Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: Quiz: Espressioni britanniche e americane

Do You Use American or British Words?
Questa volta non ci sono risposte giuste o sbagliate. Per ogni domanda, 
scegliete la risposta che usereste, dovendo scegliere tra le due.
Lo scopo del quiz è verificare il proprio profilo linguistico, cioè se 
si usano di preferenza termini generalmente considerati "inglese 
britannico" o "inglese americano".
http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=do-you-use-american-british-words_2
Description:
In this quiz there are no "correct" or "wrong" answers. Just choose 
what you would more likely use. The test is mainly intended for EFL 
learners, but if you are a native English speaker you may want to try 
it for fun (and maybe help me make it better).
By "American" and "British" in this quiz I mean "what is GENERALLY 
REGARDED AS" American or British. Of course, there are regional 
variants, and some native speaker may use both forms. But the quiz is 
just asking what you would MORE LIKELY USE in the examples.
When asked to enter your "ID", PLEASE JUST WRITE WHERE YOU ARE FROM.

 Do You Use American or British Words?
Con mio grandissimo stupore:
"A majority of, or even all, your choices, were supposedly "British"
English."
Bye then,
Akira


Beh, ma tu su quali libri hai studiato l'inglese, britannici o 
americani?

 Do You Use American or British Words?
I'll do it later, but in the meantime I'll tell you this:
Because I sound British enough to a lot of American English speakers, it 
happened to me a lot that people thought I was using British terms, 
while actually I just didn't remember the right word or expression for 
the situation and used whatever I could come up with.
:D
Ciao,
Enrico il Pentolaio.

 americani?
Non l'ho mai studiato sui libri. :)
L'ho imparato guardando film e TV, prevalentemente americani. Vero che
ultimamente leggo quasi esclusivamente riviste "british", il grosso
continua comunque a farlo la TV e i film made in the USA.
Sono sinceramente stupito, ecco.
Bye then,
Akira

 
http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=do-you-use-american-british-words_2

I am infected: A majority of, or even all, your choices, were 
supposedly "American" English. :/
-- 
groetjes Renée
The way to know life is to love many things.
 Vincent van Gogh

 Sono sinceramente stupito, ecco.
Ma tu dici tomahto o tomayto? :-)

 Do You Use American or British Words?
Unsurprinsingly, I got the British result.

 Ma tu dici tomahto o tomayto? :-)
Dico "tomahto" e dico "styoopid".
(Oppure era come dire che alla fine e' la stessa cosa? Son d'accordo, ma
visto il mio background e' un po' sorprendente.)
-- 
Take care now, bye bye then,
Godspeed you.

 Dico "tomahto" e dico "styoopid".
E allora vedi che sei Brit? :-)
Sei poi usi anche "rubber" per cancellare, piuttosto che per altre 
cose, ecco spiegato il mistero :-D


 Dico "tomahto" e dico "styoopid".
British! Io dico il contrario e sono infatti risultato Americano.
Sarebbe interessante vedere le "soluzioni" (qual è il modo British e 
quale quello American). Non mi pare che ci siano, ma forse mi sono sbagliato


Il signore è servito, vedi sotto. :-)
Per ora metto le domande e le possibili risposte, poi metterò anche le 
"soluzioni" col preavviso di spoiler!
Ovviamente, come premesso, si tratta di "soluzioni" nel senso che 
possono essere *generalmente* considerate come "British" o "American", 
ma eccezioni personali, varianti locali e regionali, sono pur sempre 
possibili, ovvero potresti trovare pur sempre un britannico che usa la 
forma teoricamente "americana" o viceversa (anche grazie allo scambio 
via film, tivù, libri, viaggi, Internet...), o che usa entrambe 
indifferentemente! Però, ho cercato di inserire esempi che *di solito*, 
o almeno spesso, sono in un modo o nell'altro modo a seconda della 
sponda dell'Atlantico... :-)
===
In this quiz there are no "correct" or "wrong" answers. Just choose 
what you would more likely use. The test is mainly intended for EFL 
learners, but if you are a native English speaker you may want to try 
it for fun (and maybe help me make it better).
By "American" and "British" in this quiz I mean "what is GENERALLY 
REGARDED AS" American or British. Of course, there are regional 
variants, and some native speaker may use both forms. But the quiz is 
just asking what you would MORE LIKELY USE in the examples.
When asked to enter your "ID", PLEASE JUST WRITE WHERE YOU ARE FROM.
Total Questions » 19
Q.1)  	Please read "2,300 practical recipes".
  	A 	Twenty-three hundred practical recipes
  	B 	Two thousand three hundred practical recipes
  	C 	Absolutely neither / Don't know
Q.2)
In a building, the floor at street level is the "first floor".
  	A 	False
  	B 	True
  	C 	Don't know
Q.3)  	If you pay 59.54 dollars or pounds using a check (or a cheque), 
you write the amount in figures as follows ...
A)
59.54 or 5954 [nota: 54 è scritto più in piccolo e in alto, qui non si 
vede] (the 54 usually underlined) for extra clarity
B)
59.54 or 59·54 or 59—54 for extra clarity.
  	A 	A
  	B 	B
  	C 	Absolutely neither / Don't know
Q.4)  	The name of the sign "#"  is ...
  	A 	hash
  	B 	pound sign, or number sign
  	C 	Absolutely neither / Don't know
Q.5)  	If you want to wish good luck, you might say ...
(please note: you may say both, but what would your first choice be?)
  	A 	knock on wood
  	B 	touch wood
  	C 	Absolutely neither / Don't know
Q.6)  	To hide something embarrassing, you might sweep it ...
(please note: you may say both, but what would your first choice be?)
  	A 	under the rug
  	B 	under the carpet
  	C 	Absolutely neither / Don't know
Q.7)
Brackets are ...
(please note: you may say both, but what would your first choice be?)
  	A 	[ ]
  	B 	( )
  	C 	Absolutely neither / Don't know
Q.8)  	Precious rings, bracelets, necklaces and earrings are ...
  	A 	jewellery
  	B 	jewelry
  	C 	Absolutely neither / Don't know
Q.9)
In order to drive a car, you need a ...
  	A 	driving licence
  	B 	driver's license
  	C 	Absolutely neither / Don't know
Q.10)
A small light which is held in the hand and usually gets its power from 
batteries is a ...
  	A 	flashlight
  	B 	torch
  	C 	Absolutely neither / Don't know
Q.11)
Some parts of a car: ...
  	A 	Bonnet, Windscreen, Boot, Reversing lights, Gear lever, Number 
plate
  	B 	Hood, Windshield, Trunk, Back-up lights, Gear shift, License 
plate
  	C 	Absolutely neither / Don't know
Q.12)
At school, children study ...
  	A 	Math
  	B 	Maths
  	C 	Absolutely neither / Don't know
Q.13)  	The last letter of the alphabet is called ...
  	A 	Zed
  	B 	Zee
  	C 	Neither / Don't know
Q.14)  	You pronounce the first vowel in "stupid" as ...
  	A 	cue
  	B 	cool
  	C 	Absolutely neither / Don't know
Q.15)  	Suspenders are for ...
  	A 	men
  	B 	women
  	C 	Don't know
Q.16)  	If you need to erase a pencil mark, you may ask for a rubber.
  	A 	No
  	B 	Yes
  	C 	Don't know
Q.17)  	Would you say that the economy has ___ worse?
  	A 	got
  	B 	gotten
  	C 	Absolutely neither / Don't know
Q.18)
I say tomato, you say ...
  	A 	to-MAH-to
  	B 	to-MAY-to
  	C 	Absolutely neither / Don't know
Q.19)
A "cot" is a ...
  	A 	small bed for a baby with high bars round the sides so that the 
child cannot fall out
  	B 	camp-bed
  	C 	Absolutely neither / Don't know

):

Thank Gawd I got "American" on all of them. :)
-- 
Joey from NY

 
http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=do-you-use-americ.
..
WHAT? "A majority of, or even all, your choices, were supposedly
"American" English."???
OK, dico "zee" e "tomayto", ma a parte quello...

 OK, dico "zee" e "tomayto", ma a parte quello...
Dico addirittura "kilometre" con accenti sulla prima e terza sillaba,
cosa che ormai manco i britannici under-60 fanno più...

 Thank Gawd I got "American" on all of them. :)
I should have the quiz play the 'The Star Spangled Banner' when you 
score 100% American! :-D


Beh, se molti britannici (anziani a parte) non lo fanno più, allora non 
è più un indicatore tanto valido.
Per dirti, in una prima versione del test avevo inserito anche una 
domanda sulla pronuncia di "dance", che come sicuramente sapete è 
ufficialmente /da:ns/ in BrE (nella RP e sui dizionari britannici), ma 
mi è stato fatto notare che, posh a parte, molti Brit non usano affatto 
quella pronuncia, che dipende dalle varietà regionali, dunque ho 
preferito rinunciare a quella domanda.

 ecco spiegato il mistero :-D
In effetti pure quello.
(Ho capito solo ora che il test l'hai fatto tu, sono po' tardo. C'e'
pure scritto!)

 
Result: Neither / Don't know 
  on quiz: Do You Use American or British Words? 
A majority of, or even all, your choices, were "Neither / Don't
know".
I knew a few (poche) of the correct answers, but I don't think I
must adhere to one of those dialects once forever.
If I were in London I would check right side first, in New York
City I would check left side first.
In Italy I check both sides twice.
-- 
When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it had
happened or not; but my faculties are decaying now and soon I
shall be so I cannot remember any but the things that never
happened. It is sad to go to pieces like this but we all have
to do it. 
    -- Mark Twain

 Do You Use American or British Words?
Chi ha vinto?
-- 
Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from
time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught. 
    -- Oscar Wilde, "The Critic as Artist"

 
I did! I got 100%,    :-P
-- 
Joey from NY

 preferito rinunciare a quella domanda.
No shit! I'm posh, then!


 In Italy I check both sides twice.
Indeed!

 Chi ha vinto?
I Brits con il 61%, so far.

 preferito rinunciare a quella domanda.
Dipende anche dalla parola: "enhance" ormai anche la regina lo
pronuncia con /æ/ (<
http://phonetic-blog.blogspot.com/2009/11/royal-
enhancement.html>), ma parole come "laugh" o "half" praticamente le
pronunciano così solo in America...

 pronunciano così solo in America...
"Laugh" però può avere diverse pronunce negli USA.

 "Laugh" però può avere diverse pronunce negli USA.
In my 'home town' of Boston, a lot of pronunciations favor the British (more 
or less.) There are jokes about 'aunt' being pronounced like 'ant' and so on.
-- 
Joey from NY

 complessa.
Entrambe le pronunce sono usate dappertutto, ma su una sponda ne
predomina una e sull'altra predomina l'altra.

 predomina una e sull'altra predomina l'altra.
Secondo me, comunque, i dizionari che riportano solo una possibile 
pronuncia di "either" per il britannico, e solo l'altra per 
l'americano, come il MacMillian online, danno un'informazione 
incompleta.
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/either
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/american/either
Al contrario, il M-W online, l'American Heritege e l'Encarta (dizionari 
americani) le riportano entrambe
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/either
http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/either
| 
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=1861607700

   	C 	Absolutely neither / Don't know
B supposedly American
A supposedly British

 A supposedly British
This one has to be backwards. No one I know says "Touch wood."
-- 
Joey from NY


Yes. Thanks for the catch. I mixed them up when I wrote my   post, but 
it's the other way round (the correct way) in the test.

 A supposedly British
Zee sta diventando più comune anche in UK, ma al momento non trovo una
fonte

 fonte
Mmmh... Nel test le risposte Zee non sono state molte, anche meno dei 
profili complessivamente "americani".


I doubt it anyone in the UK would tell you that '#' is a pound sign ; maybe 
a few would say number sign , but nowadays I reckon it would almost 
universally be called hash .
I'd say the others are all still clearly distinct in usage , except perhaps 
10 - 'torch' and 'flashlight' are both commonly used in the UK .
Mike (UK) 

 Mike (UK)
Grazie per le osservazioni.

 Eppure è così :-)
Che cacchio m'ero bevuto quando ho scritto ciò? È da secoli che so che
in UK si scrive -ence e in US -ense... Bah.

 universally be called hash .
C'ha 10000 nomi quel carattere... <
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Number_sign>

 > A supposedly American
Comunque, quando voglio andare sul sicuro, dico "round parentheses",
"square brackets" e "curly braces". Suona ridicolo però almeno non mi
possono fraintendere su nessuna sponda dell'oceano...


The power of preconception!  I'd always thought that 'hash' was an American 
term we'd adopted , so that's what I read . Sorry .
Mike