English in the UK

[CajunCenturion]

Currently on-going is a project to build (actually update) a map of English within the UK. The hope is to identify various dialects and corresponding locations. Perhaps some of our UK friends would like to participate.

Voices Project

Good Luck
--------------
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[rosieb]

Ah "daps" - I wore them at primary school. But only in South Wales, no-one else has ever heard of them.

Rosie
"Never express yourself more clearly than you think" (Niels Bohr)

 

[KenCunningham]

They were called 'pumps' where I'm from (South Yorkshire), but up here in Scotland they're sannies, after sandshoes. I heard about this project on the radio. Sounds really interesting and I'll be keeping an eye and an ear on it.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

I have tried this several times, getting an average of 7.5 out of 10. The more "exotic" foreign languages (Somali, Urdu, Arabic, etc) really threw my score off. Some very surprising accents from Wales though, Bangor especially ... thought I was back 'ome in Sussex for a while.

Great site CC ... thanks.

& all the best.

 

[LesleyW]

Rosie, "daps" also in use in my adopted city of Bristol (very near South Wales where you grew up of course)

The Bristolian expression that gets me every time is "lamp" for light-bulb. I had an electrician fitting the ceiling mounted light thingy and he asked me for "have you got the lamp?" Didn't make sense at all to me!

L

 

[asrisk]

Nothing Bristolians say makes any sense, in my opinion. For example, if a Bristolian is looking for something, instead of saying "Where is it?", they'll say "Where's it [blue]to[/blue]?", which to me means something completely different.

-------
^{I am not responsible for any "Sponsored Links" which may appear in my messages.}

 

[MeGustaXL]

LesleyW

"lamp" for light-bulb

is actually the correct term, short for "filament lamp" The "bulb" is the evacuated glass envelope surrounding the filament.

Damn, that sounds pedantic!! Just call me "Picky-Lecky"



Chris

Varium et mutabile semper Excel

http://www.insys-ltd.co.uk

 

[KenCunningham]

No. It's always nice to shed some light on something.

Can't believe I just said that!!

 

[LesleyW]

asrisk,

it's odd how one's ear gets used to anything, I don't even wince when I hear "where's it to?" any more.

My problem is I am such a copier I can't help but pick up these Bristolian expresssions. Another one I catch myself doing is not making subject and verb match, e.g. "the reasons is..." ...Yes I even catch myself doing that one sometimes.

My mother (retired English teacher) is close to disowning me at times

L

 

[hotfusion]

Where's it to" survives well past Bristol, I'm afraid.
Gets used in Exeter, I can assure you, and well into Cornwall.

"Where are you going to?" can, in the more remote villages, become "Where be gwain to?"

And so on......

Regards, Andy.
**************************************
My pathetic attempts at learning HTML can be laughed at here:

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/andyspatch/index.htm

 

[Dimandja]

>"Where be gwain to?"

Reads exactly like Ebonics to me.

__________________________________________
Try forum1391 for lively discussions

 

[ToniL]

Actually, it sounds more Jamaican to me...

Peace,
Toni L.

Windows reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return.

 

[ESquared]

MeGustaXL,

I don't find a meaning for lamp that makes filament lamp any different.

Perhaps it was just metonymy that made people start calling the whole fixture a lamp, or start calling the bulb a lamp, whichever came first. But it seems like lamp is a valid word for light bulb.

 

[tsdragon]

I don't think that lamp meant the filament. They were calling lighting fixtures lamps long before there was electricity. E.g.: coal-oil lamps and gas lamps.

Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[CajunCenturion]

I tend to agree with tsdragon. Lamp comes Old French, lampe, from the 12^th century, which derives from Greek lampas meaning torch or beacon.

Good Luck
--------------
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[KenCunningham]

Just to bump this, should anyone be interested it is currently 'voices' week on the BBC.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices

 

[LesNicholls]

Bristolian looses most visitors, I know because I am Bristolian. Two Fernch freinds were confused when they were asking directions for somewhere and were told 'Oh thats near the cawsnaw I think' cawsnaw was 'Colston Hall'

I think we do retain a lot of old english down here in teh south west though. The accent that I find funniest is Brummy ( Birmingham ) and the hardest to understand would have to be geordy ( Newcastle ) or The Glasgow accent.

 

[SilentAiche]

When my French/Mexican friend departs, we call him [green]Amigo[/green].

Tim

[blue]______________________________________________________________
I love logging onto Tek-Tips. It's always so exciting to see what the hell I
said yesterday. [/blue]

 

[tsdragon]

Amazing, he can pun in (at least) three languages - two simultaneously!

Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.