Theiling Online    Sitemap    Conlang Mailing List HQ   

Re: The English/French counting system (WAS: number systems fromconlangs)

From:Tristan McLeay <zsau@...>
Date:Tuesday, September 16, 2003, 11:13
On Tue, 16 Sep 2003, John Cowan wrote:

> Tristan McLeay scripsit: > > > _Another_ oddity of Americans and time-telling is the way they use seasons > > for time, in spite of the total absence of a relation between what they're > > saying and the weather. This means that 'fall' may translate into either > > 'autumn' or 'spring' depending on context, and usually the latter. > > What on earth are you talking about?
The bottom half.
> "Fall" is a synonym for "autumn", > always; indeed, it is the original and native word, which we in North > America retained when the Brits (and their more junior colonies) switched > to the more pompous Latin derivative. It refers to the period between > 21 September and 22 December, give or take a day; of course, in informal > use it may start later or end sooner, depending on the weather and the > climate in the location where the person is speaking. The etymology of > the term is transparent, and refers to the behavior of deciduous trees > in preparation for winter.
Spring in Australia starts on 1 September and finishes on 30 November. (People stare at me in disbelief and might follow up with comments of Americans' stupidity if I mention you start your seasons around the soltices and equinoxes.) Sorry, I forgot to mention that, coming from Australia as I do, the seasons are switched. -- Tristan <kesuari@...> Yesterday I was a dog. Today I'm a dog. Tomorrow I'll probably still be a dog. Sigh! There's so little hope for advancement. -- Snoopy

Replies

John Cowan <cowan@...>The calendar
Joe <joe@...>
Nik Taylor <yonjuuni@...>The English/French counting system (WAS: number systemsfromconlangs)