Wrongo-bongo!!!!!!
"Woman" comes from Old English Wífman meaning female person. "Man" was originally neuter (cf. German mensch) and the word for a guy/bloke was "Were".
The "wo" in woman certainly does not come from Greek or Latin. Who thought that one up?
woman - from Old English compound wif-man(n), "wife-person," female (as opposed to wæpen-man(n), "weapon-person," male, with clear sexual overtones).
Womyn? That is the most stupid or naive thing I have ever heard of...
do wah ditty ditty dum ditty do. a-hem.
what does spotted dick mean?
It is a pudding you eat (usually had in Britain).
Oh yeah, some Americans do not know that "pudding" is not that chocolate or vanilla "goo" you can get in little cups at the store. Pudding in Britain is more like a cake-type thing (usually rather delicious!).
"Pudding in Britain is more like a cake-type thing "
British "pudding" doesn't necessarily have to be cake-like. They can be sausages, breaded pastries, or dishes filled with dates, raisins, currants, flour, nuts, almonds, suet, and minced meat. For instance, blood pudding, Yorkshire pudding, steak and kidney pudding, etc. Historically, puddings were made from anything left over (scraps) so that nothing was ever wasted.
But you're right. These aren't the kind of puddings most Americans are accustomed to, unless you're from the South.
to Eastie
So basically is Pudding referred to the "from" of all the stuffs you mentioned above ?
THere is a kind of pastry called 'pudding' you can buy in bakeries in France. It's like a cake made up different engredient and dried fruits.
Where do I start, well firstly the misconception that all the English speak like Hugh Grant or as if we have all been educated at Oxford is right out, the english accent portrayed to you in the U.S is known as the Queen's English, it is used for these reasons 1. it is well anunciated 2. It is the dialect of english as used in the 'home counties' (the counties that surround london, surrey, hampshire, the richest and most powerful parts of england etc) the true London or 'Cockney' accent is very distinct and considered to be of a 'lower class'. Other regional dialects are very strong indeed and as different from the queens english as 'American English' (term invented by americans) is. the dialects we have are many and varied here are some.
Liverpool - Liverpudlian, scouser (irish influence)
Newcastle - Jordie - wy aye man! - fog on the tyne is allla mine alla mine!
Midlands/birmingham - brummie
Yorkshire - coal mining
Cornish + West Country - I cant read nor write, but i can drive a tractor'
London/Kent/Home counties - 'Landan tan - awight geeza etc
of course Scottish and Welsh have distinct accents (richard burton - scottie from starship Enterprise)
your next step is to get out the atlas lol
Gob bless all
That little tidbit was interesting. I've only been around those from London, so haven't really heard too much of the other accents. The ovious Irish background is there, understanding the presence of the Celts in those areas. I'm an american too but I don't really mind the "nasally" voices really, so no worries.
http://www.peak.org/~jeremy/dictionary/figures/dialectsUK.gif
This purports to be a British dialect map. It is in fact an English (i.e. of England) dialect map. Britain is largely confined DE FACTO to England, mainly because of separatism and devolution in other areas. However, DE JURE Britain is the whole United Kingdom. Anyway it's really just a made up word with no strict legal/dicitonary definition. I prefer England when talking about... er, England OR United Kingdom talking about the whole country occupying 1 and a bit islands off the NW coast of the European mainland.
American English is relaxed we won't even need to move our mouths alot while English English is pleasant but it is tiring I guess.....
English English is not so tiring if you're used to it. Many languages, including German and Russian, are far more tiring, though I presume that their speakers would also say that they are accustomed to moving their mouths.
