#this is what it’s like trying to write fic for us-based fandoms#‘Is that a movie trope or do people actually do that?’ - via ellynneversweet
Dialect differences of interest:
“In hospital” -> Americans say “in the hospital.”
“Motorway” -> highway.
“Crisps” —> “chips” but he knew that haha a lot of this is jokes
“Shite” -> “shit” but I think he knew that, this is clearly jokes
But most tellingly there’s an interesting one:
“Slippy” (“the road was slippy”)
British, Irish, and Australian people have a part of the dialect where describing something, and they make it “verb-y”. Examples are “squirty cream” (aerosol whipped cream), or “wheelie bin” (the big trash can with wheels that you park outside). A viral picture of a door with a sign: “Caution: door is slammy.” Filtered honey that stays stable at room temp is “runny honey.” “Slippy” comes in quite naturally before “slippery.” However, most of the time it’s spontaneous: you apply the verb instantly in the situation and are understood even if it isn’t part of the normal lexicon. Doors are not commonly labelled “slammy” but everyone gets it.
It is only something you really notice when part of the dialect and I don’t really know what it’s called - I’m not a linguist - but it would be called something like “compulsive verb dimunitizing” or something. And Americans don’t do it. An American in this conversation might say “the road was icy/slippery”, but would be more likely to describe the situation: “he went into black ice!” “He took a pothole at 80!”
To Americans, “the road was slippy” in a conversation like this sounds borderline deranged and slightly disrespectful - absolute baby talk, like saying “the road was slippy-wippy and Chad got very silly! Now he’s deady-weady!”
Being American but also raised by gnomes, I personally love it. Let’s make verbs diminutive and use them as adjectives! Yeah! Let’s be little freaks!
Anyway, it’s that kind of thing that gets ya in dialects, and then people GET YOUR ASS