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English & Linguistics / Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« on: October 08, 2024, 06:07:02 PM »
The UCLA one sounds about right.
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English & Linguistics / Re: English-to-English translation
« on: October 06, 2024, 10:46:23 PM »
Heh. I like the Kiwi version.
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English & Linguistics / Re: English-to-English translation
« on: September 25, 2024, 06:37:07 PM »I've been watching an Australian show (to follow up all the UK ones I was watching before that). Lots of odd (to my ears, at least) slang and word usageOne last batch:
pregnant to him = pregnant by him (although this one I mostly see in older books and such) or pregnant with his child
pash = smooch
buck's night = stag night
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English & Linguistics / Re: English-to-English translation
« on: September 23, 2024, 05:14:05 PM »I also knew arvo, root, and combi, but the rest were new to me.
I think I had heard arvo before. And definitely chook. I don't think I knew any of the others.
A few more:
dunny = toilet, especially porta-potty-type
spliff = joint (in the pot sense)
rack off = emphatic "go away!"
grizzling = that noise a baby makes that's not quite crying, similar to whimpering or kvetching
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English & Linguistics / Re: New column-type thingy
« on: September 23, 2024, 05:07:50 PM »
Even in fictional dialogue?
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English & Linguistics / Re: English-to-English translation
« on: September 20, 2024, 03:18:55 PM »"You've got tickets on yourself" is pretty great.Yeah, and that one I was pretty sure of the meaning by context, but looked it up to confirm.
Some of the others I was completely
until I looked them up.
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English & Linguistics / Re: English-to-English translation
« on: September 20, 2024, 12:14:06 AM »
I've been watching an Australian show (to follow up all the UK ones I was watching before that). Lots of odd (to my ears, at least) slang and word usage, including:
doona = duvet
arvo = afternoon
chook = chicken (I knew this one already, but it's still weird)
off his/her face = very drunk or high
root (noun or verb) = mildly rude word for sex
rooted = broken
ute = truck or SUV
nursing babies = working as a nurse with babies
Combi/Kombi = VW van (or similar) meant for transporting both people and lots of stuff
you've got tickets on yourself = seriously conceited
doona = duvet
arvo = afternoon
chook = chicken (I knew this one already, but it's still weird)
off his/her face = very drunk or high
root (noun or verb) = mildly rude word for sex
rooted = broken
ute = truck or SUV
nursing babies = working as a nurse with babies
Combi/Kombi = VW van (or similar) meant for transporting both people and lots of stuff
you've got tickets on yourself = seriously conceited
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English & Linguistics / Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« on: July 19, 2024, 11:18:48 AM »
I have seen it done well -- just enough to give you the flavor, without making your eyes cross -- and done very badly. And everything in between. The Outlander books mostly do it well.
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English & Linguistics / Re: New column-type thingy
« on: June 18, 2024, 03:57:34 PM »This actually happened at my last jobAh, that makes sense.
Many of the lines are direct or near-direct quotes.I had a feeling.
And I'm probably safe pointing out here that the coworker in question was literally named Karen.
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English & Linguistics / Re: New column-type thingy
« on: June 18, 2024, 11:47:32 AM »
Been having some fractious discussions at work?
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English & Linguistics / Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« on: June 07, 2024, 01:20:51 PM »
I have been using captions on Netflix and Prime a lot lately. And have noted when they do (or do not) indicate in the caption when speakers elide letters. (As in the example, do the captions say "gonna" or "going to" when what was said was definitely the former, etc. Do the captions reflect accents, real (either of the actor or the character) or temporary (like funny voices when a parent is reading a book to a child), and so on.) It's quite interesting.
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English & Linguistics / Re: The random etymology of the day
« on: June 03, 2024, 06:10:40 PM »
I have seen it a handful of times recently.
I was very confused the first couple times. Now I just roll my eyes and go on.
Edit: It's been included on the Wiktionary listing for several years. Huh.
Edit2: And there's this discussion on Reddit.
I was very confused the first couple times. Now I just roll my eyes and go on.
Edit: It's been included on the Wiktionary listing for several years. Huh.
Edit2: And there's this discussion on Reddit.
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English & Linguistics / Re: Dear Expert
« on: February 06, 2024, 04:21:47 PM »
Because some people think they are meant to put a comma anywhere they would pause when speaking the sentence aloud. 
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English & Linguistics / Re: You keep on using that word
« on: December 26, 2023, 10:49:52 PM »
There were a number of issues with the ad I just attempted to read. But "comfortability with [specific task]" was probably the most egregious.
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English & Linguistics / Re: The random etymology of the day
« on: November 28, 2023, 05:21:37 PM »
Huh.
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English & Linguistics / Re: Interesting language stuff
« on: November 01, 2023, 03:51:41 PM »
I did a ProQuest search and was unable to find anything. I found a few that were about using Word (sometimes with another option as a comparison) as a method to teach various groups of students writing skills and the like.
So either it hasn't been done, or my ProQuest search skills are lacking. Probably both.
So either it hasn't been done, or my ProQuest search skills are lacking. Probably both.
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English & Linguistics / Re: Interesting language stuff
« on: November 01, 2023, 12:51:58 PM »
Could be a good PhD thesis for someone.
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English & Linguistics / Re: Interesting language stuff
« on: October 25, 2023, 01:08:18 PM »
The surprisingly subtle ways Microsoft Word has changed the way we use language
Quote
Similarly, the efficiency brought about by standardisation can shape how we write, not just what we write. When clarity is put ahead of stylistic or poetic flair – Word's grammar checker has a specific "clarity" refinement option – it can have implications for how we value forms of creativity.
Based on a quick, albeit arbitrary, experiment, if Harper Lee had used Word to write To Kill a Mockingbird, the software's clarity refinement would have suggested changing: "I never loved to read. One does not love breathing," to "I never loved to read. Breathing is necessary." Does this remove the poetry and depth of the original? The example is somewhat facetious, but it illustrates the effects using such tools can have.
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English & Linguistics / Re: Quotes from work
« on: September 21, 2023, 07:46:05 PM »
In a recent listserv discussion about sending term-start emails, there was this gem (as a fantasy, not an actual suggestion):
Quote
Dear Faculty,
The year is about to start. Get your @#!$%! together, read your email and finish your grading on time.
Have a good year.
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English & Linguistics / Re: Dear Expert
« on: August 22, 2023, 10:41:40 PM »It seems like possible mispronunciations would be the main appeal to school children.Nah. It's just silly and fun, especially once you have a chain with lots of people. Like this!
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English & Linguistics / Re: Dear Expert
« on: August 22, 2023, 10:00:28 PM »
Wanna buy a duck?
A what?
A duck!
Does it quack?
(If you have no idea what I am referring to, see this (among many others).)
A what?
A duck!
Does it quack?
(If you have no idea what I am referring to, see this (among many others).)
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English & Linguistics / Re: Word and phrase misuse
« on: August 22, 2023, 09:57:05 PM »
When most people describe tastes, they are definitely talking about something more elaborate than sweet/salty/bitter/sour/(umami). So if we are going by usage . . . .
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English & Linguistics / Re: The random etymology of the day
« on: July 28, 2023, 09:26:52 AM »Cool. I'd wondered about it, but never thought to look it up.Neither did I. It showed up in my newsfeed.
I was thinking about what a weird word "cantaloupe" is, and thinking about the etymology, which seems like it would mean "wolf song", so I looked it up, and it kind of does.
