Americans ?!?!?

[Shadow Wolf]

Here's a language question: If "Z" is supposed to be spoken as "zed" instead of "zee" because of zeta. Then shouldn't "B" be spoken as "bed" instead of "bee" cause of beta?

I don't know about the Romans, but in German the B is pronounced like that.

 

[Smart_Guy]

I'm really learning things from this conversation. Thanks and thanks again.

It just seemed to me like Saudi society is so different and I can't get my head fully around what everyday life looks like there.

I've seen you on here before but we seem to be interested in different threads. So if you were one of the atheists you would have come to dislike me by now

OK, more questions....

Let's say, in his head, a Saudi changes to a Hindu worldview. If he doesn't outwardly change no one will know of course. What are the outward signs people and government notice? Prayer? fasting at Ramadan? Other requirements? What are the minimums the person would have to do to stay out of trouble?

Those western women you talked about in the shopping mall and being loud. Were they in western dress or in a more relaxed Muslim dress?

Cool. Well you know, the fear of the unknown (unfamiliar)

Hmm.. don't have an answer to that, but I'll try to explain how it is around here in relation to that, as it could help getting a conclusion:

The govt. takes care of making sure stores are closed in the time of prayers, but for entrances only, if you're inside, they don't say anything and the rest if for the owners to decide. Health centers and some random places like check points and airport are an exception. Sometime in the past (last time I saw was like 15 years ago) the police used to push people to go to prayer if they see them go around publicly in prayer times, but I don't see that anymore. I guess that's it when it comes to the govt. As for people, in my community when we see someone neglects religious duties, we advise/remind them if we care for them. If they insist, we simply pray to God to guide them, and we leave them alone. I for example get reminded with the prayers I might have forgotten about sometimes from my friends. As for advices to stay out of trouble, I suggest staying indoors in prayer times, and just say "ok" to those reminding/advising. But honestly, I've never come across such a case, and it was me, I'd move out of Saudi Arabia. Not that I know something's gonna happen for sure, but to avoid any possibilities. This country still has a way to go unfortunately.

The ladies were wearing simple but long cloaks without head scarves over their casual dresses. You can Google image search for "abaya", Arabic for the Islamic female cloak, and see some examples. Almost all samples you find are allowed where I live.

Here's a language question: If "Z" is supposed to be spoken as "zed" instead of "zee" because of zeta. Then shouldn't "B" be spoken as "bed" instead of "bee" cause of beta?

Let's wait for Revolt and OldBadger for answers

 

[oldbadger]

Let's wait for Revolt and OldBadger for answers

Oh right! lead me into more trouble, do!
The fact is that the Ya....... Americans want to regularise an irregular language. English has many strange irregularities which we English are used to, so when we hear Americans say some words it really sounds odd to us, although there is some small )) reasoning behind their decisions.

For instance, your American might describe a very large road, or a chosen method of reaching a particular destination as a 'route', the vowel sound being similar to that in 'out', pout, bout, clout, etc..... but we pronounce that word with a vowel sound as in boot, shoot, etc So Americans want to regularise their English. That's ok...... it's all about what you're used to, I guess.

But the Americans have only fiddled about, and not followed through with their regularisation of English to the full. Take the word which means 'a condition of being unsure about something'....... 'doubt'. Well, surely the Americans should just spell it 'dout', but they don't, so I guess that some irregularity still kicks about in their version as well.

Now you just wait .......................

 

[Smart_Guy]

Oh right! lead me into more trouble, do!
The fact is that the Ya....... Americans want to regularise an irregular language. English has many strange irregularities which we English are used to, so when we hear Americans say some words it really sounds odd to us, although there is some small )) reasoning behind their decisions.

For instance, your American might describe a very large road, or a chosen method of reaching a particular destination as a 'route', the vowel sound being similar to that in 'out', pout, bout, clout, etc..... but we pronounce that word with a vowel sound as in boot, shoot, etc So Americans want to regularise their English. That's ok...... it's all about what you're used to, I guess.

But the Americans have only fiddled about, and not followed through with their regularisation of English to the full. Take the word which means 'a condition of being unsure about something'....... 'doubt'. Well, surely the Americans should just spell it 'dout', but they don't, so I guess that some irregularity still kicks about in their version as well.

Now you just wait .......................

That's... ah... thank you for the lesson

 

[Revoltingest]

I've ben workin hard to fix Uhmarikan Inglish!
Notiss that I yooz "thru" instead of "through"?
(Perhaps it shood be "throo"?)
But it's a long prosess.

 

[Smart_Guy]

Well I use "tho" instead of "though"

Practical, eh?

 

[Revoltingest]

Well I use "tho" instead of "though"
Practical, eh?

I see that you even speak Canuckistanian now too!

 

[Sunstone]

In the American Midwest, where I grew up, you could hear people pronounce "route" both to rhyme with "out" and with "root". Just depended on the person you were speaking with.

 

[George-ananda]

Health centers and some random places like check points and airport are an exception.

What are they checking you for at check-points?

Do they have public libraries in Saudi Arabia? If they do would they have books on Hinduism, Buddhism or atheism?


Our exchange has been enlightening for me. Thanks.

 

[paragon]

Well I use "tho" instead of "though"

Practical, eh?

I use "doe" instead. It just feels more natural.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

In the American Midwest, where I grew up, you could hear people pronounce "route" both to rhyme with "out" and with "root". Just depended on the person you were speaking with.

That's kinda how it is here, except very typically when we still had rural route addresses you almost always here it pronounced rural "root."

 

[Revoltingest]

We preferred our "route" to rhyme with "stout" here.
Geeze....the old days.....
Rural routes
Party line phones
Houses with tar paper siding
Farmer calling cows with "Ca'boss!"
Watching Sunday morning curling on black & white TVs.

 

[Smart_Guy]

I pronounce route as "root" but if it is the device used to distribute a network signal; router, I pronounce it as "ra-out-er" not "rooter"

What does that make me?

A Saudi, I guess

I see that you even speak Canuckistanian now too!

Speak a what?

What are they checking you for at check-points?

Do they have public libraries in Saudi Arabia? If they do would they have books on Hinduism, Buddhism or atheism?


Our exchange has been enlightening for me. Thanks.

Nothing much. Mainly for security reasons like common sense suspicions or specific reports. Or for season special permits like in Hajj season where Makkah gets too crowded and they don't allow those non Makkan residents or visitors with no Hajj permit to enter to prevent annoyance to the pilgrims. Check point here are not a problem, and most of the time if there is a family in the car, they just let them go through, which happens to me often if the check point is for driving documentation that takes place randomly specially around industrial areas.

We do have public libraries here, but not in a wide scale. Universities have them open for the public and outside them I know of only one. This makes them small in number unfortunately. Not sure about the contents available, I hate reading . I guess the internet is an alternative even if they do no allow those books here. Such websites are not blocked here.

And it's cool man, I'm open minded in friendly discussions no matter what the contents are. It is a good thing you're asking an actual Saudi living in Saudi Arabia instead of looking at the media. Stupid things do happen here, not doubt, but not in the scale the media give an impression of. The media generally prefers looking for scandals first.

 

[oldbadger]

In the American Midwest, where I grew up, you could hear people pronounce "route" both to rhyme with "out" and with "root". Just depended on the person you were speaking with.

..... and there is the joy of local accent. Although England is small (by comp) our accents change every 50 miles or so, right across the land, and therefore our irregularity abounds. Any word, such as 'boat', can change to 'but', 'boot', 'bwit', 'buit' 'bart' etc.... as you travel around.

During the 40-70's the BBC focused heavily on Standard (Queen's?) English, and there was a possibility that accent might be wiped out over a couple of generations, but somehow (thank God) regional accents took hold on our media and this will no doubt help to preserve them.

We seem to become more proud of local dialect now than ever before.... and I think that this is really great news.

 

[oldbadger]

We preferred our "route" to rhyme with "stout" here.
Geeze....the old days.....
Rural routes
Party line phones
Houses with tar paper siding
Farmer calling cows with "Ca'boss!"
Watching Sunday morning curling on black & white TVs.

Revolting......... coming it the centenarian

 

[oldbadger]

I see that you even speak Canuckistanian now too!

Obviously Canuckistanian must alter right across the country. .....must be very varied.....

 

[Shadow Wolf]

We preferred our "route" to rhyme with "stout" here.
Geeze....the old days.....
Rural routes
Party line phones
Houses with tar paper siding
Farmer calling cows with "Ca'boss!"
Watching Sunday morning curling on black & white TVs.

There are still a bunch of mailboxes around where I live that still have Rural Route 3 (or 4 or 9 as these three numbers were used during the part of my life when we still had RR #s) Box ### on them. I still remember my parents were box 267.

 

[ZooGirl02]

I am American with primarily German and Irish ancestry. I also have Scottish and Welsh ancestry. I may have ancestors from other countries that I'm not aware of. I only mention my ancestry because I find history to be very interesting and I am also interested in geneaology. I am not racist in the least. I abhor racism.