This tag is for questions related to mutually intelligible variations within a language.
7
votes
3answers
192 views
Morally speaking, 1+1=2
I asked a question over on math.SE and as part of an exchange someone said:
Morally the function is csc φ in the limit for the reason you mention.
...a pretty funny thing to say. I asked them ...
2
votes
1answer
120 views
“Perhaps” or “Maybe”?
As a non-native speaker of English, I was once told in London by a learned British man that I should not use 'maybe' for 'perhaps' in the UK, as by doing so, I'd be following an American usage (so ...
6
votes
1answer
131 views
Distinguishing /f–t–θ/ in th-fronting and th-stopping dialects
In standard English, the digraph th is a dental fricative [θ, ð]. Several dialects feature th-fronting, where th becomes a labiodental fricative [f, v]; others feature th-stopping, where th becomes a ...
3
votes
3answers
342 views
Elision in the pronunciation of “probably”
A student of mine has pointed out that in casual speech, my tendency is to pronounce the word "probably" as something like prah-lee.
I am a native speaker of American English without a specific ...
8
votes
2answers
323 views
Origin of “cracked the shits”
I heard someone use the expression "he cracked the shits" today which is universally recognised (at least in Australia) to mean "lost his temper".
It struck me that it is a strange expression and the ...
3
votes
2answers
188 views
Palatalization of the initial “s” in words starting with “st-”
Sometimes I hear native speakers pronounce the s at the beginning of a word as [ʃ]. For example, straight as [ʃtreɪt], or struggle as [ʃtrʌɡl]. It sounds like German words.
Is it a certain English ...
1
vote
2answers
91 views
How widely used is the word “tush”
In my dialect of American English, the word "tush" or "tushy" is a dimminuitive of "rear end" (e.g., something you'd say about a baby, not as harsh as "butt" and a word you aren't ashamed to say to ...
1
vote
1answer
119 views
Is “gonna have to” an Americanism?
First of all, I have read the answers about "gonna have to" usage, and they are quite clear:
I am gonna have to vs I have to
and
why-prefix-a-request-with-im-going-to-have-to-ask-you
The ...
6
votes
1answer
235 views
Non-rhotic dialects and intrusive r
I am from New England (northeastern US) and it's my understanding that we have a non-rhotic dialect in this region, which is unusual compared to the rest of the US.
It is common to drop the final r ...
7
votes
3answers
605 views
meaning and usage of 'teh'
“I wouldn’ say no teh a bit o’ yer birthday cake, neither.”
“He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him.”
—Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Hagrid’s ...
0
votes
1answer
203 views
Which are the word orders that can be found in English?
Besides SVO, which are the word orders that can be found in English? Are there any that are peculiar to dialects such as Singlish or Indian English? Please provide an example sentence for each order ...
3
votes
1answer
156 views
Origin of using “gets to”
As I was writing an email to someone today, at the end of the message in jest I wrote:
Well, I best gets to workin’.
After I wrote it I looked at the phrase I best gets to. It came to me as if ...
1
vote
1answer
539 views
difference between American and British /ӕ/ sound
When I presented British /ӕ/ sound to three Korean English-familiar persons online - they are doing answering English-related questions activities [case 1; case 2], and asked what sound it’s like /ӕ/ ...
3
votes
1answer
232 views
Why is the Yorkshire dialect called 'Tyke'?
From Wikipedia:
The Yorkshire dialect refers to the varieties of English used in the Northern England historic county of Yorkshire. Those varieties are often referred to as Broad Yorkshire or ...
5
votes
3answers
119 views
Can you buy things “for cheap”?
The first line of this news story says:
Call it space grave robbery for a cause: imagine scavenging defunct communication satellites for their valuable parts and recycling them to build brand new ...
7
votes
1answer
355 views
Is “early mark” only used in Australia and New Zealand?
What countries is "early mark" used in? It means being let out of something, typically school, early.
onelook.com only reports it being mentioned in Urban Dictionary, and it doesn't have information ...
3
votes
1answer
167 views
Regional word for paperboard that school children use in projects?
I'm talking about large paperboard that school children create their projects on. They might draw or paste things on them, usually to present some sort of information. You may see them carrying them ...
0
votes
1answer
62 views
Resources describing Somerset English [closed]
Can anyone suggest any good resources describing the grammar of traditional Somerset English (not accented standard English)? The Wikipedia article for the West Country dialects provides a good ...
4
votes
2answers
124 views
Usage of hain't
According to Dictionary.com, ain't has two meanings:
Nonstandard except in some dialects. am not; are not; is not.
Nonstandard. have not; has not; do not; does not; did not.
When I ...
13
votes
3answers
209 views
History and usage of “dooryard”
I have been interested in the expression "dooryard stop" recently. This is an expression that is used to describe a short visit in someone's dooryard (driveway) that often means not staying long ...
2
votes
0answers
150 views
How is “World English” difficult for native speakers of English? [closed]
There is a newly used term, World English (WE). It is nobody's mother tongue. It is spoken across the world, for example, at check-in desks, airports, international trade fairs, world cup football ...
1
vote
3answers
181 views
What dialect is “I be doing this”?
In which part of the world do people use sentences like "I be doing this" (missing out the 'will' after the 'I')? Sounds like some of the 'street-ghetto' to me. What is it exactly?
6
votes
4answers
148 views
Was your fender “stove-in” after your car was hit by that truck?
Is stove-in — smashed inward — an archaic expression?
Is it a regional expression? I was speaking with someone from my hometown (Salem, MA), and he used the word during our conversation. Made me ...
4
votes
4answers
261 views
How do you refer to a hyponym that is the same word as the hypernym?
What word (or how do you phrase things) do you use when the ostensible word for the class is the same as the word for a subset of the class?
For example, in the United States, there are many brands ...
2
votes
2answers
434 views
Modern-day equivalent of “dog my cats”
As you know, somewhere in The adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Jim expresses his certainty that he's noticed that a noise came from the garden of Miss Watson by saying (my emphasis)
"Say, who is ...
2
votes
2answers
170 views
Pronunciation of Bank, Tank, etc.: Bay-nk, Ray-nk or Baen-k or Raen-k?
What is the standard US pronunciation for words such as the following:
Bank
Rank
At least in my dialect of US English (Inland Northern), the following seem like close transcriptions:
Bank: ...
10
votes
3answers
348 views
Pronouncing the “N” as separate syllable at the end of words like “known” and “pattern”
Over time, I have heard people pronounce the "n" on words like "known" (NO-en) and "pattern" (PAT-r-en), as though it were a separate syllable. The instances of my hearing such have been rare ones, ...
9
votes
3answers
258 views
When quoting speakers of another English dialect than your own, should you spell things their way?
I realize (or realise?) I may be splitting hairs here, but I find this question interesting, and I’ve never heard or seen it discussed before.
I was about to post a quote from Rich Hickey outside my ...
6
votes
1answer
473 views
Do “hull” and “full” rhyme?— rules for “short U” sounds before L
I grew up speaking a variety of American English that merges the "short U" sounds before L. The "short U" sounds are the vowels in the words STRUT and FOOT. For me, before an L sound, all words have ...
7
votes
2answers
299 views
OED Appeals: Origin of “bimble”
The OED has made a public appeal for help in tracing the history of some English words, including:
bimble
verb earlier than 1983
The word bimble, meaning ‘to move at a leisurely pace’, ...
2
votes
2answers
313 views
Pronunciation of “catch”
I was curious about the different pronunciations of the word catch; more specifically, the difference between /kætʃ/ and /kɛtʃ/.
The Oxford dictionary lists both pronunciations as correct; is this ...
6
votes
4answers
340 views
Origin of “Erry” (every)
I have noticed a trend in some rap music where erry replaces the word every (see 1:35 of "The Motto" by Drake). Can anyone shed light on the origins of this pronunciation?
I thought it might trace to ...
-2
votes
1answer
123 views
Does and online repository exist for texts written in African American English / 'Ebonics'? [closed]
I wonder whether I can find a work of literature in AAE somewhere? I mean not citations of conversations or songs etc, but a full-fledged story or novel or technical text.
4
votes
1answer
947 views
Hwat, hwere, and hwy?
In which English accents do they put an h before every word that starts with wh?
Example from Youtube. Notice his pronunciation of whisky.
6
votes
1answer
133 views
Who says /ˈjumə/ for “humor”?
What dialect(s) pronounce humor voiced initially and non-rhotic finally (i.e., with both those features in the same dialect: the word would be pronounced something like /ˈjumə/)?
5
votes
2answers
244 views
Why “me” instead of “my” in pirate speech?
I don’t understand the usage in constructions like “Spare meself, me ship, me crew” in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.
Is it a dialect or “bloody pirate’s speech” or what?
4
votes
3answers
227 views
Which English dialects have 2nd person plural?
"Y'all" is the famous southern US form of the 2nd person plural. The Brooklyn / Italian-American "youse" might be another.
While the existence and usage of "y'all" has been addressed somewhat ...
4
votes
3answers
164 views
Does American “condominium” as applies to building ownership have an equivalent term in British or Australian or other English dialects?
An American "condo" is a building, usually residential or industrial, that is owned in condominium by multiple parties. I've recently learned that this term isn't used in conversation in Britain or ...
8
votes
6answers
559 views
What metaphor do countries that don't play baseball use for intercourse?
Related question: In sex talk, how many bases are there and what do they all mean?
There are lots of English-speaking (or English-learning) countries where baseball simply isn't played much if at ...
7
votes
3answers
350 views
Regional pronunciation of “calliope”?
I’m watching Auction Kings and a lady from Atlanta (who does not have much of a southern US accent) is putting a calliope up for auction. What caught my attention was the way she pronounce it: ...
1
vote
3answers
954 views
Do we “study about” something?
I accept study about where study is a noun ("He conducted a study about changes in population"), but I saw this construct in a local newspaper article and it struck me as odd. Here, study is a verb. ...
3
votes
1answer
205 views
Do things that “get one’s rocks off ” always “rock one’s socks off ”?
I see both of these two phrases used quite often and I have to question why rocks are so cool here. Is there a history behind both of these sayings, and is possible that both of them are just mere ...
2
votes
2answers
353 views
New Orleans Accent
I'd heard that New Orleans residents are more New York- than Southern-sounding. Recently, I saw some of the Khan Academy videos, and noticed that Salman Khan, who, as Wikipedia says, is from New ...
1
vote
0answers
147 views
“She don't care about me”: how to explain this? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
The grammaticality of “that don't impress me much”
I know the rule, the correct form is: "she doesn't care about me," but I heard it in Lost series, I ...
4
votes
3answers
9k views
Is 'useable' preferred in certain regions, or just an alternate spelling of 'usable'?
I rarely use spell checkers, but today when I did use one, it suggested changing the word 'useable' to 'usable' (i.e. to drop the first 'e'). This seemed immediately intuitive and I thought I'd just ...
5
votes
2answers
594 views
Origins of the south-western Pennsylvania slang word “Yinz”
A common slang word used in south western Pennsylvania and the forefront example of of what is commonly known as "Pittsburghese" is the word:
Yinz
Pronounced:
| yinz |
Or alternatively it is ...
8
votes
3answers
379 views
What is the best term to categorize a lolcat image and text?
I've seen the captions described as a dialect, patois, "kitty pidgin" and language play which is well and good but doesn't get to the key visual aspect (silly/cute/adorable cats). Wikipedia offers ...
5
votes
2answers
127 views
Dialectal and historical usage of “not care” in the meaning of “not mind”
In standard Present-day English, "I don't care to be there" means the same as "I don't wish to be there." Apparently, this is not the case in some present and historical dialects. Wylene P. Dial ...
6
votes
9answers
29k views
What is the difference between “curd” and “yogurt”?
Most people use the words curd and yogurt interchangeably.
Both are made by fermenting milk.
Is there a difference between the two, or are they the same?
0
votes
0answers
741 views
Pronunciation of o with umlaut/diaeresis (ö ) [closed]
How is the letter ' ö ' pronounced?
In German it is pronounced as a u and in Swedish it is pronounced as a œ
How Is it pronounced in English?
Why does it need a special symbol at all? Why can or ...
