quick, possibly slightly odd question for those CBGers not from the UK, Australia or New Zealand...
How do you feel about being addressed by the term mate?
On second thoughts, people from the UK, Australia and New Zealand might as well answer too...
I like it! I'm from the U.S., New Hampshire specifically, and one of my good friends got into the habit of saying "mate" and it caught on ever since... well, at least amidst my group of friends.
I'm sure you won't meet any opposition from any posters, I couldn't see why anyone would be bothered by it or anything.
:offtopic:
Quote from: The_Weave05I like it! I'm from ... New Hampshire ...
Really? Cool! Whereabouts?
:ontopic:
I'm ambivalent about it, really. Can't remember the last time I was called that.
It would depend on who was calling me mate. If it was someone from the UK/Australia/New Zealand, that would be fine. If someone from North America called me mate I'd probably consider them pretentious, like if they called a North American apartment a flat. It'd be kind of like speaking with an accent or something.
Quote from: Rorschach Fritos:offtopic:
Quote from: The_Weave05I like it! I'm from ... New Hampshire ...
Really? Cool! Whereabouts?
Rochester, NH. It's an odd place, but hey, its home! Why dost thou ask?
:ontopic:
I'm still okay with being called mate!
EDIT: Oh, I was hoping the "On Topic" smiley was working...
Quote from: The_Weave05Quote from: Rorschach Fritos:offtopic:
Quote from: The_Weave05I like it! I'm from ... New Hampshire ...
Really? Cool! Whereabouts?
Rochester, NH. It's an odd place, but hey, its home! Why dost thou ask?
Rochester is interesting, yeah. I'm from just outside Laconia, myself. :)
Quote from: SteerpikeIt would depend on who was calling me mate. If it was someone from the UK/Australia/New Zealand, that would be fine. If someone from North America called me mate I'd probably consider them pretentious, like if they called a North American apartment a flat. It'd be kind of like speaking with an accent or something.
I'm with Steerpike on this. I was at a college football (American) game last fall and two idiots behind me were yelling like they just watched a Guy Richie movie. There may times and places for words like mate, and bloody*, and rubbish, but a Midwestern American football game is not one of them. That being said, if you are from any other former British colony, do whatever.
And because I couldn't help but think of this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgPH0tYXJrA
*unless it's a really good game.
That link brings up another thing I was wondering about; How easy is it for Americans to understand British English?
I know someone who went on holiday to florida and went into a shop to buy something and was told by the shop assistant to "speak english, please"... regardless of how much that obviously annoyed him, it does seem to indicate that they couldn't actually understand what he was asking for...
EDIT: Also, The Weave, you'd be surprised. Even here some people don't like it (which I find odd). Once, although I'll admit he wasn't in the best mood with us at the time, my friend started a sentence to someone with "Listen, mate..." only to be angrily interrupted with "I am NOT your MATE!"... but yeah at the time the guy was under the impression that we were stealing someone's boat, so maybe that was part of it :P
I've never had any trouble, but my mother and grandparents are British and I've watched a fair bit of British TV (mostly Faulty Towers and Doctor Who...), so I might have an unfair advantage.
Fair enough. The context of all this is that I'm off to visit family in Virginia in august, and I haven't been to the States since I was about 5, which I scarcely remember. Not that I ever have any problems communicating with my American relatives... but yeah... Lol.
I don't have any trouble with the written language but as far as speaking goes, it depends on the accent. Most British people I've heard I can understand just fine but a few just sound like they don't move their mouth (or, as these people would say "mouff") enough when they speak. My understanding is that's kind of a London street accent?
I think everywhere in the UK, regardless of accent, we have a tendency to move our mouths as little as possible when speaking - apart from those of us who speak like classically trained actors :)
Quote from: Rorschach FritosRochester is interesting, yeah. I'm from just outside Laconia, myself. :)
:offtopic:
I like to think I add a little class to the seedy nature of the place. Laconia, eh? I've actually never been, but thats like a hour from me, we could practically game! :)
I don't have any problem with the term. I honestly don't see how someone could see it as being pretentious to use mate or any other British slang :huh:
As for understanding it I have never had trouble understanding British English. It's Irish and Scottish English that are hard to understand.
Quote from: NomadicI don't have any problem with the term. I honestly don't see how someone could see it as being pretentious to use mate or any other British slang :huh:
It's pretentious if used too liberally by an American, usually with the idea "I say 'mate' and 'bloody', ergo I'm cultured and refined". If you're actually British (Australian, NZ, etc.), then it's really no more pretentious than an American saying "dude" or "[analogous expletive]".
As far as understanding British English... Well, it's a mixed bag. You might confuse some people with lesser known terms like "lorry" and "boot", but you should be fine, otherwise. "Football" will probably cause some minor misunderstandings, unless you're actually talking about the NFL; Soccer isn't really followed by most of America.
Really, if you're British and coming stateside, I'd expect your biggest issue to be your accent. You'll never be able to count the number of American girls that will swoon over your every word.
I was curious about that - are American accents considered sexy in the UK, or is that role more filled by continental European accents?
I can't speak for the whole country, but personally I'm either indifferent to or annoyed by American accents, depending on the region. I'm not too good on what region sounds like what, but some American accents really kind of grate. Others are nicer, though, and I think some of it has to do with the quality of the speaker's voice too...
Quote from: Rorschach FritosQuote from: NomadicI don't have any problem with the term. I honestly don't see how someone could see it as being pretentious to use mate or any other British slang :huh:
It's pretentious if used too liberally by an American, usually with the idea "I say 'mate' and 'bloody', ergo I'm cultured and refined". If you're actually British (Australian, NZ, etc.), then it's really no more pretentious than an American saying "dude" or "[analogous expletive]".
I'd say it's just as pretentious to say that an American is pretentious for using such terms. I've known a few Americans who talk like that just because that's how they are, a few of them because they were raised with that slang and some because they spend alot of time around brits. I know one of those guys who if you said he was pretentious for using so much brit slang would probably tell you to bugger off. :blah:
Quote from: KindlingI can't speak for the whole country, but personally I'm either indifferent to or annoyed by American accents, depending on the region. I'm not too good on what region sounds like what, but some American accents really kind of grate. Others are nicer, though, and I think some of it has to do with the quality of the speaker's voice too...
Grate... haha you're talking about us west coasters right? We have a grindy sound to our accent (I think it has to do with the fact that our accent lacks the cot caught variance).
I meant more that they grate on me than that they sound grating, but it could be west coast... like I said I have very little idea of which American accent comes from where.
oh, and...
Quote from: Rorschach FritosIt's pretentious if used too liberally by an American, usually with the idea "I say 'mate' and 'bloody', ergo I'm cultured and refined". If you're actually British (Australian, NZ, etc.), then it's really no more pretentious than an American saying "dude" or "[analogous expletive]".
In light of this, how do you feel about us over here using Americanisms? I mean, from my point of view, we get so much of them through various media that most of them don't even really stand out as being that American anymore, they're just kind of part of the language, so that being called dude, for example, seems pretty normal, regardless of the speaker's nationality.
EDIT: Just to clarify, what I mean is that, if a Brit called me dude, unless they were of an older generation or something, their use of the word dude wouldn't seem like an affectation, but a natural part of their vocabulary.
Enjoy some west coast accent. It's a bit old... but you do get to see a dead whale blown up by dynamite.
How America solves all its problems (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBgThvB_IDQ)
Quote from: NomadicQuote from: Rorschach FritosQuote from: NomadicI don't have any problem with the term. I honestly don't see how someone could see it as being pretentious to use mate or any other British slang :huh:
It's pretentious if used too liberally by an American, usually with the idea "I say 'mate' and 'bloody', ergo I'm cultured and refined". If you're actually British (Australian, NZ, etc.), then it's really no more pretentious than an American saying "dude" or "[analogous expletive]".
I'd say it's just as pretentious to say that an American is pretentious for using such terms. I've known a few Americans who talk like that just because that's how they are, a few of them because they were raised with that slang and some because they spend alot of time around brits. I know one of those guys who if you said he was pretentious for using so much brit slang would probably tell you to bugger off. :blah:
To be fair, they don't really talk like that for the reason I gave...
Quote from: Rorschach FritosQuote from: NomadicQuote from: Rorschach FritosQuote from: NomadicI don't have any problem with the term. I honestly don't see how someone could see it as being pretentious to use mate or any other British slang :huh:
It's pretentious if used too liberally by an American, usually with the idea "I say 'mate' and 'bloody', ergo I'm cultured and refined". If you're actually British (Australian, NZ, etc.), then it's really no more pretentious than an American saying "dude" or "[analogous expletive]".
I'd say it's just as pretentious to say that an American is pretentious for using such terms. I've known a few Americans who talk like that just because that's how they are, a few of them because they were raised with that slang and some because they spend alot of time around brits. I know one of those guys who if you said he was pretentious for using so much brit slang would probably tell you to bugger off. :blah:
To be fair, they don't really talk like that for the reason I gave...
Yes but then they aren't being pretentious because they're using british slang they're being pretentious because they're trying to appear cultured and thus superior. That has nothing to do with what slang they use.
As to this pretension debate... although, as I said, it doesn't seem odd for me to hear us Brits use Americanisms, it would sound kind of wrong in my ears to hear Americans using British slang and stuff... not on any level of pretension, as has been suggested above, but just because they would, obviously, be saying them with an American accent, and so I'd be a bit like, that's just not how those words should sound... don't know if that makes sense...
Quote from: SteerpikeI was curious about that - are American accents considered sexy in the UK, or is that role more filled by continental European accents?
I've asked myself that question before. I think accents are a fascinating thing, being how relative they are. I've always wondered what it would sound like if there was some sort of divine, "unaccented" speech (I know that isn't possible, but it was an interesting thought to me). I've also wondered why people found accents so attractive (and I'm not exempt from this; I love Indian accents on women... I have no idea why).
I'd be thrilled to be in your shoes, pulling the "sexy foreigner accent" role for a little bit.
I'm fine with the term mate.
I am even fine with the idea of Americans using the term in its U.K./Australia/ etc. sense. To me, it isn't so much pretension as it is an accidental statement on universality in this global village,millions of channels on tv, everyone has the internet age.