Scrobbs Posted March 9, 2009 Well my grammar is pretty poor generally, so I've had to go and look this up, mainly because you've piqued my interest. This is not in the interests of one-upmanship you understand, or the great North Atlantic Grammar War 2009. I think possibly the all-round part is maybe from the British penchant of making words as short as possible to make them easier to say - plus it appears next to the definition you posted in the dictionary link. I think it's just a case of what you're used to Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chris Posted March 9, 2009 There definitely is a British predilection for shortening words even moreso than the American one. Stuff like "Resi 4" would never be generated in the United States. We would either just say "Resident Evil 4," or use the acronym "RE4." The actual direct truncating of words (rather than simply phrases) seems more a British phenomenon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
syntheticgerbil Posted March 9, 2009 Just like these! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toblix Posted March 9, 2009 Like tube instead of tubular metropolitan train station and London instead of Londonium. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scrobbs Posted March 9, 2009 We met a bunch of people from the US in Barca and one of the lads mentioned something about this - he was screwing about why the American language uses much longer words for the same thing than British-English. The one example hes used that sticks in my mind (I was pretty brained at the time) was 'Elevator'. He said, "...and you guys use 'Lift'. I mean, what the fuck?". He was pretty affronted, it was funny. Oh yeh - if any of you guys from the 'States ever get round to trying Fish and Chips, make sure you ask for 'Haddock and Chips', not Cod. It might be tricky, as you're likely to be in London, which is mainy Cod I think - at least it tends to be down south. If you get mushy peas, make sure they mix a bit of mint sauce in with it! Also - get some gravy to go with the chips! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scrobbs Posted March 9, 2009 Interestingly (or not) I originally chose 'predilection' when talking about us lot shortening words, but changed my mind. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SignorSuperdouche Posted March 9, 2009 As a counterpoint, we have aluminium rather than aluminum. It's only a marginal difference but it is shorter in US English. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gdf Posted March 9, 2009 It looks more like a microphone with googly eyes to me. Like a version of Clippy the office assistant for windows media player or something. I was thinking an animu Squidward Tentacles. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jake Posted March 10, 2009 Burgled <-> Burglarized For what it's worth, Americans generally do seem to prefer -- and derive more amusement from -- "Burgled," when they can remember to use it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scrobbs Posted March 10, 2009 Particularly when used to describe a gay man: 'Turd Burglar', or perhaps in post-coital bliss, 'Turd Burgled'. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
