Re: CHAT: The [+foreign] attribute

bnathyuw wrote:

> for me mail is usually e-, whilst post ( count form :
> letter ) is what, errm, goes thro the post
Anecdote 1: When I told my girlfriend "I'm just gonna get
the mail", when I meant "post". Now, in Swedish, letters
and things with stamps on are definitely "post". "Mail"
is what you get on your computer.

Anecdote 2: I'm helping immigrants with their homework
(and sometimes with their Swedish). The other day I tried
to explain to a Nigerian woman what a 'brevbärare' is. I
used the word "mailman", and she gave me a blank expression.
Then I realized that perhaps I should use "postman". That's
the word I've been taught, and apparently that's the word
in Nigerian English. I'm pretty sure my use of "mailman"
comes from getting 200 e-mails per day, but rarely more than
one snail-mail (letter) per day, rather than influence from
American English.

Conclusion: I'm spending *way* to much time in front of
the computer. :)

||| daniel

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