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Sashadroogie
Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise
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 Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 9:30 pm Post subject: |
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| Well, during refection the term the term 'gleet' came up, in an obvious reference to the poor quality borsch. My American colleague didn't know that I was referring to her mephitic soup. But this was the same tyro who insisted to her Russian students that the medical terms they were using were not English words at all. They were saying or trying to say 'phial' or 'vial' , but she doughtily corrected them and drilled 'medical file' into their skulls. I smirked and thought of the differences in healthcare systems that could produce such a misunderstanding. |
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Deicide
Joined: 29 Jul 2006
Posts: 1005
Location: Caput Imperii Americani
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| Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 9:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Sashadroogie wrote: |
| Well, during refection the term the term 'gleet' came up, in an obvious reference to the poor quality borsch. My American colleague didn't know that I was referring to her mephitic soup. But this was the same tyro who insisted to her Russian students that the medical terms they were using were not English words at all. They were saying or trying to say 'phial' or 'vial' , but she doughtily corrected them and drilled 'medical file' into their skulls. I smirked and thought of the differences in healthcare systems that could produce such a misunderstanding. |
For an old man you sure act like a young man.... |
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Sashadroogie
Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise
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| Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 9:36 pm Post subject: |
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But I AM a young man! That's it! I'm off to have my weep now. This is too much. There is a TEFL-shaped hole gaping in my soul.
The quietus begins... |
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Sashadroogie
Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise
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| Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 6:01 am Post subject: |
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Ah, that's better. The tears have washed it all away. The soul has been soothed, the mind clearer. So much so that I notice what appears to be a slight inconsistency.
You corrected my use of language, not once, but twice on this thread, though it is arguable whether I was actually 'wrong' on either occasion. But yet you write....
| Deicide wrote: |
I am not a prescriptivist, as someone who has studied linguistics and wrote his thesis on a descriptive phenomenon, I say whatever floats your boat jack. |
Don't get me wrong. I'm not in the slightest bothered - just curious as to how this would tally with your linguistics thesis. Also curious on account of the fact that other posters have every so often tried, also unsuccessfully, to 'correct' my word choice. spelling etc. They are nearly always Americans too. Would it be fair to say that an American tends to have a more limited understanding of English as it is spoken beyond his borders, than say any other speaker from the rest of the Anglophone world?
If so, perhaps that might be an area for exploration or research. Pervasiveness of American TV, cinema and so on. It would certainly be something to do if EFL proper continues to be a drag, no? |
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Mr. Kalgukshi
Mod Team
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Posts: 6613
Location: Need to know basis only.
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| Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 6:20 am Post subject: |
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Let's get back on topic, please.
If not, the next step will be more than a warning. |
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