I've never heard "confirmed bachelor" to mean "homosexual." But I can see how that meaning could evolve. Whenever a person, man or woman, remains single, others wonder why, and tongues begin to waggle. It's not hard to imagine that a man who remains unmarried -- a bachelor -- might possibly be gay, and one who is a "confirmed bachelor" most certainly is. All hogwash, of course.

I remember "bachelorette" used on "The Dating Game" in the 1970s, but I can't recall hearing it elsewhere.

Apparently a "bachelor" at one time was a novice knight.

Tinman

Bachelor does not have the connotation of gayness for me. This reminded me of a sample question in a semantics class I took many years ago: "Is the Pope a bachelor?"

[Edited typo.]

This message has been edited. Last edited by: zmježd,

quote:

Originally posted by zmjezhd:
Bachelor does nothave the connotation of gayness for me. This reminded me of a sample question in a semantics class I took many years ago: "Is the Pope a bachelor?"

The term "bachelor" often conjures up two conflicting images over here. One is a young man who's totally irresponsible and sows acres of wild oats whenever he gets the chance and the other is an ineffectual middle-aged or elderly man in a shapeless cardigan and drab trousers who seems to make it his life's work to complain about everything very loudly and at great length. I've never heard it in the context of gayness though.

At least it's not as bad as "spinster" . That evokes pictures of a dried-up middle-aged or elderly schoolmarm - again in drab shapeless clothes - who prissily disapproves of everything.

That's why I call myself Ms. I'm divorced and I changed my name so I'm no longer a Mrs, and Miss always makes me think of a little girl or the aforementioned spinster.

According to Bierma, Americans & French differ with their sayings about incomprehensible language. While the Americans say, "It's Greek to me," the French say "C'est du chinois" -- meaning, "It's Chinese."

What do the English say?

quote:

What do the English say?

Double-Dutch

And Germans, Rotwelsch, which is not a red welsh but a kind of criminal argot.

[Fixed typos.]

This message has been edited. Last edited by: zmježd,

Double Dutch? What does that mean? I can understand Greek or Chinese, but not that.

Would the Engish say "It's Greek" or "It's Chinese"?

Zmj, we really don't mind about edits on this board, which I know is different from other boards that get all paranoid about them.

quote:

Originally posted by Kalleh:
Double Dutch? What does that mean? I can understand Greek or Chinese, but not that.

Would the Engish say "It's Greek" or "It's Chinese"?

Zmj, we really don't mind about edits on this board, which I know is different from other boards that get all paranoid about them.

The phrase "Double Dutch" dates back to historical times when we in Britain (more specifically in England) were at war with the Dutch on and off for about 150 years or so around the late 15th - mid 18th centuries. It's used to denote speech or writing that seems like meaningless gibberish.

We also say "it's all Greek to me" to mean the same thing.

I know, Kalleh. It's just easier for me to mark all my edits, so I don't forget on other boards.

The only way I've heard the term "double dutch" used is as a type of jump-rope. It's got two ropes - very complicated, and very cool to watch. Here is an interesting article I found about some adult jumpers.

LOL, Friends is on 11 times a week (I counted) in the UK- so we're pretty familiar...
And wee to mean little is from the Scottish, surely? xx

quote:

Friends is on 11 times a week (I counted) in the UK

More often than that! Thirteen episodes a week are shown on E4 and there are eleven scheduled for Ch4 in the coming week!

Yes, CW, I knew I'd heard of double Dutch somewhere! Speaking of double Dutch, Shu and I were at a restaurant today, and I heard 2 cute little girls say, "Let's play jump the coat!" Sure enough, they took their coats by the sleeves (much to their father's consternation!) and began jumping their coats. How fun! As Shu and I said, kids don't need expensive toys. It is often the big box or mom's old purse, etc., that will be their favorite toys!

There was a point when the Chicago Fox affiliate was showing Simpsons 16 times a week, but Friends must be on at least that much now, being spread out over several different networks.

Actually, in my area "Friends" has decreased in frequency, being replaced by a program I dislike, "Sex in the City."

Yes we get both of these. I have never watched either of them.

Ooh - I like "Sex in the City"!

quote:

Ooh - I like "Sex in the City"!

I like it anywhere

I'm a huge consumer of american TV, although I've not got into Lost yet...

I was thinking of terrestrial TV Arnie- no digital or Sky here...

quote:

I like it anywhere

Richard, from knowing you for 3 years now, I think I can safely predict that you would not enjoy the TV show "Sex in the City."

CW, I can understand your enjoying it, as some of the episodes are good. However, after awhile, I find that the espisodes all have the same plot. Each to his/her own. I know that many people dislike "Friends," which I find hilarious.

quote:

I think I can safely predict that you would not enjoy the TV show "Sex in the City."

It wasn't the TV show I was referring to

Richard, I'm laughing until tears come at, "I like it anywhere."

Moving from bedroom humour to bathroom humour, Cat has said elsewhere, "Yes - the queues are never for the mirror, they're always for the cubicles."

We call them stalls. Do you in the UK call them [i]cubicles,[i] or was Cat exercising poetic license for the sake of her pun?

We usually call them cubicles over here. I'm not sure though whether that just applies to female toilets and whether the ones in men's are usually called stalls. There's been a lot of crossover between US and UK English over the past few years and the terms may now be interchangeable.

Stalls are generally used by racehorses over here.

Richard sent me this in an email when I had asked if he'd heard from someone:

"Not a dicky bird as yet."

Is that a British saying, or have I just not heard it before?

It's certainly fairly common over here. Basically it meaning 'nothing'.

A Dictionary of Slang

quote:

dicky-bird
Noun. Rhyming slang for word. Usually heard in a negative sense. E.g."We've not heard a dicky-bird from Andy since he moved."

Tinman

But, Tinman, do you hear that here in the U.S.? I sure don't.

No, not in that sense. The dictionary I quoted is a dictionary of U.K. slang. I think I've heard the word dicky-bird before, used with the U.S.A meaning of small bird. I don't remember where or when or, for sure, if I heard it. I may be confusing it with a Homer and Jethro song, Listen to the Goony-Bird.

Tinman

Sorry to be pedantic (but we all are here! )
but it's Sex AND the City...(not in)

xxx

...I don't remember where or when or, for sure, if I heard it.


Ever been to a performance of The Mikado?

'On a tree by a river a little tom-tit
Sang "Willow, titwillow, titwillow"
And I said to him, "Dicky-bird, why do you sit
Singing 'Willow, titwillow, titwillow'"?
"Is it weakness of intellect, birdie?" I cried,
"Or a rather tough worm in your little inside?"
With a shake of his poor little head, he replied
"Oh, willow, titwillow, titwillow!"... '

I've got a Muppet Show LP with Sam the Eagle and Rowlf attempting to do Tit Willow. It's the first time I ever heard it, and it's still my favourite rendition .

quote:

Sex AND the City

Yes, I know. Sorry!

I've not only BEEN to a performance of the Mikado, I've also been IN one !

I like Gilbert and Sullivan's operettas. Silly plots, but great fun all round .

quote:

Originally posted by Dianthus:
I like Gilbert and Sullivan's operettas. Silly plots, but great fun all round .

ditto! have only seen Iolanthe, but would like to see more xx

I haven't been in Iolanthe . However, I have been in The Pirates of Penzance, Trial By Jury, HMS Pinafore (I had a minor part as Cousin Hebe) and The Mikado.

you must be quite the singer, I'm impressed!

one day, Iolanthe... xx

quote:

Originally posted by hepburn26:
you must be quite the singer, I'm impressed!

one day, Iolanthe... xx

Blush ! I love singing and I've got a lot of things lined up in the next few weeks. Unfortunately, I've had a stinking cold for the past three weeks - accompanied by a hacking cough - and Christmas is the busiest time of year . Being a singer, even an amateur, is not a good idea in the UK in the winter. I want to win the Lottery and spend all winter in somewhere like Australia or South Africa where it's summer at this time of year.

There are several of us on this board who love G&S. In fact, some of my favorite Wordcrafter themes include this one and this one and this one.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kalleh,

Shu received an e-mail from an Englishman who is quite articulate...he wrote "ok" and not "OK," as we in the U.S. would write. Is that another UK/US difference? Actually, I'd probably write "okay."

quote:

Originally posted by Kalleh:
e-mail

No rules count if you are writing an e-mail surely.

Given that...do you mean that normally the English would write "OK," as Americans would?

I'd certainly normally write OK rather than ok. I do sometimes see "okay".

Same as Bob...

I've seen OK, ok, and okay all used. I can't say I've ever noticed the country of the writer. I'd guess it's a matter of personal preference.

Okay, then. In the US it is usually "OK" or "okay," not "ok."

I write OK, ok, usually not okay (it's more keystrokes, afterall) . . . and I never write e-mail . . . it's email for me.

As always, I will follow what Knuth decides. Check out the bottom of http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/email.html

Oh...what do those Stanfordians know anyway? I tend to stick with the East coast Ivy Leaguers.

Seriously, our company style guide says we must write e-mail, but I have finally thrown that rule out. It's just too hard to reach all the way up to those number keys and hit the dash sign. My fingers are just too short!

Ours is to write E-mail.

However, in messages, I often find I've written something like

Thank you for your E-mail.
... I'll send you another email when I have some more news.

Now that email has beome a word, I suspect that its hyphen will go the way of the hyphens, and apostrophes of omission, in so many words.

Role-play versus roleplay; 'phone versus phone and so on.

I even wonder whether the "e" in email will eventually disappear and "mail" will simply mean email, and other types of mail will be specified.