5 ms·
As a Brit living in the US it took me over a year (and several misunderstanding) to realize that there is a difference in the use of the word 'punt' between US
by tomsaffell 16y ago
As a Brit living in the US it took me over a year (and several misunderstanding) to realize that there is a difference in the use of the word 'punt' between US and UK. The main confusion was between:
1. (Informal) To cease doing something; give up [1]
2. (Chiefly British Slang) To gamble [1]
Often the context allows for either of those to make sense. Off topic, I know, but maybe it will help others avoid the confusion.
1. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/punt http://www.thefreedictionary.com/punt
- noonespecial 16y agoYes, thanks for that. I should know better by now. Once while living in Germany I asked someone in my German-peppered-with-english-words-for-german-words-I-didn't-know if they were concerned about the amount of preservatives in some sort of shelf stable cheese food. They heard Präservativ when I probably meant Konservierungsmittel. Hilarity ensued.
- kyleslattery 16y agoIf anyone's wondering, Präservativ means "condom" in German. My favorite false cognate in German is "das Gift", which in English is in fact "poison".
- eru 16y agoIt also bugs me that there's no clear and simple equivalent of "schenken". (There are words like `bestow', but they don't quite cut it.)
- slackerIII 16y agoFor 1, at least as I hear it used in the tech industry, I think there is some connotation of doing it later. More like defer than give up entirely.
- RK 16y agoThe (American) meaning I associate with "punting" is to defer the responsibility to someone else.
- bigfudge 16y agoHowever punting (as in American Football manoeuvre) is not that well known a term in the UK. Perhaps punting as gambling refers to standing upright in a flat-bottomed boat an hoping to remain dry?
- JonnieCache 16y agoIt is a standard term in rugby, anyone in the UK who knows about that sport is familiar with that definition. It's more commonly just called a 'drop kick' but people would know what punt meant in the context of sport.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]