mate

[Kindling]

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...

[Weave]

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.

[SDragon]

:offtopic:

I 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.

[Steerpike]

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.

[Weave]

:offtopic:

I 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...

[SDragon]

:offtopic:

I 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. :)

[O Senhor Leetz]

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.

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.

   

[Kindling]

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

[Steerpike]

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.

[Kindling]

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.

[Ninja D!]

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?

[Kindling]

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 :)

[Weave]

Rochester 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!  :)

[Nomadic]

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.

[SDragon]

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:

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.