Search Results
Search type | Search syntax |
---|---|
Tags | [tag] |
Exact | "words here" |
Author |
user:1234 user:me (yours) |
Score |
score:3 (3+) score:0 (none) |
Answers |
answers:3 (3+) answers:0 (none) isaccepted:yes hasaccepted:no inquestion:1234 |
Views | views:250 |
Code | code:"if (foo != bar)" |
Sections |
title:apples body:"apples oranges" |
URL | url:"*.example.com" |
Saves | in:saves |
Status |
closed:yes duplicate:no migrated:no wiki:no |
Types |
is:question is:answer |
Exclude |
-[tag] -apples |
For more details on advanced search visit our help page |
Questions about English used in the United States and Canada, but usually not Mexico.
3
votes
Is hilarious pronounced /hɪˈlɛriəs/?
The difference between /ɪ/ and /ə/ in unaccented syllables is of very little importance in English. There are some people who use /ə/ instead of /ɪ/ in unaccented syllables (this is called the weak vo …
12
votes
What are the names of the two phonetic changes in this sentence?
Changing vowels to schwas is called vowel reduction, and it's incredibly common for most English speakers (not just people from Michigan).
2
votes
What is the local pronunciation of 'Chicago'?
In forvo, you can click on the speaker and find other words he's pronounced. For this speaker, his 'a' in Chicago seems very much like his 'o' in omelet and not that much like his 'a' in tax (which is …
2
votes
The North American use of "gotten" in the Passive Perfect Tenses
If it was a choice between got and gotten in these sentences, the right choice is gotten.
However, as the other comments and answers say, Americans would not use gotten for either of these sentences; …
5
votes
Accepted
What does "consound" mean?
"Consound it" means the same thing as "confound it".
My guess is that the interjection "confound it" was thought to be too strong in Hannibal, Missouri, at the time of Mark Twain's childhood. So peo …
4
votes
Accepted
Were American, Australian, and New Zealand English dialects ever spoken in Britain before th...
Languages change. Otherwise, we'd still be speaking like Chaucer. The British settlement of America started in the 17th century; there has been lots of time since then for several different American d …
2
votes
Are there any studies on changes in British English to become more like American English?
The flow of expressions between British and American English doesn't just go one way, although I expect today that the predominant direction is from the US to the UK. There is an English professor who …
5
votes
American English Pronunciation of "o" sound long or short?
See the lot-cloth split section of Wikipedia. Here are two excerpts:
The lengthening and raising generally happened before the fricatives /f/, /θ/ and /s/. In American English the raising was extende …
45
votes
Accepted
Why does "corn" mean "maize" in American English?
When the English settlers landed in the New World, they didn't have a word for maize. Maize is a New World crop which was unknown in Europe. The word "maize" was originally Spanish, and comes from the …
3
votes
Accepted
How common is the short "be" in American English
I believe the distinction between the phonemes /i/ and /iː/ is a British phenomenon; it doesn't exist in General American. In General American, the vowel /i/ may vary somewhat in length depending on h …
6
votes
What does 'ten of six' mean in regard to time?
For the origins of "ten of six", searching Google books shortly after 1800, which is when this expression seems to have originated, I came across quite a few uses of expressions such as
It wants t …
20
votes
Accepted
Why is it called an “Indian file”?
Presumably because this is the way the settlers thought American Indians walked on trails through the forest. They probably did; if you have narrow trails, this is the only comfortable way to walk the …