American Phrase Book
alumni.media.mit.edu
American Phrase Book
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Re: American Phrase Book
#2This is a fun list! Let me add two of my personal favorites:
"Literally", which means "figuratively".
"I could care less", which literally means "I couldn't care less".
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/misuse-of-lite...
https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2007/01/i-could-care-less...
Edit: I feel like a party pooper saying this, but I see a few comments where people may be taking this phrasebook seriously, perhaps because it's been Published on the Internet by MIT?
It's not a serious phrasebook! It's just an MIT alumnus having some fun with us all.
In fact the author is clearly not a native American English speaker. Here are a few "tells"...
"Upon arrival it is therefore often to their surprise how many seemingly simple phrases actually turn out to mean something completely different in the US American variant of the English language."
"You might want to consider to do X."
"You might want to consider to postpone your trip until after the deadline."
"It is highly recommended that you turn in your application in time to increase your odds at being considered."
These are close, but not quite what anyone would write who grew up speaking American English. And that's fine! My goodness, the author's English is 1000 times better than my... whatever their native language is. And I'm glad they shared this fun list with us. :-)
BTW if you enjoy this phrasebook, I heartily recommend English as She is Spoke:
Re: American Phrase Book
#3So, what would an American say when they actually do want to have lunch sometime?
Re: American Phrase Book
#4So, what would an American say when they actually do want to have lunch sometime?
A lot of these seem to be ambiguous. "Let's have lunch sometime" followed by some form of actual commitment (phone number, "does next friday work for you", etc) might mean what they literally said. But if it's used to end the conversation... Yeah, you're not getting lunch.
Re: American Phrase Book
#5So, what would an American say when they actually do want to have lunch sometime?
"Let's get lunch tomorrow/this week/some actual date!"
Took me a while to realize this actually works, as a born and raised American.
Re: American Phrase Book
#6This is great. I think we need phrasebooks for all cultures. I'm Indian, and a Chinese friend was pissed that Indians say "yes" and never do it. I think it's a cultural no-no in India to say "no" to someone's face. I finally realised that a short "yes" most probably means "yes", and a long-drawn out "yes" probably means "no".
Re: American Phrase Book
#7Overall I think this is bad and completely attributed to politeness, and is even weak at that compared to other languages. Many people in the Philippines would lie in response to seemingly important questions just to seem polite. "Do you know where the {important building} is?" "Oh yes, it's just across the way over there!" (it wasn't)
Re: American Phrase Book
#8They lost me on the first two.
"Let's have lunch sometime" - Yeah, when I say that I genuinely mean it. It does NOT mean "I don't want to see you again." to me.
"Thanks for reminding me" - Again, I genuinely mean that when I say it. NOT "Stop bugging me!".
Re: American Phrase Book
#9I often wonder if part of America's productivity can be attributed to the shortness of this list.
It's just a handful of expressions that are mildly misleading.
In other cultures, you have to get together with friends over dinner to discuss the hidden meaning of a single suspect word your boss had used that day.
High context cultures take a lot of mental effort.