Ddawkins73

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Delete the Milky Way!

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Log/2009 February 4#Milky Way

Not to be encouraged, of course (the nomination I mean), but as "likely bad faith" nominations go, this has ambition.

Ddawkins73 (talk) 13:27, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

Sandbox below

Word lists, grammar, and articles about language use (Linguistics) : Sources (from WP:CSTS as template)

This page lists resources for editors looking for reliable sources for articles concerning language and its use (Linguistics)

Unreliable Sources

Ourselves!
- Words and phrases - variation between communities blah blah...
- Grammar - We all speak our own language expertly, and know the words and phrases used amongst our local community. We use grammar expertly to make hundreds of new, creative sentences everyday. But we don't know how we do it: It's a surprising fact, but our spoken grammar is unconscious. There are lots of internal rules we use without knowing how we use them, and could use before we ever learnt any written grammar at school.
Style manuals, "How To"s, books on composition, "essentials of grammar" etc etc. [Explanation... ]
Newspaper editors, journalists, and columnists. (inc language columns)

Reliable Sources

Linguistics textbooks and journals. Dictionaries * (NB:... )

note Re date.

sources

Specialized science and technology media or sections in general media, listed alphabetically:

B to E

F to P

R to Z

Lexis (vocabulary)

Proposed reorganization*

Most of the differences in lexis or vocabulary between British and American English are in connection with concepts originating from the 19th century to the mid 20th century, when new words were coined independently.^{[citation needed]} Almost the entire vocabularies of the car/automobile and railway/railroad industries (see Rail terminology) are different between the UK and US, for example. Other sources of difference are slang or vulgar terms, where frequent new coinage occurs, and idiomatic phrases, including phrasal verbs. The differences most likely to create confusion are those where the same word or phrase is used for two different concepts. Regional variations, even within the US or the UK, can create the same problems.

It is not a straightforward matter to identify items as equivalent. David Crystal identifies some of the problems of classification on the facing page to his list of American English/British English lexical variation, and states "this should be enough to suggest caution when working through an apparently simple list of equivalents"[8]

expand?

General trends

crossing of terms between American and British English is not wholly restricted one-way, but American English is the predominant worldwide influence.[2][3][4]

hence "AmE {NOT BrE} " are unstable. (verifiability problem. Source re not using it in research (some), but stress dialect variation still exists. (Actually, this bit higher up)

Note re AmE/BrE dictionaries perhaps (rarer due to difficulties)

While the use of American expressions in the UK is often noted, movement in the opposite direction is less common. But such words as book (meaning "to reserve") and roundabout (otherwise called a traffic circle or rotary) are clearly current in AmE, although often regarded as British. Some other "Briticisms", such as go missing (as an alternative to disappear), bespoke (for custom-made or made-to-order), or run-up (for "period preceding an event") are increasingly used in AmE, and a few (for instance, early on) are now completely standard.^{[citation needed]} - examples.

Though the influence of cross-culture media has done much to familiarize BrE and AmE speakers with each other's regional words and terms, many words are still recognized as part of a *specific dialect* of English. Though the use of a British word would be acceptable in AmE (and vice versa), most listeners would recognize the word as coming from the other form of English, and treat it much the same as a word borrowed from any other language.

For instance, an American using the word chap or mate to refer to a friend would be heard in much the same way as an American using the Spanish word amigo. *"heard" how? proper terms.

Overview of lexical differences(ugh! better heading needed)

words and phrases - lexical units or items (brief explanation - "A lexicon is not made up of different words, but different "units of meaning" (lexical units or lexical items). eg (idioms, figures of speech, fly ball, similar examples etc)

Words and phrases which have their origins in BrE

These terms are less likely to be known by those from a AmE speech community (usually, USA)*

Some speakers of AmE are aware of some BrE terms, although they might not generally use them, or may be confused as to whether someone intends the American or British meaning (such as for biscuit) - *expand example, prob not clear to Brit* (as in biscuit/cracker?). They will be able to guess approximately what some others, such as “driving licence,” mean. However, use of many other British words, risks rendering a sentence incomprehensible to most Americans. such as naff (unstylish, though commonly used to mean "not very good") {fact} - *for examples, and date them. So..* As of (date), naff was not considered to be a word common to the AmE lexicon (source)

Words and phrases which have their origins in AmE

Speakers of BrE are likely to understand most AmE terms, examples such as sidewalk, gas (gasoline/petrol), counterclockwise, or elevator (lift), without any problem. Certain terms which are heard less frequently are unlikely to be understood by most BrE speakers.

Divergence: Words and phrases with different meanings

Words such as bill (AmE "paper money", BrE and AmE "invoice") and biscuit (AmE: BrE's "scone", BrE: AmE's "cookie") are used regularly in both AmE and BrE, but mean different things in each form^{[citation needed]}. As chronicled by Winston Churchill, the opposite meanings of the verb to table created a misunderstanding during a meeting of the Allied forces;^{[citation needed]} in BrE to table an item on an agenda means to open it up for discussion, whereas in AmE, it means to remove it from discussion.^{[citation needed]}

NB instances of Common meaning AND separate meaning.

Word Frequency

short para (sentence or two)

In the UK, the word whilst is historically acceptable as a conjunction (as an alternative to while, especially prevalent in some dialects). In AmE only while is used in both contexts.^{[citation needed]}

In the UK, generally the term fall meaning "autumn" is obsolete. Although found often from Elizabethan to Victorian literature, continued understanding of the word is usually ascribed to its continued use in America.^{[citation needed]}

In the UK, the term period for a full stop is now obsolete. For example, Tony Blair said, "Terrorism is wrong, full stop", whereas in AmE, "Terrorism is wrong, period."^[1]

Media domination has seen American vocabulary encroaching on British in recent decades, so that (for example) truck is now increasingly heard in the UK instead of lorry, and line is used as well as queue – so that the verb queue up or queue is now sometimes replaced with stand in line.^{[citation needed]}

--Social and cultural differences--

Explain what diffs are and why. Select examples as part of explanation and Split long lists of examples to separate pages.

(Frequency)

multiple meanings (Polysemy)

Homynyms

Homographs

connotation

complex differences

Figures of speech

Idioms (phrases)

^ "PM's Press Conference". 10 Downing Street. 26 July 2005. Retrieved 2007-04-27.

[1] "PM's Press Conference". 10 Downing Street. 26 July 2005. Retrieved 2007-04-27.

[1]