Re: [OT] British vs. American English
On 10/02/2011 12:02 AM, Ralf Mardorf wrote:
"pissed"
In Germany we say "angepisst sein" if somebody is angry, but of cause,
the British soldiers in Germany used the English term "pissed" for being
"drunken", resp. they said "totally pissed".
Now I wounder, if "pissed" in British English already means not to know
where you are ... in what condition is somebody who isn't "pissed", but
"totally pissed"?
In German English "pissed" is for both, being angry or being drunken,
since it's usual for German words to have several meanings.
The German word "Schirm" in English http://www.dict.cc/?s=schirm
That's a very interesting dictionary, Ralf. I will investigate further!
My German is no where near as good as your English!
You are obviously a student of language, so you won't be upset if I
correct something: the expression in English is "of course," of course!
(That's the American placement of the comma before the close-quote; the
Brits do it opposite.)
In the US, we use use "drunken" as an adjective before a noun--
drunken bum, drunken sailor, etc. In the expression he's drunk, we
don't say drunken.
(Words like "drunken" are slowly disappearing from English--more quickly
in Britain than in the US. The old Anglo-Saxon endings are going away.
One would be just as likely to hear "drunk sailor.")
There must be a thousand words for being drunk. One of the more common
in the US is "bombed." Really, really drunk is "bombed out of his skull."
Another word in frequent use is "smashed."
--doug
--
Blessed are the peacemakers...for they shall be shot at from both sides. --A. M. Greeley
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