Questions tagged [dialects]
This tag is for questions related to mutually intelligible variations within a language.
684 questions
-1
votes
0
answers
45
views
General practice / general medical practice / practice in general medicine
I need to understand the slight or not so slight differences between the three terms practice in general medicine, and general medical practice, and general practice so that I can choose the one that ...
- 45
0
votes
1
answer
182
views
'Were' for third person singular [duplicate]
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt36663021/
Zeke weren't afraid
Compare unstressed wa'n't /wən(t)/: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wadn%27t
Why were for 3rd person singular Zeke?
I had read about ...
- 4,151
0
votes
1
answer
53
views
. . . together with recitals of congratulatory verses and obituary poetry [closed]
From the Oxford University Press printing of Mark Twain’s Life On The Mississippi in the chapter "A Pilot's Needs" I read:
He would be 'so full of laugh' that he could hardly begin; then ...
- 369
5
votes
0
answers
167
views
Usage of 'fortnight' outside of Britain?
My understanding is that fortnight is chiefly used in British English.
I'd be curious to know whether fortnight is also used in any other English-speaking countries besides the United Kingdom.
- 441
7
votes
2
answers
653
views
"Suburb" uncommon stress pattern, regionalism?
I've very occasionally heard "suburb" pronounced with the stress on the second syllable as opposed to the prevailing pronunciation where it falls on the first syllable. This pronunciation is ...
- 804
0
votes
3
answers
293
views
'Coffee': American English pronunciation
According to the Longman Pronunciation Dict., in American English:
57% /ɔː/
6% /ɑː/
37% no distinction.
What does "no distinction made" exactly mean?
Free variation? If so, interspeaker ...
- 4,151
2
votes
1
answer
314
views
Origins and history of "on tomorrow", "on today", "on yesterday" (used as "tomorrow", "today", "yesterday")?
I have been poking around wondering about the colloquial usage of on tomorrow in Southern American English and wondering about its origins. I can find some records of official usage of the phrase in ...
- 29
0
votes
1
answer
208
views
Chaise(s) longues: pronunciation
According to the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary
The plural chaise(s) longues is pronounced identically with the
singular (late-stressed), or sometimes with added /z/.
How is the plural chaise(s) ...
- 4,151
8
votes
2
answers
526
views
Why do New Englanders (specifically, Connecticut people) say the word "bring" and almost never use "take"?
Why do New Englanders (specifically, Connecticut people) say the word bring and never use the word take? I've lived in Connecticut for a long time.
I grew up in the Midwest and Deep South and people ...
- 89
1
vote
1
answer
190
views
Is it rude to tell someone not to call me ‘sir’? [closed]
I'm a 35-year-old Hispanic living in South Texas, and I don't like the term sir because it makes me feel old. Would it be rude of me to tell an older Mexican-American woman the following?
Please don’...
- 19
2
votes
1
answer
164
views
Mustn't: 'impossibility' rather than 'negative obligation'
When expressing alethic modality, must is negated in standard
English as can't/couldn't (as it is for epistemic modality).
However, in some dialect forms, mustn't is used to express
impossibility ...
- 4,151
-1
votes
3
answers
282
views
"Curry English": meaning, register, origin
The term "curry English" is used in this video, and it concerns a certain way of speaking English in the Indian subcontinent. Wikipedia does not mention it. A search in Google Books yields ...
- 25.5k
4
votes
2
answers
255
views
Is there a more widespread term for Estuary English, the British English dialect?
A British English note-giver on a text of mine remarked that she was unaware of the term 'Estuary English'.
It makes me wonder: is 'Estuary English' mainly used by language professionals? If so, would ...
- 165
4
votes
6
answers
818
views
Does “You all” sound too southern?
Multiple people made me dinner tonight. How do I say the following without sounding too country?
Thank y’all for dinner.
(I got made fun of in San Diego for saying y’all and now I'm sensitive). I ...
- 209
6
votes
1
answer
326
views
Is there any implication of drunkenness in "high lonesome" as used in the term "high lonesome sound"?
Wiktionary has the following entry for "high lonesome sound":
high lonesome sound (music) An expressively emotional, powerful and earthy style of musical expression associated mainly with ...
- 174k