3 ms·
I emigrated from the UK to USA in 1980 and my first code review at Bell Labs I spent about 30 mins explaining my code and then asked if there were any final que
by dave333 1y ago
I emigrated from the UK to USA in 1980 and my first code review at Bell Labs I spent about 30 mins explaining my code and then asked if there were any final questions and someone hesitantly asked, "What is this variable 'zed' you keep talking about?"
- dave333 1y agoHaving posted the above a few days ago, last night I (originally from the UK) was in the car with my wife (US born and bred) following and reciting map directions on my phone like "0.8 miles left on San Antonio" which I say as UK standard "nought point eight miles left on San Antonio." After a while she asks "what is nought?" Here we just say "point 8 miles" or "zero point eight miles." We've only been married 42 years and are still learning each other's language:-)
- 1659447091 1y agoSome time ago a few people from the UK kept calling/referring to someone as a nonce. It took me awhile to say something, but I finally asked because I simply couldn't understand or wrap my head around why they kept referring to this person as a single use random number (mostly for authentication in my case). It was so confusing.
- rwmj 1y agoI used to work for a networking start-up and when we were in the US trying - without success - to sell the company we practised over and over saying "roWter" for "router" (English pronunciation like "rooter").
- wcarss 1y agoAs a Canadian I read that as "rOATer" for a moment, because the word row rhyming with ow is quite uncommon here -- the row I know is in a boating or a data context.
- dfawcus 1y agoAs a Brit, so did I. That said, a "rotor" would be pronounced as "rOATer" and has a completely different meaning. isn't English fun !
- ninalanyon 1y agoYou never have a row with anyone?
- wisemang 1y agoAs a Canadian, obviously not. (For real though we don’t use that word for argument or whatever.)
- BrandoElFollito 1y agoFunny, I just realised that I say "rooter" in French (because route ("roote") means way, like in English), but I say "rAWter" in English
- ninalanyon 1y agoThere are two words with the same spelling but separate pronunciations in British English: Router (rooter) the thing that routes packets in a newtwork Router (rowter) a machine tool that cuts grooves, etc., in wood or metal.
- BrandoElFollito 1y agoAh, so I pronounce the IT equipment wrong. I guess that "raw-ter" sounds really bad then.