Questions for our American friends

[torwell]

Actually, we Canadians don't say 'oot and aboot'. As far as I know, the only person who says 'oot' for 'out' is Willie on 'The Simpsons' (and just about every over the top Scotsman on TV or film). What we actually do is start the diphthong in 'out' with the uh sound in a word like 'cup'. Americans tend more toward the a sound in 'cat'. (We also do the same thing to our i's in words like 'bite'. A Canadian saying 'bite' sounds a bit like an Australian saying 'boat'. The technical name for the phenomenon is 'Canadian vowel-raising'.
Supposedly, native residents of Martha's Vineyard also pronounce words like 'out' the way Canadians do.

Cheers, Torwell

[Davemetalhead]

I have a question for our cousins across the briney.

In many a TV series and movie I hear a character, when asked the time, reply with something like "10 of 8". Now, does that mean 10 to 8 (7:50) or 10 past 8 (8:10)?

[lovegod]

your post REMINDS me of a post I made some time ago
on the net.......


quote

Im tired of dates printed on the net

7/8/ 2010 ... etc

is it 7th of aug ?
is it July 8th ?

its driving me crazy

lets make it a rule in future
to put the month in letters to avoid all confusion

7/aug/2010

or aug/7/2010

these numbers are driving me nuts

end quote

[keefriff]

Originally Posted by Davemetalhead

I have a question for our cousins across the briney.

In many a TV series and movie I hear a character, when asked the time, reply with something like "10 of 8". Now, does that mean 10 to 8 (7:50) or 10 past 8 (8:10)?

It means that it is 7:50. Ten minutes until 8 as we say it here in the Midwest.

[keefriff]

Originally Posted by lovegod

your post REMINDS me of a post I made some time ago
on the net.......


quote

Im tired of dates printed on the net

7/8/ 2010 ... etc

is it 7th of aug ?
is it July 8th ?

its driving me crazy

lets make it a rule in future
to put the month in letters to avoid all confusion

7/aug/2010

or aug/7/2010

these numbers are driving me nuts

end quote

All dates in the States start w/ month, then day,then year. So today would be 7/22/10. I know that is different than our European brothers but we like to makes things as difficult as possible for you. Now that that is settled, I should be able find the pram to push onto the lift so I will be able to take the tube directly to the harbour where I work.

[Rangertom1357]

Originally Posted by scoundrel

To the British ear, American and Canadian accents can be difficult to tell apart. The same is true of Australian and New Zealand (Kiwi) accents. I am fairly certain that an Australian would have no difficulty recognising a New Zealander's accent, and an American would probably know a Canadian if he/she heard one. I imagine the deciding factor is familiarity.

Back in May I took a month long holiday to Australia and spent the time with a very good "mate" and his wife doing the touristy thing, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane and had a fabulous time. My mate was very good at picking out accents and he pointed out to me several dialects, picked out a Kiwi and described the local accent of Victoria and much like the US where there's regional dialects... After several years being out of Philadelphia I still have the Philly accent... And he like I can pick out the local accents of different parts of our countries... I explained to him that the accents he hears in most US TV programs are what's called "Generic American" with no discernible regional dialect...

One thing that did happen was one afternoon we were at his local RSL branch having a few pints and playing darts. (And I do have to add here I beat him on every game!)

As it was my "shout" for the next round, we both went back to the bar and ordered two more pints of Cooper's when an older gentleman walked in and ordered a schooner of beer.

The man said all of two words that I could hear, and I looked at my mate and said "Canadian".

My mate said "No, he's a yank. He's been coming in here for years!"

I said again, "Canadian" and laid a $10 note on the bar. He smiled and placed a $10 note on top of mine and walked over to the man.

I smiled and sipped my beer and a few minutes later my mate returned, shook his head at me and said:

"Manitoba"

I laughed and pocketed the two tens...

[ant123]

Originally Posted by edward126

When viewing numerous American shows and films there are sometimes two scenarios that occur that I don't understand how they work, they are not life changing events or that important really I guess, just that it bugs the hell out of me.

What does it mean when you ask a shop assistant to 'validate your parking'?

When someone gets onto a bus they just sit down and the bus continues on with it journey. When and who do you actually pay the fare to?

Cheers from England.

This has probably been answered, but on the bus, you usually pay first when going into the city, but pay last when taking the bus home from the city.

[Rangertom1357]

Originally Posted by ant123

This has probably been answered, but on the bus, you usually pay first when going into the city, but pay last when taking the bus home from the city.

To have one's parking "Validated" means that at some parking garages, where it's customary to be charged hourly for the privilege of parking there, a hotel, restaurant or other establishment may have a "Working Relationship" with the owner of the garage or pay-carpark, where as when the owner of said establishment "Validates" one's parking, he's paying for the parking of his customer, who's gotten free parking in exchange for patronizing said establishment...

So to have your paring "validated" means you've gotten to park you car for free... and in NYC, Boston, Philadelphia or other northeastern cities where parking for the day can be almost $100 or more, is worth it's waiting around or asking for "Parking Validation".

[tygrkhat40]

Originally Posted by torwell

Actually, we Canadians don't say 'oot and aboot'. As far as I know, the only person who says 'oot' for 'out' is Willie on 'The Simpsons' (and just about every over the top Scotsman on TV or film). What we actually do is start the diphthong in 'out' with the uh sound in a word like 'cup'. Americans tend more toward the a sound in 'cat'. (We also do the same thing to our i's in words like 'bite'. A Canadian saying 'bite' sounds a bit like an Australian saying 'boat'. The technical name for the phenomenon is 'Canadian vowel-raising'.
Supposedly, native residents of Martha's Vineyard also pronounce words like 'out' the way Canadians do.

Cheers, Torwell

I've heard some Canadians say "oot" and "aboot," specifically the late Peter Jennings on ABC News, just not as exagerated as most would say it. And not all Canadians say "eh" all the time, although all the Canadians I'm related to do. There's also the word "sorry." Americans pronounce it like the Indian dress, "sari." Canadians say like "sore-rey." In "Ghostbusters," when Stantz apologizes to Venkman after the battle with Zool, it's obvious that Aykroyd's a Canadian.

My mom's family is Canadian, with most of them living in the Toronto-Burlington-Hamilton area, so I'm very familiar with the Canadian accent. Well, the Canadian accent of that region.

[Oswald]

Hello to our American cousins.

When I have occasionally watched an American film (movie ) I quite often hear the expression 'douchebag' and I wonder what it actually means?