YAEDT (was Re: "write him" (was Re: More questions))

Stephen Mulraney wrote:
>
> _I'm after going there_: I mean "I've just gone there". Interpreted as
> "I want to go there" (bizarrely phrased)
This is a strange phrasing to my ears, but I'd interpret it as "I want to
go there."  ("I'm after X" where X is inanimate, generally means "I'm
looking for X," "I want to obtain X," or "I want to do X."  _I'm after
eating Chinese_ = _I want to go to a Chinese restaurant_.)

> _press_: I mean "cupboard" (which to me means a "kitchen dresser").
> Interpreted as... God knows what. The strangest connection that I've
> heard someone make was to a device for storing tennis racquets in (I
> believe I'd just told him that "the bread is in the press" or such :)
"The bread is in the press" would make me think that the bread is in
a machine or tool which is compressing it (probably while toasting it).
A "cupboard" is a box on the wall with shelves and a hinged door,
usually in the kitchen where plates and food are kept. A "dresser" is
an item of furniture with drawers, kept in the bedroom, in which clothing
is kept. I've never heard of a "kitchen dresser" (which to me sounds
like someone who habitually dresses himself in the kitchen).

> _pot_: I mean a "saucepan" (a word I can't bring myself to use - it's
> like saying _spikespoon_ for _fork_). Sometimes understood. Thanks to
> context, I've never had it taken as a reference to marijuana. But I'm
> surprised it misunderstood at all.
A "pan" or "saucepan" has low sides. A "pot" has tall sides. A "pot" is
also the container for houseplants. Sometimes children refer to a "pail"
as a "pot."

> In the other direction, I once missed out on a useful aid in a maths
> exam by not understanding what was meant by a little footnote in the
> exam regulations which said that a _crib-sheet_ was permitted (it's a
> sheet of paper you prepare before the exam with formulas and notes of
> your choice_permitted (it's a sheet of paper you prepare before the exam
> with formulas and notes of your choice).
"Crib-sheet" is used in the United States, but younger people generally
use the term "cheat-sheet" for the same thing.

>  > But the whole phrase is something that would never occur in my 'lect,
>  > or I suspect in most US dialects, even with a preposition
>  > inserted.  First of all, I never hear the word "stop-cock" over here;
>  > it's a "faucet".  And that term doesn't refer to the thing you turn,
>  > but to the whole assembly as a unit.  So I would talk about "turning
the
>  > faucet off", or less specifically turning the "water" or "sink" off.
>  > If I *were* going to refer to the thing you turn directly, I'd call it
>  > a "valve".
>
> Ah, as Padraic has suggested, it doesn't mean a "tap". I've just spent
> a few minutes peering into cold, spidery corners of the house, to make
> sure my notion of it is the right one; to no avail. But it's a valve
> on the main water line into the house, and I believe it is basically a
> two-winged "tap-handle". I say "tap-handle", because I don't think I
> know of a word to refer specifically to the thing you turn, unless it's
> the _knob_ which you'd use only if for some reason you actually needed
> to point out that it's the knob that should be turned, not the whole
> assembly:)
If the device to open or close a pipe is in-line, it's called a "valve."  If
it
is open on one end, as at a sink, then it's called a "faucet" in the
Midwestern United States, "tap" or "spigot" in other parts. (On a keg
of beer, it's called a "tap" everywhere.)

--Ph. D.

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