English language under threat, Wreck Ferrets

[Ian Wigg]

happybuddha once bubbled...
OK, so would the bus driver say "I drived Aquamaniac to work this morning" or "I drove Aquamaniac to work this morning"?

If he wished to be gramatically correct he would have said ... I have driven...

Can anyone explain to me why it's bad grammar to say (or write) ... jumped off of something - I used to get serious grief from my mother for that one.

Ian

 

[Scuba Jim]

I think you'll find you mean 'correctly'.

I am sure I meant proper, like.

Jim

 

[WreckWriter]

Scuba Jim once bubbled...


True, but there are words used on both sides of the pond that have completely different meanings.

To me a faggot will always be a bundle of sticks....

A bundle of sticks? I thought it meant a cigarette... In any case, in America, asking where you can get one might bring unusual results!

Tom

 

[Scuba Jim]

In fact, bumming a fag has a very different meaning indeed over here...

A faggot is a bundle of sticks or a meatball.

I tend to hang arbound the former rather than the latter...!

 

[WreckWriter]

Scuba Jim once bubbled...
In fact, bumming a fag has a very different meaning indeed over here...

I'm certain we could have a tremendous amount of fun with this topic but I'm also certain that someone would get really offended really fast so...............

Tom

 

[Belushi]

Old Jasper Carrot sketch.

Did you know that sticky tape in Australia is called Durex.
Alan Jones, former F1 race champ was sponsored by them. UK tv showed one of his races, where he lead from start to finish, but they never showed him once.

Imagine an Aussie going into a shop in the UK, and asking for a roll of durex!

------ x -------

There are 600,000 words in English, and the average person uses only 15-20,000 in his/her life time. But it only takes a non-English speaking person to learn 600 words and they can converse quite comfortably for his or her life time.

------ x --------

A little quiz for the English language students ...

What two words in the English language, have A,E,I,O,U in them in that order.

What is the longest word in the English language without a vowel

What English word has three sets of double vowels in next to each other.

Answers .... soon!

 

[MSilvia]

I had no idea about "fanny" meaning anything other than "bum" until I asked a Kiwi friend to hand me my fanny pack. The look on her face as she tried to suss out what I kept in it was priceless.

Right up there with the story of the American exchange student who told her Aussie host family that she liked to root for her school's football team. Came the answer, "What? For the WHOLE TEAM?!"

Scuba Jim once bubbled...
Aluminum
Faggot
Fanny

All these important words they have got muddled up.

 

[Phoenix]

Just to clarify
according to various sources
the first Cola beverage was introduced in 1881, followed 4 years later by John S Pembertons indroduction of Coca Cola, and the now infamous brand.

Incedently the arrival of coca cola was actually 1 year after Dr Pepper was introduced (I was suprised by that myself and Im a bit Dr Pepper fan)

 

[Jonathan]

damn beat me to the meatball one on faggot....

don't forget you can also "ponce a fag" - I'd like to see how that one goes down in the states but I don't smoke, could be worth it for a giggle though!

Unfortunately the book store clerk at Heathrow forgot to put my new dictionaries in the bag the little #%$@#%$@#, still looking at the receipt at least I dod not pay for them.

 

[Phoenix]

ofcourse a lot of words that have different meanings are generally slang terms anyway, its not always the languages the changes, slang changes alot though, even in national borders, certain things mean different things in Newcastle than they do in London, or things that mean something in London mean nothing at all anywhere else,