tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post115240193829978808..comments2024-03-16T00:21:43.240+00:00Comments on Separated by a Common Language: plumbing the depths for wordslynneguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-37758872355331910252012-09-13T04:42:58.771+01:002012-09-13T04:42:58.771+01:00a couple (of) things: was interested in your comme...a couple (of) things: was interested in your comment about bathroom fittings being replaced Lynne: I'd also been getting the impression that my UK friends and family replace their bathrooms (and, for that matter, their kitchens) more readily than my US friends: interesting to hear that confirmed by someone else. Secondly I think the British apologise for their plumbing because the water pressure is usually too low to take a decent shower.the_sybilnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-86437371316359950962011-03-17T12:11:14.744+00:002011-03-17T12:11:14.744+00:00The collocation 'tap water' is definitely ...The collocation 'tap water' is definitely AmE, but in other contexts it's possible, but rare. For instance, there's only one instance of 'tap' coming within four words of 'drip' in the Corpus of Historical American English (and that's from a play), whereas there are 13 with 'faucet'. <br /><br />Ben Yagoda has been noticing a lot of BrEisms coming into AmE on his blog, and I think that his data is very much focussed on the NYC area--so I wonder if your experience is part of a somewhat local trend...lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-20570596496792326372011-03-17T06:11:09.217+00:002011-03-17T06:11:09.217+00:00Despite the date, I'm going to say something t...Despite the date, I'm going to say something that does not appear to have been said (including in <a href="http://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/2011/02/prototypical-soup.html" rel="nofollow">the more recent post that linked me here</a>): "tap" is not strictly BrE. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm more likely to get water from the tap than the faucet (after all, it is <i>tap water</i>), but maybe that's just another one of my NYC/LI idiosyncrasies.Gordon P. Hemsleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08144624867177981541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-72603247992568948752007-04-23T09:01:00.000+01:002007-04-23T09:01:00.000+01:00You're right, one would. I don't always catch all...You're right, one would. I don't always catch all of my Americanisms.Phil Vinerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18054313101947457594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-31500281768105290482007-04-23T04:16:00.000+01:002007-04-23T04:16:00.000+01:00DR is an Englishman with a vacation home in South ...<I>DR is an Englishman with a vacation home in South Carolina </I><BR/>In Australia, one would refer to a "holiday house" (or, less frequently and perhaps more pretentiously, "holiday home"). I wonder if it is the same in British English?Altissimahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01367694104106778194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-41442530141980148552007-04-23T04:09:00.000+01:002007-04-23T04:09:00.000+01:00This comment has been removed by the author.Altissimahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01367694104106778194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-70969903193781853702007-01-03T00:18:00.000+00:002007-01-03T00:18:00.000+00:00I believe the same have/take distinction applies t...I believe the same <i>have/take</i> distinction applies to one of the things people do while sitting on the short white appliance which may or may not be found near the bathing apparatus. This is the one that converts to an adjective unchanged in BrE but always takes <i>-y</i> in AmE.<br /><br />For what it's worth, <i>lavatory</i> to a plumber means the sink, and etymologically that's right.John Cowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11452247999156925669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-84200752526417334772006-11-21T14:54:00.000+00:002006-11-21T14:54:00.000+00:00I have two plumbing questions that are more cultur...I have two plumbing questions that are more cultural than lexical, coming from British fiction from some decades back. One: why are "drains" such an embarrassing but necessary subject? Nobody ever brings them up in American fiction. Two: why do English people apologize to foreigners for "our weather, our cooking and our plumbing"? I understand the first two (though the cooking has improved a good deal), but why apologize for plumbing? Perhaps my two questions are connected -- British drains are somehow more problematic than other people's?<br />Otherwise, my own experience of British plumbing is that it's pretty much what I'm used to, except that the hot and cold taps/faucets in the basin/sink are separate in the UK, making a comfortable temperature for rinsing hard to achieve.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07014495748725364889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1157813385230089772006-09-09T15:49:00.000+01:002006-09-09T15:49:00.000+01:00Re: It being assumed you're a CanadianThis is quit...Re: It being assumed you're a Canadian<BR/><BR/>This is quite normal in the UK.<BR/>If we hear someone with a North American accent and can't place it accurately we ask if they're a Canadian. If you ask a Canadian if they're an American they feel quite insulted. If you ask an American if they're a Canadian they usually don't mind :)<BR/>That's also probably why Canadians cover their bags and jackets with maple leaf badges while they're travelling, in the hope that they won't be mistaken for an American.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1152910986407782382006-07-14T22:03:00.000+01:002006-07-14T22:03:00.000+01:00"House-proud" reminds me of that song by Madness -..."House-proud" reminds me of that song by Madness -<BR/><BR/>Our house, in the middle of our street... our mum she's so house-proud<BR/><BR/>I guess the Brits were proud of their houses even way back in the 80's before the DIY craze hit.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1152779435016409662006-07-13T09:30:00.000+01:002006-07-13T09:30:00.000+01:00When I am in Florida they always refer to the toil...When I am in Florida they always refer to the toilet as The Commode when they refer to the toilet bowl/pan itself.<BR/>Imagine my confusion though when going to The Home Depot (B & Q) when looking for a door handle to be told in one section, that I needed to go to the 'hardware department'! Duh, I thought it was a Hardware Store (shop)or BrE Shed<BR/>AmE shed!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1152569324995903502006-07-10T23:08:00.000+01:002006-07-10T23:08:00.000+01:00You're right about the catching up--there are a lo...You're right about the catching up--there are a lot of old bathrooms in this country that need replacing. But I also know some perfectly good bathrooms that have been changed in the name of fashion. A lot of it I think has to do with the real estate market here (out of control!) and the appetite for house-porn (e.g. tv shows about decorating, selling houses, buying houses, stately homes, interesting homes, etc.). There's probably a reason why the word <B>house-proud</B> came about in Britain!lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1152562557413424312006-07-10T21:15:00.000+01:002006-07-10T21:15:00.000+01:00I visited English friends who had moved to the Sta...I visited English friends who had moved to the States in 1971 - their standard of living was much higher than it had been in England. That is perhaps why we are replacing bathrooms - we are just catching up !Sallyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08223682934383856392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1152535791769394002006-07-10T13:49:00.000+01:002006-07-10T13:49:00.000+01:00Good point. I think I was being rather bathroom-...Good point. I think I was being rather bathroom-focus(s)ed, following on from the bathroom-focus(s)ed conversation that inspired the entry.<BR/><BR/>People talk about plumbing fixtures a lot more around here, I think. No one I know in the US has re-done their bathroom to the extent that they got a new sink/basin, etc. But it seems like half the people I know in Southeast England have entirely replaced their bathroom, shower-room, or loo in the past 5 years! (And it's not that the people I know here are in a higher socio-economic class than my American friends/family!)lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1152535239856916552006-07-10T13:40:00.000+01:002006-07-10T13:40:00.000+01:00Hello, in my English home a sink is a sink when it...Hello, in my English home a sink is a sink when it is in the kitchen or utility room but it is a basin when it is in the bathroom (where the bath is !), shower-room (note hyphen to seperate 'r') or in the loo, toilet, w.c. (name of room shortened from water closet), cloakroom, or en-suite (next to the bedroom). Perhaps a 'sink' is utilitarian, and a basin is for personal use. The type of sink for a bottom is of course a bidet.Sallyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08223682934383856392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1152525582899125472006-07-10T10:59:00.000+01:002006-07-10T10:59:00.000+01:00This works the same for baths as well--the British...This works the same for baths as well--the British <I>have</I> them and Americans <I>take</I> them. A lot of these so-called light verbs differ in British and American--I'll have to write about them sometime...<BR/><BR/>I looked for a link to a definition of <I>light verb</I>, but couldn't find one, so here's one from a paper by <A HREF="http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~cuihang/publications/nustrb8_05.pdf" REL="nofollow">Tan, Kan & Cui</A>:<BR/><BR/>"A light verb construction (LVC) is a<BR/>verb-complement pair in which the verb<BR/>has little lexical meaning and much of the<BR/>semantic content of the construction is ob-<BR/>tained from the complement." (the complement, loosely speaking, is the stuff that has to come after the verb--the sentence would lose its grammaticality or sense if it were left out)lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1152523836222822952006-07-10T10:30:00.000+01:002006-07-10T10:30:00.000+01:00Not specifically having to do with the "plumbing" ...Not specifically having to do with the "plumbing" itself...but...I've noticed that my English husband will "have a shower", while I "take a shower".<BR/><BR/>Janet<BR/><BR/>(lordcelery.blogspot.com)Janethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16494516976868488211noreply@blogger.com