Posted by Mark H. on October 18, 2004, at 16:41:07
In reply to Re: It WASN'T about language » saw, posted by Larry Hoover on October 18, 2004, at 9:58:12
When I was attending university almost 30 years ago, we had a graduate student from Australia who was a resident advisor, someone who chaperoned the younger students at one of the undergraduate dorms.
She came to breakfast looking especially tired one morning and announced that "a freshman knocked me up about 4:30 this morning because he had lost his key." She had no idea why we all thought that was wonderfully funny.
On another occasion, one of her charges asked if she'd like to go to the football game on Friday night and root for the team. She turned bright red. Apparently, "root" meant something other than "cheer" in Australian English.
I love the differences in our "common" language!
Mark H.
poster:Mark H.
thread:403248
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20041016/msgs/404491.html