Questions tagged [north-american-english]
Questions about English used in the United States and Canada, but usually not Mexico.
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1answer
22 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
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1answer
51 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
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4answers
46 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
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3answers
43 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
38 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
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1answer
20 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
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1answer
38 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
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0answers
16 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
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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
118 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
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1answer
61 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
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0answers
48 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,...
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0answers
50 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
102 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
71 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
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5answers
510 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
130 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
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4answers
166 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 ...
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1answer
32 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
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2answers
496 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
676 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
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3answers
704 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
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3answers
675 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, ...
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votes
1answer
943 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 ...
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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
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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
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1answer
51 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
151 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
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1answer
157 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
183 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
178 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 ...
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3answers
339 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
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2answers
316 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
40 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
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1answer
3k 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
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2answers
296 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
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2answers
416 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
72 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
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1answer
85 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
3k 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 ...
49
votes
3answers
7k views
The “old switcheroo”: Where did the “-eroo” suffix come from?
The -eroo suffix works as an intensifier of sorts, though it also seems to have other, less well-defined properties.
The online OED has only this to say about it:
-eroo, suffix
...
21
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1answer
3k views
The meaning of leaving someone back [ in American English ]
I just watched a great video (a kind of short documentary) about two educators who strive to afford better education for their students in a college in Red Hook (a neighborhood in Brooklyn).
The video ...
3
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2answers
183 views
Word for the act of trying to change a new environment to match the one you came from
I heard this word years ago and can't seem to dig it out of my brain or search engines.
Specifically, the conversation was about the type of people who move from the city out to a rural town to ...
50
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3answers
7k views
How did “biscuit” come to have a distinct meaning in North American English?
The Oxford Living Dictionary makes a clear distinction between the usage of biscuit in Britain and North America:
British: A small baked unleavened cake, typically crisp, flat, and sweet.
‘a ...
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0answers
84 views
Where is this artist Clint Cearley's accent from?
So I just subscribed to this artist on YouTube, Clint Cearley. He'd sounded North American enough until he said words ending in -ing (which sounds like "-eeng"), and accurate (which sounds like "...
3
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3answers
156 views
What's an equivalent way of saying *friolenta* (from Spanish)?
My aunt is friolenta. She gets cold easily.
But is there a better way to say this, that stays closer to the original construction, by being a simple adjective?
Idle curiosity would make me ...
3
votes
1answer
380 views
metal, meddle, mettle, medal pronounciation in American English
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English has the following phonetic symbols:
meddle
/ ˈmedl; ˋmɛdl/
medal
/ ˈmedl; ˋmɛdl/
mettle
/ ˈmetl; ˋmɛtl/
metal
/ ˈmetl; ˋmɛtl/
...
1
vote
1answer
3k views
What is the meaning of “tag up”?
I am not a native speaker, in a business environment, I saw my American colleagues use this term often in MS-Outlook (setting up meetings) and e-mails. For example, it might appear in a meeting notice'...
1
vote
2answers
118 views
AmE Equivalent for “people usually go to a cinema after going to a restaurant”
I would like to write the equivalent of "people usually go to a cinema after going to a restaurant and they usually choose the closest cinema to the restaurant" in American English. I think the ...
0
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1answer
206 views
Is it okay to use past tense when writing about a fictional story?
When talking about a book, or a fictional story we are required to use present tense. The question is:
Can we use past tense if it is a flashback?
Also, can we use past tense like in the sentence ...
