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Porn Users Forum » Americanism, Dialect or Improper Grammar?

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12-13-13  11:54pm - 4026 days	Original Post - #1
messmer (0) Disabled User Posts: 2,582 Registered: Sep 12, '07 Location: Canada	Americanism, Dialect or Improper Grammar? As you know, I've gone back to reading books big time. At least four different American authors tend to write something like this: "she spent over an hour waiting on her husband to show up!" I have never heard of anyone waiting ON someone unless it was a waiter/waitress? Is this common usage in the U.S. of A.? Thanks!
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12-14-13  03:14am - 4026 days	#2
Ed2009 (0) Suspended Webmaster Posts: 509 Registered: Sep 12, '09 Location: Wales, UK	Sounds like a grammar error to me. Isn't it wait FOR someone who's late, and wait ON someone to whom you are supplying food or beverages? There are a lot of differences between the opposite sides of the Atlantic. I've noticed that American's tend to say "write" instead of "write to" eg "Don't forget to write me" vs. "Don't forget to write to me." The word pavement always makes me chuckle as it's meaning is almost opposite. British people drive on the road and walk on the pavement. American's drive on the pavement. Webmaster of StripGameCentral and A Measure of Curiosity.
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12-14-13  07:14am - 4026 days	#3
jberryl69 (0) Disabled User Posts: 1,000 Registered: Nov 27, '10 Location: neverland	Well, my is going to say, "Dialect" is a direct result of using "Improper Language". As an example, one of the coming changes that represents this type of trend is the rule of using "an" preceding a word that begins with a vowel rather than "a" (when a/an is the appropriate word to use in the sentence). It apparently is so misused that the grammar police are changing the rule. If it ain't grits, it must be a Yankee. If you're going to lay her head over the pool table and fuck her throat, get your fucking hand off her throat!
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12-14-13  11:07am - 4026 days	#4
messmer (0) Disabled User Posts: 2,582 Registered: Sep 12, '07 Location: Canada	Originally Posted by Ed2009: Sounds like a grammar error to me. Isn't it wait FOR someone who's late, and wait ON someone to whom you are supplying food or beverages? There are a lot of differences between the opposite sides of the Atlantic. I've noticed that American's tend to say "write" instead of "write to" eg "Don't forget to write me" vs. "Don't forget to write to me." The word pavement always makes me chuckle as it's meaning is almost opposite. British people drive on the road and walk on the pavement. American's drive on the pavement. That's what we say in Canada as well, Ed. We wait FOR someone. If it had only been one author I would have said it was a grammatical mistake. But FIVE (yes I came across another one last night)? And in Canada we walk on the sidewalk and drive on the pavement like the Americans.
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12-14-13  11:11am - 4026 days	#5
messmer (0) Disabled User Posts: 2,582 Registered: Sep 12, '07 Location: Canada	Originally Posted by jberryl69: Well, my is going to say, "Dialect" is a direct result of using "Improper Language". As an example, one of the coming changes that represents this type of trend is the rule of using "an" preceding a word that begins with a vowel rather than "a" (when a/an is the appropriate word to use in the sentence). It apparently is so misused that the grammar police are changing the rule. I was thinking that "waiting on one's boyfriend to show up" might be a Southern idiom but can't be sure until someone responds to the question. And yes I have noticed (being a Wheel of Fortune watcher) that many folks ask for a "a" or a "e" etc. rather than for an "a," an "e" etc.
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12-14-13  11:48am - 4026 days	#6
graymane (0) Suspended Posts: 1,411 Registered: Feb 20, '10 Location: Virginia	Here's one that I've observed that's always intreged me" US Southerner's call the under-structure of homes "the basement" Yankees (Northerners) refer to that area as a "cellar."
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12-14-13  11:57am - 4026 days	#7
biker (0) Active User Posts: 632 Registered: May 03, '08 Location: milwaukee, wi	I'm from the north and I've only heard it called basement. Warning Will Robinson
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12-14-13  11:58am - 4026 days	#8
Drooler (0) Disabled User Posts: 1,831 Registered: Mar 11, '07 Location: USA	It's an alternative to "for" in the sentence you noted. It's not a Americanism; it shows up in a British (Oxford) dictionary as such an alternative. It also shows up in a religious song, "Wait on the Lord," with the same idea of waiting for a desired change. If you look around the web, you'll find other examples. Prepositions can be slippery little devils. Anyway, "on" works as well as "for" so long as the context makes the meaning clear. I'm more appalled by talking heads on TV using the wrong word order in embedded questions, and using empty "happy talk" phrases like "moving forward" and "on the ground." (I doubt that anyone's going to advocate moving backward, and most things happen on the ground anyway, thanks to gravitational force.) Anyway, Messmer, I hope I'm not reading any Canadian arrogance into this. I've got some experience with that. I wanted something new, so I left England for New England. Edited on Dec 14, 2013, 12:04pm
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12-14-13  02:02pm - 4026 days	#9
Reveen (0) Active User Posts: 96 Registered: Apr 06, '09	Originally Posted by messmer: And in Canada we walk on the sidewalk and drive on the pavement like the Americans. And in Ireland we walk on the footpath (or "de footpat" if you want the correct pronunciation ) and we drive on the road. There are a couple of other Americanisms that slightly wreck my head like "math" instead of maths. Or "two thousand thirteen" instead of two thousand AND thirteen
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12-14-13  03:08pm - 4026 days	#10
mbaya (0) Suspended Posts: 891 Registered: Jul 07, '08 Location: new jersey	As a former professor of English, I can add my two cents. Waiting on is regional, mostly in the South but also heard in Black English. Waiting on is used to describe the work of waiters and waitresses in restaurants. The same is true for pavement-heard in the South but not used by speakers of Standard American English. Americans drive on the road. Americans outside the South say sidewalk. I also agree about the wrong word order that you hear on TV. The most common mistake is that time ideas MUST go either first or last. Frequently I hear time ideas in midsentence, which sounds very strange. For example, I will go tomorrow to the store. Another awkward construction that is very common is the order of direct and indirect objects. An example is give me it (wrong) and give it to me (correct). Don't get me started on "alleged suspect" or "take a listen".
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12-14-13  03:38pm - 4026 days	#11
graymane (0) Suspended Posts: 1,411 Registered: Feb 20, '10 Location: Virginia	Originally Posted by biker: I'm from the north and I've only heard it called basement. That's big news to me! Either/or .... those whom I know from New York and Jersey call it CELLAR!
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12-14-13  03:42pm - 4026 days	#12
mbaya (0) Suspended Posts: 891 Registered: Jul 07, '08 Location: new jersey	I am in New Jersey and I have heard both, but basement is much more common.
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12-14-13  05:02pm - 4025 days	#13
biker (0) Active User Posts: 632 Registered: May 03, '08 Location: milwaukee, wi	Originally Posted by graymane: That's big news to me! Either/or .... those whom I know from New York and Jersey call it CELLAR! I'm From Chicago and Milwaukee. Maybe the farther west a person lives the term cellar dies out. It's like in some regions of the United States, I've traveled, it is either soda, pop, or soda-pop. Cross a river or a time zone and your in another world. Warning Will Robinson
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12-14-13  07:52pm - 4025 days	#14
graymane (0) Suspended Posts: 1,411 Registered: Feb 20, '10 Location: Virginia	potato -- po-TAH-to ..... I still maintain "cellar" is predominately used in the North. Edited on Dec 15, 2013, 03:26pm
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12-14-13  07:54pm - 4025 days	#15
messmer (0) Disabled User Posts: 2,582 Registered: Sep 12, '07 Location: Canada	Originally Posted by graymane: Here's one that I've observed that's always intreged me" US Southerner's call the under-structure of homes "the basement" Yankees (Northerners) refer to that area as a "cellar." Hi graymane, in Nova Scotia it is always basement.
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12-14-13  08:11pm - 4025 days	#16
messmer (0) Disabled User Posts: 2,582 Registered: Sep 12, '07 Location: Canada	Originally Posted by Drooler: It's an alternative to "for" in the sentence you noted. It's not a Americanism; it shows up in a British (Oxford) dictionary as such an alternative. It also shows up in a religious song, "Wait on the Lord," with the same idea of waiting for a desired change. If you look around the web, you'll find other examples. Prepositions can be slippery little devils. Anyway, "on" works as well as "for" so long as the context makes the meaning clear. I'm more appalled by talking heads on TV using the wrong word order in embedded questions, and using empty "happy talk" phrases like "moving forward" and "on the ground." (I doubt that anyone's going to advocate moving backward, and most things happen on the ground anyway, thanks to gravitational force.) Anyway, Messmer, I hope I'm not reading any Canadian arrogance into this. I've got some experience with that. Oh,Drooler, absolutely no arrogance behind this question. The only thing we are arrogant about is our universal health care system. I had truly never heard of "waiting on someone" in the sense of waiting for someone before, even when singing about waiting on The Lord my mind always took it to mean serving The Lord, so it was natural to wonder if it was an Americanism, without any slight intended. And I hate to think that any Canadians acted in arrogance toward you. My apologies on their behalf! Edited on Dec 14, 2013, 08:15pm
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12-14-13  08:13pm - 4025 days	#17
messmer (0) Disabled User Posts: 2,582 Registered: Sep 12, '07 Location: Canada	A small correction: in Canada we drive in the street on the pavement, if it is paved!
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12-14-13  08:17pm - 4025 days	#18
messmer (0) Disabled User Posts: 2,582 Registered: Sep 12, '07 Location: Canada	Originally Posted by graymane: Okay, already ... I accept the consequences that I'm a die-in-the-wool, entrenched liar ... made up the whole thing, got caught, and now await whatever fate my opposition chooses to heap upon me. But please, I prey thee with out-stretched open arms that I'm granted forgiveness, after which I promise never to launch into giving my opinion on another matter of this sort without factual infusion of solid confirmation from an undeniable and trustworthy source. Relax,my brother,you are forgiven!
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12-14-13  08:26pm - 4025 days	#19
messmer (0) Disabled User Posts: 2,582 Registered: Sep 12, '07 Location: Canada	Originally Posted by mbaya: As a former professor of English, I can add my two cents. Waiting on is regional, mostly in the South but also heard in Black English. Waiting on is used to describe the work of waiters and waitresses in restaurants. The same is true for pavement-heard in the South but not used by speakers of Standard American English. Americans drive on the road. Americans outside the South say sidewalk. I also agree about the wrong word order that you hear on TV. The most common mistake is that time ideas MUST go either first or last. Frequently I hear time ideas in midsentence, which sounds very strange. For example, I will go tomorrow to the store. Another awkward construction that is very common is the order of direct and indirect objects. An example is give me it (wrong) and give it to me (correct). Don't get me started on "alleged suspect" or "take a listen". Thank you, MBaya, for giving me such a concise and helpful answer! Now I must go because another good book is waiting on me! Just joking, no arrogance intended!
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12-15-13  02:47am - 4025 days	#20
Ed2009 (0) Suspended Webmaster Posts: 509 Registered: Sep 12, '09 Location: Wales, UK	Here in the UK cellar and basement mean different (but slightly overlapping) things. A windowless room completely below ground level would be a cellar - usually used for storage. A room mostly below ground but with windows or skylights letting natural light in, would be a basement. These are more often used as accommodation or reception rooms. Obviously the delineation isn't always that clear cut. Webmaster of StripGameCentral and A Measure of Curiosity.
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12-15-13  03:05am - 4025 days	#21
Capn (0) Active User Posts: 1,740 Registered: Sep 05, '09 Location: Near the Beer!	Languages evolve naturally, but with the coming of worldwide technology, first via global television & latterly especially via the internet, the pace of that change has increased dramatically. American English has become the primary language of the internet. I don't see anything wrong with that, or the phonetic way Americans spell. Some word usages do grate with me, such as 'meet up'; why not just 'meet', like it used to be. It really doesn't need a direction appending to it! The only thing I can't abide is text speak. The sooner that gets thrown on the language rubbish tip, the better for me. Cap'n. Admiral of the PU Hindenburg. 2009 PU Award Hilarious Post of the Year 2010 PU Award ( I would have preferred it to be Helpful Post of the Year for Guys who Hate 'Retail Therapy' ) :0/ Sanity is in the eye of the Beholder!
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12-15-13  05:03am - 4025 days	#22
mbaya (0) Suspended Posts: 891 Registered: Jul 07, '08 Location: new jersey	Hi Capn, Of course languages continually evolve. Meet up versus meet is a perfect example. Up is not only up and down, but also has a few other meanings. One is to completion, such as clean up as compared to clean. It also means to increase or used to emphasize that something is important. Examples are to sign up not just sign and to chat up a woman you meet as compared to simply chat with her. It has created so many new and creative idioms and expressions that it has come to also mean informal. Now, if you meet someone, it means in a formal context, such as at a business meeting. Meet up with someone is used for your friend. If you are still annoyed, I understand. But, there is a difference that enriches our usage. I also despise text speak. It just sounds ignorant to me.
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12-15-13  07:17am - 4025 days	#23
biker (0) Active User Posts: 632 Registered: May 03, '08 Location: milwaukee, wi	When I moved from a Chicago suburb to Milwaukee the biggest difference was the word "bubbler" for drinking fountain. Only a little over 100 miles difference and a term changed. Of course when "Lavern and Shirley" aired on television the complaints of terms and accents from Milwaukee were considerable. The characters sounded like the came from they Bronx. Warning Will Robinson Edited on Dec 15, 2013, 08:49am
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12-15-13  07:36am - 4025 days	#24
jberryl69 (0) Disabled User Posts: 1,000 Registered: Nov 27, '10 Location: neverland	Originally Posted by Ed2009: Here in the UK cellar and basement mean different (but slightly overlapping) things. A windowless room completely below ground level would be a cellar - usually used for storage. A room mostly below ground but with windows or skylights letting natural light in, would be a basement. These are more often used as accommodation or reception rooms. Obviously the delineation isn't always that clear cut. Hear hear!! If it ain't grits, it must be a Yankee. If you're going to lay her head over the pool table and fuck her throat, get your fucking hand off her throat!
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12-15-13  08:06am - 4025 days	#25
Khan (0) Suspended Posts: 1,737 Registered: Jan 05, '07 Location: USA	Is it a jumper or a sweater? Are they trainers, sneakers or perhaps tennis-shoes? A wise man once said that language's sole purpose was to convey thought. If you understand someone's meaning, then communication has been successful. Former PornUsers Senior Administrator Now at: MyPorn.com "To get your ideas across use small words, big ideas, and short sentences."-John Henry Patterson
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12-15-13  08:43am - 4025 days	#26
mbaya (0) Suspended Posts: 891 Registered: Jul 07, '08 Location: new jersey	I agree with Khan that the purpose of language is to convey thought. It doesn't always work though. A few examples from college students are: 1) Celebrities are famous people and are usually made famous by acting on television or in films, or by singing or playing music. President Bush is one of these. 2)There are so many famous countries in the world but, from all these countries I like the United States of America. The United States of America stands for United States of America. 3)This community has doctors, engineers, pilots and some people who work. I have dozens of these examples, maybe even hundreds. One of my all time favorites is from Wolf Blitzer on CNN. The night that the Boston police had the remaining bomber surrounded in the boat, the police finally shouted "We got him We got him". Wolf Blitzer asked the chief of police: "Got who?".
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12-15-13  09:13am - 4025 days	#27
biker (0) Active User Posts: 632 Registered: May 03, '08 Location: milwaukee, wi	I went through public school being taught the capital of China was Peking and suddenly one day I here it called Beijing. At first I thought everyone was discussing a different city. I wonder if our public school system could make such a error, what other mistakes were they teaching us? Warning Will Robinson
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12-15-13  09:19am - 4025 days	#28
mbaya (0) Suspended Posts: 891 Registered: Jul 07, '08 Location: new jersey	The change from Peking to Beijing was not an issue of an error. Up until Nixon's overtures to China, Peking was the name according to the usage in effect before the Communist Revolution. We did not recognize the Communist government, so we continued to call it Peking. Beijing is what it is called in the more phonetic system of writing that the Communists had adopted. Politics, not an error.
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12-15-13  09:37am - 4025 days	#29
biker (0) Active User Posts: 632 Registered: May 03, '08 Location: milwaukee, wi	So everyone writing a geography book decided to go with Peking because our government instead of using the proper name. Our government in action. Warning Will Robinson
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12-15-13  09:48am - 4025 days	#30
mbaya (0) Suspended Posts: 891 Registered: Jul 07, '08 Location: new jersey	Neither is proper, but purely arbitrary. The use of Peking is older, from the time when the last emperor was overthrown in I believe 1912. Since Chinese is written in another writing system, the decision as to how to write in our alphabet is variable. You see the same thing in writing Arabic or Hebrew words and names in English. Look at Chanuka, Chanukah, Hanukah, Hanukkah and all its variables. You can blame the government for many things, but not here.
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12-15-13  12:48pm - 4025 days	#31
biker (0) Active User Posts: 632 Registered: May 03, '08 Location: milwaukee, wi	I blame the government for everything. Warning Will Robinson
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