I got a question. Listening to Eddie Izzard he often talks about ‘Digestives’ in the context of a disappointing Cookie/Biscuit. What exactly are they like?
A digestive is a boring buscuit/cookie. Not too sweet, no topping, just boring.
This seems a good time to go into all the different usages of ‘bollocks’.
1 - This car is the dog’s bollocks! - This car is great! (see also mutt’s nuts, and badger’s nadgers)
2 - Bollocks! - Shit! What you might say if you just accidentally broke something.
3 - Stop talking bollocks! Stop bullshitting!
4 - That WMD report was a load of bollocks. That WMD report was complete bullshit.
5 - My boss gave me a right bollocking. My boss told me off.
Mmmmm…digestives…
Despite their rather medical-sounding name, digestive biscuits are a thick, sweet wholewheat biscuit/cookie. You can get plain ones, but the more popular varieties are coated in chocolate on one side (milk or dark chocolate). There’s also a chocolate chip digestive which I’m partial to.
I don’t think there’s really a US equivalent; they’re not nearly as sweet as US cookies tend to be.
[On Preview] Oi! They’re not boring! Okay, maybe the plain ones.
Both words are used in the U.S., but CV tends to be used more in academic circles, as when applying for a University faculty position. So called “think tanks” and nonacademic research institutions such as RAND probably also say “CV”, but I’m not sure.
Another difference I have noticed from the USA is the use of the word accommodation when talking of somewhere to say. Thus an American will say " my accommodations ( ie his hotel ) was fine " . Why use a plural noun to talk about a single place . In the UK we use the word without the “s” when it is used in this context.
It seems to be more of a collective noun type of thing- this morning, I saw a passage in the newspaper that said “the fire brigade ** are** planning…”
I think it has to do with the idea that the fire brigade, sports team, etc… is a collection of individuals, getting a plural form of the verb instead of a single monolithic thing(like we in the US use) which gets a singular form of the verb. We’d say “the fire department is planning…” since we treat it as a single entity.
That’s not it at all. See, the word in Chinese means “letters of the alphabet” (and, I believe, “alphabet” as we conceive of it as well.)
but the dictionaries have their wires crossed, and therefore many Chinese people, including those who wrote our textbook, have the wrong idea about what “alphabet” means. Her simple question made sense to her in Chinese, but by simply plugging in the word “alphabet” as we understand it- as one would do based on what our textbook says- it doesn’t work. But then, when I’ve spoken English to this teacher I’ve found hers a bit lacking, so maybe it’s her mistake even though she said “we” all think that.
Come to think of it I have of course heard “Curriculae (sic?) Vitae” in the context referred to. But here you send a “CV” to work at Burger King, which just seems stupid to me. Just a pretension, I guess.
Oh yeah, I don’t think it’s been mentioned that what Americans might call a “schedule” or “day-planner” is apparently a “diary” to Brits.
You know, I can’t stand the British words for baby products. Nappy? Dummy? They may be baby products, but that doesn’t mean they have to have babyish-sounding names.
I would like to ask a question that might be somewhat controversial. Do you guys feel British or American English is more useful for learners, in terms of communicating effectively with a greater number of people? Presumably those Brits who are on a US-based website are going to be fairly familiar with the differences, but does anyone have any opinion about the familiarity of the typical British citizen with American-style English? I would guess that the uneven flow of entertainment between the countries would have at least a small effect on making American English a better bet for being understood by more people, but maybe that’s a faulty assumption. All I know is that I see a lot of people learning stuff that is going to totally stump most Americans they might come in contact with.
City council is just one form of city government, and it is just as common here in the States. We have a mayor and city council here in Cleveland, and I think most places that have a mayor also have a city council. Some other forms are: city manager (or administrator)/council; commission (commissioners act like council members but are in charge of departments); mayor/alderman; and manager/commission.
Ahhh!!! So you mean when you read about kids out “playing in the garden” they’re not really wreaking havok with the flowers and the vegetables? This puts a whole new twist on a lot of things for me…
huh…
I think it’s just you and your friends, because that would never even have occurred to me until you said it.
So a spanner is a wrench? I’d always wondered what a spanner was… I always figured it was some sort of measuring device.
I’ve never used the word ‘parka’ or ‘spigot’ in my life btw.
Spanners and wrenches are different as far as I know.
More on the grammar bit; Americans seem to say “I will write you”. Other English speakers say “I will write to you”.
Similarly, Americans commonly “take a couple aspirin”, whereas Brits “take a couple of aspirin”.
On the yard=garden thing, ‘yard’ (in the residential sense) tends to mean an enclosed outdoor space that is mostly paved, ‘garden’ tends to mean an outdoor space that is mostly lansdcaped. But in some parts of the UK, ‘Yard’ is used to mean either (although it tends to be mostly in industrialised parts of the north, so I think this may be carried over from a time when most people had a paved yard, rather than a landcaped garden).
Not sure if anyone has yet mentioned US ‘Leash’ = UK ‘lead’ (pronounced ‘leed’)
US “racing stripes” = UK “go-faster stripes”
A completely pointless term in either case.
From the looks (and sounds) of it, I seem to use a mixture of British and American words and a mixture of accents, US and others. Twice in a matter of days I was mistaken for British!!!, I’m from North Carolina!!! (originally)
When we were in Italy we used to help our landlord’s son with his english homework. Right off the bat we encountered problems because the textbooks were British english and the teachers seemed to have received their training in England. We’d answer a problem in American english only to have him come back the next day saying the teacher said the answer was in-correct.
This has been a fun thread.
Or else you have to sound like Daffy Duck: “Slight pause whilst I adjust my acoutrements”.
More about the backyard. Now that some houses ( and people ) have gone upmarket yards are now called patios - " it’s sounds less common you know!"
Ah, but a patio usually only occupies part of a garden (usually the part adjacent to the house). Decking is the new patio and I hate it.
But I think estate agents , bending the truth a little , will still call a yard a patio if they think that it sounds better and will sell the house for a higher price.