Job Discussion Forums

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

@ arioch. In no way am I sitting on mountain. I am in the desert. In no way am I guru. You asked a question and I tried to answer it.

I, would also like to hear Stephen's comments because I respect his grammatical knowledge.

Also going "to the home"IMHO means going to a mental institute

SueH · Joined: 01 Feb 2003 Posts: 1022 Location: Northern Italy

"Also going "to the home"IMHO means going to a mental institute"

..or maybe old peoples' home.

If I was going to hospital as an in-patient, and expected to be there a day or so I'd probably use 'going into hospital" which is also (IMHO) pretty common UK usage..

arioch36 · Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 3589

the home is for old duffers, like it appears Slat has become, as he chickens out of the most recent war. PM Jones. I don't have the humility to ask for his help.

Slat could be a guru if we could talk him into it. I guess he's to smart for the position.

khmerhit · Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2004 4:40 pm Post subject: butt realy!

when i worked as a copy editor i could never get used to the american phrase, to be hospitalized, since i had been indoctrinated in the use of to go to hospital, as well as

to go to college (ie, the college buildings -- sic-- eg I'm going in to college at 10.30 tomorrow)

on returnin to Canuckistan, i see there is a host of americanisms that our native press has adopted, ie sign off on the proposal (what the f---?) and the unfortunatly ubiquitous 'butt'. If there is a word i object to it is

BUTT

yours intolerantly, pedantically and prudishly
Khmerhit
Shocked

gingermeggs · Joined: 29 Jan 2004 Posts: 162

Jesus Christ, Arioch....you keep telling us you are religious. Do you go to church?
Did you go to University?
Did you go to College?
Did you ever go to war?
Did you ever go to sea?
In British/Australian english, "which/where" are NOT interchangeble.
NOW, GO TO HELL!
or go to jail.

Mike_2003 · Joined: 27 Mar 2003 Posts: 344 Location: Bucharest, Romania

leeroy · Joined: 30 Jan 2003 Posts: 777 Location: London UK

I work in a school, but when I was a kid I went to school.

"School", "hospital" and "church" (without an article) seem to refer more to the general concept than the specific building/location. If I imagine a parent chatting with a friend...

"Where's Jonny?"

"He's at the school" (You know which building I am referring to)
"He's at a school" (But I don't know which one)
"He's at school" (The exact building is not important, but he is there)

British English stuff I suppose...

johnslat · Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2004 9:00 pm Post subject: Nobody here but us chickens

Dear arioch36,

"the home is for old duffers, like it appears Slat has become, as he chickens out of the most recent war"

Cluck, cluck - or perhaps, seeing as I'm a rooster, c*ck-a-doodle-doo. Me, a chicken? You betcha! Having already survived two wars (Viet Nam and Gulf War I - well, we DID get Scudded in Riyadh) and one revolution (Iran, 1979), I figure I've used up about all my luck and have become a devoted peacenik. I'm not, by the way, in "the home" yet - though I am at home - and I trust I never will be. I have an arrangement with my fiance: when/if she sees I'm starting to lose it, she'll pack me in the car, drive me to Muley Point in southeastern Utah and give me a gentle, loving shove.

"Slat could be a guru if we could talk him into it. I guess he's too smart for the position."

Well, maybe I am - because I'm smart enough to know that someone like me, who has enough trouble running his own life, sure shouldn't get into telling others how to run theirs.
Regards,
Geezer John

Aramas · Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2004 12:50 am Post subject:

"British English" is a tautology. If you break it down into regional dialects then it isn't (ie Glaswegian English, Liverpudlian English). When yanks say 'British English' they actually mean every English dialect in the world apart from the American ones.

When are these jumped up yank tw@ts going to get it into their heads that American English is a dialect (or more accurately a collection of them), not a language? Canadian French is not a language, nor is Brazilian Portuguese or Swiss German. Australian, New Zealand, Canadian, Hong Kong, Fijian etc. English are not languages. They're dialects. And you call yourselves English teachers? Why not call yourselves American teachers? Could it be that 'American' is not a language? Or perhaps 'American English' Teachers - that still doesn't work. I wonder why? Perhaps you might want to consider learning the language at some time?

Why do they persist in the insular, parochial pastime of pointing at anything that differs from the local custom in the cultural rectum of the world and going "yuk, yuk, yuk, them foreign folk sure are funny little guys"

Cultural imperialist w@nkers Smile

I am going to hospital
I am going to Mars
I am going to hell
I am going to America

What, is America some kind of verb? lol Smile

While we're at it, how many people use 'an' before a consonant that happens to be silent in their particular regional dialect? (eg 'an herb', 'an hairy buttock' etc.). Please present yourselves for preventative euthanisia before you get let loose in a classroom Cool

Anyone who claims to be an English teacher should have an Oxford dictionary and 'Fowlers English Usage' on hand at all times.

Lanza-Armonia · Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2004 2:30 am Post subject:

Was this board designed for pi$$ed off teachers to come and let it out or was it design to pi$$ed off the teachers in itself?

Whichever it is, see my new thread - Titled "I'm angry!!!"

LA

lostinparis · Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2004 9:51 am Post subject:

Contrary to popular belief, not all Americans are as resistant as arioch to different forms of English (whether they be British, Australian, whatever).

In the adult classes I teach here in Paris, I use Cambridge University Press materials, because I haven't found any comparable N. American textbooks here that are as good.

For example, I would tell my students...
US: The train is running on time.
GB: The train is running to time.

and let them decide which "English" they prefer to use. (Nearly all will note down both) I leave the choice open to the students, because they are the ones accepting jobs in London or visiting friends in New York.

Languages are complex, living things, which adapt to their respective environments. Different possibilities of expressing the same idea make a language richer, not poorer, and is the reason why I find teaching English a challenging and interesting profession.

Vive la diff�rence!

lostinparis · Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2004 10:09 am Post subject:

P.S. For the Brits out there... I need to go to hospital for a British English checkup (hee hee), as my French is ruining my English. Question...

Can you use "take a decision" and "make a decision" interchangeably in the UK?

I was arguing with a French teacher at my school, who wanted to say "I'll take my decision later." (a direct translation from French, I suspect) She was adamant she had seen this use in a dictionary and wouldn't believe me when I said it was incorrect.

We wouldn't say this at all in the US and would find it somewhat strange; though, we would obviously understand what the person meant from the context.

I'm guessing she might have seen "take a decision" in the following sense:

She took her brother's decision with a grain of salt.

But this is not the same use as "make a decision"!

lostinparis · Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2004 10:30 am Post subject:

to Aramas:

arioch36 · Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 3589

Lost in Paris,

Why do you feel that an attempt to understand why the Brits do something equates with

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

In my book a cooker is the oven, hob and grill all rolled into one. The best cooker of all though is the Aga(sp?) as it heats the kitchen at the same time