Wherein we ask each other dialect questions we don't quite understand

[billd91]

"Sometimes?"

And don't forget, in the American heartland, the divine sport of choice is basketball.

Basketball may be pretty popular, but I'd stay the divine sport of choice is still football. Big 10 basketball may be big but football is huge.

 

[pedr]

such as to trash out a room or rubbish out a room?

No, "to rubbish" is basically to criticise - to say why something is rubbish. "Watch out for John: he was rubbishing your ideas in last week's staff meeting."

Some prestigious private secondary schools and Oxford and Cambridge take student sport seriously (there's an old saying that gentlemen went to Oxford to get a First [class degree, i.e. the highest grade available], a wife, or a Blue" where a Blue is the honour awarded to those who represent the university in the major sports, with rowing and rugby being significant enough for the matches against Cambridge to be televised.) Apart from that, there's very little attention paid to inter-institution sport, except by those who participate, even if the competitors are very good - and in some sports, of course, someone can be representing their country at 14 or 15. Traditionally Wednesday afternoons are left free of classes at universities, though, so there is travel time for inter-university sport, and that makes Wednesday night particularly interesting in student bars!

 

[Scott DeWar]

I am in the middle south where Hockey, basketball, baseball and football are seasonal religions.

 

[Scott DeWar]

No, "to rubbish" is basically to criticise - to say why something is rubbish. "Watch out for John: he was rubbishing your ideas in last week's staff meeting."

Some prestigious private secondary schools and Oxford and Cambridge take student sport seriously (there's an old saying that gentlemen went to Oxford to get a First [class degree, i.e. the highest grade available], a wife, or a Blue" where a Blue is the honour awarded to those who represent the university in the major sports, with rowing and rugby being significant enough for the matches against Cambridge to be televised.) Apart from that, there's very little attention paid to inter-institution sport, except by those who participate, even if the competitors are very good - and in some sports, of course, someone can be representing their country at 14 or 15. Traditionally Wednesday afternoons are left free of classes at universities, though, so there is travel time for inter-university sport, and that makes Wednesday night particularly interesting in student bars!

We use trash: trashing someone's idea, trash talking.

 

[Nellisir]

One of the luxury suites at the now-demolished Texas Stadium was catered by an Italian restaurant owned and operated by Iran...errrrr...Persians.

Um, maybe this is covered elsewhere in the thread, but what's wrong with saying Iranians? Seriously. Is this a thing now?

 

[billd91]

Um, maybe this is covered elsewhere in the thread, but what's wrong with saying Iranians? Seriously. Is this a thing now?

I think there are probably groups in the US since about 1979 or thereabouts that may want to distance themselves from the current Iranian regime.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Um, maybe this is covered elsewhere in the thread, but what's wrong with saying Iranians? Seriously. Is this a thing now?

I think there are probably groups in the US since about 1979 or thereabouts that may want to distance themselves from the current Iranian regime.

Exactly.

Many of the yahoos who don't make distinctions between good & evil members of a given group tend not to be aware of the history of the Fertile Crescent beyond the last 100 years or so. Thus, "Persian". It saves them a lot of headaches...and property damage and hospital visits.

They even played with this somewhat in the episode of South Park spoofing "The 300" movie.

 

[Ryujin]

Exactly.

Many of the yahoos who don't make distinctions between good & evil members of a given group tend not to be aware of the history of the Fertile Crescent beyond the last 100 years or so. Thus, "Persian". It saves them a lot of headaches...and property damage and hospital visits.

They even played with this somewhat in the episode of South Park spoofing "The 300" movie.

Those same yahoos can't distinguish between very disparate cultural groups, either. Since 9/11 there have been more than a few cases of Sikhs being assaulted or victims of bigotry, to the point of a Sikh temple being attacked by a gunman, reportedly because of 'confusion' about just who they are.

 

[Nellisir]

Exactly.

Many of the yahoos who don't make distinctions between good & evil members of a given group tend not to be aware of the history of the Fertile Crescent beyond the last 100 years or so. Thus, "Persian". It saves them a lot of headaches...and property damage and hospital visits.

They even played with this somewhat in the episode of South Park spoofing "The 300" movie.

I ask because my new boss is Iranian, and he and I had a conversation yesterday (about 6 hours before I posted) about whether I should use his American name or his Iranian name. We settled on his Iranian name because he's obviously proud of it, and his American name is the same as my brother-in-law's, which makes it somewhat confusing in my house. I've seen him fudge about where he's from (he moved to the US as a kid, but lives in Iran part-time now and helps run his family's farm there), and seen him talk about Iran, and it's obvious he's proud of his heritage separate from the political issue.

 

[Janx]

I ask because my new boss is Iranian, and he and I had a conversation yesterday (about 6 hours before I posted) about whether I should use his American name or his Iranian name. We settled on his Iranian name because he's obviously proud of it, and his American name is the same as my brother-in-law's, which makes it somewhat confusing in my house. I've seen him fudge about where he's from (he moved to the US as a kid, but lives in Iran part-time now and helps run his family's farm there), and seen him talk about Iran, and it's obvious he's proud of his heritage separate from the political issue.

seems like a smart play. Call the person by what they want to be called, whether they be trans-planted, trans-racial or trans-gender.