Weird US English Part 436

[Johnson_F]

What does
"I am more different than you"
mean?
Does it mean 1. "I am more unique than you"? (this would be my interpretation)
Or 2. "I am more different to you than some unspecified other person is"?

Only context can tell us.
#1 is just about possible, though some people would be unhappy about 'more unique'; uniqueness is ungradable. 'More different from the norm',' more unusual', 'less normal' are perhaps closer to the mark.
#2 is, I suppose, a possible interppretation but, without real context, it sounds very strange.
;

 

[timtak]

I agree. But, I think that if "different than" is normal AmE for BrE "different to/from" then "I am more different than you" is equivalent in AmE to "I am more different from you (than Bert is)" / "I am more different to you (than Bert is)" so I guess that #2 may not sound strange to AmE speaker ears.

Queues are unlikely to become lines any time soon in the UK, I guess.

 

[Vidor]

not a teacher

I tend to find it wise to think twice before criticizing American English

That's presuming there is a reason to criticize us to begin with. ;-) Our dialect is our dialect, and it has changed in the 234 years since we severed connections with the mother country.

The poster above already explained "queue". We don't queue up or form a queue; we line up or form a line. We stand in line or wait in line and we complain about how the line is too long or moving too slowly. You do see "queue" in other contexts, though, like computers. A list of documents going to a printer to be printed is your printer queue.

"I am more different than you"
mean?
Does it mean 1. "I am more unique than you"? (this would be my interpretation)
Or 2. "I am more different to you than some unspecified other person is"?

#1. If you are comparing yourself and the person you're addressing to some third person then you need to say who the third person is.

 

[konungursvia]

Sorry I did not notice the kind posts to this thread.



I guess, I would say student counselling, not using the perfectly good noun "counsel." I'd use counselling not counsel because I suppose the latter has come to mean "counsellor" or an abstract noun referring to counsellors. Wikipedia says a "A counsel or a counsellor gives advice." Do counsellors give counsel in the US?


Sure
"If you were writing with a question about undergraduate advising in xyz subject (including transfer courses, xyz advisors, course selection, meetings, etc.), please re-send your email to the interim Faculty Director of Advising, Dr. X at email address. "

For me, academic advisors advise, or give advice. Hence in the above, I guess I'd write, "If you are writing with a question about undergraduate advice/undergraduate advisors/advice for undergraduates..."

I was under the impression that "momentarily" meant in UKE "only for a moment", but perhaps the "in a moment" AmE has been accepted in the UK too. I did not understand it when I was in Chicago, and ran to catch the train that I thought, incorrectly, would be leaving after stopping "only for a moment". I have never heard of "momently" but it might be a good way of differentiating. But then I would say "briefly" to mean *momently.*

But then perhaps some people say, Yes.
Southern humor - Frank Baugh
"Your loan counselor will be with you briefly." Do folks say that in the UK. If my loan counselor said he was going to be with me briefly I might think that my load had been rejected.

I am still trying to work out if "I work a Job" is American English or just wrong (on another thread).

I'm sometimes surprised how some British cousins feel that American English is a degraded form of their language. Actually, Anthony Burgess and others have studied the issue and found that American English has been far more conservative than British English; it is closer to Spencer and Shakespeare than modern British English.

Speaking of which, it has many oddities too: I was surprised using the British rail system (which was very slow) that the name of the place we can pay to have baggage temporarily stored is called "Left Luggage." I thought it was a lost and found for about 15 minutes.

Funny, eh?

 

[Vidor]

not a teacher

I guess, I would say student counselling, not using the perfectly good noun "counsel." I'd use counselling not counsel because I suppose the latter has come to mean "counsellor" or an abstract noun referring to counsellors. Wikipedia says a "A counsel or a counsellor gives advice." Do counsellors give counsel in the US?

I'd say "advise" and "counsel" as verbs and "advisor" or "counselor" as persons, and "advice" or "counsel" as what advisors or counselors give, are basically synonyms.

 

[philo2009]

I'm sometimes surprised how some British cousins feel that American English is a degraded form of their language. Actually, Anthony Burgess and others have studied the issue and found that American English has been far more conservative than British English; it is closer to Spencer and Shakespeare than modern British English.

Indeed, more conservative and more systematic.

Particularly on account of the latter, I frequently find myself actively recommending AmE forms/constructions to my students in preference to those of my native BrE!

 

[Vidor]

Our spelling's better. Thank you, Noah Webster, for pushing us to get that silly U out of -or words.

I think British English has a richer and more rewarding bank of curse words and insults.

I remember some time ago reading Martin Gilbert's WWII history. Really a wonderful book, possibly the best single-volume general history of that conflict...but he insisted on referring to our naval base in Hawaii as "Pearl Harbour". Drove me nuts.

 

[philo2009]

Our spelling's better. Thank you, Noah Webster, for pushing us to get that silly U out of -or words.

No problem with that, as far as I'm concerned (actually I find that it gives such words a strangely comforting 'Latinate' appearance).

I'm not so keen, however, on the likes of 'thru' and 'tonite'. Tell me, do educated AmE users actually ever employ these forms?

 

[MiaCulpa]

No problem with that, as far as I'm concerned (actually I find that it gives such words a strangely comforting 'Latinate' appearance).

I'm not so keen, however, on the likes of 'thru' and 'tonite'. Tell me, do educated AmE users actually ever employ these forms?

In formal writing, educated AmE users would avoid these forms. However, in extremely informal circumstances (such as emails to family), we do now commonly use "thru," although I worry about the missing apostrophe(s) each time I've used it. As for "tonite," I cannot think of a common use for that spelling--except perhaps in a poor-quality restaurant's in-house advertisements for that evening's specials.

 

[Vidor]

"Thru" you might also see someplace where space is at a premium--like "thruway" on a roadsign or "drive-thru" on a restaurant sign.

 

[Tdol]

I'm sometimes surprised how some British cousins feel that American English is a degraded form of their language. Actually, Anthony Burgess and others have studied the issue and found that American English has been far more conservative than British English; it is closer to Spencer and Shakespeare than modern British English.

In the sixties and seventies, there was a lot of criticism of the impact of AmE from the language conservatives in Britain, who saw it as radical and forcing the rate of change, but you no longer hear them much. Much of that was a result of the massive increase in exposure that went with TV, music, etc. Many do assume that BrE is in some way more authentic as it's the original, though as you say it in many ways less close to the original than AmE. It's also interesting that most of the voices trying to act as a brake are from America as BrE merrily rips the rule book up. Nowadays the British conservatives blame the education system, especially progressive teaching methods, and not America for what they see as a decline in standards.

 

[khaleed]

Yup. It sounds odd to me too.





______________________
Re: "I work a Job"

I've heard it, but haven't yet used it.

"I work a job" sound weird because job is singular. Let's put it this way" I work 3 jobs" sounds normal and common.

 

[MiaCulpa]

"I work a job" sound weird because job is singular. Let's put it this way" I work 3 jobs" sounds normal and common.

;-) In this economy, you're right! (I'm almost certain you meant this to be as funny as I found it. Add an "s" to the first "sound" and I'd be positive).