Thread: Inspired by Berlin

When I was a recently arrived Australian Resident I was looking for a job.
Went across to a neighbour and asked
"What is a "doffmaker".
She looked at me blankly.
I brought the advertisement over and she laughed so much she choked in it.
When she recovered she told me it was a "doughmaker" as in one who works in a bakery
Ahha, that's how you pronounce it
Then I went to the chemist and asked for something to ease my "couw".
Blank stare again.
It is pronounced "coff"
ENGLISH

Is it true that the English language as we know it today is an amalgam of other languages/dialects strung together and evolved over a long period? I think that is what I remember.

Many years ago when an apprentice we were on a job with a German and an Italian in the crew. The German was a real "card", he would make you laugh a lot. I can't remember how long he had been in Australia but, even though his comprehension of English was fine he talked in a very heavy and gruff voice. The Italian who was about the same age as the German had a lot of trouble understanding what he heard, as well as very hard to understand when he spoke. Anyway one day we were nailing sheets of gyprock up on ceilings on this factory site. We were using clouts (Galvanised nails with a big flat head about 35mm long) The Italian sang out to the German "Hey John give me some more clouts". To whit the German responded "No clouts in Australia, only sunshine". I told you he was a card. He knew all too well what was asked of him and he also knew the poor Italian would not have understood the little game he had just played.

A couple of years ago I did a computer coarse at TAFE. The main teacher was Polish. Because he grew up and went to school in Poland Russian was compulsory. He trained as a Mechanical Engineer. He worked in Germany for a while so learned German then French then he decided to come over here so he learned English. One day we were in class and got off subject and we turned the coversation around to his Languages. I asked him to write "Threw" ....threw the ball
Now write "through" ....go through something. Now write "plough".....Plough the ground. Now write "although".....
Well this went on for a while and we nearly filled the white board with all these words and I sort of rounded off the whole exercise by saying...."Welcome to the English language". I just marvelled at how his brain had so much stuff in it. I should also add, when he came to Australia his Engineering credentials were not recognised so he got into coputers and had been teaching for more than 20 years. He would come into clas and lecture all morning with notes to go back to. I had a lot of regard for him

I have to agree with everything said here regarding spelling and grammar.
Such things annoy me far more than they should.

I'm a moderator on another forum and the temptation to correct a post for grammar and spelling is very strong - but I rarely succumb

Originally Posted by chambezio

A couple of years ago I did a computer coarse at TAFE.

I'm sorry chambezio, it's course not coarse.

Sorry, just being smart hehe.