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

Duncan Jones (Spearcarrier) has a lovely new word "extrapreneur" when you've worked out the meaning, go tohis home page journal entry " New word discovered" and see if you're right. I'm sorry I don't know how to link it, but he's posted above in this thread and you could click on his name from there.

This site is full of interesting comments on language. Check this one out for more apparently contradictory phrases:

http://www.h2g2.com/A145342

what's wrong with 'getting update'?

There are probably bits of language we can do without, maybe as useless as our appendix.

Is there any situation where "later" could not simply stand instead of "later on"?

I don't think I can agree with this - the appendix has a function, but the body can cope without it, same as finger-nails etc. None of the language is superfluous - we just don't have to use all of it all the time (eeek!).
British English (with all its variations, nuances etc., including all the stuff about dogs at the beginning of this conversation) has a primary role in confusing foreigners (and this could be just the folk from the next village!).
The confusion created for our Cousins in the Colonies and others who speak a COMPLETELY different language is a constant source of amusement to the British !

Even within Britain we can have problems.
Try putting one person speaking broad Geordie (Newcastle) in a room with another speaking broad Brummie (Birmingham).
Add a Glaswegian and you have a recipe for total confusion!!
'G'

I don't think this is true any longer, unless your examples are pensioners. In the 60s great play was made of the fact that people supposedly didn't understand Liverpool groups or Manchester groups etc. Surely anyone under the age of 30 has been exposed to enough TV, films, pop music to have very few problems. OK you don't understand the odd word, especially the local dialect or family slang that I'm putting in to confuse you but you're not having any problem with this thread and we researchers come from all over the English-speaking world.

But that's because we can't hear each other. The word 'girl' is written the same whether you're from Liverpool (pronounced 'gairl'), from Scotland (pronounced 'gairull' with a slightly rolling 'r') from the West Country (where the 'r' is pronounced), or from the South East (where the 'r' isn't pronounced).

A favourite story of mine is about a friend who was in a bar in the US and asked 'Is there a pay-phone in here?' (He's from the South-East of England), and got a funny look from the barman. He asked his question again, and the barman gave him a blank look and said 'What?'. So he said 'You know? A telephone where you put money in and make a telephone call?'

It transpired that the barman thought he'd said 'Is there a python in here?'

That's right - understanding every word isn't usually essential for understanding given the context of a conversation - an it matters little if words are missed because the accent or dialect is strange, its a word you don't know, or its just plain noisy.

Printed out the whole list of postings at work and read them on the train on the way home (don't want to add something original, only to find it's been said a million times before). I sure got some strange looks as I giggled over some of the postings (you just DON'T do that on the train).

I have another liguistic interest which I will share with you all - literalism.
For example ... "Do not use lift in case of fire" - don't use the lift in case there is a fire.
A favourite (that I still haven't figured out - ooops) "Shake well before use"

I have to go - a bunch of morons, sorry, Mormons have just arrived at the door.

Another day, and I'm back again - I'm here as Orinocco 2 (it's a long story).
Got another literal ... "Making London Simple" - from a London Transport poster about making travelling around London simpler - I would guess all the intelligent people in London (it's OK - I live just outside) might take exception to being made simple, but then how many have read the poster and not realised the implications - perhaps all Londoners are simple already !

On the "Shake well before use", I can think of 4 interpretations, 2 for shaking the object, and 2 for me shaking.
While thinking about London's transport, the old sign on the Underground/Tube "Dogs must be carried on the escalators" is an old favourite !

Are you sure they are not telling you to look for a well and shaking THAT before using whatever it is!?!?!?

Silly idea that!!!!!!
'G'

Truely inspirational !!! I'd missed that one completely !

Combining your literalism ideas with the doggy phrases from the start of the thread raises all sorts of possibilities.

Which to a foreigner, learning the English language is the hardest task he/she could take on in their life!!

We only understand all the twists and nuances because we live with it, and can interpret/exterpolate the meaning logically!!

Or more usually illogically.

... which I'm not sure I'd like to get into (literally or otherwise).
I'm a typically liguistically-challenged British person, so I wondered if those of you out there who are fluent in other languages could answer a question for me ...
How unique is English in it's complexity of word-play possibilities ?
I imagine word-play IS possible in other languages ?
English-language humour seems incredibly rich in variety, twist and untraceable roots (as demonstrated by hundreds of dog-derived postings !) - does everyone have this much fun with THEIR language ?

Sorry, that was three questions

What does "which" refer to? Is your foreigner singular or plural? Do you mean "extrapolate"?
Now I've set myself up for the "law of pedantic reverberation"