Different Dialect common Hobby..


I'm from the other end of the Mississippi. We speak northern Yankee up here. I actually live 14 miles from Itasca State Park, where the headwaters of the Mississippi is located. I may be the only model railroader in my home town and have no way to confirm; or, deny this opinion.
 
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I hail from where-ever I am living - born San Antonio, lived in Indiana, Massachusetts, California, Texas, New York and lately Virginia. My wife is a Geordie from up near Newcastle England - where Ridley Scott and Sting hail from. As you can imagine, a different dialect. They have "sleepers" and "carriages" among other things and way more rail fans per capita than in the US.
 
It is amazing how dialects differ in the same country, and regionalisms can have different names for the same thing. Wombat, don't worry about those "New Yawkers" understanding you. A lot of places in the U.S., we can hardly understand them either! ;) Interestingly, I've heard Virginians say the word "aboot" the same as some Canadians! The same thing can have different names in different parts of the U.S. A large yellow member of the cat family is a mountain lion out west, though some may call it a Puma (Poo-ma), but in Florida, it can be a catamount! Even railroads may differ in what the call equipment. The Burlington never had "cabooses" (before the days of End Of Train Devices)... Those were "waycars". Some roads called them "cabin cars". Articulated steam locomotives with single-expansion cylinders were still sometimes referred to as Mallets (Mal-ees), which technically applied to compound expansion, with a pair of high-pressure and a pair of low-pressure cylinders. As Professor 'Enry 'Iggins" said in My Fair Lady, "In America they haven't spoken it (English) for years!" :rolleyes:
 
Tailrider,

I'm not bothered by it, believe me - I kinda find it amusing to be honest. What does cause some frustration though is the different meanings for the same thing. Quick (true story). In Oz if you have friends and do things with them we'd say "I get on with them".

A few years back my wife and I were in my favorite local restaurant/bar and I said that "I get on with all the staff here..." All of the staff are female, single and in their late 20's early 30's I guess. My wife took what I said to mean that "I get IT on with..." blah blah blah. Suffice to say, I had a hard 10 or 15 minutes in the middle of a packed restaurant trying to explain the "subtle" difference between the two sayings.
 
Tony, your wife obviously thought you were more concerned with rooting with the staff than you were interested in the tucker.

Sorry mate, I could not resist. :)

I am glad to see you survived the misunderstanding.
 
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