Blog Profile / Separated by a Common Language
| URL : | http://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/ | |
|---|---|---|
| Filed Under: | Academics / Linguistics | |
| Posts on Regator: | 243 | |
| Posts / Week: | 0.9 | |
| Archived Since: | February 24, 2008 | |
Blog Post Archive
-og and -ogue
Rachel Ward aka @FwdTranslations just asked me via Twitter: Trying to check usage of epilog(ue) and prolog(ue) in US spelling. Seen suggestion that "ue" forms still more widely used. True? And I felt the need to blog this immediately, since this is something that niggles me about British understanding of US spelling sometimes. Show More Summary
crosswords
I've just come out from under several painful deadlines and am ready to do some blogging. And the note that I've written to myself is: crosswords. I wrote this note on 11 January, the day that one of the most famous British crossword compilers announced, via his puzzle, that he had terminal cancer. Show More Summary
untangle and disentangle
So, there I was, enjoying a nice evening of nothing while on (AmE) vacation/(BrE) holiday, when Dave Summers of Ohio tweeted me to ask: Heard "disentangle" the other day. Is that perhaps BrE for "untangle"? To which I replied, "No, it's AmE too". Show More Summary
2012 US-to-UK Word of the Year: wonk
As I noted in the UK-to-US WotY post, this hasn't been a particularly 'big' year for American imports to Britain. Those that were nominated were mostly things that were not clearly American before they were British; that is (in many cases), though an American may have been first to use them, they immediately entered general English. Show More Summary
2012 UK-to-US WotY: bollocks
For the first time in six years, I feel spoil{t/ed} for
choice in deciding on a UK-to-US Word of the Year, but have a hard time
hinking of even one good candidate for US-to-UK. After the 2011 UK mediafrenzy of anti-Americanismism, 2012
was...Show More Summary
Nominate WotYs & Untranslatables Month II
Two matters for this belated blog post: Words of the Year nominations and the Untranslatables Month summary. WotY Nominations Long-term readers will know that we have (at least) two Words of the Year here at SbaCL, and nominations are open for both categories as of now: 1. Show More Summary
visiting
I've been doing 'Untranslatables October' on Twitter for the second time (made slightly easier this year by the fact that I've given up tweeting on weekends). I'll do a summary at the end of the month. An American 'Untranslatable' was visit with, which had been suggested by Ros Clarke. Show More Summary
Briticisms in AmE
...or Britishisms in AmE, if you prefer. The past few weeks have seen a lot of interest in the movement of words from the UK to the US. It all started with a BBC Magazine (web) article 'Britishisms and the Britishisation of American English'. Show More Summary
sleepovers
What do the following expressions have in common?
sleepover
slumber party
pajama party
Yeah, right, they all refer to the same kind of thing. But look more closely--what else do they have in common? OK, I'll tell you. They are all American...Show More Summary
saying 'please' in restaurants
I did a TEDx talk at Sussex University a few months ago, and now the video is on-line. The subject is being polite in the UK and US, and it focuses on British thanking and American complimenting. I'm teaching a new course on Intercultural...Show More Summary
bed skirts, dust ruffles, valances
I've now remembered what I meant to cover and forgot in my last post. That post is already too, too long, so here's another post about bedding. Years ago, my former colleague Max sent a list of presumably AmE terms that were new to him when he read Jane Smiley's Ten days in the hills. Show More Summary
bed linen(s): duvets and comforters
If you want to know how to buy bed sheets in the US or UK, then the last post (on bed sizes) is the best place to start, since the sizes of beds affects the sizes of sheets and related things. But now let's talk about what we call the...Show More Summary
bed sizes
British correspondent PurpleClaire was having trouble buying bedding on-line to be used in the US, so she tweeted "what on earth is a full-size bed?" I gave her a tweet-sized answer...but here is a fuller version of the story--with lots...Show More Summary
a personal note
I have a proper blog post planned, but I felt like writing this first. I took a break from blogging and tweeting for a bit because my mom died after an extremely short and unexpected illness. It just so happened that I was already on...Show More Summary
yog(h)urt
When people ask me what I like about living in England, I have usually said (in this order):
he National Health Service
he trains
hearing about people's hobbies
Now, I know that 1 & 2 are not the best of their kind in the world, but you have to consider where I come from. Show More Summary
introducing yourself
Here is a favo(u)rite passage of mine from Kate Fox's Passport to the Pub: The Tourist's Guide to Pub Etiquette:
Don?'t ever introduce yourself. The ?Hi, I?m Chuck from Alabama? approach does not go down well in British pubs. Natives will cringe and squirm with embarrassment at such brashness. Show More Summary
tidbits and titbits
I've been in blog-paralysis because everything I want to blog about would take a Very Long Time to write about and I'm supposed to be writing about other things. But along came Mrs Redboots on the Lynneguist Facebook page, making me blog by saying an oft-repeated falsity about American English. Show More Summary
counting seconds
Layah wrote to me about a year ago with this question: In America when you are trying to time counting seconds you often say Mississippi in between each number: "One Mississippi, two Mississippi, hree Mississippi..." Do they have something...Show More Summary
catching up and catching breaks
Mwncïod ? on Twitter asked: AmE/BrE diff? Watching US sit-com "Big Bang Theory" character says "catch/caught a break" vs BrE "get/got a break"? Get a break is not so much BrE as general English. Break meaning 'a bit of good luck; a chance' is originally AmE and continues to be used there with get. Show More Summary
topping oneself, topping and tailing
A short post, but this headline (courtesy of this tweeter) is worth reproducing:
The headline is about an American basketball player, Jeremy Lin, who is all the rage these days. The problem is that the headline would be rather upsetting reading for a BrE-speaking Lin fan. Show More Summary