27 Nov 2007
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| USA versus UK language usage | |
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There is one variation of usage which has struck me forcibly after many years of reading American magazines and Reviews.
Larry Williams' wooden moulding plane making dvd was described recently on Woodnet as being quite good. SEE Lie-Nielsen Toolworks, inc To my ears this sounded like rather faint praise when I knew perfectly well that the author meant very good indeed. Having consulted a friend who teaches English to foreign graduates, I now understand a little more about the variable meaning of quite. Its meaning alters dramatically if used with gradeable or non gradeable adjectives. Thus; quite unique, quite excellent, quite superb, are all unequivocally positive. NB it has since been correctly pointed out to me that quite unique is tautology and not good english! Good has many grades. i.e. Not very good, Moderately good, fairly good, reasonably good, extremely good & outstandingly good. So quite good (in the UK) tends to give an impression of damning with faint praise. Does anyone else have any good examples of differences of usage spotted in woodworking magazines, please? Best wishes, David |
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| posted by davidcharl at 08:34 | comments [12] | |
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| posted by Mike Traynar | 27 Nov 2007 at 21:33 |
I can't think of any examples in English, but in French something that used to get me a lot was when something was described as "pas terrible". I thought it meant "not bad" as in "Hey! that latest David Charlesworth plane tuning technique is not bad!". However it means the (quite) the opposite. If something is really bad it's "terrible", but if it's just bad it's "pas terrible". So one would be perfectly justified in saying "Les Bleus (l'equipe de France de rugby" étaient pas terrible". But then you probably already knew this! |
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| posted by davidcharl | 28 Nov 2007 at 08:13 |
Mike, Thank you. I did not know that. My grasp of the nuances of French usage is pretty basic. David |
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| posted by mark | 29 Nov 2007 at 22:08 |
David, I am about to cut some half lapped dovetails for the first time, I am unsure as to the best chisel to use to clean out the corners of the sockets, I do not own any skew chisels but I do own a Japanese fishtail chisel, would this do the job? Your opinion would be appreciated. Mark. |
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| posted by davidcharl | 2 Dec 2007 at 22:20 |
Mark, A fishtail might get into the corners depending on the amount of flair, or the angle at the edges. When I learned I had no skew chisels, and was taught to push into the corners with an eighth inch chisel to clear the waste. Not entirely elegant but effective. Skew chisels for single lap and secret mitre dovetails do not need to be large. They get little use, so any cheap chisel or knife will do the job. I would not dream of buying such a tool and those on sale are generally much too big. Jigsaw blades can be made into effective small chisels and knives. best wishes, David |
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| posted by mark | 3 Dec 2007 at 19:43 |
David, Many thanks for the advice. Mark |
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| posted by Gary Roberts [ http://toolemerablog.typepad.com/ ] | 13 Dec 2007 at 02:10 |
David Clearly, a British English - American English - Canadian English - Australian English translation engine is required. I'ld be happy to make a pitch to the folks at BabelFish to see if they are interested. If they pass on this most excellent opportunity to enhance international woodworking relations, I may add a page to my site delineating the varied forms of nomenclature as practiced by the Global Woodworking Community. Gary (who finds Moxon tongue-twisting, let alone comprehending the use of "whilst" vs "while".) |
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| posted by davidcharl | 14 Dec 2007 at 07:42 |
Gary, What a great idea! Thanks, David |
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| posted by Jim | 29 Jan 2008 at 16:49 |
David, Most cabinetmakers know this, but it bears repeating. A planer in the UK is a jointer in the USA, while a thicknesser in the UK is a planer in the USA. Others: white spirit=mineral spirits; meths=denatured alcohol; miter=mitre; dimension saw=table saw; beer=no known equivalent! Jim |
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| posted by davidcharl | 29 Jan 2008 at 18:25 |
Jim, Thank you for those, I had always been a bit unclear about mineral spirits until now... Face side is another perplexing one. In UK the face side is the datum surface which is always placed to the interior of a carcass or drawer. I think in the USA you use this term for the show side i.e. the exterior of the job? best wishes, David |
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| posted by David Atmar Smith | 26 Mar 2008 at 17:21 |
"Fairly good" is praise as well; equal to "Not so bad." USA English loses precision by the hour, it seems. David Smith Victoria, Texas USA |
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| posted by Grig | 20 Apr 2009 at 20:42 |
I think aluminium versus aluminum is a good example. it reminds me of the famous Bush nucular. |
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| posted by Anthony [ http://thedinosaurwalk.com/kitchen-table-plans ] | 9 Aug 2011 at 02:16 |
Quite right, quite right. There are many examples of butchering the English language. The misuse of the word utilize for one. Utilize is not just a synonym for the word use, it actually has it's own meaning; to be used for an unintended purpose like " I utilized the chair to prop open the door." |
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