Page 1 of 3

English language question.

Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 5:39 pm
by Alex
xx123456

Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 5:49 pm
by Paul Wolfe
Simpl. People would say could've been which is a contraction of "could have been"... over time, some folks assumed it was actually "could of", but that's just poor English.

Ain't is well explained here.

Accents (localized dialects) often contribute to such morphings of the English language. For example, in the southern USA, wrestling is pronounced rasslin and Georgia is Geo'ga, while in Boston, Washington is Warshington and people think the Patrioys will win the Super Bowl :roll:

Hope that helps.

Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 9:02 pm
by Alex
xx123456

Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 9:04 pm
by frank
i share your interest alex.

Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 9:08 pm
by Trigger
frank wrote:i share your interest alex.
Me too, I am not fantastic at spelling or writing but I do try to speak English as it should be spoken.

Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 9:13 pm
by Randy Perry
You guys should visit Texas! When I moved here from the north east, it took me a while to figure out what the hell these people were talking about.

Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 9:59 pm
by Paul Wolfe
Randy Perry wrote:You guys should visit Texas! When I moved here from the north east, it took me a while to figure out what the hell these people were talking about.
I'm with ya! I moved to Texas from Maryland in the 3rd grade and couldn't understand the teachers!

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 8:20 am
by Sarab
Ummm, shall I translate fo' y'all?

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 4:57 pm
by NicDots
Language is a funny thing. :lol:
My father and my brother were in Germany a few years ago and my brother's German is like mine...not good. :lol:
So they were in a restuarant and it was really hot and my brother wanted to let their waiter know so he could get some AC going. So he kept telling the waiter "Ich bin warm" and the waiter kept freaking out and walking away quickly whilst my dad would just sit and laugh and didn't tell my brother was he was actually saying. Apparently "I am warm"/"Ich bin warm" is slang for "I am gay." :lol:

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 5:14 pm
by Stewie
NicDots wrote:Language is a funny thing. :lol:
My father and my brother were in Germany a few years ago and my brother's German is like mine...not good. :lol:
So they were in a restuarant and it was really hot and my brother wanted to let their waiter know so he could get some AC going. So he kept telling the waiter "Ich bin warm" and the waiter kept freaking out and walking away quickly whilst my dad would just sit and laugh and didn't tell my brother was he was actually saying. Apparently "I am warm"/"Ich bin warm" is slang for "I am gay." :lol:
Your dad probably always tells that story on family meetings :)

Nice story :D

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 6:23 pm
by Alex
xx123456

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 7:35 pm
by Trigger
The problems with not pronouncing English correctly are common in Britain as well. The language problems are due to slang and laziness.

For example;

I heard my dad asked about why he had so many packets of potato crisps, his answer was.....

...."ad'em gen'mi". What that is a perversion of is 'I had them given to me'

I was apalled by how horrible it sounded, I knew what he meant but I wish he had been a little more considered with his speech.

Another slang that is used in my city is "fowntit" which is a perversion of 'I found it' and "got 'olt of" for "got hold of".

I am not the best at writing English but I hate spoken English being corrupted.

Jessica always laughs about a time when she was a kid eating lunch with a friend and her family, they were eating spirally pasta. Her friends little brother flicked some pasta at his sister and it went into her glass of apple juice and he said "Ha ha, Joni's got testicals in her drink". He meant tenticles, like on an octopus!

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 7:50 pm
by Randy Perry
"Fowntit" and "got olt of" sounds like stuff they say in Texas, probably only with the different accent. I still remember the day I heard someone seriously use the term: "Yon'to". As in "If you want to." The question was: "I'm hungry, you want to get something to eat?" The answer was: "Yon'to." I swear I heard Jeff Foxworthy make that joke. I thought it was only a joke.

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 7:55 pm
by Trigger
Randy Perry wrote:"Fowntit" and "got olt of" sounds like stuff they say in Texas, probably only with the different accent. I still remember the day I heard someone seriously use the term: "Yon'to". As in "If you want to." The question was: "I'm hungry, you want to get something to eat?" The answer was: "Yon'to." I swear I heard Jeff Foxworthy make that joke. I thought it was only a joke.
I love Willie Nelson who is a proud Texan but he speaks in a such a soft beautiful way and without too much slang, he has real deep poetry in his voice.

Willie is a big hero of mine, I love his music and lifes work.

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 7:58 pm
by frank
Alex wrote:A couple of years ago, my lil' brother wrote "Idag har vi bögat", which translated would mean "Today we've had gay sex", when he infact meant "Idag har vi börjat", which means something along the lines of "Today we've begun to...". That one got worn out pretty good.
nicdots wrote:So he kept telling the waiter "Ich bin warm" and the waiter kept freaking out and walking away quickly whilst my dad would just sit and laugh and didn't tell my brother was he was actually saying. Apparently "I am warm"/"Ich bin warm" is slang for "I am gay."
those are hysterical.