Local terms

[vilakins]

A meme about terms used in my part of the world, copied from zoefruitcake days ago. As you can see, we speak a mixture of UK and US English with some weird local terms thrown in. [worries a bit about whether that piece of soft furniture on the Liberator flight deck is actually a sofa rather than a couch] I'd be interested to know what you say for some of these things, and what the insect in question 15 is.

What do you call:

1. a flowing body of water, smaller than a river, contained within relatively narrow banks: stream; creek if even smaller

2. the thing you push around the grocery store: trolley.

3. a metal container to carry a meal in: lunch box.

4. the thing that you cook bacon and eggs in: frying pan

5. the piece of furniture that seats three people: couch

6. the device on the outside of the house that carries rain off the roof: guttering; the vertical bit's a downpipe

7. the covered area outside a house where people sit in the evening: veranda[h] (if it's not covered, it's a deck)

8. carbonated, sweetened, non-alcoholic beverages: soft drinks

9. a flat, round breakfast food served with syrup: pancake

10. a long sandwich designed to be a whole meal in itself: filled roll if normal size; sub if ridiculously huge

11. the piece of clothing worn by men at the beach: they're all [swimming] togs or swimsuits here regardless of style or gender of wearer

12. shoes worn for sports: sport shoes / running shoes

13. putting a room in order. tidying up

14. a flying insect that glows in the dark. glow worm

15. the little insect that curls up into a ball: no idea what that is; we probably don't have them here

16. the children's playground equipment where one kid sits on one side and goes up while the other sits on the other side and goes down: seesaw

17. How do you eat your pizza? Eh? I bite bits off, chew, and swallow them. What the hell do you do?

18. when private citizens put up signs and sell their used stuff: garage sale

19. the evening meal: dinner if it's the main meal, tea if it's not

20. the thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are: basement but they're rare and we don't have furnaces

21. the thing that you can get water out of to drink in public places: water fountain [edit] or drinking fountain

Comments

[mistraltoes.livejournal.com]

Re #17, I think some places they use a fork for pizza. I've also seen people on TV (mostly from the Eastern US) fold it up before they eat it. Oh, and in Scotland they batter and fry it. :)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Ah. We just eat them. Batter and fry it? But it's already crisp and yummy (or should be). :-P

[jthijsen.livejournal.com]

In Holland, most of us eat pizza with fork and knife. Except for my sister: her cat demands that she puts tuna on her pizza and eats it with her hands, so that the cat can then lick the taste of tuna off her fingers when she's done eating.

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

I used to be a folder, before I gave up pizza.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

worries a bit about whether that piece of soft furniture on the Liberator flight deck is actually a sofa rather than a couch

As far as I'm concerned, it's both. I've always used them as freely interchangeable synonyms, and employ both of them about equally. Ditto "basement" and "cellar." I've come to suspect, though, that this is something of an odd artifact of my upbringing. I heard both "sidewalk" and "pavement" when I was a kid, despite being assured later in life that the latter was unknown in the US. :)

a flowing body of water, smaller than a river

I'm not even sure how small a "river" actually is these days. Stuff that gets referred to as a "river" here in New Mexico would barely qualify as a "creek" where I used to live. Hell, some of what they call "rivers" here, back in New Jersey, we'd call a ditch. Actually water does not seem to be a necessary feature. :)

the little insect that curls up into a ball: no idea what that is; we probably don't have them here

You probably don't. They're common in North America, though. They're variously called "rolly pollies" (or "rolly poly bugs"), "sow bugs" or "pill bugs." Little segmented things that curl up into a tight little ball if you poke 'em.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

As far as I'm concerned, it's both.

Although, now that I think about it some more... it's kind of not. In my mind, at least, "sofa" and "couch" are interchangeable terms for the item of furniture in my living room, but "sofa" only applies to that very specific living-room-furniture kind of thing. "Couch" is more general. A piece of spaceship furniture? Is definitely a couch. Which is interesting, because I didn't realize that I thought of it that way until now.

Of course, what I call it is much less important than what the characters call it... But I'd be surprised if they thought of it as a "sofa."

[azdak.livejournal.com]

I've always used them as freely interchangeable synonyms,

I was brought up only to use "sofa" because "couch" was common. A "couch" was what you would find in someone's "front room", whereas a "sofa" adorned a "sitting room" (we were too posh to say "living room" and not posh enough to say "drawing room" - ah, the English class system! Why make life simple when you can make it well-nigh impossible?). I am therefore quite sure that our Liberator friends, with their byootiful BBC enunciation, all say "sofa" (or possibly, by analogy with graphite writing stick, "anti-grav rear-end support").

And to those things that look like miniature armidillos I would say "woodlouse". They don't seem to have inspired the English to any great extent, certainly not linguistically. Here in Austria they're called "Asserl" and feature quite a lot in humorous dialect songs and poetry, as I had occasion to notice at festival this weekend.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

'Sofa' and 'settee' or very Engish to me; it's a couch here.

Ditto "basement" and "cellar."

To us, a besement is only a cellar if you store wine in it. Most houses incidentally have neither.

I heard both "sidewalk" and "pavement" when I was a kid

That should've been in the quiz: we have neither. It's a footpath.

And that insect seems to be what we call a woodlouse. I haven't seen one since I was about 12.

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

I heard 'pavement' when I was visiting New York city as a kid, but it's always been 'sidewalk' to me otherwise.

[vocatus-fortis.livejournal.com]

Here's the votes from the north of England (mainly Lancashire with a few Yorshireisms thrown in).

1. a flowing body of water, smaller than a river, contained within relatively narrow banks: A stream, brook or beck.

3. a metal container to carry a meal in: I imagine it would be a lunch box. We don't really use such items here; the nearest equivalent is a plastic box.

5. the piece of furniture that seats three people: settee

6. the device on the outside of the house that carries rain off the roof: guttering; a drainpipe takes the water vertically.

7. the covered area outside a house where people sit in the evening: Conservatory.

11. the piece of clothing worn by men at the beach: swimming trunks

12. shoes worn for sports: trainers

15. the little insect that curls up into a ball: Could this be a woodlouse? I know some varieties of these curl up, but they ain't insects.

18. when private citizens put up signs and sell their used stuff: Doesn't happen. The nearest equivalent is a car boot sale.

20. the thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are: Cellar. Not all houses have them.

The rest, I agree with.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

A "settee" is a couch?! Man, I always thought it must be, I don't know, some kind of formal, old-fashioned, British sort of thing, because we didn't seem to have them here...

You really do learn something new every day. Or at least learn how ignorant you are. ;)

I know some varieties of these curl up, but they ain't insects.

The US ones aren't, either. Too many legs, I think.

[kerravonsen]

Most of my answers are the same, with a few variations. But having been brought up all over the place, I can't speak for the origins of the words I use.
2. shopping trolley
5. I'm not sure of the difference between a couch and a sofa, I tend to use either.
6. Or "gutters".
7. Or "balcony" if it's not on the ground floor.
8. Or "fizzy drinks".
9. Yes, pancake, but if it's really thin and big it's a crepe, and if it's small and thicker and made with baking powder, it's a pikelet.
11. Or "cozzies" (short for "swimming costume").
12. Or "sand shoes".
14. Isn't that a firefly? I don't think glow worms fly.
15. I call them "slaters" but I don't know where that bit of my vocabulary comes from.
17. Yes, this does seem an odd question.
19. Yes, and it can get confusing for people when "dinner" is the middle meal of the day (such as "Sunday dinner")
21. Or "drinking fountain".

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

9. I say all those too, but it's only pancakes if it's breakfast.

21. Yes, drinking fountain also applies here. [edits]

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

Pikelet! That's the one I was trying to think of and couldn't...

[jomacmouse.livejournal.com]

1. Creek, though some of them are more like glorified storm water drains around here.

5. Just as likely to refer to it as the lounge, though I can't honestly say I know everyone this side of the Tasman would agree with me.

11. Cossies is an alternative description here.

12. Sneakers, sandshoes.

19. My family has a habit of referring to it as tea regardless of it being the main meal or not.

20. That one's interesting - businesses might have basements, but a lot of houses don't seem to. They might have a cellar, not necessarily for wine, or they might just have open space under there. The houses I grew up in had open space - dirt floor and brick pillars holding up the house.

21. Bubbler. That's what they were called at school, and I've never heard anyone call them anything else.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

11. I've heard cozzies from Australians, and, I think, bathers form my friend in Melbourne.

12. They used to be that here when I was a kid, but they seem to be running or sport shoes now. I blame the joggers.

19. I say dinner if it's cooked; if it's a scrappy meal like soup and toast, then it's tea.

20. Most houses don't have 'em either, but my childhood home had a huge basement we kept our bikes and other equipment in. Our current house is a pole house on a hill, so one side is open with just earth and a bit of paving in one part so we can shove garden furniture under there.

21. I have never ever heard that!

[hafren.livejournal.com]

Have only noted ones where it's different. And some of these diffferences may be more generational than geographic:

1. mostly stream, but if I'm in Scotland or northern England, burn.

2. wheelie bag

6. vertical bit's a drainpipe

7. doesn't exist here unless you're very rich (climate unsuitable?) If at back of house, patio.

8. fizzy drinks

9. same, but not for breakfast. Only Shrove Tues in our house.

11. swimming trunks

12. trainers

15. woodlouse. You must have them! Like miniature armadillos.

18. car boot sale?

20. cellar

21. we don't have any. In school they were drinking fountains.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

7. A patio to us is a paved uncovered area; a deck (wooden bit built out) is more normal. Our house has decks on three sides.

15. We do, though I haven't seen them since I was a kid. Their rolly-up-ness never seemed their main feature though, so I didn't think of them.

18. Car boot sales are unknown here. People sell stuff from their garages, and even what were once church fairs or jumble sales held in a church hall are now called garage sales which sounds quite wrong to me because they aren't in garages.

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

From SE England (though it may be as much a social class as a geogrphical thing). Most, but not all are the same as in NZ.

What do you call:

1. a flowing body of water, smaller than a river, contained within relatively narrow banks: stream.

2. the thing you push around the grocery store: trolley.

3. a metal container to carry a meal in: lunch box.

4. the thing that you cook bacon and eggs in: frying pan

5. the piece of furniture that seats three people: couch or sofa or settee.

6. the device on the outside of the house that carries rain off the roof: gutter; the vertical bit's a drainpipe

7. the covered area outside a house where people sit in the evening: we don't go in for these much, but probably porch at least if fairly small.

8. carbonated, sweetened, non-alcoholic beverages: soft drinks

9. a flat, round breakfast food served with syrup: pancake

10. a long sandwich designed to be a whole meal in itself: filled roll

11. the piece of clothing worn by men at the beach: swimming trunks

12. shoes worn for sports: trainers (until about thirty years ago they were plimsolls)

13. putting a room in order: tidying up

14. a flying insect that glows in the dark: glow worm

15. the little insect that curls up into a ball: no idea what that is; we probably don't have them here

16. the children's playground equipment where one kid sits on one side and goes up while the other sits on the other side and goes down: seesaw

17. How do you eat your pizza? How is this a language question? I would use a knife and fork, but people who eat slices of piuzza on the move would presumably use their fingers.

18. when private citizens put up signs and sell their used stuff: garage sale

19. the evening meal: very much class related. The lower class traditionally had dinner in the middle of the day, might have tea around 5pm and possibly supper later on, or might have "high tea" at around 6pm; the middle class had lunch in the middle of the day, might have tea around 4pm, and then dinner in the evening. I think the middle class terminology has now largely taken over.

20. the thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are: basement if large and wwell-lit, cellar if small and dingy.

21. the thing that you can get water out of to drink in public places: water fountain

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

19. Yes, I sometimes find the meal terminology confusing in British books. For us, it's:
- breakfast
- morning tea (if taken)
- lunch unless it's the main meal, then it's dinner
- afternoon tea (if taken)
- dinner if it's the main meal, otherwise tea for a lighter meal
- supper (light late evening snack if taken)

How about restaurant meals? We have basically entrée or starter, main, and dessert, but for Americans, the main is called the entrée. It must cause so much confusion when they come here and get only a small serving.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

1. Beck. But that's mostly a Lake District thing, so in official English it would be stream, or (if we're being a bit posh/poetic) brook.

5. In the sitting room, I'd call it a sofa. On the Liberator flight deck, I'd probably say couch (someone will now cite an occasion in which I called it a sofa). I think that's because it's too long and built-in for a sofa; normally, I'd think of a couch as something without a backrest. Settee is a non-U sofa.

6. Gutter and drainpipe.

7. Possibly verandah.

10. Filled baguette?

11. Trunks.

12. Depends on the shoe. Pumps? Trainers?

15. Woodlouse? Didn't think that was an insect, though.

17. Depends on how and where it's served. At home or in a restaurant, on a plate with knife and fork. If I buy a slice at a street stall, probably with my hands (I remember being given a plastic fork at a New York stall once, but that was a bit daft as it broke on the dough. At an Italian pizzeria, I was given a special sharp knife to saw through the base, and needed it).

18. I have seen sales out of garages, occasionally; I'm not sure I've heard them called anything, but garage sale sounds plausible.

19. Dinner. Tea means afternoon tea to me. But it's a classic U/non-U thing.

20. Cellar.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

10. Baguettes here are French loaves as long as my arm!

19. We're a non-U lot here except for those with pseudo-English accents who refer to England as 'home' although they were born here. I went to school with people like that and it only made me more bolshie in both senses.

20. To me, a cellar has to have wine. :-) And of course no one here has furnaces to put in them or basements.

[executrix.livejournal.com]

FWIW, I don't know what the #15 insect is, but my answer for #14 is....firefly!

In the US, eating dinner late is a higher-status marker, and so is taking longer to eat the meal. A lot of downscale restaurants have "early-bird specials" where the dinner hour runs from 4:30 to 5:30 or 5:00 to 6:00; these are often specials for senior citizens (US)--i.e., OAPs (UK).

This could be a folk etymology, but I believe the concept of a "game being worth the candle" derives from the question of affordability--whether you'd bother to burn lights after supping your high tea.

As for #12, I'm old enough so that if you were engaged in sporting activity, or just hacking around, you wore "sneakers"--specialized running shoes were a later development. And I have lived places where #10 was a hoagie or a grinder or a sub, but I can't think of them as anything but heroes.

The criterion of quality for a classic New York-style slice of pizza is that it will fold easily and gracefully, so you can eat it leaning over the plate, although my actual favorite pizzeria, John's on Bleecker Street, makes a crisp crusted pizza that requires a knife and fork to eat.

[executrix.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah, forgot to say...
I do use "couch" and "sofa" pretty interchangeably, although when John the Beloved Disciple reclined on Jesus' bosom they were sharing a "couch" which must have been more like a chaise longue*--i.e., a cot-like piece of furniture one could recline on.

*Another class marker is knowing that it's a long-chair and not a lounge.

[kernezelda]

2. the thing you push around the grocery store: cart

7. the covered area outside a house where people sit in the evening: porch (if it's not covered, it's a deck - ditto)

10. a long sandwich designed to be a whole meal in itself: sub or hoagie, not sure of difference

11. the piece of clothing worn by men at the beach: trunks

12. shoes worn for sports: tennis shoes

13. putting a room in order. cleaning up

14. a flying insect that glows in the dark. firefly

15. the little insect that curls up into a ball: roly-poly

16. the children's playground equipment where one kid sits on one side and goes up while the other sits on the other side and goes down: see-saw or teeter-totter

17. How do you eat your pizza? from center point toward outer rim, holding it in fingers

18. when private citizens put up signs and sell their used stuff: garage sale or yard sale

19. the evening meal: supper

20. the thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are: basement or cellar

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Really? It's supper even if it's the main meal of the day? This is fascinating; meals and things people sit on seem to be generating the most comments. :-P

[reapermum.livejournal.com]

Definitive statement on woodlice.

They are not insects, they are crustaceans, related to shrimps and lobsters. That's why they live in damp places, they breath through gills that have to be kept moist. In the UK only one sort roll up, Armadillidium vulgare. This is the one commonly called a pill bug because it looks like a ball, but it is only found in some parts of the country. The most widespread species is Porcellio scaber, which doesn't roll up.

Millipedes (also not an insect) curl up into a flat spiral. As do some types of caterpillar (which are insects)

I have lived in half a dozen widely scattered parts of the country in the past 40 years and only one had pill bugs.

[san-valentine.livejournal.com]

Interesting. Very American in origin.

There are so many comments on this, that every time I try to look at them,lj crashes (which seems to be a flaw with lj).

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Or your browser; I'm having problems with IE being horribly slow here at work. I must install Firefox on my flash drive.

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

4. Does anyone use skillets to fry eggs and bacon then. I have a frying pan and a skillet and they both come out better in a skillet.

5. The whole breakfast / dinner / lunch thing has got a new wrinkle due to shift working. When I worked nights the main meal of the day was lunch, and now I work days its at tea-timebut to add to the confusion then luinch was dinner and the lighter meal tea. Now of course dinner is in the evening and we eat lunch as well.
So basically dinner is meant to be the main big meal of the day at whatever time you eat it be it lunch, tea or supper.
Not sure how accurate this information is but here is a nice web page that explains the niceties and why the some meals were taken when.:-
http://www.answers.com/topic/lunch?cat=health

As for the thing you can get water out of I had a discussion at work with my manager on this as what they had labelled as a water fountain was a water dispenser. A fountain strictly spaking should provide a continuous flow of water and not be turned on and off with a tap.

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

I define the difference between a water fountain and a water dispenser as the direction the water takes. A water fountain goes up. A dispenser goes goes down. Both can be actuated by a press button here.

[mafiro.livejournal.com]

Incredibly late to the conversation, but this former South Islander calls the little insect that rolls into a ball a 'slater'.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

So do I, but I haven't seem them since I was about 10 and I'd forgotten both them and the term. When people mentioned them, they came back to me. :-)

[standgale.livejournal.com]

came here from linguaphiles, and I'm late to the ball, but isn't it interesting that even though it is supposed to find out the terms from different parts of the world, the questions themselves actually use terms and cultural things that aren't necessarily used outside the US?

With regards to the slater - I don't think any of our NZ ones roll up, at least none I've seen. But I know that some do because we had to study them in biology!

I think I'll do a copy of this with my answers on my blog. :)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Most quiz memes assume everyone lives in the US. This one wasn't too bad in its language, but what stood out most is the assumption that everyone has basements, furnaces, and the same insects. The basement question had quite a few of my US friends answering that they don't have them in their state.

I'm surprised they didn't ask about the paved strip beside the road that people walk on: sidewalk, footpath, pavement... :-)