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

Oh look http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1445000/1445564.stm a BBC News article about the differences between British and American English, including some words I'm sure we have not done.

Oh look http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1445000/1445564.stm a BBC News article about the differences between British and American English, including some words I'm sure we have not done.

Lets try that again shall we?

I think they should have put a link to our thread!

Where's the old one - will it ever see the light of day again?

(I have to go back to US. Will try to spend no more than a week there, if I can keep out of trouble this time!)

Good luck, K!

I shall be "off seat" as they say here until 22nd August. I'm not going to get into any trouble either

And, in the words of BN, Why not?

This may revisit an oldie but wot-the-heck I'm an oldie and I forget a lot of stuff...
What's the origin of 'tannoy' again?
Surely it's not just 'to annoy' people.
And if it's playing music is it called "muzac"?
~jwf~

Tannoy is a company that makes loud-speakers. Muzak is a trademark for a type of "elevator music", music so bland that it is supposedly totally inoffensive, mainly because you never notice it.

So would any public address system (or PA) be called a Tannoy just like any rubber-tired backhoe-excavator is called a JBC in the UK?
A case where one dominating brand name defines the identity, just as in America any tissue is called a Kleenex and any photocopying is called Xeroxing?

I'll the British people here answer that one. The use of "Tannoy" for public address system is virtually unknown in Ireland.

I'll *let* the British people here answer that one.

Reverting to a previous topic, English words derived from Chinese, I find that "typhoon" has an interesting origin. It started out as "typhon", a Greek word meaning a violent storm. This changed over the years and arrived in Arabic as "tufan" and eventually into English as "touffon". Then came the Chinese connection. By a remarkable coincidence, the words "daaih fung" meant big wind in Guang Dong Chinese. The word touffon was converted to typhoon to make it closer to the Chinese word, also making it extremely close to the original Greek.

Tannoy, JCB, Hoover. All instances of brad names becoming the generic title of an item in the UK. I have always used these (didn't even know tannoy was a brand name) but have ever used Kleenex or Xerox, so they presumably are american. Can't think of any others at the mo'

Or possibly BRAND names! Good grief Penfold.

Whew! Have just read the backlog.

I notice that during the wrought/wreaked/worked discussion no one proffered an alternative infinitive or present tense for "wrought". Something I have often wondered about. What does someone making a wrought-iron gate say he's doing when he's actually doing it or intending to do it ... I'm gonna write that gate tomorrow? I'm just wrotting this gate? I'm wroting these bannisters at the moment? Will you wruy that fireguard today please? (as in bought/buy) Would you like me to wrink you a fence? (as in think/thought). So if wrought is not the past tense of wreak (which does seem unlikely) what is it the past tense of?

I had a quite nice holiday on (in?) Menorca/Minorca. Will be writing about it. There are two entries already, but I have found lots more to say!

I think if you look carefully enough, you will see that we did mention the present tense of wrought. It is work. You work the iron to make a wrought iron gate. This does not mean that I wrought at the office yesterday. The "wrought" past tense is only used when the verb work has an object, that is, when you work something, as in making and crafting something.

Welcome back, by the way!

You can be overwrought as well - in metal this makes it brittle, in people it makes them tense and irritable. I wonder if underwrought would be a good word for relaxed after a holiday?

all the antonyms (opposite meanings) that have slipped away, like being kempt, shevelled, having ruth, etc.

Is it that we're so used to being unkempt, dishevelled and ruthless that we've forgotten it could be any other way?

kid "underwrought" kitsch