Ask Experts Questions for FREE Help !
Ask
    ebaines's Avatar
    ebaines Posts: 12,131, Reputation: 1307
    Expert
     
    #21

    Feb 7, 2013, 10:38 AM
    Quote Originally Posted by mrdavidkerr View Post
    We don't use the F word - we're British you know!

    (presume your inferring Feet and inches!)
    OK, getting off topic, but I can't resist - the way the Brits mix up their units of measure is really quite amusing. In most of the world people use the metric system. In the US we use the imperial system, which is bizarre but at least we're consistent. But in the UK you have a very strange mix of measurements:

    Milk, water, etc are sold in litres, but beer is sold in pints and gasoline in gallons (which are different than our gallons by the way).

    Length is in metres, unless you're on the motorway in which case it's in miles and sometimes yards.

    Weight is in kilos, unless you're talking about how much a person weighs, in which case it's stones.

    But back to the question about "sussed" - I must admit I've not heard it, though I deal regularly with folks in the UK who use terms like "it's gone pear-shaped" and "bespoke" (I had to look that one up when I first came to work here). And I have learned that the way we pronounce the word "solder" here in the US makes my British friends smirk. ;)
    mrdavidkerr's Avatar
    mrdavidkerr Posts: 6, Reputation: 1
    New Member
     
    #22

    Feb 7, 2013, 11:03 AM
    On measurements your missing the whole point;

    When we're talking we use feet, miles, pints etc because everyone knows them.
    When we're doing maths or measurements we go modern & metric. Cus it's so bloomin easy!

    As to pronunciation, I can win the whole thing for the UK with one word;

    Aluminium! :)

    OOOOH dear, I feel I may have started something.
    Alty's Avatar
    Alty Posts: 28,317, Reputation: 5972
    Pets Expert
     
    #23

    Feb 7, 2013, 01:07 PM
    Aluminium?

    How do you guys say it?

    I'm in Canada, here we say Ah-loo-mi-num.

    I'd love to here the Brit pronunciation. :)
    Wondergirl's Avatar
    Wondergirl Posts: 39,354, Reputation: 5431
    Jobs & Parenting Expert
     
    #24

    Feb 7, 2013, 01:13 PM
    Note the extra "i" in his word, so a lu MIN ni um.
    Alty's Avatar
    Alty Posts: 28,317, Reputation: 5972
    Pets Expert
     
    #25

    Feb 7, 2013, 01:17 PM
    Quote Originally Posted by Wondergirl View Post
    Note the extra "i" in his word, so a lu MIN ni um.
    I copied it and still didn't notice it. Interesting.
    Wondergirl's Avatar
    Wondergirl Posts: 39,354, Reputation: 5431
    Jobs & Parenting Expert
     
    #26

    Feb 7, 2013, 01:38 PM
    Quote Originally Posted by mrdavidkerr View Post
    Aluminium! :)
    Aluminum vs. Aluminium
    ebaines's Avatar
    ebaines Posts: 12,131, Reputation: 1307
    Expert
     
    #27

    Feb 7, 2013, 01:51 PM
    I had the good fortune to attend the Royal Henley Regatta a few years back and sit in the steward's enclosure with all the hoity-toity. It's perhaps te most famous week of crew races in the world, but being England it's also the kind of sporting event where gentlemen are required to wear jacket and tie and women dresses (below the knee). I was reading the program and noticed a team entered from Shrewsbury. Now having been raised in New England I was aware that Shrewsbury Academy in Massachusetts has a crew, so I said to my wife "I wonder if this team listed from Shrewsbury is from the States?" pronouncing "Shrewsbury" like a good American - just as the word looks, "shrews - berry." At which point the rather stately gentleman sitting in front of us turned around and said "Young man, it's pronounced Shrowsbru - get it right, you're hurting my ears!" I guess he'd have enough of the American tourists invading his space!

Not your question? Ask your question View similar questions

 

Question Tools Search this Question
Search this Question:

Advanced Search

Add your answer here.


Check out some similar questions!

My furnace just rumbled a little and puffed out some smoke [ 0 Answers ]

Beckett burner forced air. Wondering if it would be a bad nozzle or filter on tank?

Outlook Attached word document opens after 30 seconds if you have word open [ 0 Answers ]

We have a weird issue on our XenApp 6 test environment using Outlook 2007 to open Word attachments. The behaviour is such that if a Word instance is already open and maximised with a document and we try to open a Word attachment from an e-mail, the attachment doesn't open unless you un-maximise the...


View more questions Search