NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3/NN_1993_3.iso/spool/alt/usage/english/10984

Internet Message Format | 1993-01-24 | 1.7 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!decwrl!waikato.ac.nz!maj
From: [e-mail]
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: Canadian English
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 24 Jan 93 22:21:18 +1300
References: <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>
Organization: University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
Lines: 24

In article <[e-mail]>, Matthew Isaak <[e-mail]> writes:
> Linda Zinn writes:
>>Example: When I (an American) say, in reference to food, for instance,
>>"I'm not too fussy about hamburgers," I mean any old burger will do.
>>When my Canadian fiance says "I'm not too fussy about hamburgers,"
>>he means he doesn't like hamburgers very much. (This could be compounded
>>by the fact that he's a first-generation Canadian whose speech is often
>>flavored by his Scottish heritage.)
>
> Thank you for pointing this out.  Im a Canadian who lives in Pittsburgh
> now.  When i say fussy, as in "I'n not too fussy about hamburgers", I
> mean I dont like hamburgers.  If I wanted to say that any old burger
> will do, I would say "I'm not too *picky* about hamburgers.  This is
> general to Canada and not an artefact of your husbands heritage.

Here in NZ we use 'fussy' both ways. The tone of voice clarifies
which meaning is intended. [Sudden doubts: or do we? I spent
quite a bit of time in Canada so maybe I picked up that usage.]
--
Murray A. Jorgensen [ [e-mail] ]    University of Waikato
Department of Mathematics and Statistics     Hamilton, New Zealand
__________________________________________________________________
'Tis the song of the Jubjub! the proof is complete,
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