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Readers' Feedback Languages Page 6 of 9 Generated : 19th May 2024

039

I was wondering if you knew how I could get a list of countries that speak english and countries that don't?

can you refer me to a site that has this, I am just looking for a simple list

KryssTal Reply: Hi there

A list of English speaking countries appears on my English Language web page.

038

Just stumbled onto your pages. Very enjoyable. A couple of points though: Puerto Rico is not a country, it is a United States 'commonwealth'.

KryssTal Reply: Appologies - and of course Gibraltar is not a country in that sense either but I was not trying to write a Political or Geographical essay!

And in the U.S. the compartment in the back of a car for carrying luggage, etc, is called a 'trunk', what in the U.K. is referred to as the 'boot.' Simply referring to this as the 'back of a car' could be misleading.

KryssTal Reply: Quite correct - I'll change it

Keep up the good work.

KryssTal Reply: Thanks.

037

Do you have a complete list of all the world's languages (or 200 more important) and countries where those languages are spoken?

KryssTal Reply: Try the following sites:

Good luck

036

This may be the wrong sort of question to ask you but my girlfriend'smum has just (today) taken in a family of Albanian refugees and is suffering from a slight language barrier. Can you suggest any (cheap) material available for simple day-to-day translations? Is there any material that might be useful on the net?

Yours thankfully.

KryssTal Reply: Sorry but the best I can suggest is that you search on the Internet.

035

Hello! I love your Cockney English site.

I'm writing a novel in which a minor character speaks with a Cockney accent. I wonder if I might trouble you by asking if the three sentences below ring true to you, in terms of their sounding like they came from the mouth of a Cockney.

KryssTal Reply: Chears for your kind words, old chap!

1. We are jolly aware of your identity, Mr. Hatcher.

KryssTal Reply: Only the upper classes or satirists use "jolly", the cockney version of this would be

with the "wh" of who and "t" of mate not pronounced. (we know oo you are ma'e)

2. Thanks to you for joining us.

KryssTal Reply: This sounds like English spoken last century. Try

without the final g

3. Attaboy, Mr. Hatcher.

KryssTal Reply: "Attaboy" is an Americanism. Try

without the H in Hatcher and witout the d in old. China is short for China Plate - mate!

If these aren't quite right, would you have any suggestions?

KryssTal Reply: Listen to Dick Van Dyke's cockney accent in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - and ignore it!

Thanks!

KryssTal Reply: let me know when the novel is out and I'll have a read!

Thanks for these tips, Kryss. They helped a lot. Here's hoping that this novel makes it to print. A lot of novels written are never published.

034

Hi - can you please be of some help?

We recently heard the term 'Nonce' and would like to know where it came from. Can't see it mentioned anywhere else on the Web. Thanks very much

KryssTal Reply: No idea of its origin. It appears to be Cockney. It is prison slang referring to sexual offenders.

033

Dear Kryss,

I've just discovered your site, which I'm enjoying. One term that' got me in to trouble in America before now is "cheap". To me it simply means inexpensive; to them it connotes stinginess and corner-cutting.

Thanks

KryssTal Reply: Read Bill Bryson's "The Mother Tongue" for more differences and their histories.

032

I wonder if you can help me with a qusetion that is puzzling me and my neighbours.

There is a hill near us (Derbyshire, UK) named Owler Tor. Also there are several street names with the word 'Owler' in it (including one just called Owlers). I can find no reference to the origin of the name.

KryssTal Reply: Sorry for the delay in responding - I have not been able to find the answers to your questions. Sorry.

Thank you for trying.

031

As someone who has a good knowledge of Irish, I was still surprised by some of the words you have listed (e.g. strontium?!). Others I know of are: SPREE, SNAZZY, SO LONG (from SLAN). Also the American slang word SLEW (a lot of). I feel that SHENANIGANS must be of Gaelic origin though I can't quite work out the derivation. Anyway, nice work.

P.S. I believe ROAD comes from an old Celtic (or Old Irish) word.

KryssTal Reply: Thanks for the tips - It all gets checked. Top of the morning to you.

030

I liked the British & Cockney pages the best. It's curious that a few Cockney expressions (like fence and loan shark) are now universal.

I was surprised by 'petunia'-- I'll have to add it to my own list of Amerindian words in English. You might add "shiv" to your list of Gypsy words in English. And there are some more Japanese words that have come over more recently: manga, anime, hentai, sarariman, teriyaki, tofu, futon, daikon, shiitake, kanji. Also, Russian 'vodka' is a diminutive (of voda 'water').