Common language

[Bramblethorn]

Spell check is probably localized. It's definitely the opposite in the US.

That spell check comes from the browser, not Literotica. It's controlled by the regional settings in the browser.

I'm only teasing anyway. I find the differences in the various English-es fascinating. I don't understand the elitism, for lack of a better term, some people feel about the particularities of their peculiar off-brand. Most American dialects are older than the modern iteration of RP/Queen's English. And we were no longer a colony when current conventions of 'proper' English emerged in London. I don't even recognize Britain's authority over my language. They lost the rights with the collapse of their empire.

No argument with any of this, and as a dual national I reserve the right to mix and match my dialects. But these days, IME, US-English chauvinism is just as prevalent and just as obnoxious as UK-English chauvinism.

I just want people to understand where we're coming from, and the 'why' behind our choices before they judge them. We didn't change the spelling. Everyone else did. We liked what we had, and decided to stick with it. It wasn't an intentional slight to anyone else's linguistic sensibilities. Believe it or not, I don't often think about how it will effect the Brits before I utter a sentence.

Ahem.

 

[gunhilltrain]

No, they're the same. Trolley, street car, tram, and arguably light rail describe the same vehicle.

In Melbourne we've had horse drawn trams, steam trams, electric trams, and cable trams over the years.

Edit: and the tram has derailed this thread.

Not quite: we were trying to distinguish between British (and Australian) and American words for the same thing, and this is a major one. The words would likely not be understood my most people in the wrong country. So the judges rule that the topic is allowed.

Thanks for mentioning the various forms of propulsion; even I didn't go that far!

 

[KeithD]

One of my earliest jobs was "translating" news media article content between BBC English and the Americanese of the BBC's U.S. equivalent. The dictionary for doing so was pretty thick.

The "tabled" issue was the most serious one needing translation.

 

[Bramblethorn]

My depth perception and vision are not great and as far as I'm concerned that bastard is camouflaged.

That's how they sneak up on their prey. But some of the smaller trams are brightly coloured to signal to the E2s that they're dangerous to eat:




And these ones are in their mating plumage:

 

[gunhilltrain]

If you’re talking about the old-skool cable cars? No. They ran on a cable alongside the track, down in the pavement. It was all done with winches and a continuous cable: you’d move by clamping the car to the cable, and stop by releasing it.

The Internet says other places call that a “cable tram.”

Since the topic was allowed by the judges, the cable car was invented in San Francisco and then spread for a while to other cities. It was one of the first attempts to replace horses. However, it was awkward to operate. The vehicle could only go at the same speed as the cable (which was pretty slow). And yes, the cable was in a slot in the streets. So San Francisco is about the last place in the world where they still run in the streets. Those were kept kept as a tourist attraction.

Yeah, there are other places with "cable trams," often as airport people movers.

The reason the ones in San Francisco are so short is because it was based on horse car designs of the period.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Looks similar size to Melbourne's E2s, which are indeed still called trams:

View attachment 2252361

This is sort of the standard design used around the world now: quite long, with multi-sections (bendable) and a low-floor design (no steps required).

 

[gunhilltrain]

Round here there's a running joke that the mating call of the 20 year old man is an wrecked Vauxhall Corsa with a fart-cannon exhaust leaking oil in a farmer's field.

So how do the British pronounce Vauxhall? The make is still around.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I love the word "posh." It's so distinctively British. It's rarely used by Americans. It has no precise American equivalent, and I think of it as conveying something about the attitude of the speaker that's distinctively British, too, in that the Brits think about class distinctions differently from the way we do.

Posh seems to be used by at least some Americans. Or maybe just in Vanity Fair magazine.

 

[SimonDoom]

Posh seems to be used by at least some Americans. Or maybe just in Vanity Fair magazine.

There are always exceptions. My perception is that they are rare exceptions.

I cannot recall ever using the word in conversation, or ever hearing an American using the word in a conversation with me or in my presence, except possibly in a conversation that referred to "Posh Spice" Victoria Beckham (not that I talk much about the Spice Girls).

 

[onehitwanda]

So how do the British pronounce Vauxhall? The make is still around.

I (and almost everyone I've heard pronounce it) pronounce it Vox (as in Fox) all.

When I'm being ironic I'll call it a Fauxhall.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Truck is used, yes, though wagons might be more common. People collect wagon numbers. Box vans are the rectangular wagons. Open containers (like what we call skips) would be wagons, then there's flat-bed wagons.

Lots of different car and driving terminology (UK indicator/ US turn signal or blinker, petrol vs gas, saloon vs sedan, car park vs parking lot, roundabout vs rotary/total confusion), but what glares much more when some Americans set a story in the UK is the mindset:

Assuming you drive everywhere (no, no-one drives to Soho from their London office which they probably didn't drive to either), that any adult can drive and has access to a car, and that roads are straight and wide, driving is relaxing, and there will be parking available at your destination...

Other culture clashes which show up in un-Britpicked stories are the totally different education systems (JK Rowling made up almost nothing for Hogwarts - it's a typical English school with slightly different subject names), and attitudes to alcohol, healthcare and the police.

The United States was mostly built around the automobile; not so much in England. The Interstate highways were inspired by the German autobahns, I believe. So driving here, while not exactly relaxing, is quite a bit more convenient.

Speaking of British schools, do they still have "regulation knickers" for the girls, or was that a trope made up by the porn industry? "Knickers:" that's a word never used in the U.S.

 

[onehitwanda]

Speaking of British schools, do they still have "regulation knickers" for the girls, or was that a trope made up by the porn industry? "Knickers:" that's a word never used in the U.S.

Some incredibly posh or incredibly low-brow ones might, almost every other one would be burned to the ground by helicopter parents for even referring to girls' undergarments in passing.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I (and almost everyone I've heard pronounce it) pronounce it Vox (as in Fox) all.

When I'm being ironic I'll call it a Fauxhall.

I'm not surprised. As we mentioned before, French-derived words (I assume Vauxhall is one) are usually bollixed up by English speakers. Too many silent letters, for one thing. But then we've seen how English-speakers bollix up their own language.

 

[onehitwanda]

bollixed

Vauxhall's apparently derived from Anglo-Norman. So it's somewhat French, but possibly older than you implied.

to quote Wikipedia:

The toponymy of Vauxhall is generally accepted to have originated in the late 13th century, from the name of Falkes de Breauté, the head of King John's mercenaries, who owned a large house in the area, which was referred to as Faulke's Hall, later Foxhall, and eventually Vauxhall.[5] Samuel Pepys mentions "Fox Hall" in his diary on 23 June 1665: "....I took boat and to Fox Hall, where we spent two or three hours talking of several matters very soberly and contentfully to me, which, with the ayre and pleasure of the garden, was a great refreshment to me, and, ‘methinks, that which we ought to joy ourselves in."[6] The area only became generally known by the name Vauxhall when the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens opened as a public attraction and movement across the Thames was facilitated by the opening of Westminster Bridge in the 1740s.[7]

So in this case it's more of a case of orthographic convergence than anything else.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Some incredibly posh or incredibly low-brow ones might, almost every other one would be burned to the ground by helicopter parents for even referring to girls' undergarments in passing.

The way I've heard it (and I don't have good sources), it was the schools that demanded the same color for everyone. I assume the female teachers were the ones to tell them. It does sound very pre-1970. There have been various dress codes in American schools, but they never went that far.

It sounds like England may be more prudish then even the United States.

 

[gunhilltrain]

There are always exceptions. My perception is that they are rare exceptions.

I cannot recall ever using the word in conversation, or ever hearing an American using the word in a conversation with me or in my presence, except possibly in a conversation that referred to "Posh Spice" Victoria Beckham (not that I talk much about the Spice Girls).

I think it's been used more in written rather than spoken communications. Journalists, like most writers, and always looking to avoid using the same words too much. "Posh" is a good one to get from one's thesaurus.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

The United States was mostly built around the automobile; not so much in England. The Interstate highways were inspired by the German autobahns, I believe. So driving here, while not exactly relaxing, is quite a bit more convenient.

Let's just say it took me 4 lessons to qualify to drive in America. It took about 100 and four driving tests to do so in the UK...

Speaking of British schools, do they still have "regulation knickers" for the girls, or was that a trope made up by the porn industry? "Knickers:" that's a word never used in the U.S.

The word knickers (underpants with decent coverage) is still used for (usually female) underpants, and especially in phrases like "you just want to get into her knickers!"

Back in the Day, you were expected to do PE in your pants (US panties) so yes you'd be in trouble if they weren't the regulation knickers in whatever terrible colour they were. By the 1980s only private schools cared but yes, we had to do sport out on the playing fields in just our pants and Aertex shirt, until year 5 (age 10) when you were allowed a games skirt (hardly any longer but at least it was a skirt). And yes, the playing fields did have various men in raincoats taking an interest from the other side of the fence.

Girls schools if they still had corporal punishment (stopped in state schools in the 80s) would only strike the hand by then - though certain boys private schools indulged in caning bare bottoms until outlawed in 1993. I'm told it tended to be one or two dodgy teachers who clearly enjoyed it, but as a punishment the lads preferred that to being gated for the weekend, having to clean kitchens, run round the pitches 20 times at 6am, or whatever, which is the main reason it died out.

Nowadays even such schools would have athletics shorts which you wear pants underneath, and restrict those to competitions or indoor sports.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Still waiting for my first trip to the French Alps. Or anywhere in the Alps would do.

I've never been to the Alps, French or otherwise. But I've been to Oklahoma, but no one tells me I was born there.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Vauxhall's apparently derived from Anglo-Norman. So it's somewhat French, but possibly older than you implied.

to quote Wikipedia:


So in this case it's more of a case of orthographic convergence than anything else.

And then the Russians decided to name their new pleasure garden in St Petersburg after Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, and ran a train to it, with the result that the word for railway station in Russian is 'vokzal'.

'Posh' is one of those words that no-one ever uses about themselves. Most people use it to mean a notch up on the social scale, except actual posh people who refer to 'smart' people. And Posh Spice wasn't and isn't, and wasn't even the poshest in the Spice Girls - Mel C was the only one with a middle-class accent.

 

[onehitwanda]

It sounds like England may be more prudish then even the United States.

We really aren't. By and large we've got far fewer issues with sex and nudity than you guys seem to. Prostitution is legal and regulated (if badly) and nobody gets on talk shows to rant because Janet Jackson's nipple appeared on telly that one time - Brits will just laugh and nudge eachother and break out with the old "Did you see that ludicrous display last night" instead.

 

[MrPixel]

It sounds like England may be more prudish then even the United States.

Well maybe there's residual Victorianism in some circles, but generally speaking Brits are tolerant of a whole bunch of naughty pursuits that we in the US are most definitely not. Take "dogging", for instance, and openness about BDSM. And they had the foresight to make things quite uncomfortable for the Puritans.

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

Most of those words more used and understood by many New Yorkers at one time. Probably not so much now.

Never been many Yiddish speakers outside the Jewish community in Denver. My father moved from New York to Denver before I was born. His parents came to the USA right after the war. Well, as soon as they were able to. Not sure of the date anymore.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Well maybe there's residual Victorianism in some circles, but generally speaking Brits are tolerant of a whole bunch of naughty pursuits that we in the US are most definitely not. Take "dogging", for instance, and openness about BDSM. And they had the foresight to make things quite uncomfortable for the Puritans.

True - streakers still happen occasionally despite everyone having cameras on them, there's the Naked Bike Ride each month to promote cyclist safety (saw them recently, one big guy had 'Do you see me now??' painted on his back), the Naked Rambler who generally doesn't get arrested any more, everyone just giggled then mostly forgot when Judy did a Janet Jackson on Breakfast TV, and kids get Personal & Relationships education from the age of 5, which obviously is just about your bodies, not keeping any touching a secret, but also about weddings and funerals and kids roleplaying weddings, regardless of sex - followed invariably by Certain Parents complaining about kids learning same-sex marriage is a thing. Headteacher had it down, explaining they have to teach who can marry and the law of the land is that yes, any two unrelated adults can marry. So if you want your child to learn your opinion on it, you need to tell them.

Cue all the kids wanting to marry their best friends for the next couple years.

But sex workers banding together for safety is still generally illegal as it's running a 'brothel' even though prostitution is legal (solicitation isn't). And BDSM is often illegal because it may only cause 'transient and trifling' injury. The main problem for fetish clubs is keeping a venue, because some complaints about noise and traffic get given more credence than others...

 

[onehitwanda]

But sex workers banding together for safety is still generally illegal as it's running a 'brothel' even though prostitution is legal

Isn't it something ridiculously Whitehall like more than four together is a brothel? Or is it really as ridiculous as any girls together?

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Isn't it something ridiculously Whitehall like more than four together is a brothel? Or is it really as ridiculous as any girls together?

More than one person providing sexual services in a building. It's owning or managing a a brothel that's illegal, not being the sex worker - so if you own a 6-flat building and Annie at no.2 does happy massages, then Bob at no.5 also invites people for favours in exchange for money, you the landlord have a problem... Any receptionist or bouncer, likewise. And any two workers means one could be said to be profiting off the other...