That would be "semaphore." An old word for visual signalling, such as the flags used on ships.
Posted on 02/22/2017 9:27:55 PM PST by nickcarraway
That was a fun quiz - correct too. I should have paid more attention to some of the answers and the color coded map to see where the various fits were.
In general it fit to where I was born and raised, but I’m guessing the term “traffic circle” was acquired in New Jersey. (What the heck is a traffic circle!!?? I recall asking a cop who has the right of way on a traffic circle - he replied “whoever - just go”. I laughed and said “no - really.” “That is ‘really’ - there is no rule, just don’t hit anybody.”
I’m not sure if they have changed it since 25 years ago. I know the state where I live now they are all signed, and if you are in the circle you have the right of way.
Oh - “jug handles” was a new term as well when I moved to New Jersey. Where you could make a smooth and fast exit off the four lane road, then it wraps you around to a stop sign - or maybe a light? (Heh - my parents used to call the traffic lights “semifours” (sp??)
And “regular” coffee has cream and sugar in it. Found that out the hard way - almost spit it out from the lidded take out container. “Um - excuse me - this has cream and sugar in it!!” “What about it - you wanted a regular.” “Huh? isn’t regular ‘black’?”
Oscar Wilde was right.
6 ft tall, rangy and with legs that went on for miles ;)
Is it really ‘putting me in my place’ if I can’t understand a word of it?
I’ve run into that. Approached on the street in Oakland, CA by an older Numidian gentleman, who spoke for a full minute. I’m usually pretty good at figuring out what someone wants from the discernible fragments of recognizable language.
Given the circumstances of the encounter, I was forced to assume that he was asking me for money. He didn’t appear to be intoxicated at all. He wasn’t a bum or anything. He just spoke some dialect of the English language that was incomprehensible to me, and I can manage with people who are fresh-off-the-boat and can only speak a sort of pidgin.
I finally confessed that to my great regret, I couldn’t understand a single word that he was saying. He stormed off in a frustrated huff.
My paternal grandfather’s family was from County Durham (Pelton Fell) and I have heard that they called themselves ‘Geordies’. Never understood the origin of that. Thanks for posting.
Don’t know if he’s a Geordie, but listen to the English motorcycle racer, Guy Martin. You can tell he’s speaking English, but its hard to figure out what he’s saying.
I know what you mean, My wife’s a Weegie from Glesga (Glasgow, Scotland) and can sound posh as can be, but when she gets her dander up, stand by.
http://www.glasgowvant.com/glaswegian-dictionary-terms-and-phrases/
I know what you mean, My wife’s a Weegie from Glesga (Glasgow, Scotland) and can sound posh as can be, but when she gets her dander up, stand by.
http://www.glasgowvant.com/glaswegian-dictionary-terms-and-phrases/
Nothing better than a ^really^ good Scots-Welsh insult.
All else is pish.
That would be "semaphore." An old word for visual signalling, such as the flags used on ships.
Isn’t it hilarious!? There were so many expressions on those questions I had never heard. And things that have multiple expressions for the concept and we out here have NO WORD FOR IT.
“Freeway” nails the person as from out west, though. And though it isn’t on the quiz, saying THE before the highway number is a dead giveaway.
And because traffic is really actually ingrained in our lives, we do talk like The Californians on SNL. “How did you get here?” “Well, I took the 101 to the 110 and then got on the 91” etc
It’s a fun game. The first time we did it, there was someone from FL, someone from NY, and someone from SC at the table with me. We were laughing hysterically.
During the period about thirty years ago, a dreaded psychopathic serial killer was on the loose. He was a truck driver, picking up women who service truck drivers. Another socio-path made up audio tapes taunting the police. He had a strong Geordie accent. The police had already tabbed the real killer, but were not ready to arrest him. Thinking the accent was that of a Newcastle native, they dropped the tail on Sutcliffe. The real killer was from Yorkshire, not County Durham. He later murdered four more unfortunate women, while the police searched elsewhere.
An expert then identified the miscreant who so deluded the authorities. He identified the voice down to an actual section. This of about three streets in Newcastle. The police then went door to door, they found there was a man who professed hatred for the police. The police arrested the hoaxer and he got 7 years imprisonment for impeding justice. Let out sooner than that however.
Audio hoaxer lived at Castleton,Sunderland. It is in North East England, as is Newcastle. I am glad to be able to avoid Geordie invective, should I have been over there. I am sure I read elsewhere -probably in the UK tabloids the hoaxer was from Newcastle.
I’m in Washington State now (20+ years). The first time I ever heard a freeway called “The 5” was a few months ago. Then I recalled he was a transplant from California.
Same in L.A., even more so because we were the site of the flattest “news style” American accents since around the 1960s.
But drive 100 miles north, inland, say Bakersfield area, and you’d swear you were in the Midwest with the country accents. Love it.
thas a real Thela Hun Ginjeet rit there that is what...
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