a conversation

zhao   Sun Aug 21, 2005 10:03 am GMT
Hi

I heard a conversation between a brother and a sister like this :

Brother: hey sis(ter),I’m not gonna be home for dinner.
Sister : you(‘d) better be home (be)fore mum gets back.
Brother: why? Is she mad of me or something?
Sister : yeah, cause shi forgot to clean your room like you promised.
Brother: man, I ,it totally slipped my mind.will you do it for me?
Sister : in your dreams.

My questions are:

1. are the “ter” in “sister” , “d” in “you’d” and “be” in “before” omitted?
2. “s+you” sounds like “shi” ?
3.i am not sure if the “man “ is spelled right or not.what is the use of it here?

Thank you in advance.
x   Sun Aug 21, 2005 10:54 am GMT
1. No but perhaps faint.
2. Not normally. Show an example of this in a dialogue.
3. Man here means the same as "Oh dear".
Lazar   Sun Aug 21, 2005 6:13 pm GMT
<<1. are the “ter” in “sister” , “d” in “you’d” and “be” in “before” omitted?>>

I have to disagree with X on some of these. People often call their sister "sis", and the "d" in expressions like "I'd better", "we'd better", or "you'd better" is often omitted in casual speech.

As for dropping the "be" in "before", this doesn't happen in American English, but I think it occurs in British English (which is what the brother and sister appear to be speaking).

<<2. “s+you” sounds like “shi” ?>>

No, I don't think it would ever be pronounced as "shi". But in casual speech it may be pronounced as "zha" (in other words, "because you" becomes "becuzha").

<<3.i am not sure if the “man “ is spelled right or not.what is the use of it here?>>

Yes, "man" is spelled right. In the dialog, it is being used as an interjection.
Ekko   Fri Aug 26, 2005 4:53 am GMT
Brother: why? Is she mad <<of>> me or something?

replace "of" with "at"
canaws   Fri Aug 26, 2005 11:21 am GMT
<<As for dropping the "be" in "before", this doesn't happen in American English, but I think it occurs in British English (which is what the brother and sister appear to be speaking). >>

It happens, I do it all the time. I guess it depends on your dialect.
Stefaniel P Spaniel   Fri Aug 26, 2005 1:52 pm GMT
Speakers of British English don't usually say 'mad at' - although these youngsters might have picked up from the TV. Or it could have been 'mad with me.' The "with" can almost sound like "uwth" at times.

So it is more likely to be American English. Anyway, the "for" instead of "before" occurs in some dialects spoken in the US, more often written as " ...'fo.."

"sis" is certainly more likely than "sister" - no one calls their sister "sister"!
Lazar   Fri Aug 26, 2005 8:27 pm GMT
<<It happens, I do it all the time. I guess it depends on your dialect.>>

Oh okay, I wasn't aware of that.

The main reason why I assume that the brother and sister are speaking British English is because they say "mum" rather than "mom".
jilsa   Sat Aug 27, 2005 1:38 am GMT
Roseanne Barr says mawm [aw like non-caught-cot-merged law in NYC]
hamdan   Wed Feb 14, 2007 7:48 pm GMT
I don`t know if that letters is omitted in speaking or in what?
so i hope to understand u