language meme

Apr. 10th, 2008 12:17 pm
arguchik: (old tyme bob)
[personal profile] arguchik
this struck my fancy as appropriately light and non-taxing to my intellect, which is tired today and won't tolerate taxation of any kind. ganked from [livejournal.com profile] maeveh:

Language Meme
Where did you grow up: michigan (grand rapids, i.e. the lower peninsula)

1. A body of water, smaller than a river, contained within relatively narrow banks.
that depends. some of them are creeks, pronounced "creek." some of them are creeks, pronounced "crick." the difference is specific to the creek in question--if i'm talking about a generic creek, i say "creek," but specific creeks may have been called "crick" when someone first named them out loud in front of me, and that pronunciation has just stuck. for example, buck creek, which is near my parents' house and on/in which i used to play a lot as a kid, has always been and will always be "buck crick." (yeah, if you say it out loud it kinda sounds like you're saying "butt crack," i know.)

2. What the thing you push around the grocery store is called.
shopping cart or just cart

3. A metal container to carry a meal in.
lunchbox

4. The thing that you cook bacon and eggs in.
frying pan or skillet, interchangeably

5. The piece of furniture that seats three people.
couch. my grandmother called hers a "davenport."

6. The device on the outside of the house that carries rain off the roof.
gutters and downspouts

7. The covered area outside a house where people sit in the evening.
porch (unless it's a patio or a deck, which are sometimes covered)

8. Carbonated, sweetened, non-alcoholic beverages.
pop. while living in vermont i started to say "soda" instead, though. now i often say "soda pop."

9. A flat, round breakfast food served with syrup.
pancake

10. A long sandwich designed to be a whole meal in itself.
submarine (or sub, for short) sandwich

11. The piece of clothing worn by men at the beach.
swim trunks

12. Shoes worn for sports.
gym shoes or sneakers, unless for a specific sport in which case they're running shoes, high-tops, tennis shoes, or court shoes (depending on the sport). in HS i called my running shoes "track shoes."

13. Putting a room in order.
straightening it. i agree with [livejournal.com profile] maeveh that dusting and vacuuming constitutes "cleaning."

14. A flying insect that glows in the dark.
firefly

15. The little insect that curls up into a ball.
potato bug

16. The children's playground equipment where one kid sits on one side and goes up while the other sits on the other side and goes down.
teeter totter

17. How do you eat your pizza?
starting from the point, and yes i eat the crust (which is particularly good if it has burned cheese on it).

18. What's it called when private citizens put up signs and sell their used stuff?
that depends. it can be a garage sale (if it's held in the garage/driveway), a yard sale (if it's held in the yard), a rummage sale (if it's held at the church), or an estate sale (if the stuff for sale is really nice, or if it's to sell off stuff belonging to someone who has died).

19. What's the evening meal?
dinner or supper, interchangeably. my mom always called it "supper." nowadays i usually call it "dinner."

20. The thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are?
basement.

21. What do you call the thing that you can get water out of to drink in public places?
drinking fountain.

22. Building A is diagonally across a 4-way intersection from Building B. You would say, "Building A is _______ from Building B."

kitty corner.
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Date: 2008-04-10 11:04 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kirinqueen.livejournal.com
My grandmother (raised in IA and CA, parents were English) says "davenport" too.

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