Glossary, Vol. IV

Again, I've only recently discovered some of these terms, but a lot of them are words that I've gotten used to hearing and just forgotten to post. Still, it amazes me that, nearly three months in to my trip, I can still be learning new words IN THE (SUPPOSEDLY) SAME LANGUAGE. What's that saying? "The UK and US: two countries separated by a common language," or something like that - SO TRUE.

Foreign Words
lolly - sucker or lollipop
jumper - sweater
dreich - dreary
peckish - hunger

Slightly Different Usage
hamper - gift basket
motorway - highway
carriageway, as in "dual carriageway" - road ("two-lane road")

Increased Usage
dodgy - sketchy
fiver - five pounds (or dollars)
tenner - ten pounds (or dollars)
zed - the letter Z

Glossary, Vol. III

In the words of O.A.R. (that kind of apply), "Who's up for Game 3?!"

NOTE: Some of these are recent discoveries, while others are words that I have actually incorporated into my vocabulary and have only realized in a recent spree of postcard writing and Skype chatting are not quite "American." (Sorry for the awkward grammar in that last sentence, by the way...)

Foreign Words
bollocked - reprimanded, e.g. "He just got bollocked for coming in so late."
fag - smoke
lift - elevator
chips - French fries
crisps - potato chips
pence - equivalent to our "cents"
courgette - zucchini
rocket - arugula

Slightly Different Usage
stroke - "slash," e.g. "and/or" might be said, "and stroke or"
mate - friend

Increased Usage
-monger - someone dedicated to something, i.e. "cheesemonger," "salesmonger," etc.
chap - guy
aubergine - eggplant
bonkers - crazy

Glossary, Vol. II

I think that I've collected enough foreign (or, well, they might as well be) words and phrases to warrant a second edition! Of course, I've probably forgotten to include some now that I am getting used to saying them...

Foreign Words
quid - slang for pounds, the currency used in the UK
chuffed - pleased
sultana - Alright, well, we technically do have these in the U.S...they're really just grapes, but they're a special kind of grape. The raisin form of the same name (confusing!) is used in SO MANY dishes here!

Slightly Different Usage
diary - agenda/planner
"Alright?" - "How are you?"
"Is that you?" - "Are you leaving?"
caster sugar - superfine sugar
icing sugar - powdered sugar
"Cheers!"* - "Thanks!"

Increased Usage
phone - (v.)


*=personal favorite

Linguistics of Scots

I'm sitting in lecture right now, so I'll keep this short, but I just had to blog about this huge revelation that I had to share:

Back story: In Linguistics last semester (one of the most interesting classes I've had at Furman), Dr. Cox touched briefly on dialect/regional differences. I found that my West Virginian "accent" was ever-so-slightly different than many others' accents. Our professor accepted all phonetic spellings, as long as we could back them up, and was not nearly so interested in the "proper" pronunciation as he was in our ability to diagram what we were saying. Some of the differences included my identical pronunciation of the words "cot" and "caught" and my minute difference in the pronunciation of wh- question words like "which" and "why" and their counterparts without h's, "witch" and the letter y.

Now: Our lecture today is on Language in Scotland, and so far, we've covered everything from the origins of Scots and Gaelic to their usage today. Just now, we discussed the difference between Scottish English and the "Queen's English," and just a wee bit more of the world makes sense to me now: Scottish English influence includes pronouncing "caught" like "cot" rather than [cat] (phonetic) and pronouncing the slight h in wh- question words.

I have Scottish ancestors, and I live in West Virginia, where many Scots have settled in the mountains.

THIS CLASS IS SO COOL.

Glossary, Vol. I

For both my benefit and yours, I've decided to include installments of a glossary in my regular blog entries.

For those of you who are unaware, the Scots, though English-speaking, speak a very different language than our own. They also use certain words much more frequently than we do at home. Many of the "foreign" words that have come from the ancient Scots language or are just offshoots of American English are used in everyday conversation here, so it's quite possible that between the strange words and the thick accents, you could be talking to a Scottish person and not understand a word of what he or she is saying.

Here's what I've either come across and asked about (i.e. at work) or just been told (i.e. in class) thus far - I'll make a new entry when I gather a new list.

Foreign Words
aye - yes
bairn (wain) - child
blether - chat
burn - steam, small river
crabbit - bad-tempered
cooker - oven
dunt - bump
eejit - foolish person
fit - attractive
greet - cry
haver - talk nonsense
hob - stovetop
ken - know
lassie - girl
loch - lake
rammy - noisy fight

Increased Usage
advert - advertisement
alright - okay
as well as - also
bit - small amount
brilliant - great
dodgy - sketchy
keen - fond
lovely - good
naughty - indecent
prefer - like better
quite - very
raunchy - obscene
Steelers - AFC Champions
wee - small