Blog: Life of Sophie

I find you to be interesting; however, our cultural differences present a communication challenge to me. I became aware decades ago that the English have different meanings for words than do us American, i.e. the word napkin. I am a complicated combination of liberal and conservative. The best description of that is my belief of individual freedom combined with firm anti-socialism. Example: the government should get out of the marriage business. All marriage law should be converted to domestic partnership law. Marriage is a religious function and hence should not be a function of government control. This would solve the issue of male/male and female/female domestic partnerships. In addition, the government should have nothing to do with abortion....In the USA, Planned Parenthood must bifurcate with birth control and abortion separated. The government should not provide funding for abortion as the morality of that is a religious issue. (I would donate a minimum of $100 annually to support abortions as the major environmental damage is caused by the ridiculous over population of the human race.

 

I take the Lucky Luciano approach to valentine's day and kill as many brain cells as possible

 

Oh hell yesssss! Valentines day, Memorial day, Mother's day, Fathers day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, etc. I have so many classmates that returned from the Viet Nam war so totally fucked up that many omitted suicide. My father suffered for years following WW2, every time he heard a siren in he middle of the night. His job was to keep the engines running on destroyer and dealt with typhoons and comocasy attacks.

 

"The United States and Great Britain are two peoples separated by a common language" . George Bernard Shaw - 1942

I wouldn't identify myself to any one Country I was born in Australia, brought up in the UK & Ireland and lived in different countries including the USA.

Nor can I indentify myself with any one political party or movement, I'm more more of a pragmatist, same applies to religion.

If I had to describe myself as anything it would be a Gladstone Liberal.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladstonian_liberalism

 

My Grandfather knew a man in the mid 1930's, he appeared to be "Perfectly normal" until one day they were returning to work after lunch when a car back fired, the man fell to the crowd shouting and screaming "The Germans are coming", over and over. Then called Shell shock now PTSD there was little or no help.

A friends husband was in the first Gulf War, when they dating there relationship was perfectly normal, only when they married did the problems become apparent.

He couldn't cope with normality, he couldn't cope with a happy home environment.

 

You know what grinds my gears, when you go into an "Irish Pub" in the US and it says "chips" on the menu but when they bring it out it's crisps.

 

You are correct, we should:

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it"

I think those days provide an opportunity to do just that, take a look around.

LOL! Irish should be in " " because the only thing Irish about 99% of the bars/pubs in the US is the Guinness they serve.

As for chips/crisps comment, I love some of the differences. I was watching Celebrity Juice, one of my favorite shows, and Joel Dommett said Parcel Tape, and I was like "WTF is parcel tape?" and then it hit me, it's Packing Tape in the States. I may call it Parcel Tape from now on. Brilliant!

 

I don't mind the name differences, I'd rather it be that way than a World where one size fits all.

Vive la différence!!!

The thing is the English language is fluid, it grows, it changes, in everyday English nobody that I know of uses the word napkin, as in everyday life, nobody uses a napkin while dining.
That is unless its a formal dining situation.

(I must tell you the experience a friend has teaching teenagers.)

Unlike the French who guard the purity of their language and want to store it in a glass case and have the Academie Francaise (founded 1635) meet to deem which words may enter their language.
(In reality, they're dinosaurs and like everywhere else the street invents words that become mainstream).

Our various forms of English are alive and well and most importantly of all, growing.

I remember when I was little in Ireland, i was in the kitchen and was told "You'll find it in press", I looked and around and thought "What".
I eventually found out "Press" is a cupboard, it's an old Elizabethan word that had died in England, but was still alive in Ireland.

In the UK, you have regional variations of words and the way they're pronounced, I'm delighted to say its the same in the USA.

So there's one thing that a Global village hasn't quite made part of history.

So true, I have a friend who's a manager of an O'Neill "Irish" pub when the place opened, everything "Irish" came in boxes.
The management had style teams that came and directed the staff on how to display/how to be an "Irish" pub and the differences from a "British" pub.

 

I was brought up on Ealing Drama's and my Dad's VHS's, the return of the bint.

Bint
It is used as a derogatory slang word in the United Kingdom, meaning 'woman' or 'girl'.
Its register varies from that of the harsher bitch to an affectionate term for a young woman,
the latter being more commonly associated with the West Midlands.
Bint dictionary definition | bint defined - YourDictionary

https://www.yourdictionary.com/bint

 

The differences of experiences with the members of this group are truly fascinating. You claim to have lived in many different places in the world and I have never left the town I in which was born...my sons are 4th generation in this rather pathetic little city in north central Florida, USA, home to the University of Florida, which I obtain my engineering degree.

 

Wish i could give a fancy introduction like thore has above but im more of a ask me something about myself and i will reveal the info.

 

Thank you!!!

I envy you still living in the place where you were born, I never had that continuity. I have friends who have those foundations, something which fate didn't offer me.

No place is pathetic, its your home & I guess your roots are there.

Thanks for sharing.

Do you have that continuity of being brought up in one place?

 

Reasons to cheerful

 

Perhaps the router got some second hand intoxication?

 

Should be like me, drink Gin, its harder to track down afterwards.

Meanwhile
I could be mean

and say
“So Sophie, what first attracted you to the Multi millionaire Joe Jonas?”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mrs_Merton_Show
Sophie has her own money!!!! but Joe does have connections way beyond GOT, but remember they are truly in love...
I was born but too young to remember details in the 90's, but if that guy positioned himself so a female guest landed on his lap now.

 

Yes very much a homegrown boy. I tend to joke about it that i barely have been outside the speed signs in my own town. Part of it is my condition (mild case of aspergers) other is that i have a job here and i feel the town has a good size. My mom and dad had stable jobs at one of the local industries when me and my brother grew up so there were no reason to move then either. But i have no ties that bind me down here so you never know.

 

Joe Jonas might be really funny and charming, but I think it's probably the pornstache that drives her wild.