English converted to English

[Arbiter of Wyrms]

"I love playing Dungeons and Dragons" becomes "I appreciate to play the Dungeon and the flying red deer"

I laughed out loud. See also: http://www.engrish.com

Many nouns are highly dialectical: "Coke" in the southeastern US to about Tennessee is "Pop" in the Northeast and "Soda" on the coasts with very few other alternatives, until you get all the way accross the pond to where they call it a "fizzy drink."

What the rest of the world calls football, we Americans have to call Soccer, because we went and invented our own so that every other nation could call ours "American Football" (Save the Aussies, whom I suspect must call it "poufter rugby.")

As far as censors and foriegn idioms/obscenities, I think that you can say just about anything on American television so long as it's not said in American English.

 

[Zander]

The closest thing I can think of to an American biscuit is a scone, but my girlfriend tells me they're slightly different.

Crumpet?

 

[Arbiter of Wyrms]

Somewhat extensive notes here on the subject.

http://www.scit.wlv.ac.uk/~jphb/american.html

Ah, a topic of endless discussion in TEFL teaching rooms.


I have a theory that runs like this--British and American English are the most different in areas of vocabulary that developed in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when geography separated the countries a bit more than it does in the modern world. At that time a lot of new technology appeared (particularly household items and other various consumer goods) and words needed to be invented to describe them. And often different words were used on either side of the ocean. For example, much of hte common vocabulary that describes a car is diffenerent. Also, most vocabulary describing sports is rather different (most popular sports became organized around the world in the late 1800s spurred by urbanization). E.g. 'pitch' rather than 'field'; Football 'kit' rather than 'uniform', etc.

Vocabulary from before this period tends to be more similar, since most of it was created before the colonists arrived in the Americas. And since WWII, increasing globalization and in particular the global mass media/entertainment (especially the worldwide popularlity of American film, and perhaps more important, TV) and now the internet are making the languages more similar again, and thus we're seeing fewer different words (outside of slang, perhaps).

John, I have no doubt that your theory is spot-on, but I have serious objections to the information presneted on the page you link to. Much of it is over-generalization, or simply wrong.
"boro?" I've never seen this.
"catalog/catalogue" either is fine. I actually prefer the latter.
"donut/doughnut" Interesting story, lazy spelling, right along with "nite lite." Not at all universal.
"gage" This is new to me.
"grey or gray" as suites the writer's whim. No kidding. One of the last spellings to escape formal standardization.
"omelet/omelette/sulfur/sulphur/vise/vice" whatever.

This, though (or should I say "Thow"?) is the one that gets me: Thru
The website's author seems to default to the notion that idiotic abuses of the English language are the sole purview of the American speaker.

"I m n Umareikan n proud ov it!"

 

[Bront]

Crumpet?

Crumpets are quite different from anything else as well, and definately not biscit like.

 

[glass]

Crumpet?

Also slang for women, in Britain.


glass.

 

[Bront]

Also slang for women, in Britain.


glass.

But you can't have them for breakfast... er... well...

 

[MrFilthyIke]

Also slang for women, in Britain.

 

[sniffles]

Many nouns are highly dialectical: "Coke" in the southeastern US to about Tennessee is "Pop" in the Northeast and "Soda" on the coasts with very few other alternatives, until you get all the way accross the pond to where they call it a "fizzy drink."

I was just thinking about this one! Although from my upbringing your indications of the geography to which these apply is incorrect. I grew up in the western part of Texas and learned to refer to any carbonated non-alcoholic beverage as "coke". When you asked someone if they wanted a coke, you meant, "choose from the selection I offer", not "do you want a Coca-Cola". But when I moved to Oregon I had to learn a new term: "pop".

I also had to learn a couple of other new terms, especially with regards to things I use for gaming. I grew up knowing 3-ring binders as "notebooks". No one ever used the word binder, as far as I recall, even though it's usually on the label when you buy one at an office supply store. But everyone calls them "binders" here in the Northwest. If I said "notebook" to someone here they would probably assume that I meant a spiral-bound notebook or something similar. I'd also never heard of a "peachy" before moving to Oregon. Those were "folders" where I grew up.

So I guess we could use an English-to-English dictionary for Americans, too!

 

[Vraille Darkfang]

Also slang for women, in Britain.


glass.

I thought that was STRumpet.

As in "The Strumpet was eating Crumpets."

 

[glass]

I thought that was STRumpet.

As in "The Strumpet was eating Crumpets."

Crumpet means women in general (or possibly, attractive women).

I believe a strumpet is a particular kind of woman, although I'm not sure what kind (although I could guess).

As in 'that bit of crumpet was a something of a strumpet'. EDIT: Although it's unlikely anyone would use both words in anger, as they tend to suggest different social grouping in the speaker.


glass.