Random thoughts 4: Words, words, words

My Random Thoughts challenge for this week is all about words. Which I'm really excited about because I love words. As an aside, I'm also really excited to have a couple of friends who seem to also love words about as much as I do. The awesome Just Frances, for whom I include within this blog her favourite word - antidisestablishmentarianism, and Graham, who has been very keen to point out my own particular turns of phrase over the past few months and I suspect would find the same humour as me from the lead photo for today's blog post!

But returning to the challenge, this week my instruction was to take 10 words at random out of the dictionary and decide for myself what they should mean. See what I mean? Great fun!

So here goes:-

Drawl - either, a laid back artistic technique in the abstract genre, used to create baffling and occasionally childlike paintings. Not cubist, but more similar to the surreal style favoured by Dali and his like; or, a small compartment or hidey-hole for putting bizarre and seemingly pointless objects that may one day become useful - as in, "I'll just put this thingmie in the drawl in case we need it in future"

Freight - a scary event experienced by a good Morningside lady and how she felt afterwards. "He jumped out in front of me, waved it around and shouted obscenities. I got quite a freight you know, Elsie!"

Marcella - sounds like it should be a fruit, perhaps a type of sweet cherry, but is in fact a type of cotton material. I think I prefer my definition...

Pantaloon - the actor who plays the fool in the annual village pantomime. Often people think he's really talented but then quickly realise he's just typecast. Alternatively, it has been extended to refer to the co-worker you desperately try (and fail) to avoid in the corridor before he pins you down to ask the most idiotic questions about that project you're working on, showing all the while an unhealthy interest in the subject.

Scrouge - I was surprised to find that this was a real word as well as the name for the famous miser from Dickens' Christmas Carol. I was even more surprised to find that its meaning fitted perfectly with the word - a form of definitional onomatopoeia!

Telophase - a great invention that allows you to instantly disintegrate that annoying cold caller who has just interrupted your favourite TV programme with their telephone call offering the very latest insurance/financial service/double glazing/solar panel. "Press 1 to hear your messages. Press 2 to delete messages. Press 3 to delete caller"

Univocal - like a unicycle but louder

Legacy - the obscure language for legal documents used by lawyers to confuse and mystify their clients, and in the process, successfully pad their bills.

Comfort - a stronghold and defensive building designed to protect sheep. (It's my meaning, you don't like it, make up your own!!)

Irreprehensible - politicians, journalists and economists normally. Not because they're paeans of virtue, but because they really do try to convince us that they are beyond blame...

And before I go, just to share with you another few things this challenge put me in mind of ...


a) great dialect words - crabbit, glaikit, hattered, biddy
b) words that can be said in any number of ways - leg-end, pig-eon to name but two
c) words that are just funny in themselves, or at least to me - potato (but don't ask me why!), and
d) made up languages - tnew ot serutcip, as Molesworth would say...

So, that's my 10 words - and more. It's been great fun and I really would encourage my reader(s) to try it for themselves - either with their own set of 10 words or with any of mine above. I'd love to know if I've got the meanings wrong...!

What are words worth? Part 2

I blogged yesterday about a linguistic experiment one of my fellow bloggers had participated in recently. It looked mainly at how different people from different places said particular words, but it also asked about the words people used for everyday items. I blogged my answers to the questions yesterday (too shy/self conscious to videolog the sounds bit!) and it got me thinking to how we really can be divided by a common language sometimes. 

While the divide is probably most stark between UK and North American English, it happens in the UK too. When I lived for a while in Bristol, and once I'd got over the Somerset accent, I began to notice the other linguistic differences. I knew when I started also using personal pronouns to refer to inanimate objects, (as in, See that Washing Machine, I'm afraid she's broke she is) I'd probably stayed there too long. It worked in reverse too. I can still vividly remember the completely blank look I got in response to my entirely mundane question of 'Where do you stay?'. Apparently the correct phrase is 'Where do you live?' Asking someone where they stay apparently is a Scottish turn of phrase.

But as I said earlier, the richest vein of common language divide has to be between the UK and our North American cousins.  

First of all, we have the straightforward 'same thing, different name' situation;

• aubergine/eggplant
• coriander/cilantro
• spring onion/scallion
• lorry/truck (to choose a non-cooking example!)

Then we move on to the similar word but just slightly different;

• Mummy/Mommy
• Maths/Math
• sledge/sled

Of course, we also have the whole spelling thing going on;

• colour/color
• centre/center
• neighbour/neighbor

And apparently even the punctuation can be different!

Most fun, perhaps - or at least to my infantile sense of humour, are the words that look the same but mean something completely different and can get you in a whole lot of trouble if you're not careful;

• crisps and chips v's chips and fries
• road and pavement v's pavement and sidewalk
• trousers and pants v's pants and panties
• rubbers and condoms v's erasers and rubbers
• fanny and arse v's v-jay-jay and fanny

Going to the hairdresser in North America to get your bangs seen to is perfectly acceptable, but in the UK might lead to the aforementioned establishment being raided by the Vice Squad. Likewise, being sacked in the UK is unpleasant and economically disadvantageous, whereas in North America I understand it can also be an embarassing experience that happens mostly among co-eds at school (de-bagged I think is the UK public school version). And as for cottaging, well in Canada it's an activity the whole family can enjoy. Try the same in the UK and you'll end up on the Sex Offenders Register faster than, well a fast thing! Likewise, beaver hunting in Canada and the UK are very very different pastimes.

For more serious students, try this for a more erudite, less puerile, exposition of the subject. Meanwhile, I'm of to chortle into my coffee and make a mental note to take that book on Scottish slang out of the (children's section) of the library again - how many different words for your Shareen??

What are words worth?

A friend blogged (or rather vlogged) recently about a linguistic experiment looking at dialect. As you'll see if you click across to her blog, it involved reading out a list of words and was examining how different dialects say different words. The experiment involves videoing yourself saying the words and while I'm not going to do that - my webcam is nowhere near good enough and in any case I hate hearing/seeing myself on video - I was taken by the second part of the experiment, which was a list of questions about terms used for everyday items - I suppose the point is to examine vocabulary as well as sounds.

As I scrolled down the list, I was reminded just how confusing language can be. We can use the same word but mean completely different things, or we can see the same thing and use completely different words. It gets even more dangerous when you bring abstract notions into the equation  - is your definition of fear, happiness, shame the same as mine? If I'm not explaining that very well, try this little test - get a group of people to imagine a dog playing in the garden and then ask them questions about it and you'll soon see what I mean. What colour is the dog, how big is the garden, what is the dog doing? I promise you, you'll never say 'I know what you mean' with conviction again!*

Anyway, to get back to the experiment - I thought I give the second half a go. The first few questions completely flummoxed me however. I've never come across the idea of throwing toilet paper over a house let alone realise that it had its own special name (teepee in case you're wondering, apparently). I also didn't know there was a bug that rolled up when you touched it (a roly-poly it seems**), although I did know there was a plant that closed all its leaves up when you touched them.

As for the other questions. well...

• What is the bubbly carbonated drink called? In North America it tends to be called soda as a generic name. I would probably call it lemonade, fizzy juice or fizzy pop. If I was pretending to be more Scottish than I am, I might call it ginger. But definitely not soda!
• What do you call gym shoes? Sneakers or trainers - Of those two choices, it would definitely be trainers. But I might actually call them gym shoes. When I was younger it was plimsolls, and again, a more Scottish choice might be gutties.
• What do you say to address a group of people? - It depends how formal the setting is. In a formal setting it would probably be - Good Morning, Good Afternoon or Good Evening; less formally it would probably be Hi.
• What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs? - I think this means Daddy Long Legs (sometimes called a Jenny Long Legs in the UK) but if it's really some kind of spider, I wouldn't be calling it anything as I would be out of the room in a flash!
• What do you call your grandparents? - I called my grandparents, Granny and Grandad followed by their surname to distinguish between maternal and paternal sets. Interestingly, my Mum and Dad have chosen Nanna and Granpa as their labels of choice for my nephew.
• What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket? - Shopping trolley. I thought this was a strange question until I reflected that they're called carts in North America.
• What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining? - I can't think of a special name for this, although it does create a rainbow if you're lucky. Otherwise I think we just call it summer here in Scotland!!
• What is the thing you change the TV channel with? - I guess I would call this the remote, or if I was being formal, the remote control. I do also call it the doofer, particularly at work for the one you use with the projector (and that never works!). It's quite sad really that I'm guessing no-one will think of a button or their finger as their first answer to this one. 

The interesting thing about this experiment is that often, unless someone makes you think about it, you're not conscious of local dialect words you use, or the fact that not everyone uses them. It would be interesting to know if you use different words - is it just a North America/UK thing or are there differences even within one country?  

* - credit to coaching tutor Andy Vass for that example, used to warn us of the dangers of assuming we understand what the other person is thinking without checking it out first 

** - having checked this out on Wiki, it seems that we do have roly poly bugs in the UK after all. Here we call them variously Woodlice, Slaters or Gran'fers, plus probably some other names too. I didn't realise they rolled up when you poked them. Must be a North American pastime; I always thought they were strange folks over there!!
 

Euphemistically yours

A euphemism is (according to Wikipedia), a:

"substitution for an expression that may offend or suggest something unpleasant to the receiver, using instead an agreeable or less offensive expression"

According to the less reverent (if that's the opposite of irreverent - incidentally, one of my unique qualities according to my boss. Hmm, not sure about that as a good reference comment!) Urban Dictionary, it's also variously defined as:

"the substitution of a milder, vaguer word or expression for one considered to be offensive or unpleasant"

or 

"trying to make the mean things you say sound nicer by using different words"

As in, Let's be friends instead of, You're kidding, not even with a paper bag on your head!

Some of my favourite euphemisms are

• 'falling pregnant' - which makes it sound like you can just trip in the street and whoops, there you go, pregnant again (or with child if you prefer). You could always be expecting or have a bun in the oven instead.
• tired and emotional - sounds so much better than p*ssed. Thank you, Private Eye!
• sleeping with - although it's a bit of a dim memory at the moment, I seem to remember, if it's at all worthwhile, not a lot of sleeping gets done. 
• calling on Huey, or for my non-Scottish readers, talking to God on the great white telephone, losing your lunch, or (apparently) blowing chunks. 
• Gardening leave

What about you? Any particular favourites you want to share?

But be warned, if you feel like doing a Google search for some choice examples and are of a delicate disposition, don't! Perhaps not unsurprisingly most of the euphemisms relate to matters of a sexual nature, or indeed intimate bodily functions (she said euphemistically!). On the other hand, if you want to broaden your education, go ahead, have fun with Google!!