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 #2 (permalink) Thu Feb 02, 2006 18:35 pm High street |
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Hi Doriss,
The high street is the main street in a town. You often hear the following use: Around New year shops in the high street often hold sales.
Alan
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| #3 (permalink) Wed Mar 26, 2008 20:57 pm Meaning of "high street" |
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| and why do you use "anywhere" here instead of "somewhere"? because is a negative sentence???? |
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Giancarloc
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| #4 (permalink) Wed Mar 26, 2008 21:12 pm Meaning of "high street" |
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Yes, that's right. Look at this:
A: I'll find somewhere to stay, I'm sure.
B: You'll be lucky. I've already looked everywhere and I can't find anywhere.
Alan
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| #5 (permalink) Wed Mar 26, 2008 22:38 pm Meaning of "high street" |
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And now for an "Americanized" version of the test sentence:
Today you can't go anywhere on the main street(s) or on public transportation without seeing someone talking on a cell phone.
:wink:
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| #7 (permalink) Wed Mar 26, 2008 23:50 pm Meaning of "high street" |
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Hi,
Does this actually mean, Yankee, that you're now going to have a go at writing tests?
Alan
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| #9 (permalink) Thu Mar 27, 2008 1:22 am Meaning of "high street" |
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| Quote: |
| Yes Amy, how about creating a couple of real American English tests? I mean instead of Americanizing Alan's tests, you could as well write authentic American English sentences. |
You've gotta be kidding, Torsten! Even if I thought it was possible to work with a certain someone, you and Alan seem to be against most of the suggestions I've made anyway. I don't expect that to change. Has there been any discussion about how a peer review might be put into practice? What about discussing how words and expressions that are "chiefly British" or "chiefly American" might be better identified and presented? The idea of a moderator forum was simply dismissed, wasn't it. Heck, Alan doesn't even answer my direct questions half the time, and even when he does respond, it's often with some sort of sarcasm. I remember once asking him about the usage of French words in BE. As I recall, Alan didn't find it appropriate to answer my questions at all -- even though he'd initiated the thread.
Do you think that simply writing more tests is the solution to any of the test "issues" I've tried to get you to discuss? I definitely don't!
.
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| #10 (permalink) Thu Mar 27, 2008 4:33 am Meaning of "high street" |
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| Torsten wrote: |
Hi Amy,
This looks more like an "Amynized" version than an Americanized one to me :-). |
Golly! Imagine that!
The Oxford Dictionary specifically notes 'high street' as a British usage. It seems there must be some truth to that assessment since 'in the high street' doesn't sound the least bit American to me. Other dictionaries note the same thing, so it seems that there are at least a few other people in this world who find it appropriate to mention the fact that there are (gasp!) differences between various "versions" of English.
Some towns here still have a 'main street'. Sometimes this is known as 'the business district'. In larger towns it will likely consist of more than one street. Another option would be 'downtown'. Nowadays, we often simply go to 'the mall'. On this side of the pond, one place we don't go when we want to go shopping is "in the high street". If you said that to an average American, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they heard it as an error in your English. It also wouldn't surprise me if they were at least a little confused about what you even meant. :wink:
.
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| #11 (permalink) Thu Mar 27, 2008 8:45 am Meaning of "high street" |
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| Yankee wrote: |
And now for an "Americanized" version of the test sentence:
Today you can't go anywhere on the main street(s) or on public transportation without seeing someone talking on a cell phone.
:wink: |
Hi, Amy
Funny you should mention that!
The other day I was doing some English exercises with a book written (no doubt about that) by a British person. And I came across public transport and I was rather amazed because I clearly remembered hearing your version (public transportation) in some movie. Now, with your comment, I'm cognizant of a new difference between British and American English -
British English
public transport
American English
public transportation
:D |
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| #12 (permalink) Thu Mar 27, 2008 16:02 pm Meaning of "high street" |
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| Yankee wrote: |
And now for an "Americanized" version of the test sentence:
Today you can't go anywhere on the main street(s) or on public transportation without seeing someone talking on a cell phone.
:wink: |
I have heard Kevin Trudaeu use the term "calling you on my mobile" so apparently the use of "mobile" isn't restricted to Europe. Also, I don't think that "talking into a phone" is British and "talking on a phone" is American. As I understand it, Alan wanted to spice up the sentence with a bit of humour: When you talk into a phone there doesn't necessarily have to be somebody listening on the other end.
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| #13 (permalink) Thu Mar 27, 2008 16:37 pm Meaning of "high street" |
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I'd say the biggest and the most striking difference between British English and American English is arse/ass, the rest are too trivial to worry about :lol:
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| #14 (permalink) Fri Mar 28, 2008 14:21 pm Meaning of "high street" |
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| Torsten wrote: |
| I have heard Kevin Trudaeu use the term "calling you on my mobile" |
I haven't. However, if he did, maybe he used the word 'mobile' in order to make sure people didn't think he was talking about a phone he had in jail. (He spent time in a jail cell.) Who knows. Anyway, according to you, he used the word 'mobile'. What was his pronunciation of that word? American or British? ;) :lol:
| Torsten wrote: |
| so apparently the use of "mobile" isn't restricted to Europe. |
No, it's not. But in the US, 'cell (phone)' is generally how people refer to those phones they carry around with them.
Just out of curiosity, Torsten, are you interested at all in common usage in the US?
.
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| #15 (permalink) Fri Mar 28, 2008 14:52 pm Meaning of "high street" |
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Trudeau was telling the story of how a friend of his was calling him from Florida waking him up on a Saturday morning. He said that he was at home sound asleep when his buddy Arnie called him. Trudeau was using Arnie's words when he said "I'm calling you on my mobile' and yes, since both are American they pronounced 'mobile' the American way. As for calling from a prison cell I think the correct American phrase would be "I'm calling you from my cell" or "I'm calling you from jail". Correct me if I'm wrong. As far as I know, Sprint is a US American company and the title of their US American homepage reads "Cell Phones, Mobile Phones, and Wireless Calling Plans from Sprint".
Why harp on the differences between British and American English and when they are so insignificant? What difference does is it make whether you say 'at the weekend' or 'on the weekend', 'public transport' or 'public transportation', 'driver's license or 'driving license', 'cell phone' or 'mobile phone'?
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