tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post115905594721216415..comments2024-03-16T00:21:43.240+00:00Comments on Separated by a Common Language: Daddy long-legslynneguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-61659332353328615372010-07-12T10:02:20.132+01:002010-07-12T10:02:20.132+01:00It's called Jangnim Gummy('Blind Spider...It's called Jangnim Gummy('Blind Spider', if translated) in here, South Korea, but not commonly known. I also didn't recognize the bug until I visited New Zealand.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-89590842165706107542008-05-07T17:05:00.000+01:002008-05-07T17:05:00.000+01:00One word that can be fun for scaring the British w...One word that can be fun for scaring the British with is "bluebottle" - which in Australia is a Portuguese Man-o-War, but in Britain is something very common but much less dangerous. Use of the word across dialects can cause the British party to imagine, for a moment, that something as common and inescapable as the British bluebottle might be as dangerous as an Australian one!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-38423471846344146322007-01-02T23:06:00.000+00:002007-01-02T23:06:00.000+00:00In discussing the "tire center" (AmE) / "tyre cent...In discussing the "tire center" (AmE) / "tyre centre" (BrE) / "tire centre" (CanE) trichotomy, a Briton commented that to him a "tire centre" would be a place where you go to get tired.John Cowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11452247999156925669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1159560545389102062006-09-29T21:09:00.000+01:002006-09-29T21:09:00.000+01:00Long-legged daddies?Long-legged daddies?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1159482145167570382006-09-28T23:22:00.000+01:002006-09-28T23:22:00.000+01:00"...I'd never refer to them as daddy long-legs (-l..."...I'd never refer to them as daddy long-legs (-legses?)"<BR/>Daddies long-legs, surely?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1159469700583711302006-09-28T19:55:00.000+01:002006-09-28T19:55:00.000+01:00"thusly": you are a tease."thusly": you are a tease.deariemehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06654632450454559188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1159395546646229012006-09-27T23:19:00.000+01:002006-09-27T23:19:00.000+01:00Just realised that i said i didn't know what they'...Just realised that i said i didn't know what they're called but had previously mentioned they're Pholcidae - what i meant was that i don't have a name for them... just 'those spindly spiders with the tiny bodies'.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1159395396840026062006-09-27T23:16:00.000+01:002006-09-27T23:16:00.000+01:00Harvestmen are a different thing to those small-bo...Harvestmen are a different thing to those small-body-spindly-leg spiders (Pholcidae)- in fact harvestmen aren't spiders at all (as the website howard's linked to says). The things that hang around in all the undusted corners of my home are definitely real web-spinners though. I don't know what they're called but I'd never refer to them as daddy long-legs (-legses?). Though wikipedia does... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pholcidae - lots of other names there too).<BR/>Ugh, it's making my skin crawl just typing this. Must stop.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1159319803705227152006-09-27T02:16:00.000+01:002006-09-27T02:16:00.000+01:00> In Scotland, or at least my wee corner, they're ...> In Scotland, or at least my wee corner, they're called Jenny long-legs which I always thought was a much nicer name <BR/><BR/>My Lancastrian grandfathers used to call them "Harry Longlegs".<BR/><BR/>The small-bodied long-legged spiders are often called "Harvesters" or "Harvestmen". See http://www.kendall-bioresearch.co.uk/harvestmen.htm <BR/>for a picture and description.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1159264190252129712006-09-26T10:49:00.000+01:002006-09-26T10:49:00.000+01:00Ah, that BrE label was Better Half's doing. (I us...Ah, that BrE label was Better Half's doing. (I usually read him the postings before they go up.) <BR/><BR/>OED has <I>heck</I> as dialectal in the UK, but they don't say what dialects, and it could very well be that it's not dialectal anymore.lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1159231361788279492006-09-26T01:42:00.000+01:002006-09-26T01:42:00.000+01:00'What the heck' certainly isn't exclusively AmE; I...'What the heck' certainly isn't exclusively AmE; I (BrE) use it a lot.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1159143352109956742006-09-25T01:15:00.000+01:002006-09-25T01:15:00.000+01:00...and the vocabulary shares more in common with A......and the vocabulary shares more in common with AmE than BrE, but there are exceptions, like <I>daddy long-legs</I>. (And then there are the things that are just Canadian. Like saying <I>Grade 9</I> instead of <I>9th grade</I>. I watched too much <I>Degrassi Jr High</I> in (AmE) <B>grad school</B>.)lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1159142585996261092006-09-25T01:03:00.000+01:002006-09-25T01:03:00.000+01:00Hmm. Canadian English straddles the gap between Am...Hmm. Canadian English straddles the gap between American and British in so many ways I can't say which it is closest to. Pronunciation is closer to that of the northern states than of anywhere in the UK, but I will choose a British spelling checker over an American one. The main differences being "gaol" "tyre" and the ize/ise words. We keep the U in words like colour, and all the double letters in words like traveller and jewellery.<BR/><BR/>I kind of like the fact that mine is the only country in which "organized labour" is spelled correctly.Aviatrixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13634111275860140084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1159114721465044022006-09-24T17:18:00.000+01:002006-09-24T17:18:00.000+01:00The Encyclopaedia Britannica points out:"In Englis...The <I><A HREF="http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9026757" REL="nofollow">Encyclopaedia Britannica</I></A> points out:<BR/><BR/>"In English-speaking countries other than the United States, the crane fly is popularly called daddy long legs because it has a slender, mosquito-like body and extremely long legs. (In the United States, “daddy longlegs” generally refers to an arachnid.)"<BR/><BR/>So, while Canadian English is like American English in many ways, this is one way in which it's like the rest of the British Commonwealth.lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1159098951860631182006-09-24T12:55:00.000+01:002006-09-24T12:55:00.000+01:00Adding a geographic 'same here' for New Zealand. ...Adding a geographic 'same here' for New Zealand. Although I must say I'd not noticed that some have only 6 legs and others have 8. I presumed that the ones with wings were perhaps males whilst the ones without were females or vice versa ... a theory that would no doubt make any Entomologist cringe.Alliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05742655956007529738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1159098715395113022006-09-24T12:51:00.000+01:002006-09-24T12:51:00.000+01:00If it's a spider I can let it live, if it's flutte...If it's a spider I can let it live, if it's fluttering around a light it has to die, whatever it's called. Hate hate hate hate them. There were lots of them on holiday, plaguing me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1159098407957039922006-09-24T12:46:00.000+01:002006-09-24T12:46:00.000+01:00I can confirmThere was annoying little beast tortu...I can confirm<BR/>There was annoying little beast torturing my curtain the other evening!City Slickerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00040793254173714192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1159058187716127512006-09-24T01:36:00.000+01:002006-09-24T01:36:00.000+01:00Actually, that reminds me of an eprisode of Mythbu...Actually, that reminds me of an eprisode of Mythbusters when they said that daddy long-legs are the most poisonous type of spider (or words to that effect) picture me and my Mum looking at each other with a WHAT? If you were a really cruel kid, you caught them and pulled their legs off but poisonous? When they should footage of spiders, the penny dropped.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1159057810078238702006-09-24T01:30:00.000+01:002006-09-24T01:30:00.000+01:00In Scotland, or at least my wee corner, they're ca...In Scotland, or at least my wee corner, they're called Jenny long-legs which I always thought was a much nicer nameAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1159056471610994392006-09-24T01:07:00.000+01:002006-09-24T01:07:00.000+01:00It's a daddy long-legs in Canada, too.It's a daddy long-legs in Canada, too.Aviatrixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13634111275860140084noreply@blogger.com