Most every country

Here's something else that cropped up in the online training course on data privacy that I took recently (click on the image to see a larger version):

"Most every country"? As well as appearing twice in print (as shown), it was also used once in the audio track that accompanied the visuals.

On this usage of 'most', the OED Online says:

Chiefly N. Amer. Modifying certain universal and non-assertive determiners and pronouns, as all, any, every, anyone, everything, etc., and corresponding adverbs of time and place, as always, anywhere, everywhere.

This adverbial usage of 'most' seems rather colloquial to me, and not appropriate for a company training course - but then I'm a British English speaker.

Any American English speakers out there want to comment?

Word of the day: waitperson

This evening my girlfriend and I had a meal out at a restaurant in Crystal Palace. The food was excellent but the menu suggested we ask "our waitperson" about the soup and terrine of the day.

'Waitperson' - is this a common word? I'd been under the impression that 'waiter', like 'actor', was increasingly being used gender-neutrally. Or can I expect to come across 'actperson' soon?

The Oxford English Dictionary does list 'waitperson' (as an American English term) - the first quotation is as follows:

1980 N.Y. Times 3 Aug. (Long Island Weekly section) 13/1 The young waiters and waitresses (referred to as ‘waitpersons’ on the menu),..wear a preppy uniform.

I say majority, you say plurality

A sentence in recent raw copy perfectly illustrates the difficulty of using the word 'majority':

There were 203 recorded crimes; the majority (28) occurred in the Metropolitan constabulary.

To many people, a majority must consist of more than half the total – which in this case, would be at least 102 crimes. I believe that in American English this is called a 'simple majority'. I've also heard it referred to as an 'absolute majority' (though I'm not sure whether there's a difference between 'simple' and 'absolute' majorities).

However in British English at least, as this writer demonstrates, 'majority' often means only "the greater number or part" (OED Online). More crimes occurred in the Metropolitan constabulary than in any other; therefore this is where the 'majority' of crimes occurred. I must admit, this usage strikes me as a little odd, and I'm English.

As regards elections, it's worth contrasting 'majority' with 'plurality'. The OED Online describes this as "orig. and chiefly US, the fact of having the largest share of the votes cast, when this is less than an absolute majority".

In which JD's boss isn't paying attention

Yesterday:

My boss: How do you spell 'zucchini'?
Me: C-O-U-R-G-E-T-T-E.
My boss: No, zucchini. It's what Americans call courgettes.

'Subway' and 'underpass' in British English

Something else Christmassy, this time spotted in Forest Hill, London:



This interested me because of the use of 'subway' to refer to what I would call an 'underpass' (namely a tunnel that enables pedestrians to cross under a road).

Googling reveals that the two terms are often used interchangeably in British English. For example, I found an article in the Barking & Dagenham Post which begins:

A 71-year-old man was beaten to the ground by a group of thugs as he walked past a notorious subway.

The pensioner was attacked near the underpass linking the Mark's Gate Estate to East Road, Chadwell Heath.

The OED Online indicates that 'underpass' originated in the US – where, of course, 'subway' is used to mean "underground railway" (again, OED Online).

I wonder whether 'underpass' is ousting 'subway' here in Britain.

So a couple of questions, mainly for our British readership: would you use 'subway', 'underpass' or both? If both, is there any difference in how you would use them?

No jokes about sandwich shops, please.

(Oh, and I appreciate that 'subway' is a shorter word than 'underpass', and therefore easier to fit on a sign.)

Everyone is out to protect their own ass

I spotted this letter in thelondonpaper the day before yesterday (click the image for a larger version).

The letter-writer may have been North American, but I suspect this is an example of the creeping ass-isation of British English.

For those who don't know, 'ass' in British English usually refers to the animal, whereas 'arse' (not 'ass') is used to refer to "a person's buttocks or anus" (Concise OED).

Whenever I see the word 'ass', I think first of all of the animal. Which leaves me wondering why everyone in the City is out to protect their own ass. Perhaps they need it to cart their stuff away after they've been made redundant?

(If you can't see the image, the letter reads in part: "At least there are people like you in the City who really care about the welfare of your colleagues. From what I've found, everyone is just out to protect their own ass. ALICIA")

UPDATE 8.10PM: On reflection, I realise that the letter-writer may have chosen 'ass' because it is less offensive in British English than 'arse', and therefore more likely to make it into print. It's even possible that thelondonpaper made the change for the same reason.

Photo special: America's favo(u)rite mustard

I took this snap in a South London supermarket.

French's has missed a trick here. If it really is 'America's Favourite Mustard', why not emphasise that by calling it 'America's Favorite Mustard'? I'm sure British shoppers would be able to cope.



Looks like French's has trademarked the phrase, too. I wonder if that's only for the British English spelling?

Olympics: asymmetric bars vs uneven bars

It's about time we had an Olympics-related post.

Our website editor asks why the 'asymmetric bars' women's gymnastics event is now being called the 'uneven bars', and when the change happened. The International Olympic Committee website refers to 'uneven bars' not 'asymmetric bars'. Wikipedia mentions both terms but prefers 'uneven bars'.

The Concise OED gives 'uneven bars' as the "North American term for asymmetric bars". So it's interesting to see guardian.co.uk using 'uneven bars' (albeit not exclusively). Perhaps its writers – or most of them – are simply following the International Olympic Committee preference?

Our website editor also feels that 'asymmetric' is a more accurate description of the apparatus than 'uneven', as the bars are both perfectly horizontal and regular.

So here's my argument for the bars being 'uneven'. The OED defines 'uneven' as "not level or smooth", and while the bars are certainly smooth, they are arguably not level. Not in the sense of being "at the same height as someone or something else", anyway. So each bar is in itself even, but together they are uneven.

Perhaps we should just call them the 'bars at different heights' and have done with it. Any other suggestions?

Word of the day: staycation (and stoliday)

I'm finding that sticking BBC1 Breakfast on in the mornings is a good way to discover new words (new to me, at least). Last week's new word was 'gastrosexual'; today I heard 'staycation' for the first time.

Unfortunately I had to leave for work before the staycation piece came on, but Googling the word this morning I found out that a staycation is (somewhat unsurprisingly, being a portmanteau of 'stay' and 'vacation') a vacation where you stay at home.

However, as the word 'vacation' is "chiefly North American" (Concise OED), I suppose that 'staycation' is also chiefly North American. The British English equivalent would be stay + holiday = stoliday. Or would that be a holiday taken by a calm, dependable person?

"Going anywhere exciting this year?"
"No, I'm getting too old for all that. I'm taking a stoliday in Stalybridge."

Fire engine, fire truck, fire brigade vehicle

I was subbing some copy recently that used the uncomfortable phrase "fire brigade vehicle". I changed this almost automatically to "fire engine" but then started wondering whether I'd done the right thing. Two issues were on my mind:

1. 'Fire engine' might be a totally or predominantly British English phrase. The Concise OED doesn't say so, although Googling 'fire engine' throws up a suspiciously high proportion of UK pages. I know that Americans might refer to a 'fire truck' but I don't know what the difference in usage is between 'fire truck' and 'fire engine' Stateside. 'Fire truck' doesn't appear in my Concise at all.

(Of course, the publication I work for is aimed at a British readership so really this isn't a big factor, but it's still interesting – and might explain why the writer shied away from using 'fire engine' in the first place.)

2. I don't know enough to say, but it could be that "fire brigade vehicle" is a more general term than "fire engine", covering vehicles other than those used to carry "firefighters and their equipment" (OED again). There was no way to tell from the story what type of vehicle was being referred to, so perhaps I should have played it safe.

My questions to you are: was I right to make the change? And what do you personally consider the difference is between 'fire engine', 'fire truck' and 'fire brigade vehicle'? Thanks!

Use your judgement

Today I was faced with a story about a legal case which went to appeal. In his judgment, according to our reporter, the judge criticised an individual's lack of judgement.

Now the OED simply lists judgement, with judgment as an alternative. But I was taught, many years ago, that legal judgments lose the 'e' so I turned to that font of wisdom, Fowler's Modern English Usage, to find yet another difference between UK and US usage. It seems judgement is common usage in the UK while judgment has won the day in the US.

Dropping the 'e' in legal contexts is described as "just one of convention in various publishing houses". My Fowler's is the 3rd edition so I checked with the 2nd edition on JD's desk where I found that this convention extends to the Oxford University Press.

That was good enough for me so I had the pleasure of leaving both spellings in a single sentence. Life's never dull in the Engine Room...

A question about nothing

We've had an email from a regular visitor to the blog asking the following:

"What is the plural of the word 'zero'? I'd always understood that it was 'zeros' not 'zeroes', but I'm starting to see both forms crop up with increasing regularity. Is this a US English/UK English difference or just errors?

"If it is zeros, why do we then refer to heroes and not heros? (Could be worse I suppose, at least I've never seen anyone write hero's... yet). Don't both words have Greek origins?"

My first instinct was 'zeros', and this was confirmed by my Concise OED, which doesn't give 'zeroes' at all. However Webster's and the American Heritage Dictionary give equal weight to both variants, suggesting it is a difference between British and American English.

As for the etymology of the words, hero is indeed from Greek, whereas zero comes from the Arabic 'sifr', which means 'zero' or 'nothing'. It also gave us the English word 'cipher'. So 'hero' and 'zero' have different etymologies as well as different plural forms.

So why are both 'zeros' and 'zeroes' in use Stateside? I'm not sure, but it could well be out of association with 'heroes' and similar '-oes' plurals. Not that all nouns ending in 'o' take 'oes' in the plural; some take just 's' (logo – logos), and others can happily go either way according to the OED (mango – mangos or mangoes).

Put it down as just another irregularity in English spelling – albeit one that may disappear over time, as the increasing use of 'zeroes' suggests is already happening.

Learn to speak British

Today I thought I'd tell you about a great English to American dictionary which Engine Room regulars on both sides of the Atlantic might find interesting. Yes, I know it should be called a 'British to American' dictionary, but it was written by a Brit and I have to respect his choice of title...

Anyway, as well as the obvious Britishisms such as bloke, the dictionary also lists less well-known differences that sometimes throw the writers on our magazine (paraffin vs kerosene, for example).

I'm adding it to the list of language resources over on the right.

Incidentally, the blog is starting to get picked up by the search engines now. If you search for 'British word bloke' on Google, for example, we're tenth. Wooh.