Cultural exchange for my overseas friends

[Anonymous]

How many Sussex's have you got in the US?
Did every pilgrim insist on having one each [(-D]

[vsmith]

QUOTE: Originally posted by troybetts


When the Wessex kings began to organise themselves they had self regulating districts around tribal centres.(around the 8th century).These were called Scirs.
In each Scir was a representative of the King called a Reeve.
From this,Scirs became Shires


Fascinating isn't it.I love this sort of thing.There are loads more.Give me a placename.
Troy

Which Shire did Bilbo live in?????[:o)]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Which Shire did Bilbo live in?????

Ha ha.Nice one Vic.The Shire was a place where little G scale figures lived.They could be trapped,dried out and used on model railways.The only problem was their big hairy feet.Hence they were only used by LGB for people in coaches.The drying out process was also very difficult therefor justifying LGB's outrageous prices.
Troy

[tangerine-jack]

Hey Troy, I think you are talking about Pennsylvania- they have places like Intercourse and Blueballs. No kidding, look on the map! In VA we have Frog Jump and Squirrel Level, and yes, even Bumpass is a real place..[oX)]

[vsmith]

QUOTE: Originally posted by troybetts

QUOTE: Which Shire did Bilbo live in?????

Ha ha.Nice one Vic.The Shire was a place where little G scale figures lived.They could be trapped,dried out and used on model railways.The only problem was their big hairy feet.Hence they were only used by LGB for people in coaches.The drying out process was also very difficult therefor justifying LGB's outrageous prices.
Troy

I thought Willy Wonka had gathered them all up for slave labor in his chocolate factory...[;)][:p][:o)]

[powlee]

QUOTE: Originally posted by tangerine-jack

Here in Virginia, you can live in a city or a county, but cities are not in counties because when the population of a county reaches 10.000 it incorporates into a city. Our place names are a mishmash of native Indian names and English names. We have cities names after English kings and queens ie: Jamestown, Williamsburg, etc. counties such as Sussex, Pricess Anne, Northampton. We also have the Eastern Shore, which is still part of Virginia, but acutally on the Maryland side of the Chesapeake Bay but is more or less independant. Near Petersburg we have Bermuda Hundred, which was settled by freed slaves and is not a political entity but an area in Chesterfield county. Thats what you get when you live in a "Commonwealth", not a "State"

[oX)]

Hey Jack
You have an Isle of Wight in VA. Over here it is an island about 25 miles long off the south coast of England. People tend to retire there. It has an excellent preserved railway.
My question is `your Isle seems to be landlocked, who thought up that name?` Was it because it is local to Portsmouth as is our Isle.
Ian P

[tangerine-jack]

You are correct on the names, Isle of Wight is about 35 miles (50K) from Portsmouth on the other side of Suffolk. In my immediate area we have Virginia Beach (after queen Victoria), Chesapeake (native name), Portsmouth, Norfolk, Hampton, Suffolk (all English). Many of the names in the Tidewater (south East VA) area are named for Engli***owns as this is where John Smith with the "Susan Constant" "Godspeed" and the "Discovery" landed in 1607 and founded the first permanent English settlement. I don't think the indian princess Pocahontas was much impressed by the first white guy she ever saw claiming to be "John Smith" yeah, right. The Colonial capital was in Williamsburg ( after King William and Queen Mary), now authenticaly restored to reflect the time under Lord Botetourt (sp?). Newport News is named for Christopher Newport, captain of the "Godspeed". We also have Patrick Henry airport and such, but that may be a sore one for the English.

Farther west, the names go more Native, but there are still some old world influences. Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Patrick Henry, and George Washington were all Virginians. Of course our greatest hero is either Robert E. Lee or Rudy Bosche (of the Suurvivor TV show), depending on who you talk to. We also have Pat Robertson and CBN less than a mile from my house, and Billy Graham hails from the western part of the state, Lynchburg I think. No less than five US presidents were from VA, the first invitro baby was done at Norfolk General Hospital, and Doumars Drive-in on Montecello Ave in Norfolk invented the ice-cream cone in 1903 and still makes them on the original machine. This of course has nothing to do with place names, but I couldn't resist a chance to brag a little.
[oX)]

[grandpopswalt]

Jack,

This is the second try to post this, so ignore it if you've somehow already read this.

What is the weather like in the Williamsburg area? Also, what is Williamsburg (not Colonial Williamsburg) like? My wife and I are looking for a warmer place to retire to from the snowy Northeast. We both like the tidewater area but don't know much about Williamsburg.

I spent a lot of time in Norfolk during my Navy days (63-67) and believe-it-or-not, I actually liked Norfolk.

Walt

[tangerine-jack]

The weather is generally warm, but wildly unpredictable because of the Chesapeake Bay. Sometimes here at the beach we will get rain, whereas in Williamsburg there is a foot of snow, or the other way around, or nothing at all. Winters are usually mild, today was 72. Usual temp this time of year is in the 40s, January and February brings ice. Summer time is predictably "highs in the 90s and chance of showers" with the odd hurricane in Aug-Oct, but we haven't really had a bad one since 63.

Williamsburg is an awesome place to live. Very well kept city, lots of things going on with the Colonial district, College of William and Mary, Bush Gardens, Water Country, Ft Eustis, golf, boating etc. Ft Monroe is right up the road with the oldest fortification in the US, and in sight of the epic ironclad battle of the War of Northern Aggression. Jamestown is right next door, Patrick Henry Mall and airport are a few minutes up the road. Williamsburg is clustered with shops of all descriptions and a Model RR museum! You would be about 30 minutes from the Virginia Beach area, which we locally refer to as "Southside", and the Hampton/ Williamsburg area as "across the water".
I encourage you to settle in Williamsburg- we have enough carpetbaggers at the Beach[swg] just kidding!

You will not recognize the area from the 60's, too many changes. But growth is healthy, and we have been growing rapidly in the last 10-15 years. Travel in the area is not possible without crossing one of our 5 bridge tunnels, but understandably the traffic is worse on 564 going to the Naval bases, and of course Inter-construction-state 64 any time of day.

Ofcourse, in the North you have coffee houses, in the South we have Waffle Houses and you dang-gum better eat your grits or we'll kick you back to New England!


Here is a link that will help. http://www.williamsburg.net/index_flash.html
http://www.vabeach.com/
[oX)]

[Anonymous]

Gentlemen;

May I add a bit here and agree with just about everyone. I live in a very swish place called Kawana Island; i paid a lot of money to live on a place called an island as well as being one . But you wont find any official list referring to Kawana anything (island, waters, forest etc as are many local places called) it is still officially listed as Parrearra an aborigonal name (i'm not sure which tribe, they all speak different dialects and there are thousands of them). I'm not sure what it means but I bet its something like "meeting of the waters" or "place of many fish"

Hey Gary you know that bit about Wagga, I lived there for two years back in the sixties and had no idea the name had anything to do with crows, I thought it meant big water referring to the Murrumbidgee River. I also thought crows were not idigenous to Australia and our crows are only English Crows that have had their brains kicked in.

Here is another and completely different thought, I also understaood that Wales is not officialy recognised as a country in its own right, more a principality ruled by the Prince of Wales and this is why the cross of St David is not on the Union Jack.

Think about it. guys


Ian

[grandpopswalt]

Jack,

Thanks for the information, I'll put in a good word for you with the chamber of commerce when I get down there.

As for the grits, that's going to be a big problem. I've traveled through and worked in the South many, many times and have never been able to identify which food group they belong in. If I don't apply for citizenship do you think the grits requirement could be waived?

Walt

[vsmith]

Walt, just put a dab o' butter on them grits and you'all be jus' fine....

Now if you were moving to Louisiana, you might have some trouble with a good ole fashion Crawdad Boil !!! ... Kinda like a New England Clambake only with enough Tabasco sauce to strip the paint of a Chevy! But the Hush Puppies are worth it.


Dang its only 8 am and now I'm hungry....and finding good Southern cooking aint that easy on the Left Coast...

[tangerine-jack]

hey Grandpop, we don't waive the grit rule for nobody, not never! Grits, for your edification, are the white parts of the corn kernel. Cooked in much the same manner as oatmeal, with a little butter and salt (I prefer sugar instead) make natures most perfect food. The uninformed would believe them to be part of the vegetable family, they are in the pure form, but cooked with scrapple or bacon they become meat group, over a biscut they are bread group, and with butter or milk, they are dairy group. Therefore, a Southern breakfast of steak and grits with milk over a biscut make a perfectly balanced meal!

The web site I sent you is very tourist oriented, I noticed that only a handful of restaurants were listed, Rest assured, there are many hundreds of others in the area catering to all tastes and budgets. Same for shopping. Va Beach is a huge city and not just the 30 blocks of the oceanfront. All seven cities are in close proximity and overlap, so there is an abundance of shopping, eating and entertainment. Why not come for a visit and recon the area and see for yourself?

[oX)]

[Anonymous]

OK, I've been quite curious about this from our British Commonwealth (Aussies, Canadians and Kiwis) and other from other parts of the US.

Write a sentence using spelling based on how you think people in Texas and the American South speak? The accents, the phrases and anything else...no holds barred!!!! For example( please correct them if you deem in necessary), many Americans know that Aussies speak like this,

"G'day mate, don't bo-dah me whilst I ploice me shrimp on the Bahr-be" (no offense intended)

Translation... "Good day friend, do not bother me while I place a shrimp upon the Bar-be-que."

Some Brits like this,

"Ell-o g'uv-nuh, 'alf a mo to spar some chainge for the lorre?" (no offense intended)

Tranlation,

"Hello, Sir (?), could you spare some change for a bus ride?"

other Brits saying the same phrase like this,

"I say, good fellow, wouldst it be too much trouble to provide me with some currency that I might ride upon that on coming conveyance?"

As many internationals image someone from New York (albiet somewhat difficult to write and maintain the intergity of this forum),

"Hey (body part), youse goys give me some (F-Wording) dough for the (insert blasphemy here)-damned bus! (said while applying a host of hand and body gestures)"

I think this promises to be fun, lets keep it civil though...with toughskinedness (new word)!!!

[tangerine-jack]

Ya'll hush up, and don't be disrespekn'. Laudy, jeet? I don't wan ax agin, come owan in an eyat, the griayts is gettn cowld. Jew got a dollah fo de bus? I kint find any chaynge I think the dawg rund off wid it (western VA, Roanoake Valley area)

In Tidewater we have no identifiable accents. That is why QVC and other tele-marketers like it here.

I am also curiouse how our BC friends view us. Let it rip!
[oX)]

[Anonymous]

Just BBC world broadcast accents here.Mine you ,I was brought up in the east end of London.When Igo there My wife says the cockney accent does come through a bit.

[espeefoamer]

It's amazing the stuff one can learn on this forum[:)]. I find this very interesting.I ,too, have wondered where all the "shire" and "sex" names came from, and now my Questions have been answered. Thanks,everyone involved!
By the way, in California, at least, a county policeman is called a sheriff.

[vsmith]

How is ya'll doin... Welcome to Te-axis! Ya'll can see awe faam land, cattle cuntry, we also got them Owl Wells and the best Ba-bee-que in the whowl US of Aee. Ya'll shooud come to aw next Ro-dee-o at the caunty far..


Sorry but a good West Texas drawl aint easy to print out...my Grandma was from Waxahatchi, texas and she had a Drawl all her live, my sister picked up alot of it and I suspect I have a latent drawl based on that also..

[vsmith]

QUOTE: Originally posted by espeefoamer

It's amazing the stuff one can learn on this forum[:)]. I find this very interesting.I ,too, have wondered where all the "shire" and "sex" names came from, and now my Questions have been answered. Thanks,everyone involved!
By the way, in California, at least, a county policeman is called a sheriff.

L.A. County cops are Sheriffs
L.A. City cops are Police Department
Interstate cops are the Highway Patrol
other municipalities are similarly organized but we also have California State Troopers, mostly in NoCal and other rural areas.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith

QUOTE: Originally posted by espeefoamer

It's amazing the stuff one can learn on this forum[:)]. I find this very interesting.I ,too, have wondered where all the "shire" and "sex" names came from, and now my Questions have been answered. Thanks,everyone involved!
By the way, in California, at least, a county policeman is called a sheriff.

L.A. County cops are Sheriffs
L.A. City cops are Police Department
Interstate cops are the Highway Patrol
other municipalities are similarly organized but we also have California State Troopers, mostly in NoCal and other rural areas.

Where are Ponch and John? They must be at the same cafe as Joe Friday and Bill Gannon throwing a dragnet over their chips!!![:D]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith

How is ya'll doin... Welcome to Te-axis! Ya'll can see awe faam land, cattle cuntry, we also got them Owl Wells and the best Ba-bee-que in the whowl US of Aee. Ya'll shooud come to aw next Ro-dee-o at the caunty far..


Sorry but a good West Texas drawl aint easy to print out...my Grandma was from Waxahatchi, texas and she had a Drawl all her live, my sister picked up alot of it and I suspect I have a latent drawl based on that also..

Vic,

I once went to a debate camp at Schriner College in Kerrville, Texas. There were some folks from West Texas there and I spend a week with them. Great folks!! I had an accent for three month following. Total emersion seems to work!!!

[vsmith]

Waxahatchie is just below Dallas, but my Grandma had a real twang in her voice that weren't from no Dallasonian...I'm sure she spent some time out west when she was a kid and thats where she picked up the accent. Dunno, have to ask my Sis, she's the family historian. Vic.

[Anonymous]

Na'then, thal b'wondrin wot a reet bugger like this'un is doin givin thee lot a dose'f reet lancy dilect...............

or

Now then, you will be wondering what a nice person like me is doing talking to you all in a Lancashire dialect..........

I love it (thas reet)

Kim
Cheers,
[tup]

[toenailridgesl]

Then again, some of us in the Great South Land lead real lives instead of chasing crocodiles & hypnotizing water buffalo, & we speak like this.....
Good evening, gentlemen!
Glad to be able to have this erudite discussion with you.
It is my earnest hope that you & yours are well, healthy & enjoying the benefits & distinct enjoyment associated with the pursuits of being fellow microferroequinologists.
May your rails be clear, your wheels be clean (although that doesn't matter to we of the R/C persuasion...) & may minimal sticks & twigs intrude into the switch blades of your points (switches, turnouts etc....select whichever appropriate to your locale...)
Just because one is from a different geographical area doesn't mean that one has to subscribe to the particular local prejudices, dialects, intonations, mis-pronounciations, mis-interpretations etc that are becoming more & more prevalent in our society due to the all-intrusive presence of the internet.
We are a group of friends bound by- & separated by- a common language.
That language is our common heritage & deserves to be paid the respect due to it.
If you know how to spell correctly, please do so.
If you don't, check out dictionary.com
If you understand syntax, please use it.
if not, try syntax.com

Above all, realize that all of us on this forum are united in one common love, that of running our big toys through our gardens & pretending that we aren't still 6 years old.


Please now be seated...here endeth the lesson....

Donations will be collected either by the passed plate or by direct subscription to
:http://www.toenailridge:scam-fund.com/$$$$$

[Anonymous]

I borrowed this one from Jeff Foxworthy the southern comedian.

My favorite southern word, Sensuous, Southern spelling Sinceuwas

Used in a sentence. Sinceuwas up could you get me a beer?

I just say the word and she knows what I mean, got to love her for that!
Although she doesn't always comply.

[tangerine-jack]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Capt Carrales

QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith

QUOTE: Originally posted by espeefoamer

It's amazing the stuff one can learn on this forum[:)]. I find this very interesting.I ,too, have wondered where all the "shire" and "sex" names came from, and now my Questions have been answered. Thanks,everyone involved!
By the way, in California, at least, a county policeman is called a sheriff.

L.A. County cops are Sheriffs
L.A. City cops are Police Department
Interstate cops are the Highway Patrol
other municipalities are similarly organized but we also have California State Troopers, mostly in NoCal and other rural areas.

Where are Ponch and John? They must be at the same cafe as Joe Friday and Bill Gannon throwing a dragnet over their chips!!![:D]

In this part of the country, local police, still referred to as "cops", have jurisdiction over general law enforcement, civil and criminal in the munincipality where they work. The State Police, AKA "State Troopers", have jurisdiction over the highways, motor vehicles, civil disturbances and interstate crimes such as drug and gun running or moonshining. The Sheriff, unlike the general police force, is an elected position, he is a court policeman and serves warrants, transports prisoners, runs the jails, and other court ordered activities. The Sheriff (only one person) has any number of Deputies that do the actual work. The Sheriff has a very broad jurisdiction over any aspect of criminal activity, he can work equally with local, state and federal agencies, so don't act stupid around him, there is no such thing as "Sheriff brutality". The Sheriff deals mainly with those that are already convicted of a crime, whereas the police deal with "innocent until proven guilty"

I think I saw Ponch and John at the doghnut shop on my way in this morning scarfing up some fat pills.

BTW: "Jeet" used in a sentance:
1st man: Jeet?
2nd man: No, jew?

Translation:
1st man: Did you eat?
2 nd man: No, did you?

[oX)]

[Capt Bob Johnson]

YO, TJ How come youall from the southern climes (and I'd say you're stretching it a bit to include Norfolk as deep South) can insist that everyone has to love grits, but let you come North and we can't seem to get you to try scrapple or the New englander's Salt cod for breakfast??? I learned to like grits on the old Gulf Oil tankers as most of them were crewed out of Port Arthur, but there were four of them crewed out of Philly; and you should have heard the whining when a Texeass boy got shipped onto one of the Philly Boats as a vacation relief and found scrapple on the plate with his eggs!

[Capt Bob Johnson]

Capt. Corrales, according to the newspaper the other day Ponch is now fronting for some shady real estate company that takes nearly worthless land there in the southwest and peddles it off at high prices to unsuspecting older folk who think they can take advantage of the warmer weather to run thier trains all year round!

The other Capt.

[tangerine-jack]

A stretch? Not really, we are not exactly "deep South” but many of the elements that make the culture unique are commonplace here, granted the more west you go in the state, the more it is prevalent. The coastal area is rather cosmopolitan, and hardly anybody that lives here is more than a one generation native. That comes from having 5 naval bases, 2 army posts, 2 Air Force bases and a Marine Corp camp in town.

Don't forget, the war of Northern Aggression was fought mainly in VA, the Confederate capitol was and still is in Richmond (and a most excellent museum), Jeff Davis' jail cell is still in Ft. Monroe in Hampton, the Monitor and Merrimack duked it out in the Chesapeake Bay near Ft. Wool. And we invented the ice-cream cone. Don't tell the guys in the Norfolk Southern Roanoak shops that they are not Southerners, they will throw fat-back at you from the window of the 611 Class J 4-8-4!

As a matter of proper breeding, a gentleman always takes grits with breakfast! That is not to say you are not correct in your criticism of the "ugly Southerner" when heading north. As a matter of etiquette, we are taught to eat what is given to us, and if we don't like it, we eat it and thank the host for a wonderful meal. I apologize for the Texas boy that evidently needed some killin’. Hey Cpt Carrales, whiterab and Bluebonnet- find that boy and giv'em a whoopin for bein' disrespekful!


[oX)]

[Capt Bob Johnson]

TJ, I appreciate your sense of history. I've read a lot of Bruce Catton on the subject of that war of aggression. My step daughter & Hubby live just N. of Richmond and they have to sneak scrapple back with them when they come up for a visit. My Wife going down next weekend and has order to bring 4 pounds along!

I too was taught to eat that which was served, and generally did, however, I did have trouble handling those Texas Boy's Red Snapper, An Italian's Fried Lamb's Brains, and a Greek Capt's Wife's Stewed Anchovies! As I got older, I found it far easier to claim I wasn't hungry, or to refuse to eat on my feet while working so I could wait til I got ashore!

Those boys throw fat back at me I'd be tempted to put it in a pot of Greens for dinner, but I think my doctor & cardiologist would crucify me for doing it!

Enjoy this warm weather we're having, cause I suspect that when this stuff the Left coast is getting now wanders in this direction the cannonballs will freeze off that device that was used to hold them!