The Language (and travel) Thread

[besleybean]

Not a word I use often.

But thinking about it...

I think I use sneaked and snuck interchangeably!

[Carol the Dabbler]

I normally say snuck in conversation. I'm not sure I'd use any form of the word in a formal situation, because it seems too casual (even "sneaked").

[besleybean]

'sneaked' seems posh English to me!

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

'sneaked' seems posh English to me!

Right, though I'm not certain whether you meant that as a good thing, a bad thing, or just a thing. To me, it sounds like a bit of an affectation, like people who actually say "It is I."

[besleybean]

Oh I don't think it is as bad as that!

 

[hann156]

I really don't have an idea have you guys been talking about traveling here, because I'm too lazy to scroll older posts, but I have to tell you that I'm going to UK first time ever after Christmas. \o/ So it means that I'm going to see the new Sherlock episode at its home country!!

Travel tips are very welcome and also if you have any experiences of reserving accomodation from Airbnb, please let me know.

 

I'm so excited!! This gives me energy to survive this grim November and last weeks of work and school. :O

[SherlockedCAMPer]

We discuss a variety of things related to language and travel: where we've been, bright spots of the U.K. regardless of the relation to Sherlock and what something means from *insert language name here*. Some of the discussion comes from other threads that we accidentally hijack for the umpteenth time.

 

As for an airbnb, I can't help you there.

[Caya]

AirBnB tends to be rather loathed in most European cities, because some people have realized that renting out apartments in central locations  to tourists over it brings a lot more cash than regular tenants, so these flats are off the general housing market, which is bad enough as is right now. Also, those landlords refuse (and laws so far have not caught up, though it's in the works in most places) to pay the usual tourist fees (hotels in Europe generally have to pay a tax per traveller that gets reinvested into tourist infrastructure) so they're leeching off there as well. This is not meant to disparage the honest AirBnB users, btw, folks that simply rent out their own flat while they're away and such, but the platform seems inundated by black sheep these days.

 

Back to why I came to the thread in the first place, though: Business Insider has an interesting article about regional differences in terms and pronunciation within the US. I never had any idea this was so diverse!

 

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Oh, yeah. And they've oversimplified some of those. For example, people in the Boston area refer to soda-pop as "tonic" (pronounced "tawn-ic"). Or at least they did back when I lived there.

 

But none of this is odd, really. I mean, would you expect someone in Paris to use the same word as someone in Rome? This is a big country!

[Caya]

Well soda/pop is la limonade in Paris and la limonata in Rome, but I get your point. ;)

[SherlockedCAMPer]

I definitely call the traffic converging at a circle a roundabout as that's what I first heard them called when I was in Europe years ago before I ever saw one in the US.

[besleybean]

Well it's not the traffic that's called that, it's the structure!

I've heard both 'circle' and 'roundabout' used in the UK.  I tend to use the latter.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I first encountered the things many years ago in the Boston area, where they were called rotaries -- which barely shows on the map. Those were fine, large enough that one could follow the normal rules of the road.

 

Over the past few years they've started building "roundabouts" here in indiana, but these are so small that one must be in precisely the right lane at any given time in order to avoid a collision. To make matters worse, there are several different styles, so one must heed the arrows painted on the pavement -- until they fade or snow starts to fall!

[SherlockedCAMPer]

We've got some bad ones here in Minnesota as well. The first 1 I encountered here had a center so high, you couldn't even remotely tell if it was safe to take your turn. You just prayed and went.

[Arcadia]

I really don't have an idea have you guys been talking about traveling here, because I'm too lazy to scroll older posts, but I have to tell you that I'm going to UK first time ever after Christmas. \o/ So it means that I'm going to see the new Sherlock episode at its home country!!

Travel tips are very welcome and also if you have any experiences of reserving accomodation from Airbnb, please let me know.

 

I'm so excited!! This gives me energy to survive this grim November and last weeks of work and school. :o

I'm so jealous! But alas, I have no advice for you either, except to pack plenty of underwear.  Have a great time!

 

 

I first encountered the things many years ago in the Boston area, where they were called rotaries -- which barely shows on the map. Those were fine, large enough that one could follow the normal rules of the road.

 

Over the past few years they've started building "roundabouts" here in indiana, but these are so small that one must be in precisely the right lane at any given time in order to avoid a collision. To make matters worse, there are several different styles, so one must heed the arrows painted on the pavement -- until they fade or snow starts to fall!

I've noticed these things seem to be becoming popular out in the "posh" rural areas around here, where there's not enough traffic to really warrant forcing the rich folk to sit at a red light for several seconds (horrors!) -- but too much traffic to let people just figure it out for themselves. No accidents yet, but I haven't been through one at rush hour. Hope I never am. Got into Dupont Circle in Wash DC at rush hour once, had to go around 3 times before I could get out. :o Then pulled over and learned how to breathe again.

[besleybean]

I love roundabouts, generally.

But there are some stinkers...I believe there's a bout 8 lanes around the Arc de Triomphe!

[hann156]

 

I really don't have an idea have you guys been talking about traveling here, because I'm too lazy to scroll older posts, but I have to tell you that I'm going to UK first time ever after Christmas. \o/ So it means that I'm going to see the new Sherlock episode at its home country!!

Travel tips are very welcome and also if you have any experiences of reserving accomodation from Airbnb, please let me know.

 

I'm so excited!! This gives me energy to survive this grim November and last weeks of work and school. :o

I'm so jealous! But alas, I have no advice for you either, except to pack plenty of underwear.  Have a great time!

 

 

 

Thanks! And don't be jealous, you have to visit UK someday as well. ;)

 

And to Caya about Airbnb (I don't know how to multiquote..) I've been also thinking that, is renting your flat to tourists in the "grey zone" and do the landlords skip taxes etc. I've been searching pretty carefully the site before reserving anything. The thing that interests me is getting to know local people and their life style, because if you just go to a hotel, you're basically on your own and with your travel partner. And I prefer country side and tourist free places, and often there aren't any hotels there.

Thanks for the information!

 

And about the different words in different states. For a person from non-English speaking country, I have always thought that it is pretty funny that some words differ so much. Myself I usually tend to mix them up and don't always remember which words are used in certain countries and states.

To think about it, we here in Finland also have differences in words between regions. Especially eastern and northern Finland have  their "own language" which is pretty hard to understand for me.

 

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

And Finland is about the same size as just one of our 50 states.

[SherlockedCAMPer]

I love roundabouts, generally.

But there are some stinkers...I believe there's a bout 8 lanes around the Arc de Triomphe!

And what makes that worse is that those entering have right of way over those trying to leave (unless that's changed since I was there 17 years ago) while the ones I've encountered in the US are the opposite.

[besleybean]

Yes in the UK, if you're on the roundabout, you have right of way...surely makes more sense!

[J.P.]

Found very interesting articles

 

http://nautil.us/issue/44/luck/is-the-chinese-language-a-superstition-machine

 

This one I can relate to:

http://nautil.us/issue/30/Identity/the-strange-persistence-of-first-languages

[Arcadia]

You're trying to distract us, aren't you?

[J.P.]

No, just parking the stuff here for later.

Blame my Twitter Timeline. It serves me otter socks and Grimm fairytales.

And when an Introvert twitter-er posts her daily good morning Twitter from Australia, it's a sign I should finally unplug myself from the comp and say goodnight to the world.

[Carol the Dabbler]

A language question for y'all:

 

In your country (or your part of your country if it makes a difference), what is the generic term for sweet carbonated beverages such as Coca-Cola or similar fruit-flavored drinks?

 

Around here, it's usually "pop," but in the Eastern US it's generally "soda," around Boston the traditional term is "tonic," and in parts of the South it's "coke." If I'm talking to a mixed audience, I'll usually say "soda pop," a term that's understood pretty much all over the country.

[T.o.b.y]

A language question for y'all:

 

In your country (or your part of your country if it makes a difference), what is the generic term for sweet carbonated beverages such as Coca-Cola or similar fruit-flavored drinks?

 

Around here, it's usually "pop," but in the Eastern US it's generally "soda," around Boston the traditional term is "tonic," and in parts of the South it's "coke." If I'm talking to a mixed audience, I'll usually say "soda pop," a term that's understood pretty much all over the country.

 

Were you asking about non-English speaking countries as well?

 

In Germany, at least the part I live in, it's "Brause". My American family says "soda" even though they are mostly from the Boston area. I've never heard "tonic" used in that context. Interesting.