Why do yanks compare American southern accent to English
So picking up an adder and cuddling it would render you immune from a bite then? I'm pretty sure I'd bite, too, if I was trodden on.
Some years ago, on the Pentland Hills I mentioned, an American tourist got bitten on the hand after he had sat down on this grassy mound, leaned back and put his hand smack down on a slumbering adder in the undergrowth. Less than half an hour later he was deposited by air ambulance at the nearest A & E Department with an arm which had swelled up to ballon size.
Anyway, this lovely spaniel dog down in Suffolk looks happy enough now after being bitten on the snout by an adder and followed by immediate treatment by a vet.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/8210304.stm
Adders don't bite. They add.
That's alright for you then - you can caress an adder with gay abandon....treat one as your pet and you can chuck your calculator into the recycling bin.
Actually that couple with the dog came from Suffolk but they were on holiday in Devon when the snake struck....adders are often found sunning themselves on the sandy coastal pathways of Southern England, including the one at Bigbury-on-Sea, in Devon as featured in the above clip. The heathlands of Dorset and Hampshire, and the Gower Peninsula in South Wales are also well known for the frequency of adder sightings in those areas, as is our own Pentland Hills just outside this city and the Wyre Forest in Worcestershire, in the SW Midlands of England. The longest adder ever officially recorded was one found at Pontrilas, in Herefordshire -which adjoins Worcestershire - it measured about 100cms in length...it's bite was probably worse than its hiss.
Apparently it's quite a sight to see two adders performing their interlocking mating ritual but surely it would be an intrusive invasion of privacy to stand and watch....they both might strike onlookers in angry retaliation.
<So picking up an adder and cuddling it would render you immune from a bite then? >
Adders are likely to bite if handled. However, few people handle adders. Most adder bites occur when adders are trodden on.
It's cute that you guys still use tread and trodden. I don't think we've used either one since we traded in that Revolution-era flag for the stars and stripes. Which did involve a snake and a warning....
http://sleevage.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/500px-gadsden_flag.gif
Now we just step on things, and mostly use tread as a noun to describe the surface of our tires (sorry, no Y).
^Uriel, they chuckle at us for using "gotten", which is presumably an archaic word in Old Blighty.
So, will our American friends put us UK types right here, please......
I said that I would follow the adder's behaviour and bite if I was trodden on.....
I was trodden on.....how would you guys say it then? Trod upon? Soonest mended, soonest forgotten.....the adder bit me and now I've got(ten) quite ill....strange, gotten sounds so archaic but trodden doesn't, and neither does forgotten.
Actually, snakes give me the creeps and I know it's unjustified as the vast majority of snake species only strike as a very last resort and attempt to get away from any human threat as fast as they can. In spite of this unwarranted negative attitude of mine towards snakes and other slithery creatures I was truly sickened by a TV program in which showed people chopping off the heads of live rattlesnakes, one after the other, in some kind of "rattler roundup" in Sweetwater, Texas, USA. It really made me wish that some of those poor snakes stuck their deadly fangs into the hands of those inhuman people before they could use their choppers on them. Yuk.
It was an old film I think so maybe that kind of thing doesn't happen any more over there. I sincerely hope not. You know - I have to admit that there are times when I feel far more respect for the animal kingdom than I do for homo (not always so) sapiens.......in fact, I quite often do.
Damian, an American would probably just use the phrase "stepped upon", or, less formally, "stepped on".
I rather like the word "trodden", though, because it reminds me of the era of quill pens, but for some reason that word has become archaic over here, as has the word "gotten" in the UK.
Concerning the statements about rattlesnakes, it must be remembered that I live in the desert, which is a-swarm with rattlesnakes. There is a real risk of loss of life if the danger is underappreciated. So from that point of view, I can't be objective on the matter.
<<I was trodden on.....how would you guys say it then? Trod upon?>>
Nope, just stepped on. We don't use any form of "tread" as a verb much any more.
And rattlesnake roundups are very much still in existence, although I also find them repugnant. I also live in the desert and see rattlesnakes every year, but I believe in live and let live. Besides, I saw tons of snake bites when I was a vet tech and most of the animals survived.
tread lightly
tread the boards (= perform on stage)
treading water
the downtrodden
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread
Don't tread on his toes (= Don't offend him)
to tread a narrow line (or path) between two things
The birdwatcher might see a male robin treading the female (copulating with her)
--all still used in America, and not infrequently at all
Oh yes, and -
treading on thin ice
treading on hallowed ground
Quintus, I think you've been reading too many books.
Quintus, to go into further detail, the examples you've given reflect idioms that are more likely to be encountered in a literary setting.
In casual conversation, the word "tread", and its derivatives, are seldom used by Americans.
What do you mean it's not used? Sure, "stepped on" may be a lot more common, but I doubt there is anyone in America who doesn't know the word "tread".