Questions for Americans...

by highdose 18 Replies latest jw friends

  • highdose
    highdose

    this isn't meant to be insulting, this is stuff i honestly want to know from you guys...

    WHY?...

    Do you call it "Fall" rather than "authum" ( spelt that wrong)

    "Dipers" instead of "nappies"?

    "earaser" instead of "rubber"

    "sidewalk" instead of "pavement"

    Why do so many of you demonise alcohol?

    Why do you refer to Europe as if it was one big country?

    why do so many of you have to start a sentence with "OMG!"

    why do you love british accents?

    why oh why... did you vote george bush in...twice!???

  • jaguarbass
    jaguarbass

    We didnt vote George Bush in twice. His daddy used to work for the CIA. When he worked

    for the CIA he fixed elections in third world countries. His daddy fixed the election, stole it

    in America. And then Junior stole all our money. Not a thing we can do about it.

    The people that start sentences with OMG are the people that voted for W.

    There kind of dingy. Still they are and were in the minority.

    We call it fall and we call it Autum.

    We dont call them dipers or napies we call people that dip tobbaco "Red Necks. Or Republicans.

    We dont call them rubbers or errasers we call it birth control.

    When you step off the sidewalk your on the pavement, or the grass depending which way you step.

    We like British Accents because the Beatles had them.

    But tell me this. How come when they sang they sang with American accents.

    Why didnt they use their British accents when they sang.

    The Kinks sang many of their songs with British accents. So it could be done.

    I'm demonizing some alcohol right now some Ice House.

  • yknot
    yknot

    Well fall because.... ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn )

    The word autumn comes from the Old French word autompne (automne in modern French), and was later normalized to the original Latin word autumnus. [ 8 ] There are rare examples of its use as early as the 12th century, but it became common by the 16th century.

    Before the 16th century, harvest was the term usually used to refer to the season. However, as more people gradually moved from working the land to living in towns (especially those who could read and write, the only people whose use of language we now know), the word harvest lost its reference to the time of year and came to refer only to the actual activity of reaping, and fall, as well as autumn, began to replace it as a reference to the season. [ 9 ] [ 10 ]

    The alternative word fall is now mostly a North American English word for the season. It traces its origins to old Germanic languages. The exact derivation is unclear, the Old EnglishfiƦll or feallan and the Old Norsefall all being possible candidates. However, these words all have the meaning "to fall from a height" and are clearly derived either from a common root or from each other. The term came to denote the season in the 16th century, a contraction of Middle English expressions like "fall of the leaf" and "fall of the year". [ 11 ]

    During the 17th century, English immigration to the colonies in North America was at its peak, and the new settlers took their language with them. While the term fall gradually became obsolescent in Britain, it became the more common term in North America, where autumn is nonetheless preferred in scientific and often in literary contexts.

    Diapers over nappies.... ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaper )

    The word diaper originally referred to the type of cloth rather than its use; "diaper" was the term for a pattern of small repeated geometric shapes, and later came to describe a white cotton or linen fabric with this pattern [ 3 ] . The first cloth diapers consisted of a special type of soft tissue sheet, cut into geometric shapes. This type of pattern was called diapering and eventually gave its name to the cloth used to make diapers and then to the diaper itself. This usage stuck in the United States and Canada, but in Britain the word "nappy" took its place. Most sources believe nappy is a diminutive form of the word napkin [ 4 ] .

    Eraser vs rubber....

    Okay I am not going to look up the etymology here ..... I will point out that 'rubber' is slang for condom in the US.

    Sidewalk vs pavement....

    Dunno, I associate pavement with roads construction and sidewalks with concrete

    Alcohol demonized .......

    PURITANS..... sure the Puritans drank but only in moderation. Yes, hundreds of years have past but their influence remains. Here is nice link discussing the matter. http://www.druglibrary.org/Schaffer/LIBRARY/studies/nc/nc2a.htm

    Europe.....

    Some do and some don't...... if you feel or sense more doing today you can thank the EU. Until the EU I seperated by country after it is by membership.

    OMG!

    Because OMG (Oh my G*d, or Oh my Goodness) is just a texting buzz word right now...... it too will pass in time just like Valley Girl.

    Accents....

    Because foreign accents can equate to mysterious, dangerous, exciting and sexy.... Whenever I have been in GB or Ireland with my Dad I was constantly given asked to 'say something' because of my accent..... they really seemed to get a hoot from me saying 'yall'.

    George ain't that bad of guy, he is a guy's guy....... unfortunately he wasn't very politcally savvy so much as a vessel compared to say Jeb who is far more a politician then any Bush of that generation. George W. had the name and so he was approached by Carl to run. .....that said I doubt very much he will be the last President George Bush for the US..... and it doesn't hurt that George P is damn good looking and half Mexican too boot!

  • mrsjones5
    mrsjones5

    WHY?...

    Do you call it "Fall" rather than "authum" ( spelt that wrong) Cuz it's North American English, look it up. Oh and we use "Autumn" too.

    "Dipers" instead of "nappies"? I think you mean "diapers", sounds better than "nappies".

    "earaser" instead of "rubber" Uh you mean eraser, right? I guess because that what it does. Calling it a rubber would sound sorta sexual.

    "sidewalk" instead of "pavement" Hm, the pavement is what the cars drive on and the sidewalk (to the side of the road) is what the pedestrians walk on.

    Why do so many of you demonise alcohol? Actually alcohol is heavily glorified in the US. I, partial teetotaler that I am, have never understood that.

    Why do you refer to Europe as if it was one big country? I thought it was comprised of individual countries

    why do so many of you have to start a sentence with "OMG!" Omg, I hardly ever do that

    why do you love british accents? Cuz they're damn sexy

    why oh why... did you vote george bush in...twice!??? I will not accept guilt or blame for that...I didn't vote for the guy nor do I live in Florida.

  • highdose
    highdose

    how can "rubber" mean condom??? Condoms are made of laxtex.............

  • yknot
    yknot
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condom#History
    Rubber and manufacturing advances

    The rubber vulcanization process was patented by Charles Goodyear in 1844. [ 6 ] The first rubber condom was produced in 1855. [ 7 ] For many decades, rubber condoms were manufactured by wrapping strips of raw rubber around penis-shaped molds, then dipping the wrapped molds in a chemical solution to cure the rubber. [ 1 ] :148 In 1912, a German named Julius Fromm developed a new, improved manufacturing technique for condoms: dipping glass molds into a raw rubber solution. [ 7 ] Called cement dipping, this method required adding gasoline or benzene to the rubber to make it liquid. [ 1 ] :200 Latex, rubber suspended in water, was invented in 1920. Latex condoms required less labor to produce than cement-dipped rubber condoms, which had to be smoothed by rubbing and trimming. The use of water to suspend the rubber instead of gasoline and benzene eliminated the fire hazard previously associated with all condom factories. Latex condoms also performed better for the consumer: they were stronger and thinner than rubber condoms, and had a shelf life of five years (compared to three months for rubber). [ 1 ] :199-200

    Until the twenties, all condoms were individually hand-dipped by semiskilled workers. Throughout the decade of the 1920s, advances in the automation of the condom assembly line were made. The first fully automated line was patented in 1930. Major condom manufacturers bought or leased conveyor systems, and small manufacturers were driven out of business. [ 1 ] :201-3 The skin condom, now significantly more expensive than the latex variety, became restricted to a niche high-end market. [ 1 ] :220

  • beksbks
    beksbks

    hehe

  • carla
    carla

    Ynot seems to have covered most everything quite well. Rubbers, yep, ask someone for one and they will pull out their wallet (if a guy) or direct you to the nearest pharmacy or grocery. In my grandmother's day they called them 'raincoats'. (hint for you Brits with the lovely accents, for heavens sake don't ask a school aged child for a rubber!)

    Some parts of the US do demonize alchohol, I think it is more prevelant down south due to some of the Baptist's who don't drink at all (not all Baptists just some of them). I live in a state that is known for drinkers, it is part of nearly every social gathering and our state college is known as a party college. I think the US has more problems with drunk driving so that may be what you hear as well. I think Norway has a law that you can't drive with any alcohol in your system or you lose your license for life? In my state our drunk driving laws are the least in the entire country (they are trying to change that now) if you got a 1st time DUI (driving under the influence) it is only a ticket, fine and you may have to attend classes. Not so in the rest of the country, I think in most states you serve some jail time and in some a 1st time offense is a felony.

    Aussie's have great accents too! I guess you always like what seems different or exotic. Kind of like girls with curly hair always want straight hair and vice versa.

  • blondie
    blondie

    Remember there are 300M people in the US in 50 states with a different history of settlement and by whom.

    Do you call it "Fall" rather than "authum" ( spelt that wrong) I don't, I use autumn.

    "Dipers" instead of "nappies"? Probably because the people around me do that. But I worked for people who used the term nappies.

    "earaser" instead of "rubber" probably because "rubber" can refer to condoms

    "sidewalk" instead of "pavement" Pavement is used for the road itself

    Why do so many of you demonise alcohol? Obviously you have never been to the US and seen how many bars there are and how many people drink.

    Why do you refer to Europe as if it was one big country? Why do people from Europe refer to the US as if it were one big homogoneous land?

    why do so many of you have to start a sentence with "OMG!" I have never used that phrase.

    why do you love british accents? What is a british accent? Are you saying that everyone in Great Britain talks the same?

    why oh why... did you vote george bush in...twice!??? If you check the voting stats you will find that about 1/2 did not vote for him:

    2000

    Popular vote50,456,00250,999,897
    Percentage47.9%48.4%

    Incumbent President and Vice President
    Bill Clinton and Al Gore
    Democratic

    President and Vice President-elect
    George W. Bush and Dick Cheney
    Republican

    The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Republican candidate George W. Bush, then-governor of Texas and son of former president George H. W. Bush (1989-1993), and Democratic candidate Al Gore, then-Vice President. Bill Clinton, the incumbent President, was vacating the position after serving the maximum two terms allowed by the Twenty-second Amendment. Bush narrowly won the November 7 election, with 271 electoral votes to Gore's 266 (with one elector abstaining in the official tally). The election was noteworthy for a controversy over the awarding of Florida's 25 electoral votes, the subsequent recount process in that state, and the unusual event of the winning candidate having received fewer popular votes than the runner-up.

    2004

    Popular vote62,040,61059,028,444

    Bush 62,040,610

    Kerry 59,028,444

    Popular vote62,040,61059,028,444
    Popular vote
    62,040,61059,028,444
  • trueblue

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