Thread: Some questions...

Originally Posted by blacky

Just not to create another topic with a similar title, I'll ask some questions here, if you let me.

1. There's a number. Let's say, it is 180. How do you pronounce it?
- a hundred (one hundred) and eighty
- a hundred (one hundred) _ eighty
Do you usially use 'and' here?

In the
UK it would be 'one hundred and eighty' or, more colloquially, just 'one-eighty', but I believe 'one hundred eighty' is the standard structure in the US.

2. What do you usially call "пылесос"?
slovari.yandex.ru offers two variants here: hoover and vacuum cleaner. I can't choose wich variant I should use. The second one is longer to pronounce, so I doubt that this variant is beeing common used.

Thanks. =)

Usually hoover/ hoovering , even when it's not actually a Hoover, but vacuum/ vacuuming works too. You don't really need 'cleaner' unless you are being super-precise.

Originally Posted by Оля

1. If I guess about something just five seconds ago, how do I say:
Wait... I have a brain wave.
or
Wait... I had a brain wave. ?

I would say:
"Wait... I have an idea" or "Wait... I'm having an idea" or "Wait... I've had an idea."[/quote]

It sounds wrong to me to say "Wait... I had an idea" but lots of people say it. It sounds very common to say, "Wait... I just had an idea" though it should be "Wait... I've had an idea."

"Brain wave" is not all that common.

There is a problem in modern American English with these present perfects. The literary language still uses them, but in conversational English we often use the simple past.

Originally Posted by Оля

2. Can I use the expression "so far not" meaning "not yet"? Say, in this context:
- Why do you think I am crazy? I am not! I shot at nobody, I didn't burn the house!..
- Well, so far not.

More common: Well, not yet.

I can imagine someone saying "So far not" humorously.

Originally Posted by Оля

Or this:
Why are you talking to me like that?! (i.e.impolite) I am your boss so far!

Most normal: I'm still your boss.

If the boss said, "I'm your boss... so far" then that would imply to me that the boss considers it possible that he will lose his job.

Originally Posted by Оля

3. What is correct – deep or deeply?

I feel this somewhere very deep in my heart. "Deeply" would be wrong here, although I wouldn't be surprised to hear someone say it.

Originally Posted by Оля

4. What is the best way to translate "в одиночку" in this context?
[i]Алкоголик – это тот, кто пьет в одиночку.

An alcoholic is someone who drinks alone.

Originally Posted by Оля

5. How do I translate "Мне некуда идти"? I have nowhere to go?

Your translation is fine. It's a bit more common to say, "I don't have anywhere to go."

Originally Posted by Оля

6. Do I need the "-ve" here:
- Your brother shows very good taste, he always wears elegant clothes.
- Really? I've never noticed.

Yes, the "'ve" is required for literary English. Lots of people would skip it, though.

Originally Posted by Оля

7. Is it possible to say, "I have lots of work" ?

Yes, that sounds perfectly normal.

Originally Posted by Оля

8. Which is correct:
- I'd like to talk to you.
- About what? OR What about?

Both are correct. Certain pedants would object to "what about," but that's pretty out of touch with the living language.

Originally Posted by Оля

9. Do you use this construction in English:
- Did you like that book?
- It was a book like a book. (A common book, nothing special)
(In Russian we say "книга как книга", "город как город", "парень как парень", and so on...)

No, we don't use that construction. Every time I see it in Russian, I have to pause to figure out what it means.

How do Americans pronounce the word schedule?
['ʃedju:l] or ['skedju:l]?

Originally Posted by blacky

How do Americans pronounce the word schedule?
['ʃedju:l] or ['skedju:l]?

Neither. It is ['skedʒu:l], unless someone wants to sound British .

Originally Posted by translationsnmru

Neither. It is ['skedʒu:l], unless someone wants to sound British .

Скеджюул? О_О

Originally Posted by blacky

Originally Posted by translationsnmru

Neither. It is ['skedʒu:l], unless someone wants to sound British .

Скеджюул? О_О

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/schedule
Там можно послушать произношение, если щёлкнуть по красной кнопочке с изображением динамика.

Originally Posted by translationsnmru

It is ['skedʒu:l], unless someone wants to sound British .

Although in the US we might say ['skedʒu:l] in slow or careful speech, more often we say ['skedʒɘl]. That is, the second vowel is a schwa, not a long [u].

Originally Posted by translationsnmru

Originally Posted by blacky

Originally Posted by translationsnmru

Neither. It is ['skedʒu:l], unless someone wants to sound British .

Скеджюул? О_О

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/schedule
Там можно послушать произношение, если щёлкнуть по красной кнопочке с изображением динамика.

Спасибо. Оказывается, оно больше похоже на скеджюол.

1. If I guess about something just five seconds ago, how do I say:
Wait... I have a brain wave.
or
Wait... I had a brain wave. ?

It seems I remember this expression being popular a while back. Both are correct.
"Wait.....I just had a brain wave," would work perfectly for this situation.

Brainwave is a commonly used term in the UK still. In the UK it would be usual to use the present perfect to express that the idea just occurred to you and is still in your head - "I've had a brainwave / idea". I believe simple past is used in more US English, To me the latter "I had an idea" suggests that the thought occurred to one but was quickly forgotten.....

I’ve been hooked up lately by the "Star Gate Atlantis" television series. In a transcript of one of the episodes I came across this passage:

McKAY: You're wasting your time. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

FORD: Then what are we going to do?!

(Back in the Control Room, Weir leans on the balcony in despair. Grodin checks the time.)

GRODIN: One minute.

(In the Conference Room, Kavanagh has a brainwave.)

KAVANAGH: Wait. The rear hatch. Blow the rear hatch. It should give you enough thrust to make it through.

McKAY: That could do it. But the only mechanism to blow the hatch is back here.

Then I remembered that a question had been rased a while back where brainwaves were key issue.
So this is another back up of the theory that in America brainwaves still exist

Then I remembered that a question had been rased a while back where brainwaves were key issue. So this is another back up of the theory that in America brainwaves still exist

"Then I remembered that a question had been raised..."

"where brainwaves were a/the key issue" - On this occasion, I can't decide which article would be correct. Perhaps "a" would be better because there was more than one issue in the original list of questions. Saying "brainwaves were the key issue" implies that there was only one issue raised.

Hope that helps.

The articles, you bet all of us foreigners got an issue here and god only knows where we haven’t.
Thanks.

The articles, you bet all of us foreigners got an issue here and god only knows where we haven’t.

"you bet all of us foreigners got an issue here" - This sort of expression is not really acceptable in its written form. If someone said that to me, I would consider them uneducated, for a number of reasons.

"you bet" in the sense of "you think", "it seems that", is not acceptable in written form, in my opinion.

"all us foreigners got an issue here" - would also be considered uneducated, or something similar. "All foreigners have an issue here", or something like that, would be a lot more acceptable. In terms of talking about your opinion or understanding, "to get" is considered uneducated or informal, at best. Another verb to avoid (in all contexts, in my opinion), is the verb "to reckon". For example:

"I reckon he's forgotten about us"
"What do you reckon, Alex?"

I don't know if you can hear it, but this doesn't sound right, at least in British English. Maybe it does to an American ear, but not to a British one. Sorry if I've offended anyone by saying that.

Jack

Do Br. and Am. English really differ that much that Americans up until now seem strange to Englishmen language wise? Haven’t you English speaking people been living long enough in this hi-tech world, where lying in bed in your London apartment you may watch American TV, chat on the web with your American buddies (to do that you have to get out of bed I guess) and so on, to not have erased the difference? Listening to American songs you don’t need help understanding what the songs are about, do you? It should have happened naturally by now, but you’re still talking of British English, American English and what-not English. In my Microsoft Word there are 18 in-built English spelling dictionaries, isn’t it a little too many?

I don't know about the British, but I many times have heard from Americans that they don't understand such-and-such expression or even a word or they say at least that the expression sounds unnatural to them. Those words and expressions were British.

Believe it or not, alexB, Оля is right. Sometimes, there are American expressions that British people just do not understand, and vice-versa. At the same time, there are also individual words which represent different things in the two English "dialects", if you want to call them that. Speakers of the two dialects generally understand each other without any kind of difficulty, but there are differences - one such example is the word "brainwave", which was mentioned earlier in this very thread. The phrase "I've had a brainwave" is a very common expression to a Brit, but Americans don't seemto understand it. Or at least, they have a different understanding of the expression to the Brits. Other such examples exist, just as spelling in the two dialects often differ. Also, Brits will often get quite defensive if someone writes to them using American spellings. The Americans probably get frustrated if another American uses British spelling. That is why I sometimes ask foreigners which dialect they are learning - British English, or American English - so that I write to them using the spelling system they already know. I am British, so I do not know the American spelling system as well as the British one. I think it's important to be aware of both systems, though.

Any queries or disagreements are welcome. I'd like to hear what any Americans think about this subject, too.

Now, Оля, I will correct your mistakes, if you don't mind.

I don't know about the British, but I _have heard from Americans that they often don't understand such-and-such an expression or even a word; or they say at the very* least that the expression sounds unnatural to them. Those words and expressions were British.

*Here the phrase "the very" is used to add emphasis to what you're saying. It seems necessary here, somehow. If you're not familiar with it, I'll give you some more examples upon your asking.

I hope my corrections are useful.

Jack

Originally Posted by JackBoni

Now, Оля, I will correct your mistakes, if you don't mind.

I only appreciate that, Jack (like any other Russian on this forum, I'm sure).

Here the phrase "the very" is used to add emphasis to what you're saying. It seems necessary here, somehow. If you're not familiar with it, I'll give you some more examples upon your asking.

Yes, I am familiar with it, and I understand it, but any examples from you are welcome.

By the way... As for the "but I _ have heard from Americans that they often don't understand"... How do I say that I often heard that, not that Americans often do not understand some words? In Russian it would be two different sentences.

Do British and American English really differ that (better:so)much that Americans up until now seem strange to Englishmen language-wise? Haven’t you English speaking people been living long enough in this hi-tech world, where lying in bed in your London apartment you may watch American TV, chat on the web with your American buddies (to do that you have to get out of bed, I guess) and so on, to not have erased the difference? Listening to American songs you don’t need help understanding what the songs are about, do you? It should have happened naturally by now, but you’re still talking of British English, American English and what-not English. In my Microsoft Word there are 18 in-built English spelling dictionaries, isn’t it (better: that) a little too many?

I hope that helps, alexB. If you need any explanations, do ask. One thing I will say, though. The word "buddy" is not a very common word in British English. It seems to be in America, though. Brits use the word "buddy" in connection with scuba diving, though. Example:

Instructor: Are you diving alone, Jack?
Jack: No, of course not; recreational scuba divers must dive with a buddy at all times.

This is the only context in which Brits would use the word "buddy", I think. Unless they have become particularly influenced by American culture - I have never heard that word being used outside of this context in Britain before.

Jack

I'm sorry, Оля. Please give me the two Russian sentences and I will try my best to give you English equivalents.