Silly questions and queries from the UK
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Neesy
#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
We just call them Sassenachs
Neesy
#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
DarkKrystl: * Gesundheit. 
And most people in Britain/England never did speak the language too gracefully. RP (Received Pronunciation) is artificial, and as much as accent as any local one - though of course locally you have dialects to deal with too. E.g. my uncle's parents in Leeds would use 'while' instead of 'until', as in "I'm off t't pub. I'll be back while one [o'clock]". Where I live, the local way of saying "You are" can sound like 'yow'm' - a contraction of yow (you) + am (are). E.g. "Yow'm mental!" (though older/more broadly spoken types would render that as "Yow'm saft!" (where saft = 'soft').
It's worth bearing in mind, though, that regional accents are losing much of their distinctiveness, and in some cases are coming to pass out of use altogether in favour of an affected accent based upon the south-east London patois that developed largely within the black community, but which came to be seen as desirable by white kids everywhere...so you can bet that the originators in London wouldn't be caught dead speaking the patois by now.
Neesy: 'Sassenach' is usually used as an insult by our chilly neighbours to the north - as you probably (or should) know very well! (But it's OK. I forgive you.
)
And most people in Britain/England never did speak the language too gracefully. RP (Received Pronunciation) is artificial, and as much as accent as any local one - though of course locally you have dialects to deal with too. E.g. my uncle's parents in Leeds would use 'while' instead of 'until', as in "I'm off t't pub. I'll be back while one [o'clock]". Where I live, the local way of saying "You are" can sound like 'yow'm' - a contraction of yow (you) + am (are). E.g. "Yow'm mental!" (though older/more broadly spoken types would render that as "Yow'm saft!" (where saft = 'soft').
It's worth bearing in mind, though, that regional accents are losing much of their distinctiveness, and in some cases are coming to pass out of use altogether in favour of an affected accent based upon the south-east London patois that developed largely within the black community, but which came to be seen as desirable by white kids everywhere...so you can bet that the originators in London wouldn't be caught dead speaking the patois by now.
Neesy: 'Sassenach' is usually used as an insult by our chilly neighbours to the north - as you probably (or should) know very well! (But it's OK. I forgive you.
)
DarkKrystl: * Gesundheit.
And most people in Britain/England never did speak the language too gracefully. RP (Received Pronunciation) is artificial, and as much as accent as any local one - though of course locally you have dialects to deal with too. E.g. my uncle's parents in Leeds would use 'while' instead of 'until', as in "I'm off t't pub. I'll be back while one [o'clock]". Where I live, the local way of saying "You are" can sound like 'yow'm' - a contraction of yow (you) + am (are). E.g. "Yow'm mental!" (though older/more broadly spoken types would render that as "Yow'm saft!" (where saft = 'soft').
It's worth bearing in mind, though, that regional accents are losing much of their distinctiveness, and in some cases are coming to pass out of use altogether in favour of an affected accent based upon the south-east London patois that developed largely within the black community, but which came to be seen as desirable by white kids everywhere...so you can bet that the originators in London wouldn't be caught dead speaking the patois by now.
Neesy: 'Sassenach' is usually used as an insult by our chilly neighbours to the north - as you probably (or should) know very well! (But it's OK. I forgive you.
Oh lordy, you reminded me of growing up in Doyle, CA. I have no idea what the "name" for our dialect was, or even how rare it is, but I've noticed no one in the city talks like we did. Not unless they're ranchers and countrymen themselves. For example; we never said 'barbed' wire. It was always 'bobwire'. We couldn't be troubled to say 'coyote'. We preferred to say 'kiyote'. A horned toad was always 'horntoad'. Hey was usually pronounced without the H, somehow, and yet hay was just that--hay. A truck was always a pickup, and 'gun' could refer to anything from a BB gun to an AK47. And out there, when a stranger driving past tips their finger to you, you tip yours back in return. It's simple country courtesy. Here in the city, if someone tips a finger at you, it's apt to be the one no one likes to see.
The real kicker? Reno and Doyle are exactly one hour away from each other. You'd think they were on different planets, from the way people act.
This just caught my fancy in the newspaper and I was oddly excited about it (it doesn't take much as you get older.) Anyway we are gettting our first colour coin which will be a must for Beatrix Potter fans and I was wondering if anyone else was aware of any otehr countries with colour coins or is this a first?
Oh and OK I know it's not terribly coloured, but there's a bit there.
Oh and OK I know it's not terribly coloured, but there's a bit there.
Australia does:
Wow they are pretty impressive - they make poor old Peter Rabbit look a bit dull. I would imagine they make the coins more difficult to forge as well?
It sounds like Western country dialect to me. The ranchers and farmers out here talk like that - except more precisely, it's "bobwahr."
It's been so many years since I lived that life, I honestly can't remember now if the pronunciation was 'wire' or 'wahr'. How sad is that? 
I watch Coronation Street and am always amazed at the idioms and sayings I get to hear. My favourite is a put down..."You bleedin' toe rag!".
When I first moved to WA I went grocery shopping with my sister who is a dyed in the wool proud Yankee, with perfect diction. I asked her if she needed any olv ol.It's been so many years since I lived that life, I honestly can't remember now if the pronunciation was 'wire' or 'wahr'. How sad is that?
She looked at me like I was nuts. I asked her why she was looking at me like that. She said she had no idea what olv ol was. I looked at her like she was nuts. I said, olv ol, olv ol! Then we both cracked up when when we realized I was saying Olive Oil in Texan.
Reminds me of myself; whenever I say 'Tahoe', as in Lake Tahoe, people always think I'm saying taco.
So I am midway through Rose Madder and (not sure if I should put this in a spoiler so I have to be safe)
Rose and Bill are having their picnic and have been discussing the foxes and their risk of getting rabies. Is rabies a big issue with wildlife etc in the U.S. ? We are pretty paranoid about it in the UK. Rabies was eradicated from the UK in the 1920 and it has been relatively easy to keep it out being an island. We have strict rules on the importation of animal (in fact you dog couldn't travel to France or the continent with you until very recently, they can now but need to be chipped with a dog passport and examined by a vet before you return.) We also have strict quarentine laws for animals travelling to the UK. Certainly I remember (and they may well still exist) lots of posters around ports etc warning of the dangers of smuggling animals into the country etc. So if the U.S. does have rabies in its wildlife but it doesn't cause huge problems with domestic pets or people dying of it, whilst we are obviously better off without it are we being a bit excessively paranoid?
....reminds me of Maine when we ran to Wal-Mart, we had us a coupla "lost in translation" moments there as well.....
Reminds me of myself; whenever I say 'Tahoe', as in Lake Tahoe, people always think I'm saying taco.
....not so much paranoid as it was following the little back-story detail....been a minute since one of my re-reads, but I think something had been mentioned about an "outbreak" or some such during the storyline, also a nice tie-in to Cujo...as far as the States, we have our ups and downs when it comes to rabies...some years are worse than others, but no epidemics of late that I'm aware of....our screening process for imported animals is supposed to be stringent as well, quarantine's the same...autopsy of suspected animals is also conducted-especially if someone was bitten, so that medicine can be provided to the victim....here-bats, raccoons, groundhogs, skunks-all seem to be the most prominent of rabies carriers....
Whisper it, but there've been rumours of a couple of cases of (suspected or actual) rabies in Kent. And a bat found dead at the UK end of the Channel Tunnel was supposed to have tested positive. Thankfully the little bugger got hit by a train, though (or so they said).