From: caeruleancentaur <caeruleancentaur@...>
> >Date of birth:
> 12/12/40
Though you're of my parents' generation, and there are geographic disparities, these
usages most reflect my own.
> >1. the metal device over a sink or bathtub that controls the flow of
> >water:
> faucet
> >2. the apparatus from which you'd get a drink of water in a public
> >place:
> water fountain
> >3. the device that firefighters attach their hoses to:
> fire hydrant
> >4. the container in which you'd put water for washing the car or the
> >floor:
> bucket
with "pail", 50/50
> >5. a machine that performs banking services:
> ATM
> >6. stuff you throw away:
> garbage (food); trash (non-food)
exactly
> >7. the wheeled conveyance you put your groceries in while shopping:
> basket
> >8. a shallow pan for frying eggs or meat:
> frying pan
> >9. a piece of chocolate, 4-6 inches long:
> candy bar
> >10. a carbonated, non-alcoholic beverage, like Coke or Sprite:
> soda
> >11. cooking outside over a charcoal grill in the summertime:
> barbecuing
I mentioned in my e-mail to Kelly that the "cookout" was a staple word of my
childhood, but that it actually entailed eating outside as well. I haven't
heard the expression in yeeeaars. Now you can get the BBQ taste off the propane
grill and run back inside to air-conditioned comfort, which isn't exactly the
same thing, is it? There was an intimacy or a vibe to the "cookout" which seems
to have ossified with the term.
> >12. a cold sandwich on a foot-long roll:
> sub
Yes, though, I could also live with "grinder". Roger mentioned in another post that
these were a kind of shibboleths for Eastern cities. With mass media, I've
forgotten the great divide, so while "hero" and "hoagie" (Philly?) may indicate
that you're not from 'round 'chere, I don't find them as head-snapping as they
might have been 30 years ago.
> >13. the sweet, creamy layer on top of a cake:
> icing
I'd probably opt for "frosting", but that's a game of inches ("icing" perhaps more
decorative -- fleurettes etc. -- but that's hardly definitive, even for my
usage); "icing" certainly wouldn't have me snigger into my sleeve as quaint as
some of these other regionalisms. And the expression referring to "additional
benefits; so much the better" is definitely "the icing on the cake".
> >14. your main evening meal:
> supper
"dinner" for me. I, as a child, used to think of this as some sort of religious divide.
Catholics had "supper"; we (Protestants, hardly observant, agnostic) had
"dinner". Catholic friends went to church, had "Sunday dinner", and hence
"supper" and that seemed to expand to the evening meal in general for them.
Weekends, if we didn't follow a week-day meal plan, it was a lazy brunch, then
dinner. Dinner was the evening meal. The religious context dribbled into our
world with "Thanksgiving dinner" and "Christmas dinner" which was certainly
held in mid-to-late afternoon, but those who had the fortitude or girth to head
back for more after several hours' turkey-induced coma did not call the next
repast "supper".
> >15. food picked up and taken home to eat:
> take-out
> >16. an appliance on which you heat food in saucepans:
> stove
> >17. knives, forks, and spoons:
> silverware
> >18. contact someone by telephone:
> call, phone
> >19. the toilet facilities in a public place:
> restroom
> >20. athletic shoes worn with jeans as casual footwear:
> sneakers
> >21. a sweatshirt with front pockets and a hood:
> hooded sweatshirt
I've never felt a need for such a term, but if pressed, I'd probably have to go for
something obvious like "hooded sweatshirt" or the clunky "sweatshirt with a
hood".
> >22. a piece of furniture that seats 3 people:
> couch
"sofa" *almost* synonymous, though it can tilt toward "loveseat" in ways "couch" cannot
> >23. a piece of furniture with drawers for socks, underwear, etc.:
> dresser
or bureau, much of a muchness
> >24. the last letter of the alphabet:
> zee
>
> >25. the place where you pay for something in a store:
> check-out
Kou