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

I used to live in Canada and there was one British word that used to stump them every time. Trousers. The number of times I had to define that word is too high to count. There were other words it took me a long time to learn not to say and they were Jam, Pavement and you'd be surprised how often Oubergine (sp?) comes up in conversation in one year! It is quite amaizing how many words I have to correct and define while there.

Right, lets crack on, if K is to have her moment of glory.

Yes, aubergine instead of Eggplant, courgette instead of zucchini, but I fear our French friends, at least, would get the meaning.

Do Canadians count in all this, and why don't they wear trousers?

It's not trousers you need to worry about, it's pants!

By all means I am not saying that westeners are cleaner in anyway than arabs. (I use water myself). But they are not especialy cleaner than dogs. I live in Holland (but I am not a westener) and I see some dogs, like poodles, that are white and completely spotles. Now try wearing a white pair of jeans and a white T-shirt for a day and see how long it stays shiny white for. I have a pekingese myself and he's white. I wash around once every two weeks, but he's never dirty or smelly.

Might it not be regarded as 'bad form' to reach our target by posting the same message again? Not that I want to accuse anyone of being a cad, even though it's a lovely Brit word which sadly you don't use any more...

I do.

Me too - and "bounder", which is even better.

Just because you two might be cads and bounders doesn't mean we all are though.

Thanks Phil, just what I was thinking.

You still havn't given an answer which why I sent it again Kaeori.

Looking for that unique word known within but not without would be like looking for a needle in a hay stack (why were our predecessors so careless about where they left their needles?)

Only nine to go ... ooopps now its eight

Clever stuff, Deni.

How can they wear pants, these Canadians, did they learn nothing whilst pink on the map? Pants is, of course, short for 'underpants' which is why they go under trousers.

I once had an accutely embarrasing moment when out with a bunch of North American IBMers (when on a business trip to the States) when I managed to introduce the word "rubber" into the conversation. I know its also called an erasor (on both sides of the pond), but I had been unaware of the colloquial use of "rubber" in America

Shouldn't they be called undertrousers then ?

Surely not, Nikki. If they were called under-trousers, the name would be shortened to trusers, and you would wear them under pants, which of course, you wear under trousers. Do you see?

If they're called underpants, they should be worn under pants, which rather supports the US nomenclature for garments worn on the legs ...

Isn't the meaning of underwear obvious. Under wear. You wear it under something. It doesn't have to be trousers. It can be a skirt or whatever.

An ingenious suggestion, and by happy coincidence not entirely missing Pheroneous' point. Such combination words are called 'portmanteaus'. I refer you to http://home.earthlink.net/~lfdean/carroll/jabberwock.html
There one may find words that come close to the given definition, although it is inevitable that some of the more widely read of our non-Brit English speakers will have come across such delicacies as 'galumphing'.

I think, Nikki-D, that Pheroneous is using the subtle logic of humor. Well, he brought a smile to my face!