer to 'british' english! That may have more to do with the accent, I don't know! :)


The basic Australian dialect IS closer to the UK than American is(from what I know), but the new words an changed words and their common usage may be more pronounced in australian. Maybe it is the odd animals, the desire to start a new country, the relative isolation from the UK, or whetever, WHO KNOWS? But that is how I see it.

Steve



KimJ
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17 Nov 2006, 7:46 pm

Yeah and comedians like Craig Ferguson are taking advantage of that to say bugger and "git" on his show. I guess he had to translate, "blow me" for another Brit who didn't know what it meant in American. :lol:



Tequila
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17 Nov 2006, 7:50 pm

Literally, bugger means sodomy. It's rarely used in that sense though, really it's used as a term of affection - as in the term 'buggerlugs'. It can mean 'bugger off' though - as in to go away, or 'bugger it'.



KimJ
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17 Nov 2006, 8:11 pm

Craig uses bugger in the British sense. :P