Americanisms to learn and love

Having spent some time in the presence of a few of our American cousins over the last couple of months either at presentations or in phone conversations I record here a few vocabularistic (!)distractions for your enjoyment. They are not necessarily wrong, just were unusual to hear in day-to-day conversation or jarring in context.

Yeoman people - the day to day workers

Munge - no idea what this was but doesn't sound nice

I-cap - intellectual capital

colourisation - I couldn't find it in the dictionary, I am guessing "colouring"

attrited - as in making a verb of attrition

inculcating - I had to look this up - "to impress by repeated statement or admonition" - Aussies, thing of the recent "working families" Ruddism.

The world is a village

Last week a second cousin of mine died in a horrific and pointless motorbike accident in Durango, Colorado, USA. This is obviously a very personal event for our extended family and I agonised over posting anything about it in this blog.

But yesterday I Googled him and found a blog of another of his cousins - a US attorney who had acknowledged Conor's passing.

The world is a village and the Internet is more than a superhighway, it is an endless network of roads, byways and sleepy lanes that enables us to connect with people in previously unimaginable ways - a simple and obvious thought I know. It has joined together two strangers in their mourning.

Tell your loved ones you love them.

11 April 2007 - I have had some kind thoughts in comments and I thank those people for them however I will not be publishing them.