Do people actually say this, or is it just used as a joke? It sounds very funny to me, but I've seen it many times in writing.
A "teenaged" boy/girl
ACCORDING to one of my dictios that's how a britain would pronounce the word.
ACCORDING to one of my dictios that's how a britain would pronounce the word.
Chris, I'm American and I probably say something that sounds like "teenage" before "boy" and "girl" because my mouth gets lazy and it's takes some effort to enunciate that consonant cluster. But I'd say "teenaged" if I were talking about an elephant, for example. And I write "teenaged". But you should know that I'm a relic of another era.
It possibly sounds a bit unusual, but UK news readers may possibly use it in a sentence like "Police are searching for a teenaged boy". I think most would just say "teenage" tho'. We do tend to add "ed" to the end of words more than the US e.g. "barbed wire" rather than "barb wire" and "mashed potato" rather than "mash potato", although you would always just ask for "mash".
It just means that the person has reached a certain stage in life. That's how we used the adjective and verb "aged".
It's easier to say "teenage" boy or girl...rolls off the tongue easier than with a "d" tagged on to the end. It may be more grammatically correct to say "teenaged", because when it comes to old people the word" aged" is used. "Aged people have problems with mobility" sounds right but "age people" sounds ridiculous.
<<We do tend to add "ed" to the end of words more than the US e.g. "barbed wire" rather than "barb wire" and "mashed potato" rather than "mash potato", although you would always just ask for "mash".>>
Hmm...well I at least have always called it "barbed wire" and "mashed potatoes."
Hmm...well I at least have always called it "barbed wire" and "mashed potatoes."
Teenaged is more formal. It takes longer to pronounce, though, and so many people just shorten it to teenage.
Two things about "teenage boy/girl":
1. Damian is right. English, like many languages, has a natural tendency to smooth over stops in the flow of speech. That's the reason "don't know" often becomes "dunno" or "kind of" becomes "kinda." It's also quite common for "-(e)d" to drop out of words where it interrupts the flow e.g., "mashed potato/mash potato" and "corned beef/corn beef."*
2. I don't know about the idea of each word being an ideograph, but English, like other Germanic languages, also has the facility of turning many nouns directly into adjectives without any inflection or without recourse to an adjectival form e.g. "world peace," "wool sock" or - "teenage girl."
* In some AE dialects, the "n" in "corn beef" is so influenced by the "b" which follows it that it comes out "corm beef."
1. Damian is right. English, like many languages, has a natural tendency to smooth over stops in the flow of speech. That's the reason "don't know" often becomes "dunno" or "kind of" becomes "kinda." It's also quite common for "-(e)d" to drop out of words where it interrupts the flow e.g., "mashed potato/mash potato" and "corned beef/corn beef."*
2. I don't know about the idea of each word being an ideograph, but English, like other Germanic languages, also has the facility of turning many nouns directly into adjectives without any inflection or without recourse to an adjectival form e.g. "world peace," "wool sock" or - "teenage girl."
* In some AE dialects, the "n" in "corn beef" is so influenced by the "b" which follows it that it comes out "corm beef."
All of us say "dunno" "gotta" and "wanna" in everyday speech whatever your local accent or dialect, more or less...it just comes naturally and speaking in a precise way sounds a wee bit pompous and stuffy. Listen carefully to London style English English RP BBC Radio 4, or even Radio 3, when the guys down there are having a discussion, the "dunnos" and "wannas" are not unknown. The general tenor of the chats may sound a wee bit "English English posh" but that doesn't preclude the use of these "normal" colloquialisms when the speakers are absorbed in their topics.
Except informally in net forums, nobody spells the words this way in writing.
I've never seen "corn beef" as such......the stuff in the shops here is always "corned beef". Quick recipe: tin of corned beef chopped into 1cm cubes, potatoes cut into similar sized cubes, chopped mushrooms, chopped tomatoes de-seeded (remove skins beforehand by blanching if desired), all mixed with a wee bit of Worcestershire sauce and some Dijon mustard and then saute-ed in a little olive oil and a little butter in a large pan with some thyme chucked in during the cooking process. When potates have a light brown colour.....that's it. Bon appetit.
Except informally in net forums, nobody spells the words this way in writing.
I've never seen "corn beef" as such......the stuff in the shops here is always "corned beef". Quick recipe: tin of corned beef chopped into 1cm cubes, potatoes cut into similar sized cubes, chopped mushrooms, chopped tomatoes de-seeded (remove skins beforehand by blanching if desired), all mixed with a wee bit of Worcestershire sauce and some Dijon mustard and then saute-ed in a little olive oil and a little butter in a large pan with some thyme chucked in during the cooking process. When potates have a light brown colour.....that's it. Bon appetit.
<We do tend to add "ed" to the end of words more than the US e.g. "barbed wire" rather than "barb wire" and "mashed potato" rather than "mash potato", although you would always just ask for "mash".>
<<Hmm...well I at least have always called it "barbed wire" and "mashed potatoes.">>
As far as I remember the Pamela Anderson film was called Barb Wire- I think that might have been a play on a name tho'!! Good all-round actress......LOL.
<<Hmm...well I at least have always called it "barbed wire" and "mashed potatoes.">>
As far as I remember the Pamela Anderson film was called Barb Wire- I think that might have been a play on a name tho'!! Good all-round actress......LOL.
<<We do tend to add "ed" to the end of words more than the US e.g. "barbed wire" rather than "barb wire" and "mashed potato" rather than "mash potato", although you would always just ask for "mash".>>
I'm from the US and, like Kirk, I also say "barbed wire" and "mashed potatoes". I also say "corned beef".
I'm from the US and, like Kirk, I also say "barbed wire" and "mashed potatoes". I also say "corned beef".
Do you say "middle-age man" or "middle-aged man"? If the latter, then why not "teenaged boy"?