Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2014/05/11
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Surely the American citizens are not going to claim that they speak English??? Haah! Just yanking your chain, mate. Cheers Geoff http://www.pbase.com/hoppyman On 12 May 2014 06:14, Herbert Kanner <kanner at acm.org> wrote: > When I lived in England for eight years circa 1970, I was fascinated by > the linguistic similarities and differences. In particular, I enjoyed > learning the English equivalents for common sayings: "A dime a dozen" -> > "ten a penny", "I wouldn't touch it with a six-foot pole" -> "I wouldn't > touch it with a bargepole," and a favorite: "..and that's easily done" -> > "..and Bob's your uncle". Never got an explanation for that last one. There > was one U.S. expression for which I never found an equivalent: "He's all > wet". That, in my understanding is not a global description of a person, > but rather his savvy in some particular context, like "He's all wet about > the importance of global warning". > > I'll omit all the obscene equivalences other to say that they concentrate > on the female ones rather than the male ones. > > Herbert Kanner > kanner at acm.org > 650-326-8204 > > Question authority and the authorities will question you. > > > > > On May 11, 2014, at 7:54 AM, Nathan Wajsman <photo at frozenlight.eu> > wrote: > > > While it is true that the US has English and Spanish as the two main > languages, the variations in the way English is spoken is huge as well, > even if they are not formally recognized as different dialects. When I > lived in Buffalo, I was 100% fluent in English, meaning the British and NE > US variety; but I could not understand people in South Carolina when we > stopped at a rest area on our way to Florida. > > > > Also keep in mind that Spain was unified only in the 15th century; prior > to that it was a bunch of separate kingdoms, and so the regional identities > have remained. And I suspect that until the 20th century most people never > left the town or the province they lived in. > > > > Cheers, > > Nathan > > > > Nathan Wajsman > > Alicante, Spain > > http://www.frozenlight.eu > > http://www.greatpix.eu > > PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws > > Blog: http://nathansmusings.wordpress.com/ > > > > YNWA > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On May 11, 2014, at 3:42 PM, Howard Ritter wrote: > > > >> Thanks, Nathan. I'm always intrigued and fascinated by the existence of > dialectical differences and linguistic regions within European countries > that nominally have a single official or characteristic language, a > phenomenon so unfamiliar to us USians. > >> > >> --howard > >> > >> On May 11, 2014, at 1:21 AM, Nathan Wajsman <photo at frozenlight.eu> > wrote: > >> > >>> Thanks Howard. All the signs in Busot are in Valenciano, a local > dialect of Catalan and the official language in the Comunitat Valenciana, > to which Alicante belongs. In the bigger towns like Alicante, signs are in > both Spanish and Valenciano; but in small places like Busot, especially > inland, they are in Valenciano only. > >>> > >>> Cheers, > >>> Nathan > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Leica Users Group. > >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > >> > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Leica Users Group. > > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >