Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to Nikki And Helen. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
What the? That's not what it means here.; what words mean in your country
Topic Started: Apr 24 2007, 05:24 PM (7,353 Views)
Canadabadgirl
Member Avatar
G3 Curtain and Duvet!
Stircrazy
Jun 4 2007, 10:48 PM
aj57
Jun 4 2007, 08:33 PM
Here's a question about numeric dates for anyone from anywhere. 

When you see a date like 06/07/07, do you read that as June 7/07 or July 6/07?

6th July 2007 - one of the countless differences between North American & British English/European usage generally (though, having visited Canada five or six times, I'm aware that Canadian usage often, sometimes surprisingly, since it also thinks that car tyres are "tires", follows that of the, er, dare I say it, "mother country"...)!

* Apologies for gate-crashing this thread, but this time, I just couldn't resist... ;)

I think the "mother country" is a colonial expression coined when "the sun didn't set on the British Empire". For some odd reason, it has fallen out of favor. :p

Standard Canadian English is different from both Standard British English and Standard American English. Canadians have their own identity and consider things, including spelling to be Canadian rather than "American" or "British". The date convention here is dd-mm-yy, but nobody fusses very much if someone reverses day and month if it's unambiguous.

Canadians use the letter "u" in words like "colour" and "favour" and there are several other differences apart from "tyre" between American and Canadian spelling. Standard Canadian English (or so I'm told) allows the choice between "s" and "z" in words like "specialize". I say "so I'm told" because I've stopped switching and contribute to diversity at work by retaining American spelling. The only exception to my principled stand is the word "cheque" which I spell "check" only when I'm south of the border, because to try to stand on principle about the spelling of it in my particular profession would be counterproductive.

Hey, when did this board get spell-check, anyway?

A.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Lisa289
Member Avatar
Welsh Bad Girl
The Muppets!
Canadabadgirl
Jun 5 2007, 02:35 AM

Hey, when did this board get spell-check, anyway?

Is it the board that has spell check? I thought I had spell check because I was using Firefox. I certainly didn't get spell checked when using Internet Explorer.

Oh, and I also read 06/07/07 as being 6th July 2007 :)
Posted Image

I'm Not Just Perfect - I'm Welsh
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
aj57
Member Avatar

The Muppets!
So, it looks like 06/07/07 is thought of as July 6/07 in the UK, Oz, S.A. and, I think, Canada. Does that mean it's June 7th only in the U.S.?

cbg
Quote:
 
Canadians have their own identity and consider things, including spelling to be Canadian rather than "American" or "British". The date convention here is dd-mm-yy, but nobody fusses very much if someone reverses day and month if it's unambiguous.


By "here", I'm assuming you mean Canada. I can imagine a few situations where its ambiguity could be a real pain in the ass - travel for one.

cbg
Quote:
 
Canadians use the letter "u" in words like "colour" and "favour" and there are several other differences apart from "tyre" between American and Canadian spelling. Standard Canadian English (or so I'm told) allows the choice between "s" and "z" in words like "specialize". I say "so I'm told" because I've stopped switching and contribute to diversity at work by retaining American spelling. The only exception to my principled stand is the word "cheque" which I spell "check" only when I'm south of the border, because to try to stand on principle about the spelling of it in my particular profession would be counterproductive.


Just to clarify, the rubber things on wheels of cars is spelled "tire" in Canada - hence Canadian Tire.

CBG, I thought your principle was "when in Rome". Can I ask how you spell favour, etc. when you're in the UK? While Canadians like diversity, I personally wouldn't extend it to Americans (especially ones who know better) not going along with our spelling. :guns

However, I know you work for an organization that considers itself international - RBC fomerly known (but god forbid they should admit it for fear of offending their foreign partners) as the Royal Bank of Canada, so I'm sure they don't mind the Americanization of their spelling.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
microsofty
Member Avatar

The Muppets!
What's the time around the world? In SA we're GMT+2, so at the time of this post it is 6:10PM or 18:10. I've figured out that most of America is 7 hours behind us, so most of the Americans are now in full swing at work whereas I can sit back and relax with my whisky - work all done.

I'm just wondering about this, because every now and then I get a post that was posted at some very odd hours - measured against my local time. Or are there really people who sit and post at 4am in the morning?!
Make a HOTCH in the POTCH...
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
silverballnz
Member Avatar
Hi from the land of the Kiwi.
Hi there microsofty

Im one of those 4am people am a very bad sleeper so come here to chat :D

Time here right now 4.20am

Edit to add...New Zealand here :D
Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
dianelscott
Member Avatar
Detective Diane
The Muppets!
Hi Microsofty:

It's 12:50 PM here in Florida and it's raining. Hi Silverballnz ... it's already tomorrow where you are, hope you can get a little sleep before you start your day.

Diane - Waiting for Simone in South Florida
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Cassandra
Member Avatar

The Muppets!
microsofty
Jun 5 2007, 05:10 PM
What's the time around the world? In SA we're GMT+2, so at the time of this post it is 6:10PM or 18:10.
It is 6:10 PM (or thereabouts) here in rainy Scotland. We also have daylight saving time in summer so are GMT+1 in summer and GMT in winter.

Yes, some people do post at strange hours! :rolleyes: Though I have noticed when some of the Americans quote part of someone else's post, the time of the quote changes to their local time. Either that or they take shortcuts when using quotes!
Posted Image

You can't control destiny ... but YOU can control this storyline ... by writing a para!
HOTCHPOTCH - A Helen & Nikki Story with a difference B) (click to enter)
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
dianelscott
Member Avatar
Detective Diane
The Muppets!
Hi Cassandra:

Rainy for you too today. Of course we're starting to get up in the 90's (degrees) here now which makes for a very humid day with the rain. I'd love to visit your country ... what part are you in?
Diane - Waiting for Simone in South Florida
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
aj57
Member Avatar

The Muppets!
the rain must be universal today. we've had a rainy, windy and cold day today. here in the toronto area it is 3:20 p.m. and i should technically be working...
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Cassandra
Member Avatar

The Muppets!
Hi Diane,

dianelscott
Jun 5 2007, 06:23 PM
we're starting to get up in the 90's (degrees) here now which makes for a very humid day with the rain. I'd love to visit your country ...
Yes, you should visit Scotland. We do get some days when it doesn't rain, honest! Sounds hot in Florida though. Temperature here has dropped this past week to below 15ºC (59ºF?) but should be going back up again in the next few days.

Em ... trying to keep on topic ..... I notice most posters around here seem to use the metric system (e.g. metres, kilograms, litres, ºCelsius etc). Am I right in thinking that the United States is the only country that doesn't use it?
Posted Image

You can't control destiny ... but YOU can control this storyline ... by writing a para!
HOTCHPOTCH - A Helen & Nikki Story with a difference B) (click to enter)
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Canadabadgirl
Member Avatar
G3 Curtain and Duvet!
aj57
Jun 5 2007, 03:32 PM
So, it looks like 06/07/07 is thought of as July 6/07 in the UK, Oz, S.A. and, I think, Canada.  Does that mean it's June 7th only in the U.S.? 

Yes, I'm pretty sure that's the case.

Quote:
 
Just to clarify, the rubber things on wheels of cars is spelled "tire" in Canada - hence Canadian Tire. 


I never pay attention to spelling - it would drive me insane, the amount I travel back and forth, but I thought Stiry (who obsesses about these things *g*) as approving of the Canadian spelling - which would only happen if it was the same as the British spelling. :lol1

Quote:
 


CBG, I thought your principle was "when in Rome".  Can I ask how you spell favour, etc. when you're in the UK?  While Canadians like diversity, I personally wouldn't extend it to Americans (especially ones who know better) not going along with our spelling.  :guns


Sorry, aj, I firmly believe that the purpose of language is communication and taking twice as long to write an email to make sure all each "u" and "z" is correct, just doesn't turn my crank. I don't think books written by Americans or published by American publishers and sold in the Canadian market bother, either - but I honestly don't notice those things. Most of my Canadian clients are Francophone and couldn't care less about how Anglophones spell, so I have not encountered guns at work... yet. The rest of my clients are mainly American firms in NY and Toronto, so I'm safe there!

Quote:
 

However, I  know you work for an organization that considers itself international - RBC fomerly known (but god forbid they should admit it for fear of offending their foreign partners) as the Royal Bank of Canada, so I'm sure they don't mind the Americanization of their spelling.


I hate to interrupt a little RBC-bash, but outside Canada, "Royal Bank" is almost exclusively the name given to the Royal Bank of Scotland. It's to avoid that when operating outside Canada, the brand of "RBC" is being promoted. RBS is probably twice the size of RBC. Heck up to two weeks ago I accidentally told a lady in New York who was making an appointment for me that I was from "Royal Bank" and the guy she worked with called me back because I wasn't his RBS contact and he thought I was new. Cracks me up, but I think it sometimes offends my Canadian colleagues. Then again, they hired me in NYC where nobody had heard of either Royal Bank of Canada or RBC!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
aj57
Member Avatar

The Muppets!
cbg
Quote:
 
I hate to interrupt a little RBC-bash,


Take heart, I also bash the Royal Bank of Scotland. My cousin works there and I made a point of taking the piss out of them when I arrived at the airport in Edinburgh last year and everything was plastered with their logo.

cbg
Quote:
 
It's to avoid that when operating outside Canada, the brand of "RBC" is being promoted.


Accepting that premise for RBC (and I'm not totally convinced), what's BMO's excuse.

If you get the feeling I have less than total respect for banks, you wouldn't be wrong, but I'll get off my soap box now. I'm sure some very nice people work for banks, but it doesn't hurt every once in a while to let them know what an "average" Canadian thinks.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Canadabadgirl
Member Avatar
G3 Curtain and Duvet!
aj57
Jun 6 2007, 02:06 AM


Accepting that premise for RBC (and I'm not totally convinced), what's BMO's excuse.

If you get the feeling I have less than total  respect for banks, you wouldn't be wrong, but I'll get off my soap box now.  I'm sure some very nice people work for banks, but it doesn't hurt every once in a while to let them know what an "average" Canadian thinks.

BMO just doesn't want to be a local bank and other banks like ING and ABN (formerly Algemene Bank Nederland, making it an obviously Dutch bank) were successful at anonymous letter-brands. The Canadians no longer have a big, geographically identifiable bank: Toronto Dominion is TD, the Bank of Nova Scotia is now a vague "Scotia" Bank and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is now "the Commerce" in Canada and CIBC when away from home.

And it's not just the Canadians. Even Chase Manhattan Bank doesn't want to be identified exclusively with Manhattan anymore, they're JP Morgan Chase Bank, or just Chase Bank.

The smaller banks are still out and proud - like Banque Laurentienne/Laurentian Bank.

Hey - and I would never, ever categorize you as "average"...
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
aj57
Member Avatar

The Muppets!
cbg

Quote:
 
BMO just doesn't want to be a local bank and other banks like ING and ABN (formerly Algemene Bank Nederland, making it an obviously Dutch bank) were successful at anonymous letter-brands.


Anonymous letter-brands. How boring. And eventually they'll run out of letters.

cbg

Quote:
 
Toronto Dominion is TD


I thought it was now TD Canada Trust.

So, we'll let you be the staunch defender of banks *ugh* (you do realize that you're part of the establishment!!!) and I'll take the piss occasionally on behalf of the average joe.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Lis
Member Avatar
G3 Curtain and Duvet!
if you have set the forum time to your own timezone then the times shown when other members post are in your time. so when chris (nz) posts at 4am her time, on her post i see 2am because i've set the time here to sydney time (GMT +10).
it's too strong, what we feel and what we need
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · The Comfy Sofa · Next Topic »
Add Reply