h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

In German half seven would mean 6:30 (halfway to seven), and Germans make up the largest ethnic group in the USA, more even than Irish or British.

fortnight confuses some of them too.

english people will often say 'next week' to describe the coming week. (i am english btw, but have lived in australia for a long time.)

my sons' hockey coach, a brit, sent an email on the weekend to say that there would be no training on tuesday 'next week'. an australian would have said 'this week'.

This and next with regard to days of the week is confusing anyway.

Do they refer to the week or the day?

I think it is 'laziness' in the UK in making it clear.

If today is Monday and someone says 'Next Tuesday' the odds are they mean Tuesday of next week. However if they say 'Next Saturday' they will mean the Saturday of this week, assuming you hold that next week starts on Sunday or Monday.

So, if it is Friday - when is 'Next Monday'?

Some people miss out next if the refered day is during this week - 'I will see you Thursday.' - but will use next for the following Thursday of next week.

I tend to seek clarification as It is easy to assume one meaning and it is the other being used.

I'll see you a week on next thusday - whenever that is.

I'm not sure what a week on next Thusday is, but a week next Thursday will be, erm, the 7th August, I think.

the 7th august? how many augusts are there?

Americans put the day after the month--August 7th.

But Europeans put the day before the month--7th August.




~*~one american expression which isn't playful and appears to be used as tho it were normal is:

'i could care less' when they mean 'i couldn't care less'.~*~


I've noticed that. So I switched to "couldn't care".

<>

Yes, but they don't put 'the' in front of it. Unless they write 'the 7th of August'.


az

Yogurt. It really gets me. Why does Rachel's Organic, a dairy based in Wales, use the American spelling of yoghurt? What's wrong with the 'h'?

Oh, and anymore as one word instead of two. Hate, hate, hate!

And of course 'everyday' and 'every day'. Two different things .

what about Canadian English? Should we discuss that?

Eh?


az

oh Very Funny. Us canadians just get a wee bit tired of the world being divided into americans, and (apparently) the British, and everyone else. Poor us, north of the 49th.

I always thought calling a "z" a "zed" was kind of weird.

<>

I've called them cell phones most of the time, or just phones. One time, because people were arguing over the issue, I just said "I'm going to take my portable phone with me" and left. (Only time I did that though, sounded a bit silly.)

******************

In America, most of the time we call the trailer being towed behind a car either trailer or cargo bed. A bed, however, can also be in the back of a pickup truck, so there is a small chance for confusion. Trailer also is used with whatever it's carrying, i.e. a horse trailer.

If it's a recreational vehicle, people are usually towing a motor home. Sometimes it's the reverse - motor home is driven, car is towed - which scares me half the time as said car looks like it's tailgating.

I'm Canadian too, lostmonalisa, though I don't live there anymore.

Since our English is mostly a mix of US American and British English it's no wonder people don't recognise it.

But at least we know how to spell properly.


az

i call the letter zee, zed but that comes from watching too much sesame street. i get confused about aspects of grammar quite easily. there seem to be different grammar rules in scotland too!

such as putting the word "but' or "by the way" at the end of a sentance/sentence

<>

Well, yogurt is a Turkish word and the Turks spell it without an 'h', so perhaps they are using the Turkish spelling.



But then their 'g' is actually 'yumu&#351;ak g' with an accent on it
like this: &#287;
I know this comes up as all funny letters, but I can't help that.

<>

Calling a zed a zed is weird?

In America and (as far as I know) everywhere but Canada, it's pronounced "zee".

Here's a question: Why are apartments called "Flats" in Britain?