Questions tagged [dialects]
This tag is for questions related to mutually intelligible variations within a language.
591
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Using "as" instead of "that" (I don't know as this is valid)
When answering the ELL question “I can't say as ever I was lost” quoted Daniel Boone, I said that having as instead of that in the cited context was a "dialectal, folksy" usage. Then I came up with ...
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Different pronunciations of "-ead"/"-ed"/"-aid" words
I find that American/British English dialects tend to pronounce words like "bed", "red", "dead", "bred", "said", etc. with the exact same vowel sound: the IPA ɛ vowel (- and so this question may seem ...
3
votes
1
answer
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Are there American English dialects which distinguish /ɑ/ and /ɒ/ but not /ɑ/ and /ɔ/?
I relied on the Logic of English (LoE) phonograms to give myself a better understanding of English pronunciation since the spelling gives me a hard time (even as native speaker), but I noticed that ...
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Is "give a party" regional?
This answer on the ELL SE says that "give a party" is interchangeable with "throw/hold a party:"
What is the difference between "hold a party", "have a party", ...
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2
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Word for talking to a stranger with the purpose of befriending them
I'm looking to translate a word from my local dialect (Algerian) to English.
The exact word is dsara which means trying hard to talk to a stranger with the purpose of befriending them with no mutual ...
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3
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American dialects: Replacing the past-perfect participle with the simple-past form
I have come across some American media (The Alternate History Hub youtube channel comes to mind) in which the perfect participle and the simple-past form have been merged.
For example, we would have:
...
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Origin and of the phrase "problem that needed solved" [duplicate]
I recently listened to a podcast in which the narrator described an unresolved obstacle as a "problem that needed solved." My initial assumption was that he had meant to say "problem that needed to be ...
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What is the meaning of the phrase, I'm partial to your abracadabra? [closed]
On Ian Dury's first album, there is a song titled, I'm partial to your Abracadabra.
The song, as all of Durys' songs is filled with lots of London slang, most of which is recognisable. However, i ...
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2
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Make somebody to do something
I know this verb does not take "to" after the direct object. Although, I spot T.L. Short in his "Peirce's Theory of Signs" always inserting "to" in this construction. What happens? Is it some formal-...
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2
answers
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Which word to use between two streets when describing an intersection, and or at?
I would normally write an intersection like:
A St. and B St.
but I've noticed many people also write
A St. at B St.
I've tried googling every way I can think of phrasing this and I can't find ...
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How much later?
Growing up in the 1980s in New York City, I understood a plain "later" to mean "later in the same day", as in the examples below. As an adult, I lived in St. Louis, met people from many more places, ...
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4
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Using the word 'tiffin' to refer to a lunch box
In "Indian English" (whatever that means) the word 'tiffin' is used to refer to lunch boxes in south Asia. Please feel free to Google the word if you want a picture of what such lunch boxes look like.
...
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votes
1
answer
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Is "charge port" a regional dialect thing?
I used the phrase "charge port" to refer to an AC wall outlet and many people around me hadn't heard that expression before.
We are all Californians here, but my parents are from the East Coast of ...
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0
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76
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What is the name of this American/British dialectic phenomenon? [duplicate]
When telling stories in the past tense, I've noticed that Americans will tend to say "I was standing on stage..." or "I was sitting at our table at Friendly's last night when..." while the Brits will ...
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1
answer
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Which demographic of English speakers say "I've to" for "I have to"?
In a forum I frequent there are many times that contractions are used in a way that's unusual, and many users find to be ungrammatical:
"I've to" etc.
To me it's not ungrammatical but it sounds both ...
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1
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Where and/or when is the term "flight ticket" used?
On a forum I frequent some users were complaining about a question using the turn of phrase "flight ticket" as something no English speaker would ever say.
I disagreed because it sounds like ...
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1
answer
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Pronouncing the final "‑ing" inflection as [əŋ] instead of as [ɪŋ]
I’m asking about American English, but feel free to answer about other dialects.
The ‑ing verbal inflection ending is, in the abstract, a phonemic /ɪŋ/. Those phonemes usually get realized ...
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5
answers
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Is there a difference in meaning between "fill {something} in" and “fill {something} out” in American English?
Is there a subtle or significant difference in meaning between the following?
fill something in
fill something out
In my humble opinion, the two expressions are interchangeable and both ...
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1
answer
76
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Consonant-free "of"
I was listening to "Any Friend of Diane's" by Weezer and was wondering about the varied pronunciations of of.
Any friend of Diane's is a friend of mine.
As rendered in the song (it's the first ...
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1
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One word for 'a small town'
What words/phrases have you heard growing up that mean a small or remote town?
I'm not a native speaker, so I haven't heard much. I've only seen the word 'whistle-stop' in a dictionary once, where ...
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2
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"It is" used as "there is": what is the origin?
Ok, this is a somewhat nonstandard English question. In the Southern US, or at least in Central Virginia, there is an idiomatic use of the phrase it is that is equivalent to the expression there is, ...
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What’s the geographic distribution of different pronunciations of the word "experiment"?
ᴛʟᴅʀ: Which regions say the word experiment with its stressed syllable sounding like the word spare, and which regions say that word’s stressed syllable like the word spear?
PLEASE NOTE: This is NOT a ...
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Meaning of "hay-trusser" [closed]
I am not a native speaker of English and would like to know the meaning of this word "hay-trusser". I am doing a Translation Study from Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge for Universidad ...
3
votes
1
answer
898
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Uniquely New York curses
This is kind-of an oddball question but the site rules don't appear to forbid it. If it somehow violates guidelines just let me know and I'll voluntarily take it down.
I'm looking for region-specific ...
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4
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Where did the term "movie house" come from?
Where did the term movie house come from? Is it a regional term? I am from the Midwest with also Texas influences from military service. I now live in New England and was called on using the term ...
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1
answer
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For whom does "upwards of" mean "less than, but approaching" ? Is it a regionalism?
The phrase upwards of X appears to be defined very explicitly to
mean simply and only “more than X”. (In other words, it is an exact
substitute for “north of”.)
I have a pernicious and deeply held ...
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4
votes
1
answer
264
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Translation and etymology of a slang passage
While reading software-user reviews on Google Play Store, I happened to run across the following (verbatim):
"I'm game ginger an as wet as, a otters pocket full support to do you will ave to be ...
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Etymology of informal use of “favor” in the U.S
I know in some U.S. dialects, “favor” as a verb is used informally to indicate that two people share a similar physical appearance, especially when the two look so similar that one's physical ...
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Which English dialect(s) use "ennet" to mean "duck"?
Since at least Old English, the word duck has been used to describe the aquatic bird, derived from the verb to duck: Proto-Germanic *dūkaną. However, in most other Germanic languages, a word with a ...
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Meaning and origins of the American slang expression "ad' a boy, shooter!" [closed]
What does the American slang expression ad' a boy, shooter! mean? In high school I had an American teacher who would always say this, can't remember which state he was from, I think it's an ...
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1
answer
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What is it called when some pronounces their “t” sharply
What is it called when people pronounce their "t" sounds so sharply that it sounds like the sound "eh" comes after the "t" sound? So the "t" sound sounds like "teh" with a big emphasis on the "eh" ...
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1
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115
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What do I call an extra word or phrase that is habitually added but means nothing? [duplicate]
Some local dialects add phrases or words that add no meaning to the sentence or question.
Minnesota speakers add 'now'. 'Who was that guy died in Duluth, now ?'
Irish speakers add 'so I am/was/etc'. ...
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What's the Scottish equivalent of "holy crap!" "oh my God!" "Jesus Christ!", etc?
No swear words, please (sorry). It's for a YA fantasy that takes place on Skye (modern day), and has to be something a teenager might say (again, yeah, I know. Swearing. But surely there's ...
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Fantastic and fantastical
In my own idiolect, "fantastic" can mean "having fantasy elements" or, metaphorically, "very good," while "fantastical" can only have the literal sense. So, for instance, a fairy tale might be "...
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The distinction between "over there" and "over yonder."
For most native English speakers the word 'yonder' is either archaic or poetic. For many native speakers in the Southern United States however, it is still a word in common but declining use. Those ...
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1
answer
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What is the origin of "smiddock"?
Pennsylvanian English: smiddock
Put your middle finger behind your thumb and flick it against your arm — or better, someone else’s. I believe this is usually called a thump nowadays.
But when I was ...
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Is "take a knee" primarily used only in American football/sports?
Is the expression "to take a knee," meaning to kneel on one knee, an idiom that is mainly limited to American football and other sports (as well as, perhaps, military jargon)? Has it primarily been ...
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5
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Regional dialect or just improper grammar? Eating on leftovers or just eating leftovers
On several occasions I have heard white people from the deep south part of the United States (Louisiana to Georgia) say that they will be eating ON leftovers, instead of just eating leftovers.
For ...
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1
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The phrase: "Find out more information about it at . . . "
I hear this on local radio in northwestern Pennsylvania.
"You can find out more information about it at ..."
This grates on me a bit. I expect "Find out more at . . . " or "Find more information ...
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What English dialect adds an 'r' after a 'w' in certain cases? [duplicate]
While watching videos online I've heard multiple brits pronounce "drawing" as "drawring". What dialect does that? Please contribute more examples of this as well, as that is the only one I can ...
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0
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How do you say "to brown-bag it" in your neck of the woods?
Is the North American phrase "to brown-bag it"--which means to take a packed lunch to work, school, etc.--used or at least readily understood in the UK and other English-speaking countries? How would ...
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"Cash me ousside" girl's speech
Danielle Bregoli, a.k.a. the "Cash me ousside" girl, became a meme after she appeared on the Dr. Phil Show. (See also: http://www.tmz.com/person/cash-me-outside-girl/)
Is Bregoli's speech an affected ...
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2
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What do Americans call a "lie-in"?
The Random House dictionary gives the main definition of "lie-in" as:
a protest demonstration in which participants lie down in a public place against regulations and resist being moved.
The ...
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2
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112
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there's no more you? [closed]
I'm reading the lyrics of the song So Sick, and I'm puzzled about the following line:
Gotta fix that calendar I have that's marked July 15th because since there's no more you. There's no more ...
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0
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All I'm askin' / Is about the interesting preposition placement in the song "Respect"
The Aretha Franklin song "Respect" has the interesting lyric "All I'm askin' / Is for a little respect" [link] where in everyday English, I would expect "All I'm askin' for / Is a little respect".
I'...
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3
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What is the origin of "six" as a word to refer to the toilet?
A common euphemism for the toilet in the spoken Welsh of north Wales is "lle chwech", literally "six place" ("chwech" being "six" in Welsh). Note this refers mainly to the room rather than the ...
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Absence of hard "t" [duplicate]
What dialect is this: omitting a hard "t" in a word such as button. Sounds like they're saying buh en.
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1
answer
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Is Simplified Technical English based on American English or British English?
Simplified Technical English was originally developed for use in aviation maintenance manuals, but has expanded beyond this use into a variety of technical fields. It is a "separate" controlled ...
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answer
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Is the English spoken in the Cook Islands similar to New Zealand English?
I saw a Cook Islands tourism ad, and the English spoken there seemed very similar to New Zealand English. For example, the accent, and the use of "bro". (The sense of humour is also very similar to ...
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Which regions use positive "any more"?
It's a regionalism to use "any more" to mean "nowadays." It's supposed to be used in a negative sentence, e.g. "Nobody wears sneakers any more."
But there are parts of the country where people will ...
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