Hey foreign guys...Yankee question

[sunndog]

the name "soap opera" started in america on the radio....the shows were sponsored by soap companies

[rodp]

Yep, thought he had you down to a T there rodders

If he was a bit closer I could sit on his lap and tell him all about it Just chat and "see what comes up"

[sunndog]

[nealh]

Here is another odd one for you Frogman
A large number of farm livestock and animal/horse auctions all over the UK are conducted in a "bidding for" and a "sold transaction price" in "guineas" equalling £1.05p in our lingo or $1.49 in your native tongue
So tonight's homework for any of the "American forum members only" will be "What was the origin of the idea of the selling price being in guineas" Thanks Phil

Could be 1 pound goes to seller the rest is the auctioneers commission.
How much is that in real money?

[Radagast]

Lots. A guinea was a gold quarter ounce coin. Horse traders wanted real money, not bank notes.

[Frogman Ladue]

Did the term come from the drive in's?

I heard if you went to a drive in and it rained they would give you a "raincheck" which you could redeem next time you came
If that is true i s'pose it should be written "raincheque"

We spell it as Check, not cheque. Like Tires, not tyres. Color, not colour. Gray, not grey. Soccer, not football.

I asked a few older folks today, and did a quick check on the "Muricana web. I cannot find anything that equates a raincheck with drive-ins.

Consensus was raincheck is one of two things....what I had described, or back-in-the-day car washes were a big deal. You'd spend a good bit of money on an automated carwash. If it rained the next day or so, you could bring back your receipt...a "raincheck" and get a free wash.

The oldest use of the word "raincheck" used in "Murican folk lore dates back to the 1880s. If it rained during a baseball game, the field would offer you a raincheck. You could bring the piece of paper back on a better day and watch another game for free. And, then the issues started again. Rainchecks would give you a free beer or hotdog a the next game, but the field would purposely run out of beer or hotdogs. People equated raincheck as a sly "F@#ck you!" from the field.

I asked the older folks about the drive in hypothesis. (Drive-ins died by the mid 1990s. By that point, every mall in USA had a multiscreen movie theater with real hi-fi sound, nice seats, and air condition.) Way back when, you'd never go to a drive-in if the weather was going to be bad. Because; First, you had to roll the window down to put the speaker in the car. Second, Dad would never let you take the family car out in the rain. Third, the only people going to the drive-ins were teens, attempting to raise teenage pregnancy statistics across 'Murica...If you asked Dad to use the car on Friday, so you could take your girl out to the movies in the rain, Dad was wise to know that all that was going to happen was going to leave stains on the back seat. Consensus is, rainchecks do not derive from the drive-in era.

[Frogman Ladue]

Merkins write Check, not Cheque, they ignore the fact that it comes from the chequer pattern on the table used to count His Majesty's Government extortion.

'Muricans, not Merkins....two totally different words with way different means.

Song to sum it up. Not safe for work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R5A0pg4oN8

The "A" is silent. The "U" becomes a spoken accent...unlike unspoken, being King's English proper (Chicago English) to put emphasis on a southern drawl.

[hairyyoda]

Your heading in the right direction Neal but not quite the exact reason behind the "shilling on the pound" ?
Forum members are getting "very intellectual" and at this rate we will have a team entered on the
"Eggheads" program by the end of the year Thanks Phil.
PS. Will leave the question run for a bit and will post the full answer on Friday another slow day in Wales

[Frogman Ladue]

Very good explanations there gents. I have to say though, on my visits to America the locals are always aghast when we tell them that our weather is too unpredictable for long camping trips in the wilderness and drive in movies, added to the fact that in Mid Summer it's too light to see the screen anyway !!.

Now, one thing I did notice a while back, I was at home for five weeks recovering from a shoulder operation and I watched an American show called 'Drive In's and Dives' or something, and not one American chef, presenter or diner could correctly pronounce Worcestershire Sauce!

Also like the Germans, they can't pronounce 'Squirrel' either.

Comments?

Depending on where you live in 'Murica, sunrise and sunset get skewed quick. I live in the "North" considered a true Yankee, Yankee. Come late June, I'll take the boat out on Lake Erie. At 10:30 PM/22:00 Ill turn back in for the docks, as there is still enough ambient light to see water conditions and floating debris. I lived in Texas for a while. At 20:00 on a late June evening, the skys were pitch black. I spent three weeks in Alaska last summer. The sun never set for three weeks.

"Drive-ins, Diners, and Dives" with Guy Fieri is universally considered a crap TV show, that put into the listings just to take up space between better shows. Guy Fieri is not considered a Chef. A cook? May be. Hack or Abortion Doctor would be proper. He's just some Guido that holds shows at Burger Joints. Every time he bites into a fry (Chip), he turns on the acting charm as that piece of potato with salt on it just became an orgasmic delicacy...and every show, its a big surprise to him that the secret ingredient is salt. Watching a show with Guy Fieri critiquing american cusine, holds about as much clout as watch a food show, hosted by Sous Chef Ali G, as he critiques the Queen's choice of formal Tea, fine spices from the east, and beef wellington. Basically, some clown that doesn't know what what the heck he's talking about.

Germans and Squirrel. Yes, Yes, YES! There is an article written in thee United States' Constitution that states that if anytime you (an 'Murican) come across a german speaking national, you are obligated as a patriot to make them say "Squirrel". If you come across a Dutch, you get double bonus points. Because everybody hates the Dutch.

[Frogman Ladue]

Wooster sauce, did I get it right?
Squerl is pronounced 'tree rat'. :p

Three proper ways...

Pronouced: Worst-test-er...and slur it a bit to make it sound german. Or change the W to V like the eastern Europeans...verse-test-er. Or, Wur-chess-ter.