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Why are the British confused about us calling bread rolls “biscuits” when they call bread rolls “puddings”?
They might be as confused as to why you keep calling pudding “biscuits”. Step out of your own cultural context for a minute. You do not own English, and there is no reason that the way it is used elsewhere should be understandable to you, or vice versa. If anyone had rights to the language, for thatRead more
They might be as confused as to why you keep calling pudding “biscuits”.
Step out of your own cultural context for a minute. You do not own English, and there is no reason that the way it is used elsewhere should be understandable to you, or vice versa. If anyone had rights to the language, for that matter, it sort of makes sense that it would be English people, right?
But that doesn’t really matter. English is the first language of millions of people around the globe, and the second language of maybe billions. Not only each disparate group out there using it, but actually each person within each group uses it differently. This is the nature of language–it is dynamic. It grows, evolves, regionalizes, incorporates words from other languages, and changes to meet unique cultural context.
It is not the role of English people to account to you for their use and understanding of their own language.
See lessWhy are the British confused about us calling bread rolls “biscuits” when they call bread rolls “puddings”?
I have never heard a British person EVER call a bread roll a `pudding`. We DO have arguments….mostly of a regional nature. I`ve heard bread rolls called both baps and barmcakes, for instance. But never, ever, a `pudding`. You are misinformed. Or perhaps you are confusing the term with something elseRead more
I have never heard a British person EVER call a bread roll a `pudding`.
We DO have arguments….mostly of a regional nature. I`ve heard bread rolls called both baps and barmcakes, for instance. But never, ever, a `pudding`. You are misinformed.
Or perhaps you are confusing the term with something else…dessert, afters, or whatever you call the sweet course in the US.
I have many times had a nice scone for pudding. `Pudding `being a common ( if now dated) term used for the second course. It is not the name of the confectionary itself, though, but an indication that it follows the main, usually savoury, course.
See lessWhy are the British confused about us calling bread rolls “biscuits” when they call bread rolls “puddings”?
We aren’t, and we don’t. You are misinformed. In Britain, the word ‘biscuit’ means a hard baked cookie, like a graham cracker. Since this is the normal use of this word in the UK, we don’t automatically think of the plain scone-type baked goods for which Americans use the word ‘biscuit’. US EnglishRead more
We aren’t, and we don’t. You are misinformed.
In Britain, the word ‘biscuit’ means a hard baked cookie, like a graham cracker. Since this is the normal use of this word in the UK, we don’t automatically think of the plain scone-type baked goods for which Americans use the word ‘biscuit’. US English is a different dialect of English, and there are many words which have different meanings from U.K. English (jumper, braces, suspenders, tap etc.)
What on earth makes you think we call bread rolls ‘puddings’? In the U.K., pudding is any dessert, not just the blancmange-stuff which Americans use that word for. It is correct in the U.K. to say “I’m having apple pie for pudding.”.
See lessHow do native speakers tell I’m foreign based on my English alone?
Because non-native speakers use English differently as compared to native speakers. It’s… it’s as simple as that. I can also usually tell within the first few moments of talking to somebody on the internet whether they are from a native English-speaking country or not. They’ll use slightly differentRead more
Because non-native speakers use English differently as compared to native speakers. It’s… it’s as simple as that.
I can also usually tell within the first few moments of talking to somebody on the internet whether they are from a native English-speaking country or not. They’ll use slightly different phrasing. Use of idioms is also a dead giveaway.
I dunno. It’s usually patently obvious. This doesn’t make a non-native English speaker’s English bad by any stretch; just different.
I can also generally tell where native English speakers are from as well, at least in a general sense. Canadians tend to sound like Americans (even in writing) but spell more like the Brits. British persons obviously use British English and will use British colloquiums and the word ‘whilst’ often will pop up. Australians lean heavy on the word ‘mate’ a lot of the time. Americans use American spellings and sound like Americans.
And so on.
See lessIs this statement, “i see him last night” can be understood as “I saw him last night”?
You are correct that both are understandable. The only other possible everyday meaning I could think of would be ‘I see him [in my mind’s eye] last night’; that is, I am, at this very moment, imagining him last night. But it should almost always be clear from context which one is intended. ‘Correct’Read more
You are correct that both are understandable.
The only other possible everyday meaning I could think of would be ‘I see him [in my mind’s eye] last night’; that is, I am, at this very moment, imagining him last night. But it should almost always be clear from context which one is intended.
‘Correct’ doesn’t mean ‘understandable’, though. If I say ‘Me want have fooding’ it’s pretty clear what to understand from that, but it’s not anywhere near correct Standard English grammar. If you lived somewhere where you spoke a dialect of English in which this was acceptable grammar, however, then it would be correct for that dialect.
See lessIs this statement, “i see him last night” can be understood as “I saw him last night”?
No, ‘I see him last night’ is always incorrect and will be only just barely understandable. It is a very serious and basic error, and it will be tiring for a native speaker to converse with someone who speaks like this, because they will constantly have to be remembering what the person really meansRead more
No, ‘I see him last night’ is always incorrect and will be only just barely understandable. It is a very serious and basic error, and it will be tiring for a native speaker to converse with someone who speaks like this, because they will constantly have to be remembering what the person really means. It will not be ‘immediately obvious without thinking about it’.
Someone just asked this question recently, and I replied, saying that ‘I see him last night’ is never correct. That is exactly what i meant.
See lessGoogle Analytics reads like a seismic chart lately
My clients have seen big changes the last couple of weeks, but all for the good thankfully. The “Fred” update was a biggie and it looks like some websites that have massive ads with little quality content got hit hard. I saw one post where their traffic plummeted 95% and they are virtually invisibleRead more
My clients have seen big changes the last couple of weeks, but all for the good thankfully. The “Fred” update was a biggie and it looks like some websites that have massive ads with little quality content got hit hard. I saw one post where their traffic plummeted 95% and they are virtually invisible in search now……it is times like these I am thrilled I only do white-hat work….sometimes I scratch my head and am tempted when I see competitors outrank me with crappy sites with no backlinks…but I have hope their day will come! ?
See lessWhat is a nice way to end an interview that is clearly going badly?
You then have the option to elaborate if you feel so inclined and/or if the now-former candidate asks either with the literal truth or something generic like “I just don’t think it’s a good fit.” I actually had someone do that to me in a face-to-face and that’s how they worded it. It was supposed toRead more
You then have the option to elaborate if you feel so inclined and/or if the now-former candidate asks either with the literal truth or something generic like “I just don’t think it’s a good fit.”
I actually had someone do that to me in a face-to-face and that’s how they worded it. It was supposed to be 3 steps in the interview and after 20 minutes they decided I wasn’t suited for them*. I was actually grateful that they chose not to waste my time going through the motions.
See lessWhat is a nice way to end an interview that is clearly going badly?
Well, you probably are ending things politely so I’m leaving that part out. What I have experienced and have tried to apply since it happened to me as an applicant is offering advice. Interviews are a great experience not only for getting a job but for finding your weaknesses and knowledge gaps. IfRead more
Well, you probably are ending things politely so I’m leaving that part out. What I have experienced and have tried to apply since it happened to me as an applicant is offering advice. Interviews are a great experience not only for getting a job but for finding your weaknesses and knowledge gaps.
If you are not willing to move on with the interview you can openly say it, but sugar coating that hit with some advice is a nice thing to do.
See lessDoes Google force employees who have offers from Facebook to leave immediately?
I know people who left Google for Facebook, they were not walked out. Why would they be walked out of Google? Because facebook competing with Google? I have left Google twice, both times for Apple, in both cases Apple was a competing organization, in all cases I had a good talk with my managers up aRead more
I know people who left Google for Facebook, they were not walked out. Why would they be walked out of Google? Because facebook competing with Google?
I have left Google twice, both times for Apple, in both cases Apple was a competing organization, in all cases I had a good talk with my managers up and HR discying opportunities in Google, in both cases I was not escorted, I was given two weeks to talk more and to complete my project. I left in good terms with all my friends, managers and Google. Google is very fair organization, it treats people extremely well . I can imagine that some department might be supersecret and they will do it, but I was working for core search quality which is secretive too and I was asked to leave.
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