Wednesday 20 August 2008

New languages

I have been reading Frugal Freedom and learning American. I know what a 401 is (contributory pension scheme), an RV (actually I know it means recreational vehicle but I am still not quite sure what that means. Maybe a 4 x 4 or maybe a big camper van - we will see). I read quite a few blogs and they are pretty much all from the USA, Canada, Australia, NZ or here in Britain. Obviously this isn't a coincidence as we are all English speaking nations but what I like is how much we say things differently rather than the same.

Sometimes I get confused but I like it that way. I love reading American recipes (not so much those from Down Under as they tend to be much the same as our own - tasty but way too easy to understand) but I prefer not to know what the mystery ingredients are. It makes really interesting reading. Popsicles turn out to be ice lollies (not like lollies from NZ - sweets without sticks). For some reason I expected something more exciting. Crisco sounds like it would be crispy and crunchy like a delicate French biscuit. Half and half is a good one. Half what and half what? I imagine beer and lemonade. Biscuits and gravy. Biscuits are sweet here,and crunchy, not like cookies, you really wouldn't want gravy with them. Did anyone in the UK read about the amazing & very sweet Michael Phelps' breakfast and not wonder a)why is he not huge! b)what is a bowl of grits? Grit means small stones here, yum. Australian can be good too, we definitely mean an entirely different thing with 'thong'.

I am interested in languages and how they develop and move around, like the Elizabethan phrases still existing in US English, 500 years ago we used to say Fall instead of Autumn too. So anyway I will continue to read my recipes without referring to Wikipedia because I appreciate the variety. Vive la difference!

8 comments:

  1. Thanks for the mention, I am honored! I think it would be easier to use wikipedia for the explanation of 'RV'.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RV

    There are so many kinds of RV's. Mine is a 5th wheel trailer although I don't have a truck big enough to pull it so it won't be moving any time soon!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Aha, i get it. We would just call this a mobile home. I thought it was something you could drive. Which also explains why i thought you had two truck type vehicles, because you haven't!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Lizzie, I just found you from Rhonda Jean's blog. I'm really enjoying reading your old posts. I liked your A to Z so much I put it on my blog :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Learning American! ..I like that Lizzie :)

    Also, I much prefer pictures of men in swimming trunks to pictures of snow..lol

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Allybea, Thanks for popping over. I'll be over to see you later.

    Hi Laura,
    I see you are all refreshed and with renewed enthusiam (for money saving, simple living and MEN IN SWIMWEAR!)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love language & comparative languages & language development. Scots & Irish Gaelic are not the same, despite both being Q-Celtic. I used Welsh in Brittany after my French deserted me, but those 2 as written languages are very different. Romanes acquired words from all kinds of languages as the Roma travelled around, but even within that language there are variations within the tribes.

    The stray (who's now disappeared after asking to spend another night with Jamie) ended up being "Juke" as I felt "Dog" was too heartless, he didn't feel like a "Ci", & he didn't like "Pyos'". I didn't want to use "Madra", "Hund" or "Chien". "Juke" was short for "Jukkel" ~ all those words mean "dog", with "pyos'" being a definite male dog (as opposed to dog as a generic term). So many words for 1 animal & so different

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Killi
    I especially like the way you can track movement through languages as they pass through time. My dutch friends can speak to me in Dutch and its sounds like heavily accented English if they choose their words well. Some emlightening.
    Dont forget 'Kelb' (arabic) and Skylo (Greek). Skylo sounds like a cheeky dog, the one that pinches sausages form the butcher.

    ReplyDelete
  8. When we were dancing in Jever, we persuaded our hosts to use Platt Deutsch if we couldn't follow their Hoch Deutsch, having realised that Platt Deutsch (Freisian) is basically Geordie! A theory was put forward that those on the North Sea sea-board use very similar language to facilitate trading...

    I don't know Arabic or Greek to my shame. I have a very definite "Skylo" on my bed ~ a Wolfie who is tall enough to help herself, though the pup gets his way by looking "coot" & appealing with his huge black eys in his fluffy black face

    ReplyDelete

My life

My wonderful husband has died. He was in hospital for some weeks but this was very unexpected. I won’t be reading or writing for the foresee...