Questions tagged [north-american-english]
Questions about English used in the United States and Canada, but usually not Mexico.
201
questions
0
votes
0answers
19 views
'Every single word builds up to this moment' - What does this phrase mean? [on hold]
Took you like a shot
Thought that I could chase you with a cold evenin'
Let a couple years water down how I’m feelin' about you
(Feelin' about you)
**
And every time we talk Every single word builds ...
0
votes
0answers
13 views
Asking about subscription terms start noun, verb, adjectives
I need to create a database which holds subscription member. But, its confusing to name it. I need a terms to call start subscription date. month subscription.
end subscription date. i call it
...
0
votes
0answers
17 views
A term for a team that allows all grades
In our school, a team that allows upperclassmen is the "Varsity" team and the one with underclassmen is "Junior Varsity".
Is there a term for a team that would allow all grades on to it?
0
votes
2answers
43 views
Still usage and despite suggestion [closed]
I have this sentence: I fell in love with coding, but still I was not able to decide whether it is something possible as a career. Is the structure correct?
3
votes
2answers
61 views
What’s wrong with saying “he has his mind in the right mindset?”
My friend says its gramatically incorrect, what do you guys think?
1
vote
1answer
303 views
Is this correct in American English: It has helped me developed
I've come across a brief overview about a Canadian sales representative that says :
I grew-up in a family business specializing in short-term rental
accommodations. Our resort, Tyrolean Village ...
0
votes
1answer
117 views
Why is there a US idiom of using China to mean far away?
I live in the UK, and a lot of US culture reaches us in the form of film and TV.
There seems to be a trope of referring to something as being in China to mean it's a long way away. Things like:
"I'...
2
votes
1answer
139 views
Why do some Americans pronounce K and B after vowels sounds like G and P
For example, ‘speaker’ sounds like ‘speager’ and ‘Stop it’ sounds like ‘stob it’.
0
votes
0answers
71 views
Final /s/ vs /z/ sound at the end of verbs/nouns issue [duplicate]
So, I've seen this rule at several English books about how if a word has a voiced final sound (e.g. r, voiced th, l, m, n..) then added 's' is pronounced more like /z/. If the final sound is voiceless ...
1
vote
3answers
55 views
Why do U.S. Americans say “a good value” (using indefinite article “a”)
Take this example from the Airbnb website: "What would have made this listing a better value?"
This souds absolutely horrible and incorrect to my Australian ears (I would omit the "a"). I've also ...
1
vote
1answer
27 views
What's this “Jl. Sg.” appended to a name in the Social Register?
Screenshotted from the (fictitious) "1929 Social Register" in the opening sequence of the film Down to Their Last Yacht (1934).
"Miss Linda Colt-Stratton" I get, but what's the "Jl. Sg." after her ...
-3
votes
1answer
60 views
What are the feminine equivalents of “Running mate”?
From Wikipedia:
In the United States, "running mate" refers not only to a candidate
for vice president (federal), but also to a candidate for lieutenant
governors of those states where the ...
1
vote
4answers
69 views
What is/are the synonym/s for 'to move to sit closer to someone'?
I have a couple of things in mind, but I'm not sure if they can be applied to sitting position.
For example, if I'm sitting on the other end of the couch, and then I move to sit closer to someone ...
2
votes
3answers
44 views
Expressing “with a higher variance” as an adjective
Is it possible to express
has a higher variance
in the sentence
Dataset A has a higher variance than dataset B
as an adjective? Would
Dataset A is more variable than dataset B
be the ...
0
votes
1answer
49 views
Stove, Cooker, Range, Oven, Hob
Whenever we go to Canada, we go self catering. Usually the cooker (English word for the combination of an oven with gas or electric burners on top which can be used when cooking with saucepans) we had ...
0
votes
1answer
21 views
“Stay on us for this” [closed]
In response to "Thank you. Much appreciated"
Reply was
"Please stay on us for this"
What is the exact meaning of this response.
0
votes
1answer
42 views
Co-pay vs copartnership: Prefix hyphenation in AmE
In AmE, we tend to close up prefixes like co-, re-, pre-, post-, etc. unless the first letter of the main word is the same vowel as the last letter of the prefix. But I see some exceptions like ...
1
vote
0answers
35 views
over the years/thoughout the years/for years
What are the cases in which each of those is used? Can you give more detailed examples and differences in meaning and usage than the ones I found below if there are any?
Here's what Google says:
...
14
votes
7answers
4k views
What is a small tent kind of shop on the side of the road called?
What is a small tent kind of shop on the side of the road called?
It can sell stuff like newspapers, snacks, coffee, and other small things. The only two things that come to mind are "a hot dog stand"...
1
vote
1answer
285 views
Does “throw a leg over” means “riding a horse” or “sexual intercourse”?
Now anyone reading this article - http://mentalfloss.com/article/31841/why-new-york-city-called-big-apple and especially this line from that: "The Big Apple. The dream of every lad that ever threw a ...
2
votes
1answer
63 views
Why it is “the Grinch” but not just Grinch as it's his personal name
We don't use the definite article with personal names, however here....why is it so?
Yeah, I know sometimes we can use "the". When it's a person everybody knows about or smth like that.
But why it'...
2
votes
0answers
53 views
From Black Friday to Cyber Monday!
Sources available on line say that the expression “Cyber Monday” is just a few years old, dating its coinage to 2005:
The term "Cyber Monday" was dreamt up in 2005 by a marketing team at Shop.org,...
1
vote
0answers
55 views
Vowel shift in Michigan accent?
I’ve spent a fair amount of time in Michigan because my grandparents live there. By today’s standards, they have very heavy accents, with full Canadian raising and the northern cities vowel shift. ...
0
votes
1answer
213 views
question about meaning of `off-service`
There is a sentence in an article which says : "Workers are hard-pressed to finish work during a tight off-service window". Can anyone explain my questions :
1. does *tight off-service* mean *tight ...
4
votes
1answer
77 views
Young native-speaking males emphasizing deep voices
Recently a possibly new speech pattern has come to my attention and I am wondering whether it is genuine or whether I am mistaken. It is young, male native speakers emphasizing a deep, "rough" voice.
...
3
votes
5answers
1k views
How infrequent is “a non-zero chance”?
I misinterpreted the expression “a non-zero chance” as an emphatic way to stress that there was no possibility or likelihood of something happening.
there is a non-zero chance that they will pay ...
2
votes
1answer
163 views
Is the voicing voiceless consonants common in the US?
I don't know if I should trust my non-native ears, but I've heard a couple of people (Katie from CollegeHumor is the first one come to mind) who say "thank you" with a voiced "th" instead of the ...
5
votes
4answers
195 views
Idiom for premonition
I am trying to remember an idiom that is used when someone has a premonition about something, often coincidentally i.e. I am thinking about someone and then they call me. I know there is the ...
-2
votes
1answer
35 views
Go and come as verbs and the ommitting of and
I have a question relating to the verbs "come" and "go" plus another verb. Why do americans say come sing with us (for example and not come AND sing with us (as is the norm in English English. Like ...
4
votes
2answers
831 views
Is the expression “jam-packed” of American origin?
I came across this expression at random, and when reading its definition and reading it in within context, it struck me as a particularly American thing to say. When trying to confirm my suspicion, I ...
7
votes
2answers
686 views
What are the names of the two phonetic changes in this sentence?
I'm going to be teaching English to French high school students for another year in September, and they all have a hard time with my variety of English (they're used to hearing British English). ...
11
votes
3answers
872 views
The meaning and usage of ‘stiffs’ in “Of Mice and Men”
I would really appreciate it if someone could confirm whether I have interpreted correctly the meaning of “stiffs” in the following excerpt
“I had enough,” he said angrily. “You ain't wanted here. ...
2
votes
3answers
1k views
“The cat that got the cream” - is there any innuendo?
I think this is a British idiom.
The American version would be, "The cat that killed the canary."
I was about to say this to a female friend, intended as a "well done" sort of compliment, ...
-3
votes
1answer
2k views
initialised or initialized which one is correct spelling? [duplicate]
I have often seen initialised in lots of text, but when I want to write it in Microsoft office word, it says it was misspelled and it should be initialized instead of initialised.
so here is my ...
8
votes
2answers
1k views
“There is a woman with a snapper.”
So far, I haven't found a clue to this use of the word "snapper" (1851) to describe an energetic, irrepressibly attractive woman at any of the 19th century slang websites so far.
Here is part of the ...
15
votes
5answers
2k views
Do native speakers of major English varieties actually say “a software” or “softwares”?
So I've looked up the word "software" around, and I've learned that -ware words are uncountable, and there's even a claim at the Wiktionary entry for this word that "a software" or "softwares" are a ...
0
votes
1answer
380 views
“How long do you have” — what does it mean?
"How long do you have?" -- What does that mean?
The conversation regards my potential trip to another country to visit someone.
It means how long I want to stay there? Or How many time I (will) ...
4
votes
1answer
169 views
Accented syllable after a glottal stop in NA English
Does anyone know of any studies on the change in use of accenting after a glottal stop? I am in my late 40s, and first heard this maybe 10 years ago used by an adult. I have a nephew who is 11, and it ...
0
votes
1answer
233 views
Meaning of these phrases
What is the meaning of "long way out" and "long way yet"?
Like in a sentence ::
We are all aware that our country has achieved self sufficiency in food but we have to go a long way _____ in order to ...
3
votes
1answer
229 views
The word Hindu in American English
I, as an Indian, am often surprised when the Americans use the word Hindu, when they actually mean
The country of India
The Indian subcontinent
The Hindi language (possibly)
whereas it should ...
5
votes
2answers
186 views
What is the local pronunciation of 'Chicago'?
What is the local pronunciation of Chicago? (specifically the 'a')
The standard American English pronunciation is
/ʃɪˈkɑ.ɡoʊ/, /ʃɪˈkɔ.ɡoʊ/
or (what I think) is the PALM or LOT lexical sets in ...
1
vote
3answers
377 views
The curious case of “UChi” and its pronunciation
The Free Dictionary tells me that UCHI is the acronym for The University of Chicago. But if that were the case, shouldn't it be TUOC?
I visited the official university website and it says said
Our ...
0
votes
2answers
408 views
When is it OK to start a sentence with “But”? [duplicate]
Is starting a sentence with a "But" still bad? I know some Harvard graduates who are native English speakers and do this when they write. Is it acceptable now?
What are some of the examples where "...
1
vote
1answer
44 views
Is my sentence sounding formal? [closed]
I am having difficulties in describing a situation where there have been two lab tests A and B and where I receive two results without indicating which belongs to A and which to B.
Can I ask: "Could ...
0
votes
1answer
4k views
Is it “what movie did you watch?” Or “ which movie did you watch?” [duplicate]
I’m confused about the right way of saying it. Please tell me the correct answer and why it is correct.
2
votes
2answers
372 views
Origins of “sure” meaning “yes” in American English
I notice that the use of the word "sure" to mean "yes" seems to be much more common in American English than in other dialects. Can anyone point to any evidence as to the origins of this divergence?
0
votes
2answers
547 views
What does the expression “If + subject + was/were + infinitive” mean in American English
I just want to ask you guys about the general meaning of expressions that use the following pattern in colloquial American English:
If + subject + was/were + infinitive, ...
Examples: (Written by ...
1
vote
1answer
77 views
does the /d/ in the [nd] combo tend to be unreleased?
I'm asking about north-American English.
In words like "refund", "band" and "diamond", is the /d/ is fully released (as an un-aspirated /d/), or stopped, like the /nt/ combo? (different can and ...
0
votes
1answer
97 views
Use of the article “the” when referring to an organization or entity
Is there a preferred use of "the" in American English when referring to an organization or entity? For example, on an episode of the "1A" on NPR, guests of the show referred to the U.S. Food & ...
5
votes
2answers
4k views
Why is “medicine” pronounced differently?
British English drops the unstressed second syllable to make it sound like med-sin /ˈmɛd.sɪn/.
American English keeps it as a 3-syllable word meh-dee-sin /ˈmɛ.dɪ.sɪn/
In Australia I've only ever ...
