Talk:British and American English: Difference between revisions
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imported>Hayford Peirce (→Housepants?: a long disquisition) |
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So if British pants are American underwear, British vests are presumably undervests? I forget what American vests are, waistcoats? And then what is American for underwear (= the whole caboodle)? [[User:Ro Thorpe|Ro Thorpe]] 18:43, 19 March 2008 (CDT) | So if British pants are American underwear, British vests are presumably undervests? I forget what American vests are, waistcoats? And then what is American for underwear (= the whole caboodle)? [[User:Ro Thorpe|Ro Thorpe]] 18:43, 19 March 2008 (CDT) | ||
:Vests in 'Merka are "vests", "undervests" or "waistcoast", pronounced "weskit" -- and occasionally written that way. If you're really snooty, you might say "undergarments" for the whole schmear. But "undergarments" generally refer to lady's stuff. "Underwear" is for men. When I was a kid, it really mean "underpants", because men wore "undershirts". But that started to change when Clark Gable bared his manly chest bereft of an undershirt. So today, "underwear" really means "jockeys" or "boxers". [[User:Hayford Peirce|Hayford Peirce]] 19:02, 19 March 2008 (CDT) | |||
==Pavement== | ==Pavement== | ||
It was Chris who put in 'pavement'. I've never heard it in American. [[User:Ro Thorpe|Ro Thorpe]] 18:55, 19 March 2008 (CDT) | It was Chris who put in 'pavement'. I've never heard it in American. [[User:Ro Thorpe|Ro Thorpe]] 18:55, 19 March 2008 (CDT) | ||
Revision as of 18:02, 19 March 2008
houseplant
Merriam-Webster's 11th says: houseplant n (1871): a plant grown or kept indoors.
"pot plant" is not listed
under potted adject., they list (2) "planted or grown in a pot"
they don't have "potted plant" as a noun listed separately BUT, if I check my big old 1935 M-W I think i will find it there. Will report....
Make of all that what you will.... Hayford Peirce 18:35, 19 March 2008 (CDT)
- Update: the big old unabridged doesn't show "potted plant" as a separate entry. BUT, neither does it show "houseplant" at all! Neither as one word, nor two. Which doesn't surprise. I don't think I ever recall hearing it until I was a pretty full-grown adult and then I vaguely recall being surprised. What? A kind of a plant in a house, what does *that* mean? Today, however, it's ubiquitous.... Hayford Peirce 18:41, 19 March 2008 (CDT)
- That is extremely confusing. But if it's ubiquitous, it's the correct from to go in under 'American' presumably.
- Another thing: I was under the impression that Americans didn't also say 'autumn'. Would you say that 'fall' was more common? If so, it should, of course, precede. Ro Thorpe 18:48, 19 March 2008 (CDT)
Housepants?
So if British pants are American underwear, British vests are presumably undervests? I forget what American vests are, waistcoats? And then what is American for underwear (= the whole caboodle)? Ro Thorpe 18:43, 19 March 2008 (CDT)
- Vests in 'Merka are "vests", "undervests" or "waistcoast", pronounced "weskit" -- and occasionally written that way. If you're really snooty, you might say "undergarments" for the whole schmear. But "undergarments" generally refer to lady's stuff. "Underwear" is for men. When I was a kid, it really mean "underpants", because men wore "undershirts". But that started to change when Clark Gable bared his manly chest bereft of an undershirt. So today, "underwear" really means "jockeys" or "boxers". Hayford Peirce 19:02, 19 March 2008 (CDT)
Pavement
It was Chris who put in 'pavement'. I've never heard it in American. Ro Thorpe 18:55, 19 March 2008 (CDT)