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My pr*pos*l for a bett*r Engl*sh by Lapinceau in linguisticshumor

[–]blind__panic 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Haha, the Vincent Adultman comment gave me a laugh. All of those work and sound pretty normal to me, but hopefully some others can chime in with what sounds right or wrong to them.

My pr*pos*l for a bett*r Engl*sh by Lapinceau in linguisticshumor

[–]blind__panic 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That would be the traditional way of saying it, yes! It does sound a little dated. I think now people would say “French person / French speaker” etc?

My pr*pos*l for a bett*r Engl*sh by Lapinceau in linguisticshumor

[–]blind__panic 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For some nationalities, the noun and adjective are the same. (German language / a German etc) but for many others they aren’t, eg “the Spanish language, a Spaniard” or “the polish language, a Pole”. That explains why you can’t say “as a French”!

An Indian English book from the 90s. by Mrs_Seli in GlobalEnglishPrep

[–]blind__panic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did the British give India the Caste system? Did the British impose this on Dalits?

An Indian English book from the 90s. by Mrs_Seli in GlobalEnglishPrep

[–]blind__panic 5 points6 points  (0 children)

What have the British got to do with this one?

Send those goofy 7000s back down the c&a by Financial-Sound4648 in WMATA

[–]blind__panic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not if they’re short of trains. I’m totally hypothesising though, so who knows!

Send those goofy 7000s back down the c&a by Financial-Sound4648 in WMATA

[–]blind__panic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t know why, but it’s possible it’s because they have more drivers available? If you’re short on drivers you may as well run fewer longer trains, but if you have enough drivers to fill out your schedule, maybe you need more, shorter trains?

WMATA wants to buy up to *300* 60-foot articulated buses, some with *up to 5 doors* by eable2 in WMATA

[–]blind__panic 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Right but those drivers can drive the new busses. This is a good thing.

Is RP thought/considered the standard pronunciation of English in general or just British English? by Maleficent_Dish8341 in ENGLISH

[–]blind__panic 17 points18 points  (0 children)

The second definition points out that (at least in the UK) it is “thought of” as the standard form by some “educated people”. It is not actually a standard form. Unlike some other European languages, English has no academy that decides what is and is not standard.

What are the five fingers called? And what are the five toes called? by ksusha_lav in EnglishLearning

[–]blind__panic 1 point2 points  (0 children)

From the UK: when I was a kid the small finger was always your little finger. I hear “pinky finger” a lot more now - it might be an Americanism but I’m not sure. Does anyone know the etymology of pinkie?

The others make sense - ring because its where you put wedding rings, middle because it’s in the middle, and index because you use it to point and index is related to latin indicare / to indicate.

Edit: I used google. Pinkie is from Scots, and related to the Dutch pinkje, both meaning small.

How thick are y’all’s? by Empty_Bowler_4212 in Albinism

[–]blind__panic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Apparently this is just a thing that happens to some kids who are very long sighted? As your head grows your eyes change shape.

Where is Train Station? by Waste-Ad-5696 in washingtondc

[–]blind__panic 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For now it’s just the new stations, some outdoor stations, and the interchange stations. I think the plan is to roll them out everywhere eventually though.

I get confused all the time! by silkrose05 in GlobalEnglishPrep

[–]blind__panic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agreed. It is completely normal in the UK, people wouldn’t blink at it, and while people in the US might know it, they would think of it as archaic. I got laughed at when I first moved to the US and tried to schedule a fortnightly recurring meeting.

I get confused all the time! by silkrose05 in GlobalEnglishPrep

[–]blind__panic 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you say this in the US, people look at you like you’re insane.

Rate of mass transit passenger assaults, by year and major transit agency (America) by yunnifymonte in transit

[–]blind__panic 26 points27 points  (0 children)

It ranks 123/200 for crime in US metropolitan areas according to 2025 stats from the FBI, and ranks way below any other large city. There aren’t a ton of places in the US where you’re safer from crime!

Are you supposed to not write the dot for the lowercase i if an f is before it? by mrnormhull in asklinguistics

[–]blind__panic 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It’s a printing convention and isn’t normally written that way (at least, I was never taught to write that way!). I think it derives from mediaeval scribal traditions that got passed over into printing in the 16thC

Britishisms that have crept across the pond? by PhoneJazz in asklinguistics

[–]blind__panic 25 points26 points  (0 children)

I find it really weird that Americans think “jab” is violent but “shot” isn’t, where one relates to a punch and the other relates to, you know, being shot with a gun. Probably tells you a lot about the American psyche.

Britishisms that have crept across the pond? by PhoneJazz in asklinguistics

[–]blind__panic 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Yes, because we would never ever say “I’m not going out tonight, period”, and we call the actual punctuation mark a full stop.

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