UKC

....explain this one.

Why in America do we have "routes" & "Routs"?
Dave Graham climbes Routs where as Bachar climbs Routes.
Is it to do with where a climber comes from, his social class or because some Yankees just can't cope with the English language?

Looking forward to your learned reply.

In reply to A Nidderdale boulderer.: AFAIK, just variations in language. With so many in the UK, why can't the US have some.

Do you like sconns or scowns?

In reply to Chris F:

Sconns, but there again I climb more problems than routs!

If Don Whillans was American would he of climbed routes or routs?

In reply to Chris F:

Scowns you have with butter, sconns with margerine.

In reply to A Nidderdale boulderer.:

Wassup Nid... you guys OK?

Regional pronunciation/dialect. It's quite varied in the US, not as varied as here mind.

By the way, they don't 'climb' rowts, they 'send' them by either FedEx or UPS!

Graham is from Maine, Bachar from California. Big difference in temperament and dialect.

They love the English language over there, so much so that they invent new words on a regular basis that are then picked up by the BBC and the Guardian, who disseminate them to the UK population who willingly add them to their lexicon.

I was quite shocked when I came back to the UK and the uptake of Americanisms - it was like I was still in the US. I think it had something to do with Grand Theft Auto as well as American TV programs/programmes.

Saying that, Top Gear and Jeremy Clarkson are huge in the US - maybe the youth of the USA will soon be speaking in a Doncaster accent.

Awesome dude.

Mick

In reply to A Nidderdale boulderer.:


Had to pick you up on Yankee - within the US that is a term for someone who lives in New England or the NE USA - used to be a term in the civil war for a northerner.

David Graham is a damn Yankee and is from Down East.

In reply to A Nidderdale boulderer.:

Question for you.

What is the derivation of 'quest' ... to go on a quest... as in to go climbing. I first heard it over here from people like Pickles and Thaw.

Now being picked by American climbers like Matt Segal who is over at the moment.

Questing
October 23rd, 2008
The last two days have been sick! Tuesday the plan was to hit up the Roaches, an amazing grit crag, but upon our arrival a nasty hailstorm ruined our chances of climbing anything… So we waited out the storm at a café bellow the crag, where I had a classic English meal:


http://www.mattsegal.com/

In reply to NickD:

NO!

Sconns with bu'er

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

"Quest", I too have heard this being used recently, and actually think it's quite cool. However like you, I am to old to use such young hip terms. The like of us should stick to "cragging".

It's a bit like "gnarly", we all know what it means but where the feck did that one come from?

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

According to Bill Bryson (that little book on odd words and grammar), American English is nearer to the English we used in the UK in the past. That sounds like English English is evolving faster than American English. I assume he knows what he is talking about.


Chris

In reply to Chris Craggs:


Yep, I read in one of his books that "Autumn" is actually a Victorian word and prior to that the English used the term "Fall".

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Here in North Yorkshire we "traverse", but cross the wharfe into West Yorkshire and there you "Travis".

In reply to Chris Craggs:

I'm not so sure. I gave up reading his book on languages halfway through the first chapter, where he claimed that Welsh and Breton are mutually understandable. Being fluent in Welsh, and met and spoken to people fluent in Breton, I can confirm that this is complete rubbish. They have similar roots and it is possible to pick out similar words and phrases, but they are still quite different to both the eye and ear.

So after reading this sentence, written with authority, I felt I couldn't believe the rest of it. His other books are quite good mind.

In reply to A Nidderdale boulderer.: Same in North East Lancs. Always makes me smile.

In reply to A Nidderdale boulderer.:

Crozzly pocket is one of my all time favourites.

Who said it and about what climb?

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Crozzly pocket, that sounds quite normal to me.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Yeah - when did you last hear of a young person going "to the pictures" to see a "film"?

And I am sure that I heard someone on the news the other day talking about a glaysier - aren't they Glahsiers over here?

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

You about Consenting Adults?
(sept there aint no crozzly pocket).

In reply to A Nidderdale boulderer.:

Crozzly pocket.....

I think it was Chris Gibb commenting whilst belaying Ron Fawcett on Lord of The Flies.

God's Rock - when was the first time you heard that? Mine was at a YMC guidebook meeting in the mid 80's, at a pub in Headingley, Leeds - uttered by Grit - god, Jerry Peel.

In reply to A Nidderdale boulderer.:

One could rout a route?

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Next time Jerry pops in I'll ask him about his relation ship with God and his rock!

In reply to A Nidderdale boulderer.:

Surely a rout is when someone is defeated easily in battle.
Scones are what we put butter or margering on.
However you pronounce these words this is how we English are supposed to spell them! Now as for those Americans well they are just a few steps in front of us when it comes to taking the emphasis off spelling when all that matters is that the content is right. We keep hearing how spelling has no longer to be taken into account in school examinations. How that works when the words such as rout and route mean completely different things I don't know.

Now if you want to talk about dialects, well I am a Lancashire lass and use wide vowel sounds and miss letters out and am still often understood but if I wrote it down you may struggle to follow it. Try reading The Lancashire Witches there is a section written in dialect that takes a bit of getting through.

In reply to Bulls Crack:

If you were an Aussie you could root a route....

In reply to Knitting Norah:


Cracking book. As I remember the finale happens in Houghton Quarry.

In reply to tlm:

That would be me (mind you, people are always telling me I'm a Time Lord so maybe that explains it all).

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Not sure about that it is years since I read it and don't have a copy now. However the first time I started to read it I was about 8 years old and gave up when I couldn't make head nor tail of the dialect bit. About two years later I tried again and realised I just had to read it exactly as it was written. Of course being very local (originally from Burnley) once I did this it was then extremely clear. I can still remember being quite scared when I read about the eyballs glowing in the dark.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Dave Hannah said it to me whilst I was on Ultravixen (1988 if memory serves).

Glad to be of service

In reply to A Nidderdale boulderer.: BTW your English is piss poor.

You should have wrote 'should have' NOT 'should of'. Very elementary English which the vast majority of dumb Yanks would have (NOT 'of')got right (but with a funny accent).

No, I am not American but I used to be married to a Texan who used to proof read GCSE English Curriculum e-learning packages.

Ignorance is bliss, as they say.........

If Mick's so clever...

...why hasn't he replied to my emails?

Henry

In reply to A Nidderdale boulderer.: When doing woodwork, would you use a rooter, or a rowter....cos both are routers?

In reply to Bulls Crack:

You could, but that would be chipping