Questions for our American friends

[The Black Baron]

Originally Posted by tygrkhat40

The German for "Merry Christmas" is "Froelichte Weinachten" so it's not an exact translation. It's always seemed to me that "froelichte" is related to the Enlish word "frolick." But, I'm not a linguist.

You are correct, in that "fröhlich" is related, or a cognate, in more technical terms, to the English "frolic". "Fröhliche Weihnachten" is probably more closely translated as "Happy Christmas", as the Brits say, than "Merry Christmas", as we say, but the difference is more of a shade than a distinct difference.

The name of the holiday itself shows a difference in cultural development, since the Normans added their influence to the old Germanic Anglo-Saxon culture. In the Anglosphere, we call it Christmas, Christ's Mass. But the German name, "Weihnachten", the "holy nights", hearkens back to the old North Germanic customs surrounding Yule, and the celebrations on the shortest days/longest nights of the year.

[USBPepsi]

Originally Posted by Aubrey

I think soda is just a generic name for fizzy soft drinks, where the English would say "Pop." There is a Seinfeld episode about George wanting to call his (non-existant) child Soda, because he likes the sound of it, and he likes drinking it as well.

Just to insert a small point late in the game, in the Midwestern U.S. it is far more common to call carbonated beverages pop than soda. Ever since I moved to the coast my wife has been making fun of this old habit.

[scoundrel]

Originally Posted by polartrade

Just to insert a small point late in the game, in the Midwestern U.S. it is far more common to call carbonated beverages pop than soda. Ever since I moved to the coast my wife has been making fun of this old habit.

"Soda" is commonly used in European countries such as France and Italy. "Pop" is the usual word in the UK, or "lemonade"; "orangeade" etc, or else brand names. Actually, I'd much rather drink a generic lemon soda from a can bought in an obscure little town somewhere in France than a Seven Up here. The much marketed fizzy drinks we get (usually American brands, sorry) are over-sweetened, chemical-tasting crap and I hardly ever touch them.

[grossnex]

Originally Posted by scoundrel

"Soda" is commonly used in European countries such as France and Italy. "Pop" is the usual word in the UK, or "lemonade"; "orangeade" etc, or else brand names. Actually, I'd much rather drink a generic lemon soda from a can bought in an obscure little town somewhere in France than a Seven Up here. The much marketed fizzy drinks we get (usually American brands, sorry) are over-sweetened, chemical-tasting crap and I hardly ever touch them.

Amen Scoundrel my brother . If I have to drink soda then I'll drink a Pepsi just for nostalgia. It reminds me of being a kid again. When I was 18, I had a job filling fountain soda machines & it made me change my mind forever regaring the consumption of soda. Basically, I hooked up a line of seltzer water to the machine & packed a big bag of concentrated syrup into the machine as well. Holding that bag in my hand made me want to get tested for diabetes.

Up until last year, I worked for a health food distributor. I have to say that there are healthy alternatives as far as soda, but the average person would think that they tasted like crap . There's no high fructose corn syrup to sweeten the taste. It's more like seltzer with a hint of whatever flavor they advertise on the can/bottle.

Hansen & Knudsen are 2 vendors that I can think of off the top of my head. You might have to replace the "e's" with "o's" if you want to do a search on it. I don't remember how to spell them.

[grossnex]

Originally Posted by ikeswanson

I say "Happy Christmas" every now and then but I'm a little strange and probably the only one who does it. Most Americans just go with "Merry Christmas". The Television media will always say "Happy Holidays" and sometimes throw a "happy Kwanza" in there for the other religions in order to be politically correct and not insult others.

I've grown accustomed to just saying Happy Holidays as a much shorter way of saying Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year. Plus, white christians are a minority where I live. We have hundreds of Muslims, Jews, Hindus & Asians in my town/surrounding towns. It just makes no sense to say Merry Christmas to a man from India.

Speaking of Germany, if you guys have never seen any German Christmas documentaries, I would highly recommend checking one out. Now that's Christmas! Here in the US it's all about, "Come on down to Macy's & get 20% off on everything storewide. But act quickly..." It's all about getting out there & buying stuff. Where are the commercials about spending time with family & all that traditional stuff? Probably in Germany I would guess. There are probably small towns in the US that do it the right way, but by & large I think we've lost sight of what it's supposed to be all about. Just my take anyway .

[demsal8]

@NIN - hi guy, pleased to meet you again.

I have an answer, kind of. I used to be married to a Registered Nurse who worked in hospitals where this verbage was normally used (I don't know of another place that uses stat). I asked one time about this, she checked around at work and came up with a blank. No one knows where it started but means quickly or immediately.
But I just looked it up on google and they say it comes from the latin statim meaning immediately. Since medical professionals, at least in this country, are big on latin, that's why it started there.

[ikeswanson]

Originally Posted by scoundrel

"Soda" is commonly used in European countries such as France and Italy. "Pop" is the usual word in the UK, or "lemonade"; "orangeade" etc, or else brand names. Actually, I'd much rather drink a generic lemon soda from a can bought in an obscure little town somewhere in France than a Seven Up here. The much marketed fizzy drinks we get (usually American brands, sorry) are over-sweetened, chemical-tasting crap and I hardly ever touch them.

Lets not leave out the Southern United States. All soft drinks, no matter what flavor or brand, are referred to as a "coke".

"I'll have a coke". "What kind of coke do you want?" "7-up".

[demsal8]

Okay NIN, you got me with one. I've never heard the word 'acrostic' before so I looked it up. But you seem to have misused it according to what I understand. Means the first letter of a series of phrases or lines in a poem. Our usage for a contraction from the first letters of a series of words is 'acronym' similar to the expansion you used for stat. We use lots of acronyms everyday including the similar to stat ASAP meaning 'as soon as possible.' I even at some time in the past learned of Posh accomodations, meaning plush and pricy. It was British during the colonial years and refered to travel by ship to India, Port Out, Starboard Home. Such accomodations on the left side going to India and the right side returning to England always placed the traveler on the shaded side of the ship.

[bombermouse]

You are correct NIN, the Port Out, Starboard Home acronym as the source of the word posh is bogus. Check it out at Wikipedia or any other etymology source.

[The Black Baron]

Originally Posted by NIN

Probably a daft one, & maybe asked before? (but no results in the thread search )

When watching U.S. Films or Programmes (that's Movies or Programs, i believe ) I have often heard dialogue in 'Emergency' situations, someone will inevitably say,

" I need ...., (Insert random object).... STAT !"

I know the inference & have consoled myself for years, that it might be 'Sooner Than Already There'

... but I seriously doubt that.

"Stat" is indeed borrowed from Latin, it's a clipped version of the adverb statim, which means ASAP