I understand it the exact same way, if used in regular/polite conversation.
Whatever it means in slang is completely irrelevant, since by definition slang is separated from regular speech.
The "poll" is quite iffy, to say it politely, doubly so because it contradicts itself on many words/idioms or claimed "differences" are NOT statistically significant.
Just one example: "I hear what you say" : 48% Brits mean "I do not agree" , 45% mean "I do" .
So what do Brits actually think about it?
You say the first acception since 48%>45%?
WRONG ... that "difference" is statistically NON SIGNIFICANT as anybody with basic Statistics knowledge can tell you.
Proper inference from that result is "Brits do not have a defined position one way or the other"
Now a Polls Company, more than anybody else, relies on Statistics as its core tool , so jumping to such unsustained conclusions means they are ... well .... what gpauk said ....
When I was at the nets (cricket) a few weeks a go, there was a Septic bowling to his kids. A bowl was hit back and hit me on the ankle. The Septic said, that must have hurt, to which I replied, I'm not a sook.
It took some explaining.
In Australia, we get both UK and US comedy programs. The difference appears to be that the louder something is said on an American show, the funnier it is meant to be (cue the canned laughter), whereas the British shows are usually very funny. I also suspect many of the British shows couldn't be shown in the US because of the blatant sexual references, also very funny.
It took some explaining.
In Australia, we get both UK and US comedy programs. The difference appears to be that the louder something is said on an American show, the funnier it is meant to be (cue the canned laughter), whereas the British shows are usually very funny. I also suspect many of the British shows couldn't be shown in the US because of the blatant sexual references, also very funny.
Bonsai, context for sure.
What kind of mood are you in as you complete the survey? Irrelevant, even though small differences produce polar opposite variations.
Got an opinion? We'll make it into statistics! Change your opinion? We will add those too, because you're not the 100% same person today as you where yesterday, what with the natural cycle of cell replacement, and maybe you had a better cup of coffee in the lobby, maybe some beautiful girl smiled at you today, yesterday you got told off by an old hag.
What kind of mood are you in as you complete the survey? Irrelevant, even though small differences produce polar opposite variations.
Got an opinion? We'll make it into statistics! Change your opinion? We will add those too, because you're not the 100% same person today as you where yesterday, what with the natural cycle of cell replacement, and maybe you had a better cup of coffee in the lobby, maybe some beautiful girl smiled at you today, yesterday you got told off by an old hag.
Yes, correlation with age might be interesting. My own view (as someone who is the wrong side of 60) is that younger folk do not always get the nuances of existing English, partly out of ignorance and partly because they are so busy inventing new 'English' - some of which is new, and some of which is just wrong.
Language is constantly evolving. I'm the "wrong" side of 60 too but realise that it's a 2 way street, I miss out on the nuances of some younger people's language.
My parents could have said the same thing about my language. Bastardisation (or modification) has happened throughout the ages, it's what keeps a language alive.
I agree mass media has a big effect on attitudes and language. I work with an Ozzie and find the influence of his British masters on his language quite quaint.
I'm on the better side of 30 (at least for a week!), and I can't keep up with any of the various forms of English. But I love various cultures' idioms, sometimes even better when they're directly translated from a different language (you know, one more divergent than on English dialect to another).
Converted from Finnish into English.
Amaranth by Nightwish:
Baptized with the perfect name
The dawning won by heart
Alone, without himself
War between him and the day
With someone to blame
In the end lil he can do alone
You believe on what you see
You receive on what you give
Caress the one
That never-fading rain
In your heart
To tears of snow-white sorrow
There is the one
That hiding Amaranth
In the land of the day-brave
Apart from the wandering path
In this brief flied up time
We reach for the ones who ever dare
You believe on what you see
You receive on what you give
Caress the one
That never-fading rain
In your heart
To tears of snow-white sorrow
There is the one
That hiding Amaranth
In the land of the day-brave
Reaching, searching
For something untouched
Hearing voices of the never-fading calling
There is the one
That never-fading rain
In your heart
To tears of snow-white sorrow
There is the one
That hiding Amaranth
In the land of the day-brave
Wallace and gromit are great!
I was just driving around, for some reason I started thinking about your reply, and started wondering if we could build on this, when I suddenly had to pull over to immediately write down the following:
One might consider, if there would be any advantage to expressing oneself in an overly excertive, artful and intricate manner, whilst wielding a broad assortment of well sharpened cutting appliances, in the general vicinity of excessively disproportionate, multi-branched vegetative growth, if for nothing else, perhaps in the light of demonstrative purposes?
It makes such a nice picture in my mind, lots of people located in a dense undergrowth, engaged in quite lively modern dance, with lots of gardening tools, doing their best not to cut a single leaf. What a fantastic way of demonstrating it would be.
English has lots of inconsistencies and strange rules (just ask a non-native speaker who has eventually got to grips with it).
The strangest and most difficult syntax of any major language has to be Japanese.
The easiest and most consistent language has to be Afrikaans - when I was growing up, kids would arrive from the UK and within 6 months they had a handle on the grammar. Of course they hardly ever mastered the ‘grhhh’ (like Dutch) at the back of the throat or the rolling ‘rrrr’. When I worked for Phillips, we had a few US colleagues that learnt Dutch, but the pronunciation was hilarious - the ‘grrh’ became ‘h’ - same for the brits and to some extent Germans who tried to speak it.
The strangest and most difficult syntax of any major language has to be Japanese.
The easiest and most consistent language has to be Afrikaans - when I was growing up, kids would arrive from the UK and within 6 months they had a handle on the grammar. Of course they hardly ever mastered the ‘grhhh’ (like Dutch) at the back of the throat or the rolling ‘rrrr’. When I worked for Phillips, we had a few US colleagues that learnt Dutch, but the pronunciation was hilarious - the ‘grrh’ became ‘h’ - same for the brits and to some extent Germans who tried to speak it.
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