English, the Language.

[Trilliam]

Here (in Sydney) trams are called "Light rail", in Victoria they're called trams. A buggy is drawn by horses here. Although strange men in funny baggy trouserts sometimes pull odd looking metal sticks in "buggies". Babies are put into prams or strollers. A shopping "cart" is one of those 2 or 4 wheeled waterproof fabric covered contraptions that older people take their shopping home in.

 

[Thestral]

I was surprised to discover that the urban dictionary actually has an entry for "hwaet".

I read Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf, and I liked his version: "So."

As in, "So, there was this warrior, Beowulf, who came to the aid of Hrothgar, king of the Danes..."

Seamus Heaney's translation is the one I read in high school. Good stuff. I'd like to read Tolkien's at some point.

 

[Jadzia]

In England, it tends to be that trolleys are pushed; carts are pulled.

A buggy is a form of trolley that someone sits in; a carriage is a form of cart that someone sits in.

 

[Canadave]

Here (in Sydney) trams are called "Light rail", in Victoria they're called trams.

At the risk of outing myself as a transit nerd, there is a difference between light rail and trams\streetcars. Light rail generally runs between small stations in short trains, sometimes on the street and sometimes on grade-separated rail. After doing some Googling, Sydney's system definitely seems to fit with this definition. A tram\streetcar, however, generally runs more like a bus; mixed with traffic and running between streetside stops instead of stations.

 

[iBender]

Carriages* are pulled.

 

[Miss Chicken]

It is easy in Tasmania. we do not have trams, trolley buses, or any regular passenger rail.

However I remember there being trolley buses when I was a child. This is what they looked like

I was only two when tram services ended in Hobart so i don't remember them. They looked like this

 

[iBender]

Ahhh, Trolleybus.

Trolley

Tram

'Snow' Tram

'Old' Tram

Bus;
Bendy Bus

Double Decker Bus

Bus

 

[Goliath]

Hmm. We had trolley buses in Edmonton, Alberta when I was growing up, but I never heard anyone call them that. They were just "electric buses."

They were in operation for seventy years, from 1939 to 2009.

 

[Trilliam]

Here (in Sydney) trams are called "Light rail", in Victoria they're called trams.

At the risk of outing myself as a transit nerd, there is a difference between light rail and trams\streetcars. Light rail generally runs between small stations in short trains, sometimes on the street and sometimes on grade-separated rail. After doing some Googling, Sydney's system definitely seems to fit with this definition. A tram\streetcar, however, generally runs more like a bus; mixed with traffic and running between streetside stops instead of stations.

Melbourne trams run on rails. Also the old tram system in Sydney (stopped running in 1961), was on rails. The rails are still there, they just tarred over them.

 

[Canadave]

^ Yeah, that's what I meant. They run on rails, but mixed with traffic, so in operation, they're more like a bus.

 

[Trilliam]

Except they were called Tramways. Not like a bus - they had/have dedicated lanes and other traffic had to give way, so more efficient than buses. A stupid and short-sighted mistake by the State Govt of the Day.

 

[iBender]

I wonder who else knew that Kangaroo in English translates to
"I don't understand you."

So when someone speaking English asked an Aboriginal person pointing to a

.
That person speaking English must have asked
"what's that?"
To which the Aboriginal person must have replied
"Kangaroo."

So now it's called an I Don't Understand You; I mean, an Kangaroo.

 

[mimic]

People were posting videos earlier, so here's my one youtube video in which I speak.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KX0IXVjYR4&feature=channel_video_title[/yt]

For the record, I'm from the Philly suburbs, but the Philly accent is only there on words like 'our' and 'tour.'

 

[Trilliam]

Aggggh! Why did she take the tardis out of its original packaging? She's just dropped the collector value!

 

[Thestral]

Note: that's mimic in the video.

Anyway, fun lots of books! You sound perfectly normal to me.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

I have never used or felt the need for a word for 'sun shower', that's what confused me with the description!

Same here. That's the first I've ever heard of it having a specific name. Though now that I read the Wiki article, I do seem to recall my Grandma (who's originally from Kentucky) possibly using "the devil is beating his wife" or something to that effect to describe it. It just sticks out because it was such an odd turn of phrase for her.

 

[Kestra]

I have never used or felt the need for a word for 'sun shower', that's what confused me with the description!

Same here. That's the first I've ever heard of it having a specific name. Though now that I read the Wiki article, I do seem to recall my Grandma (who's originally from Kentucky) possibly using "the devil is beating his wife" or something to that effect to describe it. It just sticks out because it was such an odd turn of phrase for her.

Apparently in Bengali it's called a "devil's wedding," but I've definitely never heard that. I don't really even know what they mean by devil.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

I have never used or felt the need for a word for 'sun shower', that's what confused me with the description!

Same here. That's the first I've ever heard of it having a specific name. Though now that I read the Wiki article, I do seem to recall my Grandma (who's originally from Kentucky) possibly using "the devil is beating his wife" or something to that effect to describe it. It just sticks out because it was such an odd turn of phrase for her.

Apparently in Bengali it's called a "devil's wedding," but I've definitely never heard that. I don't really even know what they mean by devil.

A holdover from the colonial days, maybe.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

So now it's called an I Don't Understand You; I mean, an Kangaroo.

That's an Urban Myth, unfortunately.

 

[lurok]

I wonder who else knew that Kangaroo in English translates to
"I don't understand you."

Similar to the 'budgerigar/"good to eat" example I posted upthread. I assumed both were ethnic language myths/jokes, but perhaps not...

edit: ah, ^Asbo just confirmed suspicions...