LL-L "Lexicon" 2004.09.15 (03) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

======================================================================
L O W L A N D S - L * 15.SEP.2004 (03) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
http://www.lowlands-l.net * lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net
Rules & Guidelines: http://www.lowlands-l.net/index.php?page=rules
Posting: lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org or lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net
Server Manual: http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8c/userindex.html
Archives: http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/lowlands-l.html
Encoding: Unicode (UTF-8) [Please switch your view mode to it.]
=======================================================================
You have received this because you have been subscribed upon request.
To unsubscribe, please send the command "signoff lowlands-l" as message
text from the same account to listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org or
sign off at http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html.
=======================================================================
A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
=======================================================================

From: Thomas <t.mcrae at uq.net.au>
Subject: LL-L "Lexicon" 2004.09.13 (12) [E]

Sandy Fleming <sandy at scotstext.org> wrote
> But one of the hopscotch-like games we played we called "Kick the
> Can", never "Kick the Tin". The "can" in this game was flat an round -
> usually a shoe polish tin filled with dirt. Perhaps the phrase "Kick the
> Can" was originally preferred merely for the alliteration.
In Edinburgh this was a search and catch type game like Aleevoy.
The can was a standard one used empty  and the game started when one player
threw it as far as he could. As the catcher ran to collect it the rest ran
off and hid. Catcher placed the can upright then weny searching for his pals
and when he found one they had to return with him and stand in The Den. Game
ended when all were caught BUT players would try slinking up to kick the can
as far away as possible. If Catcher saw one he'd run up fast and try tagging
him, but once the can was kicked away all captives ran free to hide again.
Great noisy game adults deplored.
We called the game with the flat tin "Peevers" or "Peevery Beds".
Regards
Tom
Tom Mc Rae PSOC
Brisbane Australia
"The masonnis suld mak housis stark and rude,
To keep the pepill frome the stormes strang,
And he that fals, the craft it gois all wrang."
>>From 15th century Scots Poem 'The Buke of the Chess'

----------

From: John Baskind <jbaskind at mac.com>
Subject: LL-L "Lexicon" 2004.09.14 (04) [E]

On Sep 14, 2004, at 7:08 PM, Tom wrote:


  Why don't we just settle for 'Continental English' - the one that 'the
  others' speak.

  BTW, There is only ONE continent, isn't there?
Ahem.
Excuse me, Fortress Europe, but in America the same hegemonic monotony is
known as "Mid-Atlantic English", although I'm rather pleased that it is
losing ground steadily to the "received pronunciation" -based new European
variety in the EU. The end of Yankee imperialism, maybe?

…and here's my vote for Middelsprake as a replacement!

Cheers
-
John Baskind
jbaskind at mac.com

----------

From: Andrys Onsman <Andrys.Onsman at CeLTS.monash.edu.au>
Subject: LL-L "Lexicon" 2004.09.14 (05) [E]

From: Andrys Onsman
Subject: LL-L "Lexicon"

John Feather wrote

BTW the US "wrought iron" => "rod iron" is an interesting case of change
driven by similarity of sound. Since modern "wrought iron" is probably
not "wrought" in the original sense I suppose there's a certain logic in
giving it a new name.

You've lost me there. How is "wrought iron"  not "wrought in the
original sense"? I assumed that it just meant "worked iron" (lace,
ballustrades, decoration and such like). Rod iron seem to mean a
slightly different thing. This excerpt from a US website on Iron
Elegance has both in one sentence:
    /In this department you will find home accent pieces that are both
beautiful, useful and hand made. Look for our vineyard vase, hat and
coat         rack, forged iron rose, decorative baskets, *rod iron
magazine rack*, sconces, lanterns, *wrought iron furniture*, and mirrors./
A rod iron magazine racks would be made from iron rods welded together
(yes, I know that is in itself working the iron), whilst wrought iron
furniture would be made from iron that has been worked in a foundry or
smithy. Perhaps I'm being pedantic - or simply wrong.

I have no idea what a vineyard vase is, but I assume that the sconce
referred to is a candlestick and not the punishment handed out at Oxford
for Hall transgressions :-)

Cheers
Andrys

----------

From: Thomas <t.mcrae at uq.net.au>
Subject: LL-L "Lexicon" 2004.09.14 (04) [E]

Tom <jmaguire at pie.xtec.es> wrote
> Yes, an unsurprising term from the UK - offshore. Isn't everywhere else
> offshore from the UK?
I recall the narrator in the opening sequences of the movie "Whisky Galore"
telling us about Great Toddy and its people. Scene changed to the wild ocean
as he said something like "And there'ss not ferry much ofer that
fvway....Only America".
Regards
Tom
Tom Mc Rae PSOC
Brisbane Australia
"The masonnis suld mak housis stark and rude,
To keep the pepill frome the stormes strang,
And he that fals, the craft it gois all wrang."
>>From 15th century Scots Poem 'The Buke of the Chess'

----------

From: Kevin Caldwell <kcaldwell31 at comcast.net>
Subject: LL-L "Lexicon" 2004.09.14 (05) [E]

> From: john feather <johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk>
> Subject: Lexicon
>
> Re: tins and cans
>
> "Can" is an old word of unclear origin which has been found once in OE and
> was possibly borrowed again into MidE.
>
> A "tin can" is a can made originally of tin-coated wrought-iron sheet and
> used from the very early C19 to preserve food. (Was it ever a "tinned
> can"?)
> Hence, by a common process of reduction, E. "tin" (cf "transistor
[radio]",
> "nuclear [power]"), "perm[anent wave]", "motor [car]", "locomotive
> [engine]").

In the US it's "transistor radio", usually "nuclear power", and "[motor]
car".

> Was the term "tin can" ever common in the US?

Yes, and still is, even though most cans no longer involve tin. They are
usually steel or aluminum now ("aluminium" to you).

> I have the impression that the verb "can" (preserve food at home) is much
> more common in the US than the UK. Americans "can" fruits and vegetables
> in
> "Mason jars" while Brits "bottle" them in "Kilner jars", though I'm not
> sure
> that the containers are exactly the same.
>
> BTW the US "wrought iron" => "rod iron" is an interesting case of change
> driven by similarity of sound. Since modern "wrought iron" is probably not
> "wrought" in the original sense I suppose there's a certain logic in
> giving
> it a new name.

It drives me nuts when people say or write "rod iron".  Or "butt naked" for
"buck naked".

Kevin Caldwell

================================END===================================
* Please submit postings to lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org.
* Postings will be displayed unedited in digest form.
* Please display only the relevant parts of quotes in your replies.
* Commands for automated functions (including "signoff lowlands-l") are
  to be sent to listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org or at
  http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html.
======================================================================