Americanisms

[Castellan]

I don't think it conjures up visions of unusually malodorous female genitalia, what it does is sum up the attitude that female genitalia are inherently malodorous and repulsive. It is the same as calling someone shit - they do not mean really smelly shit, they just mean shit!

[The Ghost of Winter]

For me, cunt is more of a general insult. But I really only use it around friends and my boyfriend. I wouldn't say it to family members or strangers. I'm American, there's a taboo, but I think its becoming less of one.

[Littlefingers In The Air]

For me, cunt is more of a general insult. But I really only use it around friends and my boyfriend. I wouldn't say it to family members or strangers. I'm American, there's a taboo, but I think its becoming less of one.

it's discouraging how words become less and less of an insult. Gays get it the worse because zealots will never oppose other zealots drilling gay people with f bombs

[The Weirwoods Eyes]

Umm... by Scotland don't you mean the whole island of Great Britain? The whole thing looks nothing like the scotland portion to me, but look at Great Britain and Plymouth = Sunspear and Highgarden = London. Then some minor changes north of that (add the fingers) and obviously flip the whole thing east/west.

Sorry I was not clear I meant the lands beyond the wall to me represented Scotland the wall immediately made me think of Hadrians wall, the North to me I immediately conjure up home The Neck = the midlands and the South to me is the South with Dorne being Cornwall but hotter lol. The Iron Islands made me think of Ireland Geographically speaking this is how I envisaged Westeros Obviously the description of Dorne does not match Cornwall and was thus transported to a kind of arid version of Spain and the Iron Islands turned out to be a whole lot less green and pleasant than Ireland so my minds eye needed to be adjusted but in my head the north is still full of Bracken and Heather and sheep and dales and the south is all sunny leafy and idyllic and I kind of picture the Norfolk Broads when I think about the riverlands.

I think this thread shows us though that we see what we want to see when we read until Martin tells us otherwise. For instance I always see Qarth as like North Africa and Mereen as Turkey. and in my head Lys will be like some tropical paradise isle. Ashei is like Tibet in my head too.

[Red Raven]

In Britain we use Feet Inches Miles etc. I would Hate it if GRRM had used Metric that would have been just awful! he also uses Stones which I was grateful for.

Thanks. I didn't know the imperial system was still widely used there for some things; I thought you were more metric-ified. In Canada it's a mixed bag and when I was in Australia everything was metric.

I like the use of "stones" too. Also "leagues" and other units for distance (and time in the case of "fortnight") that really exist and don't sound out of place.

The sudden frequent use of the made up "hour of the wolf" and "hour of the owl" got a little nutty, though.

[The Weirwoods Eyes]

I can tell you I am 6 foot 2 inches but I can't tell you how many metres that is without checking Google (about 2). But if we are referring to distance rather that say height we will use miles and then estimate metres for shorter walking distances. No one really uses yards and feet for distance any more.

I beg to differ I would have no idea how to estimate a distance in metres and when I measure for say new carpet or tiling I do it in Feet squared and then have to google the metric equivalent. My husband is even more hopeless at Metric than I am and insists there is no reason to bother converting the measurements for such tasks as all the blokes in the shop will not understand Metric either, Also when I go to the Deli counter I ask for my ham in lb's and if I ask for sweets weighed out from a jar in the paper shop I ask for a quarter. in the haberdashery the lady cuts my fabric by the yard,I bake using lb's and ounces too and I'm not old by any means and I don't think my community is unusual.

Oh and I definatly drink in pints. :drunk:

[The Weirwoods Eyes]

Thanks. I didn't know the imperial system was still widely used there for some things; I thought you were more metric-ified. In Canada it's a mixed bag and when I was in Australia everything was metric.

I like the use of "stones" too. Also "leagues" and other units for distance (and time in the case of "fortnight") that really exist and don't sound out of place.

The sudden frequent use of the made up "hour of the wolf" and "hour of the owl" got a little nutty, though.

Yes definatly, I'll never forget my first online encounter with an American who was totally bamboozled by the word fortnight. I was very miffed.

[Red Raven]

Fortnight isn't used in daily life anymore, it just appears in literature. That said, it sounds like that American needs to read more books.

[Holdfast]

"Nipples on a breastplate" is a twist on an expression I personally have only heard in the US.

I have heard this expression used many times in Australia, but really only amongst the older population.

GRRM uses the expression "if truth be told" over and over again in the series. I really like this expression, but I don't really hear anyone in my generation using it, usually only those (once again) in the retired age group. Don't know if this expression is more common in GRRM's part of the world to explain his liberal use of it, or something he largely reserves for the series.

Also in Australia, the C word is frequently used, but usually only in reference to men.

The term "fortnight" is in our everyday language.

[The Weirwoods Eyes]

Fortnight isn't used in daily life anymore, it just appears in literature. That said, it sounds like that American needs to read more books.

Again I think it depends upon where you live I use it a fair bit and hear it used regularly too.

[The Weirwoods Eyes]

HAHA I am beginning to think I might be a 65 yr old trapped in a 30 yr olds body. I use all these terms and phrases that people are saying are antiquated and reserved for the elderly on a regular basis.

Oh dear!! :blushing:

[The Boar of Gore]

Are you a Roman? It was Hadrian who built the wall as he could not subdue the Scots. England on the other hand was thoroughly invaded and subjugated. :)

Don't bother me with your facts!

But...if we're going to be pedantic, it was the Celts whom the Romans invaded and subjugated. The English arrived on the scene later, called the place 'England', kicked out the inhabitants and called them 'Welsh'. They've been calling us c***s ever since.

[Holdfast]

HAHA I am beginning to think I might be a 65 yr old trapped in a 30 yr olds body. I use all these terms and phrases that people are saying are antiquated and reserved for the elderly on a regular basis.

Oh dear!! :blushing:

No, keep using them (as I now do). GRRM has some of the best expressions that have now entered my everyday language.

[TomBadgerlock]

Hmmm .... cunt.... That's partly true about cunt in Australia I think - often used of men, but can be used of women too. To refer to a man as a cunt means they are obnoxious/disgusting in the extreme whereas to call a man a prick means they are arrogant and unhelpful. Young people/children might be called little cunts which implies they are obnoxious/annoying in the way self centred young people are.

From my experience cunt is used as an ironic compliment most of the time.

[Red Raven]

HAHA I am beginning to think I might be a 65 yr old trapped in a 30 yr olds body. I use all these terms and phrases that people are saying are antiquated and reserved for the elderly on a regular basis.

Oh dear!! :blushing:

So instead of a car that clocks distance in miles-per-hour, it uses furlongs-per-fortnight?

Or perhaps them horseless carriages are too new-fangled and you still drive a horse and buggy? [/good natured fun] ;)

Seriously, what Holdfast said. They're colorful and fun. And "hour of the wolf" would be a pretty cool way to tell time in the real world.

I've never heard fortnight used by an American as a part of normal usage. Furlongs only at the horse track.

[The Weirwoods Eyes]

So instead of a car that clocks distance in miles-per-hour, it uses furlongs-per-fortnight?

Or perhaps them horseless carriages are too new-fangled and you still drive a horse and buggy? [/good natured fun] ;)

Seriously, what Holdfast said. They're colorful and fun. And "hour of the wolf" would be a pretty cool way to tell time in the real world.

I've never heard fortnight used by an American as a part of normal usage. Furlongs only at the horse track.

Definitely laughing along. Yes I used Fortnight many moons ago on FB and got multiple what does that mean's from the Americans in the group. it had never occurred to me that people didn't use it there.

[mankytoes]

Interesting, I never knew Americans didn't know fortnight, fairly common word.

[Littlefingers In The Air]

Interesting, I never knew Americans didn't know fortnight, fairly common word.

Americans don't even use the possessive version of their when they're supposed to. There is used in almost everything. And don't get me started on the gross misapplication of your.

[joanimal]

HAHA I am beginning to think I might be a 65 yr old trapped in a 30 yr olds body. I use all these terms and phrases that people are saying are antiquated and reserved for the elderly on a regular basis.

Oh dear!! :blushing:

Nah, keep on doing it. I'm only a bit older than you and I do too! Although I do feel like a bridge over generations where I can explain 'phrases of youth' to my mother and 'phrases of the elderly' to, say, younger collegues .

[Lady Tippy Wolfsbane]

<-------- American

Only women. I have never, EVER heard a man called a "Cunt".

I hear it mostly around the younger crowd, and it is always used to refer to men in my experience. Older people become visibly upset when they hear the term used for both men and women, so I rarely hear it used by them.

Were as in America it's essentially the female version of the N word.

Nothing is as bad as the N word in America. I would put the word "cunt" in the same boat as the word "fag".

I disagree. The Dothraki aren't any more brutal or violent or "savage" than the people of Westeros. The Westerosi just dress up and live in castles, beyond that the core of who they are really aren't that much different. Drogo showed himself to be an intelligent strategist and a loving husband which is more than can be said about many of the warlords running around Westeros.

They're basically the Ironborn on horseback except they do a better job of honoring truces and agreements and, unlike Balon, Drogo isn't a dick.

:agree:

Americans don't even use the possessive version of their when they're supposed to. There is used in almost everything. And don't get me started on the gross misapplication of your.

It's not the majority of Americans, although the lazy minority make us all look bad. Personally, I become extremely annoyed when people repeatedly use the wrong form of the word.