Freertago? What Americans Mean When They Talk Fast

Have you been in this situation? 

You’ve studied English for many years, but you’re new in the United States.  You’ve just placed your order at the fast food counter.  Instead of telling you the price, the food worker says, “Freertago?”  You blink, somewhat embarrassed that you have no idea what was just said to you. 

“Pardon me?”

“Freertago?” she repeats. 

You are still clueless, but maybe a kind person behind you explains, “She wants to know if you want to eat the food here or carry it out.”

Still blushing, you thank the stranger and mumble to the worker that you’ll be eating at the restaurant.

Fast food across the USA: for here or to go? (photo source: Wikipedia)

Fast speech.

It happens every day.  In English, common phrases get mushed together so that if you don’t know what to expect, you won’t understand what Americans are saying.

Fast speech is a kind of efficient way of combining sounds, de-emphasizing unimportant parts, while stressing the important ones. 

Part of your job as an English learner is to know what is likely to be said in certain situations.  The other part is to become better at listening to fast (or reduced) speech.

Are there other puzzling expressions you hear every day?  Send us a note about what it sounded like, who said it, and when/where they said it.  We’ll help you figure it out.

Paper or plastic? (photo source: www.meijer.com)

Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda

We all have regrets.  Sometimes events don't work out as we wanted them to. When we look back on our failures, we ask, "How could I have made this better?  What should I have done differently?  What would have improved the outcome?"

When we want to change something that is too late to change, we are creating an unreal situation.  For this, we have to use hypothetical grammar.

Note in the above sentences, I wrote "could have, should have, would have."  In fast speech, Americans shorten these verb phrases to "coulda, shoulda, woulda."  If you don't believe me, start listening to your native-born co-workers.  They don't say "could...have, should...have" in natural speech.  That would sound slow and robotic.  Slow speech like that is reserved for emphasis, maybe to express anger or impatience.

In order to not sound angry or impatient, you need to learn to combine certain words together.  This week, I recommend you start with verb phrases. In addition to the three above, you can try these:      might have (gone) ---> mighta (gone)      must have (been) ---> musta (been)

The headline of a recent article in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune is "Shoulda, coulda, woulda for Vikings after loss to Bears." After losing in the final seconds of their football game, Minnesota Vikings coach Leslie Frazier "wishes he had managed the situation better."  Notice the grammar of a regrettable (but unchangeable) event?

"Ohhh! I shoulda sent those files yesterday!"

With this headline, the sports reporter emphasizes that whatever could have been done (should have been done, would have been done) is too late.  It sounds like making excuses for poor performance yet one more time.  Therefore, "Coulda, shoulda, woulda" is a way of telling others that excuses are not acceptable; they are responsible for the results.

Ask your American friends or co-workers when they might use "Coulda, shoulda, woulda" in a conversation. And stay tuned for more pronunciation tips to come!

Spelling note:Coulda, woulda, shoulda is mostly for speaking.  An acceptable way to write these words in email is could've, should've, would've.  If you are writing a business letter or technical report, spell them out fully: could have, should have, would have.

Images via fotolia.com

Just "Your" Typical Worker?

"Your"? Does that belong to ME? In an article for Inc. Magazine, Steve Tobak was writing about personal styles in the workplace and used the following sentence:

Melissa's your average, everyday worker.

Non-native readers may be asking, "Why 'your'? She doesn't belong to me!"

In fact, Tobak would have been perfectly fine to write about "a" typical worker. But he didn't.  Why not? This is actually a common way of speaking in American English.

The following is an explanation taken from a clever colleague, journalist Lisa McLendon:

Who, me?

This is a casual expression. Even though it's fine to say "an" average worker, the word "your" indicates a less-formal sentence. It translates as "what you would consider an average, everyday worker" (where "you" means "one" or "a person in general"). This would be found more in speech than writing. In professional writing, it would be "an."

An example: In a news story about a new restaurant, the owner tells the reporter, "We didn't want to be your typical sports bar." If the reporter uses the quote directly, there is no change.  However, if the reporter paraphrases the owner, the article would say, "The owner said he didn't want Bases to be a typical sports bar."

An equally clever colleague, linguist Matthew Kushinka pointed out that "your" in such expressions is always paired with ordinary words: usual, average, typical, run-of-the-mill, regular, basic. • They're nothing special, just your basic printing company. • You didn't miss anything.  It was your typical weekly staff meeting. • You'll like working with Teresa.  She's not your run-of-the-mill intern. In such expressions, "your" is never paired with extraordinary adjectives.  You never see "He's (not) your fantastic employee."

Today's tip for second-language speakers: If you hear "your," it may not be all about you!

image: Fotolia.com

Cultural footnote: The now-discontinued line of GM cars, the Oldsmobile, tried to revive its image as a boring, conservative car by coming up with a new marketing line: "This is not your father's Oldsmobile." General Motors wanted to say, "This is not a typical old person's car."  The advertising backfired, and now this line of GM cars is extinct.

What's the Difference between an Expression, an Idiom, and a Saying?

Last week, I shared with my students an explanation of the expression, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”  It gives the advice to choose a guaranteed (or certain) opportunity, rather than wait for a bigger opportunity which may or may not come. I learned later that the expression in Polish is “A sparrow in the hand is worth a canary on the roof.”  In Flemish, people say, “One bird in the hand is worth ten in the air.”  It's great to see commonality in the expressions of wisdom across the globe! My explanation about the birds made a colleague ask about the difference between a saying and an expression.  Technically, she is right to ask.  Generally, an expression is any group of words commonly used together.  A single word is just called a (vocabulary) word. While there are many, many expressions in English, we can think of them as three distinct categories: expressions, idioms, and sayings.

source: Flickr

1. An expression is a general cluster of words like "don't know which end is up."  This means to be disoriented or confused.  Example: My cousin Julie is so busy, she doesn’t know which end is up.

2. An idiom is a colorful expression like "raining cats and dogs" (which means raining very hard).  Another idiom is "doing something by the seat of your pants" (which means doing something as you go along, without prior plan).  Example: This process is new for everyone on the team; we’re doing it by the seat of our pants this first time.  The meanings of these idioms have nothing to do with pants or house pets, but they give us interesting ways to express ourselves.

3. A saying (also called a proverb, maxim, or adage) is a piece of wisdom from one’s culture.  Our earlier example (a bird in the hand) is a piece of advice for people trying to choose between two options.  From Chinese culture, I have always liked the proverb, “A journey of 1000 miles begins with the first step.”  This advises us to not be afraid of big undertakings.

How would you categorize the following expressions: saying, idiom, or general expression?

1. What!?  Bob is the new district manager!?  Are you pulling my leg? 2. A stitch in time saves nine. 3. My teacher friends are burned out at the end of the school year. 4. I never watch NASCAR racing, but my neighbor loves it.  To each his own, I guess. 5. Julio is new in the department, so Monica is taking time to show him the ropes. 6. Never judge a book by its cover. 7. The presentation was so amazing that it knocked our socks off. 8. Our group came up with some great new ideas. 9. The early bird catches the worm. 10. My officemate is just nuts about the Detroit Tigers.

ANSWERS

Sayings: 2. A stitch in time saves nine.  (If you take care of maintenance issues early, you avoid big problems later.) 6. Never judge a book by its cover.  (A person or thing may have qualities that you cannot see on the surface.) 9. The early bird catches the worm.  (If you show up late, the opportunity may be gone.)

Idioms: 1. to pull someone’s leg (to kid or tease someone, to make up information) 5. to show someone the ropes (to give someone orientation training) 7. to knock our socks off (to impress us)

Expressions: 3. to be burned out (to have no more energy left) 4. to each his own (Every person has different tastes and preferences.) 8. to come up with (to create or think up something new) 10. to be nuts about (to be enthusiastic about or in love with)

Many people are familiar with the Golden Rule.  This is a proverb (saying) that advises us to “Treat others as we would have them treat us.”  Recently, I learned an interculturally improved variation called the Platinum Rule: “Treat others as they would like to be treated.”

Do you have a favorite saying or proverb?

Embracing Triplets: How We Sometimes Repeat Ourselves

An old American joke goes like this.

A tourist on the streets of New York asks a resident, “Can you tell me how to get to Carnegie Hall?”  The New Yorker replies, “Practice, practice, practice.”

Carnegie Hall stage (source: Wikipedia)

This joke is only funny if you understand the double meaning of “get to” in the opening question.  The tourist’s meaning is concerned with finding the location of Carnegie Hall, a famous venue for concerts.  The New Yorker’s meaning of “get to” is “be invited to.”  Of course, only the best musicians can play there, so it will take lots of practice to “get there.”

The line, “Practice, practice, practice” is famous in American culture, and you might hear it being adapted to other situations. 

Besides English, I know many languages use repetition as a colorful way of emphasizing an idea.  In the West African language of Hausa, the word kaɗun means “little."  To say “very little,” Hausa speakers say kaɗun-kaɗun.  In one aboriginal language of Australia, the word binji means “stomach.”  Binji-binji is the expression for “pregnant.”

Real estate yard sign (source: Prudential Realty)

What is interesting for me is the use of the triple form to emphasize an English speaker’s point of view.  If you ask a real estate agent the most important aspects of a piece of property for sale, the famous response is “Location, location, location.”  In other words, the top three selling features all involve where the property is located.

Triplets in English can also be used for complaining.  “Work, work, work!” someone might grumble to a friend.  “Don’t you ever take time to have fun?”  More examples are given below.

TRIPLETS FOR EMPHASIS: Meaning

Go, go, go!: To encourage people to go/run faster (sports)

Yes, yes, yes! / No, no, no! Strong affirmation (or negation)

Ho, ho, ho.: How Santa Claus laughs

Jobs, jobs, jobs.: Interviewee on radio re: needs in this economy

La, la, la. [with fingers in ears]: I’m not listening to you.

Surprise, surprise, surprise!: In famous military sitcom, Gomer Pyle gets a visit from his cousin

Location, location, location.: The top three considerations when buying real estate

Practice, practice, practice.: The answer when a NYC tourist asks, “How can I get to Carnegie Hall?”

Penny, Penny, Penny!: A neurotic physicist tries to get his neighbor’s attention

(source: Wikipedia)

COMPLAINING TRIPLETS (spoken by...)

"Work, work, work! That’s all I do around here!" (tired person)

"Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!" (frustrated younger sister)

"Sports, sports, sports! Is that all you watch on TV?" (frustrated wife or girlfriend)

"Bitch, bitch, bitch." (someone tired of another’s complaining)

BLASé TRIPLETS (lack of enthusiasm) (meaning)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. (Curtly spoken: Okay, I got it. Now I gotta get out of here.)

Yadda, yadda, yadda. (And so on and so forth.)

Blah, blah, blah. (Ongoing talking. Meaningless chatter. This is tiresome. Et cetera. And so on.)

Please write to share other examples you can think of.