Speaking "American" while traveling

[jdtrotter]

My father was born in South Dakota and for his family, the capital of South Dakota was always pronounced as Pier---

When we moved to the far north of California, we were quite surprised to find that the locals pronouned the county of Del Norte as Del Nort.

In Baja and in the Northern part of Mexico, auto junk yards are called Yonkes---a take off on yankees---


Diane

[Kurt & Ann K.]

How do you pronounce the name of the fruit, toe-mah-toe, or toe-may-toe? How about San Ber-nah-dino or San Burn-ar-dino?
Did your grandmother Hoover the carpet? Was everything which had to be kept cold put in the fridge, or frigidaire regardless of the manufacturer, or does your family still call it the icebox?

What are the names for a hot, seasonal wind in different locations around the world; Africa, Canada, So. California (common usage is usually pronounced incorrectly), and elsewhere.

Material used to surface a road is called by different names around the world.
Kurt & Ann K.

[Gina D.]

These are not regional, but I am sure they had thier origin "Somewhere"

My personal pet peeves (And I have no clue why.. I am not an English major or snob)

"That needs fixed"

and "Prolly". Not only do folks that use "Probably" pronounced incorrectly, they spell wrong it phonetically too!

(Of course, I prolly just spelled phonetically wrong too... someone tell me if it needs fixed)

[Renee K.]

Well being from Or-e-gun it was a crik that I learned to swim in, but it was named Bar Creek.
One dear friend from waaaay down south would carry yaalll to a grocery store and put everything in a poke and tote it home, and put it in the safe, and begin supper boiling spuds in a stewer.
It just seems that all children understand one another even as babies, and adults can if they really care and try. And that's what the world is all abowt!

[CharlynnT]

[quote]
How do you pronounce the name of the fruit, toe-mah-toe, or toe-may-toe? How about San Ber-nah-dino or San Burn-ar-dino?
Did your grandmother Hoover the carpet? Was everything which had to be kept cold put in the fridge, or frigidaire regardless of the manufacturer, or does your family still call it the icebox?
-------

Glad you asked!
We were a multi-lingual family, so I never knew when my dad's words for things were his own invention or his first language. For example, "Goof" means mayonnaise or Miracle Whip, and turned out to be his own made up word; "Glums" for cottage cheese was a word from his spoken-at-home language.

Leotards = Napoleans
Gazebo = Gestapo
Microwave - Micro Dot
Disney = Walter Disney or Walt DisleyKick

PS English is what you speak at school, flat deutch at home, but God only knows High German. Chester, help me out with this!

[Chester Taje]

Your doing quite fine by yourself

[Morgan]

...

Material used to surface a road is called by different names around the world.
Kurt & Ann K.

A piece of Tarmac goes into a pub , orders a drink and announces
that he is the hardest piece of tarmac in the land. Just then a
piece of Dual carriageway walks in , orders a drink and announces
that he is the hardest piece of Dual carriageway in the land.
Then a piece of Motorway walks in , orders a drink and announces
that he is the hardest piece of Motorway in the land. Just then a
piece of coloured Tarmac walks in and all the other supposedly
hard pieces of Tarmac turn to avoid eye contact. Upon this the
barman asks the Tarmacs what is wrong , the reply we're not
drinking with this guy he's a cyclepath.


[Now I'll go to my room - Morgan]

[Ken James]

Out and about gets us Canadians identified when we travel. We open our mouthes to say either of those words and our American friends know right away where we are from.

[Roger H]

Ken.... you mean like "oot" and "aboot"?

Roger

[Craig Nold]

Where I come from, Gilliam, Missouri is pronounced Gillum, Missoorah (Gilliam is in Manitoba), a crick is sumpum I get in my neck. When I lived in New Mexico a creek was a dry wash that was sometimes called a perky by locals. I think that perky comes from puerco, which is Spanish for pork, and it is the same thin as an arroyo, but not as deep. ........ and your point is? My brother always says that and I hate it, eh? It's so dismissive, like who cares, eh?

[Gina D.]

Morgan Morgan Morgan

[Ron N]

...and I wonder why English contractions are so easily misunderstood?

They're (short for they are) going to the store. Not "there" or ""their".

It's (it is) "their" not "thier" fault.

Being a dual citizen living in the States, I love to hear Canadians say "aboot" and "eh".

[Brian B-P]

I can't think of any good examples of words used in North America for which the meaning was not apparent - once I understood what the word were! A waitress in Louisiana had to repeat her recommendation for dinner three times before a friend and I realized that she was suggesting shrimp which was not "bald" or "balled" but "boiled". She was convinced that she had no southern drawl, because she had spent some time "up north" - in Tennessee! By the way, whenever we're near Donaldsonville, we return for dinner at Cafe Lafourche.

A tour guide in a Louisiana plantation home makes a game of guessing the origin of guests from their accent. She though that my wife and myself were from from Virginia. Both of us have lived in various parts of Canada our whole lives, and have never been in Virginia (except to drive through non-stop on the way to Florida).

[Ken James]

Ken.... you mean like "oot" and "aboot"?

Roger

That's it Roger. A dead giveaway! "oot and aboot"

[Kurt & Ann K.]

Morgan,
What did Maccadam have to say about the whole barroom scene?
And what unique name do they call the red paving in Oregon?

[Benny K]

(Gilliam is in Manitoba).........well not quite...Gillam, a generating station on the Nelson River, is in Manitoba and is pronounced Gillum!....at least that`s the only one I know of ........The biggest variation in pronounciation I found in the US is in New Jersey....In such a small area it seems that every borough has it`s own drawl or whatever you want to call it..... ...Benny

[L Schmidt]

I spent a winter working in Texas, and found that:

"air" is 60 minutes

"Janes" are what you wear on your legs

"rot" is the opposite of left

"whale" is what you use to steer a car

"lot" is light

"far" is how you burn something

"Clean" is "Killeen" and "Walksahatchee" is Waxahachie

But I found that as much trouble as I had understanding Texans, they couldn't understand me either!!

[Craig Nold]

Benny, I stand corrected. Need to get my eyes checked. Now I know three ways to spell Gillum. And Ken, would you please use "oot and aboot" in a sentence?

[Morgan]

I always enjoy listening to our new news readers and weather prophets talk about Mexia and Waxahachie.

Nick

You forgot Quitaque, Nick.

[Suz]

Barbed Wire translated into Texanese: bobwar

Example: You goin' down to the lower section 'n fix that bobwar th's'mornin'?

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When questioning an experienced Texan's knowledge on something, you'll most likely hear:

This ain't my first rodeo, ya know.