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Discussion Groups / British English / November 2005Explanation
Dear Friends, You could have an impression that I am a lazy guy who wants to ask you silly question. However, it is quite opposite. My interest is almost always focused on usage. What I mean is, if a phrase I present is in common use or not. Therefore, whatever I bring here is always connected with common use. Moreover, before I ask you anything I always check the meaning either using Cambridge Dictionary on line or www.onelook.com. Finally, feel comletely free to comment on any of my punctuation mistakes. It is one of my biggest problems linked with defining and non-defining clauses and deriving from the fact that in Polish we use comas more often and it is quite confusing for me. Regards, Pawel At 23:29:34 on Sun, 13 Nov 2005, apprentice <mailpawel@wp.pl> wrote in <4687f$4377be4f$d4ba586d$14794@news.chello.pl>: >Finally, feel comletely free to comment on any of my punctuation mistakes. >It is one of my biggest problems linked with defining and non-defining >clauses and deriving from the fact that in Polish we use comas more often Not comas, commas.  SignatureMolly Mockford They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety - Benjamin Franklin (My Reply-To address *is* valid, though may not remain so for ever.) > At 23:29:34 on Sun, 13 Nov 2005, apprentice <mailpawel@wp.pl> wrote in > <4687f$4377be4f$d4ba586d$14794@news.chello.pl>: [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Not comas, commas. There's a nice Dilbert along those lines: the office pedant collapses, struck down by a typo in his report. "Is she dead?" "No, she's in a comma!" SignatureJohn Briggs > At 23:29:34 on Sun, 13 Nov 2005, apprentice <mailpawel@wp.pl> wrote in > <4687f$4377be4f$d4ba586d$14794@news.chello.pl>: [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Not comas, commas. Are you sure? I hear they sell a fair old quantity of Vodka over there ;-) I am sorry that I'm not writing to you in our beautiful mother tongue, but I want also other people to understand. Being an experienced student of English, I can tell you that what is common, is not always considered correct and the other way round. Lots of people in the UK say "ain't" or drop their /h/s (in pronunciation, that is), however no handbook of English will ever tell you these are correct. On the other hand, I know some words and phrases which are commonly taught, but seldom used, such as 'to rain cats and dogs', an expression apparently known to relatively few natives. The tricky clauses you have mentioned are explained in every good handbook of grammar and on several websites. Generally, non-native speakers of English are expected to speak and write Standard English, but be able to understand some supralocal non-standard forms. I hope my remarks have been of use. > I am sorry that I'm not writing to you in our beautiful mother tongue, > but I want also other people to understand. Being an experienced [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > hand, I know some words and phrases which are commonly taught, but > seldom used, such as 'to rain cats and dogs', Be sure you don't step on a poodle. I think this expression is known to nearly every native speaker of English. Perhaps it is not used very often because it is seen as quaint or old-fashioned. Ivan > > I am sorry that I'm not writing to you in our beautiful mother tongue, > > but I want also other people to understand. Being an experienced [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > English. Perhaps it is not used very often because it is seen as quaint > or old-fashioned. It is a joke response to the expression "it's raining cats and dogs". We also say "raining stair rods" although this is slightly less common because stair rods are rarely used these days. They were about 2 to 3 feet long (that's 70-100cm but you should be familiar with imperial units in the English speaking world) metal rods (typically brass) which held a stair carpet against stairs. It wasn't exactly my idea. An English teacher from Wales I met in England told me that the idiom 'it's raining cats and dogs' was something he had never used or heard in everyday life, but often encountered in handbooks, so this is his opinion rather than mine. Similarly, there exist numerous examples of communication problems resulting from using typically British words in America, etc. Of course, there are loads of Polish words I've never heard, because they are technical, regional or old-fashioned. I'm grateful that someone has provided a counterargument to what I've thought was completely true. > It wasn't exactly my idea. An English teacher from Wales I met in > England told me that the idiom 'it's raining cats and dogs' was > something he had never used or heard in everyday life, but often > encountered in handbooks, so this is his opinion rather than mine. It was an everyday expression when I was a child in the 1960s in the south of England. I have always remembered a short humorous poem that my best friend in junior school wrote when we were about 10 or 11 years old: ---------------------------------------- It's raining cats - meow! It's raining dogs - woof! It's coming down in buckets - clang! One hit me - oof! (copyright 1968, Christopher Tweed) ---------------------------------------- Cheers Tony SignatureTony Mountifield Work: tony@softins.co.uk - http://www.softins.co.uk Play: tony@mountifield.org - http://tony.mountifield.org It wasn't exactly my idea. An English teacher from Wales I met in England told me that the idiom 'it's raining cats and dogs' was something he had never used or heard in everyday life, but often encountered in handbooks, so this is his opinion rather than mine. Similarly, there exist numerous examples of communication problems resulting from using typically British words in America, etc. Of course, there are loads of Polish words I've never heard, because they are technical, regional or old-fashioned. I'm grateful that someone has provided a counterargument to what I've thought was completely true. |
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