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Message # 49892.1.1.1

Subject: Re:off topic question: British English vs. American English

Date: Thu 14/04/11 04:05:16 GMT

Name: Frank (the noname)

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There are so many varieties of English language, you can't count them. If you travel from London to the North, for instance Manchester, you already will hear it. Not to mention Wales. And if you leave the island, the sounds go on. It happened to me, that I barely could understand some people in Texas and Florida. Never been in Australia nor some ex-colonies, but dialects and pidgins can get very rough, as far as I know. If you speak English, it may happen you don't understand your own language. Little riddle: What did Bob Marley mean, when he sang "No Woman No Cry"? Most people misunderstand this pidgin line.

In reply to Message (49892.1.1)

Re:off topic question: British English vs. American English

By Winchester 1961 - timsinct@telkomsa.net Thu 14/04/11 03:13:15 GMT

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There is "Queens English", and "American English"! Generally speaking a homeless person is a tramp (in Queens English)! Bum is slang for a posterior of a person, not in polite usage!! Other words that have the same meaning, USA/England: trunk/boot (car), hood/bonnet (car), wind shield/wind screen (car), sidewalk/pavement, gas/petrol, to name a few! Incidentally, the expression in the UK, "what a bummer" means what a screw up/cock up. Slightly offbeat, but I am a fan of Mythbusters on Discovery Channel, and everything is mentioned in miles, feet, pounds, etc by the presenters, and the narrator talks in kilometres, metres, and kilorgrams! How confusing or what??

In reply to Message (49892.1)

Re:off topic question: British English vs. American English [nt]

By Georg - Thu 14/04/11 00:32:56 GMT

Website: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=bum&searchmode=none

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In reply to Message (49892)

off topic question: British English vs. American English

By G.O.P. - Wed 13/04/11 21:55:23 GMT

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I have long wondered about a variance in the British version of the English language and the American version, and I figured this site with users on both sides of the Atlantic is as good of a place as any to ask this. To we Americans, the word "bum" means a homeless person, but to the British the word "bum" means the butt. Are these two meanings of the word related? Why is it that the word "bum" means one thing in America and something different in England? When we Americans call homeless people "bums" are we essentially calling them "assholes"? I have long been curious about this.

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