Comments on: Synonyms (89)

By: string trimmer

string trimmer — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 11:31:38 +0000

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorsense

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 12:56:22 +0000

Thanks for the link.

But commenters, please put just a word or two or “regular language” in your commments. Otherwise I am likely just to delete them as spam. That’s what I almost did with this one.

However, the link points to the German Wikipedia article on the “Motorsense,” which is the thing we called (and others might call, as well) a “Schnurmäher.”

By: Brian Kelley

Brian Kelley — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 13:14:16 +0000

Especially enjoyed the episode as I am a US expat living in Auggen (between Basel and Freiburg) since 1985 - so I deeply understand the differences between schörle (which is my wife’s favorite drink), gespritz, radlers and more.

I also podcast. My personal podcast is called RoughMix, which is my podcast about songwriting and the process, which is intentionally kept rough.

Keep up the good work!

Brian

http://KelleyNews.blogspot.com

By: Gail

Gail — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 16:09:10 +0000

The “I’ll give you a ride” story reminded me of a neighbor’s trip to England, where she was reprimanded for speaking of the comforter being “stuffed.”
Do American mistakes get less ridicule in a totally different language? Maybe it has to do with the local humor, as an American stands out linguistically almost as much in London as Berlin or Madrid.

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 19:10:23 +0000

Just now I was doing some housecleaning at our archive site, when I discovered that we had repeated this week’s Rude Word.

In edition #59, Puns, we used “dullard” as the Rude Word, to describe somebody who doesn’t get puns.

I don’t know whether my brother Howard and I are hung up on this idea of dullness, but I do know I don’t want to be perceived as a dullard.

Oh well. Nothing new under the sun, I guess.

By: Antonio Cesar Polo

Antonio Cesar Polo — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 23:14:22 +0000

The best ESL podcast I ever seen, thank youvery much for posting on this podcast. You guys really speak at the right rythm from a native speaker. I’m from Brazil, and use my english to support a huge US company in its systems. In my work the hearing work is a key to success, because if I don’t understand correctly what the client wants you can inagime what trouble it is.
Thanks.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 22:13:48 +0000

Thanks for your great podcast,
In Australia we refer to the device you called a string trimmer (your podcast was the first time I’ve ever heard that phrase) as a “whipper snipper”. Is that phrase used in other countries, or is it peculiarly Australian?

By: Anne

Anne — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 07:36:13 +0000

Hi Guys,

What happy thrills you cause me when I discover a new episode. Like Pavlov’s dog drooling. The fact that the podcasts come less regular these days, makes it only more strong.

I am lucky to understand German, which made this particular episode go with a lot of recognized experiences. I have also written a review again at my blog (where I review so many podcasts).
http://anneisaman.blogspot.com/2007/07/twn-89-synonyms.html

Cheers and keep going

Anne

By: tom (dB)

tom (dB) — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:28:18 +0000

In the UK we call it a strimmer. Thinking about it now it must be s’trimmer but I’d never heard string trimmer before.

By: Brian Backman

Brian Backman — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 00:07:02 +0000

I just discovered your podcast. I teach high school English in Anacortes, Washington. I’ve read the “Mother Tongue.” Bryson also has a book on American English called “Made in America.” I look forward to listening to your podcast often.

My blog is an almanac of words that attempts to link every day of the year to something interesting about the English language. I hope you will check it out.

Thanks.

By: Tristan Mahr

Tristan Mahr — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 16:18:30 +0000

I am pleased with how you did this episode. Rather than focus on the fact that synonyms exist, you dig into how synonyms can be problematic (the unbeknownst shades of meaning) and you illustrate this in real-life terms.

You need to pump out more shows though.

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 16:33:36 +0000

Well, we NEED to earn a living and spend time with our families…

But we WANT to keep putting shows out regularly. I trust we will be able to stick to our every-three-weeks schedule for the time being. We will be recording several shows this week, in fact.

By: Tristan Mahr

Tristan Mahr — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 16:50:47 +0000

I know about your need of personal time. I am not suggesting that you quit your job or abandon your family. But my comment was directed at the fact that only three episodes have come out since late March. There is just this lack of intelligent people podcast about language. Also, I did praise your latest episode.

By: PoodleOfDeath

PoodleOfDeath — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 10:07:47 +0000

Just another addition from a German native speaker.
I just listened to this episode (better late than never…) and now stumbled over the “Motorsense”-entry in your comments here and I have to say: I always knew this tool by “Trimmer” even here in Germany I thought the term Motorsense (which means motor-scythe) only refers to those with a blade.

Your podcast is just the best: entertaining AND educating. Don’t stop it, ever…

By: Vinh Prag

Vinh Prag — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 09:13:53 +0000

I remember you talked about people saying ‘pop’ or ’soda’ or even ‘coke’, and today I stumbled upon this poll on Facebook and thought it may be of interest to you.

Many Facebook users are non-English native speakers.

http://www.facebook.com/polls.php?poll_id=4793451902&ref=pns