Re: [YAEUT] Lexical variation survey

Kelly Drinkwater wrote:
> Hey all,
[snip]

> Date of birth:
15th Jan. 1939

> Sex:
Male

> Where do you currently live? (city, state/province, country)
Surrey, UK

> Please list the places you've lived between age 4 and age 18, with
> the most recent first:
West Sussex, UK

> Occupation:
Retired computer scientist (formerly teacher of Latin & Greek)

> Highest level of education completed:
M. Litt.

> Ethnic heritage:
British

> What is/are your native language(s)?
English

> Roughly how many years have you been conlanging or studying
> linguistics?
59

> How many years ago did you first encounter / begin reading (not
> necessarily join / begin posting on) an online conlanging community?
About 12 years, I think


> For each of the following items, please choose which word you use
> most often, or put the word you do use if it's not a choice. Feel
> free to leave comments if some aspect of your usage is noteworthy (eg
> if you are
>
> 1. the metal device over a sink or bathtub that controls the flow of
> water: faucet, spigot, tap
tap

> 2. the apparatus from which you'd get a drink of water in a public
> place: bubbler, drinking fountain, water fountain
(drinking) fountain

> 3. the device that firefighters attach their hoses to: fire hydrant,
> fire plug
(fire) hydrant


> 4. the container in which you'd put water for washing the car or the
> floor: bucket, pail
bucket

> 5. a machine that performs banking services: ATM, automated teller,
> bank machine, cash machine, cash point, guichet, hole in the wall,
> money machine, commercial name (eg MAC machine, Instant Teller,
> Instabank)
cash point, ATM

> 6. stuff you throw away: garbage, rubbish, trash
rubbish
('garbage' would be used only metaphorically, i.e. I might describe
someone's words as garbage; 'trash' used only in reference to computing)

> 7. the wheeled conveyance you put your groceries in while shopping:
> basket, buggy, cart, trolley
trolley
A 'buggy' would be understood as what we used to call a 'push-chair' in
the old days   :)
Baskets simply do not have wheels!

> 8. a shallow pan for frying eggs or meat: fry pan, frying pan,
> griddle, skillet, spider
frying pan

A 'griddle' is different - it's flat, usually circular, and has no
sides. It's used for making griddle cakes or 'drop scones', 'Scottish
pancakes', Welsh cakes etc.

A spider is an arachnid   :)


> 9. a piece of chocolate, 4-6 inches long: bar, candy bar, chocolate
> bar
bar of chocolate

> 10. a carbonated, non-alcoholic beverage, like Coke or Sprite: coke,
> cola, cold drink, fizzy drink, pop, soda, soda pop, soft drink, tonic
>
fizzy drink.

'coke' would be used only if Coca-cola is meant, and 'cola' means either
Coca-cola, Pepsi-cola (or something very similar); I would not describe
Sprite as a 'cola'.

> 11. cooking outside over a charcoal grill in the summertime:
> barbecuing, grilling, grilling out, having a cookout
barbecuing


> 12. a cold sandwich on a foot-long roll: sub(marine), hero, hoagie,
> grinder
sub

> 13. the sweet, creamy layer on top of a cake: frosting, icing
icing


> 14. your main evening meal: dinner, supper
The main meal of the day is 'dinner', whether taken at mid-day or in the
evening.

If dinner is in the evening, then the mid-day meal is lunch; but if
dinner is taken at mid-day (as we usually do on Sundays), then the
evening meal 'supper'.

> 15. food picked up and taken home to eat: carry-out, take-away,
> take-out
take-away

> 16. an appliance on which you heat food in saucepans: cooker, range,
> stove
hob

'cooker', 'stove' & range' all imply more than just the hob.

> 17. knives, forks, and spoons: cutlery, flatware, silverware,
> utensils
cutlery

'silverware' means things made of silver, which could include other
things besides cutlery.

> 18. contact someone by telephone: call, phone, ring, telephone, buzz
phone

> 19. the toilet facilities in a public place: bathroom, facilities,
> ladies' room / men's room, lavatory, loo, restroom, toilet, washroom,
> WC, john
Informal: 'loo' or 'bog' (depending on company);
formal: 'lavatory' or 'toilet'
facetious: "little boy's room"

Like most Brits, I have this quaint notion that a bathroom actually has
a bath in it   ;)

> 20. athletic shoes worn with jeans as casual footwear: gym shoes,
> plimsolls, runners, running shoes, sneakers, tennis shoes, trainers,
> brand name (eg Adidas)
trainers (but we did call them 'plimsoles' [sic] half a century ago when
I was a schoolkid  :)

> 21. a sweatshirt with front pockets and a hood: hooded sweatshirt,
> hoodie, kangaroo jacket, bunnyhug
hoodie


> 22. a piece of furniture that seats 3 people: couch, chesterfield,
> davenport, divan, settee, sofa
couch - tho 'sofa' or 'settee' would be understood.
By 'divan' I understand a type of bed, and Davenport reminds me of
company that used to (still does??) deliver beer to your door!

> 23. a piece of furniture with drawers for socks, underwear, etc.:
> bureau, chest (of drawers), drawers, dresser, highboy
chest of drawers (pronounced as though it were a single word, i.e.
'chestadrors'), or just simply 'drawers'


> 24. the last letter of the alphabet: zed, zee
zed (unless I want to annoy people   :)

> 25. the place where you pay for something in a store: cash, cash
> register, cashier, check-out, till
In a supermarket: check-out
In a shop: till

--
Ray
==================================
http://www.carolandray.plus.com
==================================
Frustra fit per plura quod potest
fieri per pauciora.
[William of Ockham]

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