Okay, so. Yeah. I made a deaf guy embarrassed about his spelling and embarrassed myself as well in the process. But I didn't mean to! This guy owns the local florist shop where I bought this:
 |
| Decoration of mantel. No tree, but a lovely greenery piece. Christmas figures courtesy of SJB. |
Let's have some explanatory background, shall we?
When you see things that are obviously the Brrrrritish spelling, you can tell.... usually there's an extra 'u' in the word; colour, honour, etc. This I knew already when I moved here.
So, I was unprepared for 'tyre'. Even right now, blogger doesn't recognize Brrrrritish words as the correct spelling... yay for patriotic, xenophobic Google! Anyway...ahem.
Took me a bit to figure out what a tyre is. It's a tire. But when you say you're tired here, you don't use 'tyred'. I guess it is just another way to dichotomize. Kind of like saying 'haitch' instead of 'aitch' for the letter 'h' is indicative of which social class you're a part.
Right. So, I'm in the shop and I thought I'd make some conversation and portray myself as the person I'd like others to think I am: an interested person in others' culture. Because, really! I am! So it went down like this:
Me: I noticed your sign outside.
Guy: Oh, yes?
Me: Yeah, and I've wondered for a while, if you know, like wreath is spelled differently here?
Guy: Pardon?
Me: Well, you know...like how the tire (tyre, hee hee) is spelled with a 'y'. Back home we spell it with an 'i'.
Guy: *stares at me* {Remember people, he's deaf?}
Me: *louder* YOU KNOW? YOU GOT THE WORD 'WREATH' ON YOUR SIGN OUTSIDE?
Guy: Ah. I suppose I misspelled it, then?
Me: Uh. I don't know?
***
Walking down the street today to get a fuse for the fuse/breaker box {that made for a fun morning} I saw his sign. It'd been edited. To say 'wreath' instead of 'wreth'.
It made me sad, I guess. I reckon that it'd've been neat to think that it is spelled sans 'a'.
***
Am also realizing that "Love Actually" has parts about it that aren't plot mechanisms to tell a story. Being the #1 music act for Christmas? That's real. Ant and Dec, the hosts on the MTV-ish show? They're real. Liam Neeson moving on after his wife's death? That's real too.
Tell me about it. I made the move to the US some years ago and had to get with the "programme"
ReplyDeleteLovely greenery. I love hearing (and pics) about your Christmas in England. SJ
ReplyDeleteAww.. British spelling can be a bit confusing.. for me anyway! By the way, Nathan and I went to Universal Studios to the Harry Potter park! It was sooo much fun! The butterbeer was delicious!
ReplyDelete@Lauren... I could almost unfriend you on Facebook for that... but then I don't have that headache anymore.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad for you! It's on my bucket list. And didja know that you can find recipes for butterbeer online? I CHALLENGE YOU PIKACHU!
The butterbeer tasted like root beer and butterscotch. We heard someone say "non dairy butterscotch foam"... now I'm not sure where to get that! Haha! But it made it look like head on beer. VERY sweet.. I could only have a few sips b/c I didn't want to have to strip down in the bathroom to take a shot of insulin lol! I really wish the HP part was bigger. They could do an entire park for it, as I'm sure you're aware. It got kind of cramped. BUT was still way cool. You definitely need to go when you get back to the states! It was even really cold when we went so it felt like we were almost there! By the way.. do you know about how much it would cost to ship books overseas? I have Philosopher's Stone, but would like to have the rest of the UK versions... (I'm such a nerd!!)
ReplyDeleteLauren, try amazon.co.uk
ReplyDeleteIf that doesn't work, let me know and I'll see what I can find for ya. Are you wanting the UK cover versions of paperbacks or just hardbacks?
Hi there, new follower here! I read your feature on Mallori's blog and immediately knew I wanted to swing by here and subscribe! I love the way you write/tell a story...I feel like I'm reading a good book that I don't want to put down!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to keep this comment short (I have the tendency to leave novels as comments) since it is late here in Hawaii, but I'll be back later this weekend to catch up and learn more about you! Just wanted to say a quick hello and let you know I'm reading along.
Have a beautiful weekend!
Aloha,
Angie
Hahaha, this is hilarious. Way to make that guy feel like an idiot. I hate that they do this spelling changes in Canada too. They are such posers up there :) lol. And weird revelation on Love Actually, seriously!
ReplyDeleteHope you are having a great weekend Mollie :)
Gotta love the spelling differences! I would get confused sometimes when I was teaching. American me was teaching ESL in Asia using British textbooks. Fun times especially when they would try to correct my spelling when I was writing on board:) I'm not entirely sure all of them believed me when I said the US & the UK have different spellings!
ReplyDeleteI came by FTLOB:)
I've always found the spelling differences (and stuff like biscuits being cookies and scones being biscuits, etc,) quite fascinating. Grew up with an anglophile mom and turned into on myself, so I suppose this explains it!
ReplyDeleteBTW, I am your newest follower from the Weekend Wander. I'd love a follow back at Dropped Stitches. Thanks!!