Day 19 of 'The Daily Post'.
I've thought of another phrase in use in Scotland, differing from English usage, that I've come across here in the US to add to this collection.
If your grandfather is called William, and you call your son William, in England, you'd say you named your son after your grandfather. In Scotland and here, you'd say you named your son for your grandfather.
Similarly, if a friend is going to visit another mutual friend, in England I'd say "tell her I was asking after her". In Scotland and here, I'd say "tell her I was asking for her".
I find these things interesting. And since we're talking about visiting, it took me a while to get used to the way that word is used over here (though this is just an American usage, not one of those American-Scottish ones). You only visit a building. If you visit a person, you visit with them. And you can visit with them on the phone, which I found bizarre at first. So you might hear someone saying, as they get their mobile phone out "I'll visit with Jane and find a date when the three of us can all meet". You don't have to go to see someone intentionally for it to be a visit. In a crowded room, someone might come over and say to you "I'm glad you're here, because it'll be great to visit with you a little".
These word differences are strange. I never think about them much, until someone brings one of them up, and then I realise my blog must seem very British indeed to an American visitor.
ReplyDeleteAnd sometimes just odd to the English ones. When I talked about a barrow in a supermarket, the English readers all thought I'd got it wrong, but that's what Babes calls it.
Very confusing thing if it's not your native language. I'm pretty good at "general English", but I find it hard to separate out the different national idioms sometimes.
Very interesting! The "visiting" word seemed funny at first when I read it, but I realized soon after that I used to say that all the time when I lived in the Midwest. It isn't used like that out here that I'm aware of, though, in California. Although we still visit "with" someone, I wouldn't call a phone call or meeting at a watercooler "visiting" anymore now that I'm becoming Califonian-ized. Although there is some amorphous "visiting" that goes on - it isn't the actual act of "going to someone's house" but instead the actual "catching up on news, etc." My Grandma in Ohio uses that phrase all the time.
ReplyDeleteIt is very interesting to see the Midwest through your eyes, Iota!
My dearly departed grandmother-in-law (a gentle Texan) used to pat the seat next to her and say "Come sit here and visit". It took me a few times to figure out what she meant.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite that I wrote about was the word "favo(u)r". In England I knew it to mean that if you favoured someone, you preferred them. In the States, (especially in the South) to favour someone can mean to look like them. So when my first child came along and people asked me whether she favored me or my husband, I never knew what to say. Were they asking me who her favourite parent was?
Not an Americanism, but I always find it disconcerting the way the South Africans use the phrase 'just now' to mean something that they are about to do, whereas I always assumed it meant something that I had just done.
ReplyDeleteAnd the whole American British Pissed thing always catches me off guard. In my book, Pissed means drunk, not angry! I'm always surprised at the Americans talking about being pissed at work.
The very first time I came through customs to meet my online English love, ( although not my first time in the UK) the man at the immigration desk asked me a question regarding why I was coming to England. When I told him it was to visit with someone I had met, he proceeded to give me an English lesson and in a not very kind way. It was not a very nice welcome, but I overlooked it in my anticipation, plus you don't assert yourself at immigration because they have the power to put you on the next plane out.
ReplyDeleteThis is wonderful! So interesting.
ReplyDeleteI use the phrase "asking for you" to daughter (17), and she asks me what that's about. She reckons that a lot of my speech patterns are a carry-over from Irish. I don't know, I just say what I say.