Forum Lingo

[Landon Caeli]

There have been some common catch phrases I've noticed over the years, that you'll tend to see only on forums and not in everyday use... I find it funny, yet...Intriguing. But sometimes annoying...

Here's one: "What are you on about"

LOL, "on about"...

 

[Landon Caeli]

It used to be, a fancy way of saying forum was "fora"...

 

[Michie]

Noob!

 

[Michie]

Oh and when people actually spell out l-o-l or pronounce it in real time conversations. Weird!

 

[Michie]

A lot of people use this on message boards: ‘Irregardless’. Drives me up a wall. Last I heard, it is not an actual word. It’s nonsensical.

 

[Der Alte]

There have been some common catch phrases I've noticed over the years, that you'll tend to see only on forums and not in everyday use... I find it funny, yet...Intriguing. But sometimes annoying...

Here's one: "What are you on about"

LOL, "on about"...

I think that is from Oz or NZ.

 

[Occams Barber]

There have been some common catch phrases I've noticed over the years, that you'll tend to see only on forums and not in everyday use... I find it funny, yet...Intriguing. But sometimes annoying...

Here's one: "What are you on about"

LOL, "on about"...

"What are you on about?" is a normal everyday expression in my part of the world. It's also normal in British English.

OB

 

[Occams Barber]

It used to be, a fancy way of saying forum was "fora"...

'Fora' is a Latin word. It's the Latin plural of 'forum'. Like 'datum' (singular form of 'data') it's falling into disuse.

OB

 

[Kenny'sID]

A lot of people use this on message boards: ‘Irregardless’. Drives me up a wall. Last I heard, it is not an actual word. It’s nonsensical.

I hate that word too, and so much, I looked it up to see if it was real....last I heard it was. Prove me wrong...please.

"I could care less" is another.

And lastly, I actually said lol in a face to face conversation once...awful. It was then I knew I was getting way too much internet.

 

[Occams Barber]

There have been some common catch phrases I've noticed over the years, that you'll tend to see only on forums and not in everyday use... I find it funny, yet...Intriguing. But sometimes annoying...

Here's one: "What are you on about"

LOL, "on about"...

American English has a unique idiom and it’s often obvious, just from the written words, that a poster is American.

As an American you may not be aware of some of these distinctive differences. The following Americanisms crop up regularly in CF posts:

Of
Sticking ‘of” into places where it’s semantically superfluous is a fairly standard Americanism. Where the rest of us might say “Get off my back”, an American will say “Get off of my back”. Sentences like, “It’s not that big of a deal”, are also typically American. A non-American might drop the ‘of’ and say “It’s not that big a deal”, but, since this version is bit awkward, is more likely to do a complete substitution with something like “It isn’t that important”

"if this is too abstract of a question then…"

Would
“If he would have known he wouldn’t have come” is an Americanised version of “If he had known he wouldn’t have come”. Technically ‘would’ adds an unnecessary, conditional element to ‘have’. It seems to be most prevalent in informal, vernacular American.

Second of all
Most other Englishes tend to use ‘secondly’ where American English seems to favour ‘second of all’. This is either derived from “first of all” or is yet another opportunity to work ‘of’ into a sentence.

Different than
In American English ‘different than’, is the most common way to express differentiation. American English seems to rarely use ‘different to’ or ‘different from’; the forms of differentiation most commonly used in other English dialects.

‘Then’ vs ‘than’
CF posters regularly confuse ‘then’ with ‘than’. It seems to be a habit peculiar to American posters. Typically, ‘then’ is used when the correct word is ‘than’. The most common form of this is when ‘different than’ (mentioned above) becomes ‘different then’ although I have often seen then/than confusion in other contexts. Surprisingly, the then/than mix-up is even a problem for some of the more articulate CF posters.

Dropping the ‘d’
Dropping the final 'd' on 'suppose(d)' and 'bias(ed)' is a very common Americanism
"He is suppose to help us"
"She is bias against Asians"

Anyways
Pluralising anyway to anyways is a peculiarly American habit.

Time & number
A quarter of three vs A quarter to three

Two hundred forty-seven vs Two hundred and forty-seven

Convicted
In my English 'convicted' means found guilty of a crime. Using 'convicted' to mean 'strongly convinced' appears to be peculiar to American Christians.

On
Study on it, preach on the Bible. This use of 'on' is peculiarly American.

I could care less
Notoriously the equivalent of Fingernails on a Blackboard for most non-American English speakers. We would say "I couldn't care less".

OB

 

[Michie]

(I could care less) is another that can drive someone around the bend.

 

[Michie]

I hate that word too, and so much, I looked it up to see if it was real....last I heard it was. Prove me wrong...please.

"I could care less" is another.

And lastly, I actually said lol in a face to face conversation once...awful. It was then I knew I was getting way too much internet.

I just looked it up. Last I looked it was not a word but it could have come from an unreliable source.

Irregardless means the same thing as “regardless.” Yes, it's a word. But major dictionaries label it nonstandard.

 

[Der Alte]

There have been some common catch phrases I've noticed over the years, that you'll tend to see only on forums and not in everyday use... I find it funny, yet...Intriguing. But sometimes annoying...
ere's one: "What are you on about"
LOL, "on about"...

Pretty sure that is from OZ or NZ.

 

[Occams Barber]

Pretty sure that is from OZ or NZ.

Most definitely a very British term which is also used in OZ and NZ.

OB

 

[Sketcher]

Convicted
In my English 'convicted' means found guilty of a crime. Using 'convicted' to mean 'strongly convinced' appears to be peculiar to American Christians.

In American parlance, "conviction" can either mean being found guilty of a crime, or it can also mean a strong belief in something, as in a "personal conviction" that something is wrong or right. Christians just happen to use this often.

Definition of CONVICTION

 

[Paidiske]

Convicted
In my English 'convicted' means found guilty of a crime. Using 'convicted' to mean 'strongly convinced' appears to be peculiar to American Christians.

That one's pretty common in Christian circles here too, although it may have become so due to the predominance of American publishers of Christian works.

The one that always jumps out at me is spelling. Gaol/jail, -our/-or, -ise/-ize endings, that sort of thing.

Oh, and dates! Americans write the date backwards, and it does my head in!

But as for forum-specific stuff, I think each forum develops its own peculiarities over time. I'm on a parenting forum which has a whole lot of abbreviations and phrases which would be pretty meaningless anywhere else.

 

[Michie]

That one's pretty common in Christian circles here too, although it may have become so due to the predominance of American publishers of Christian works.

The one that always jumps out at me is spelling. Gaol/jail, -our/-or, -ise/-ize endings, that sort of thing.

Oh, and dates! Americans write the date backwards, and it does my head in!

But as for forum-specific stuff, I think each forum develops its own peculiarities over time. I'm on a parenting forum which has a whole lot of abbreviations and phrases which would be pretty meaningless anywhere else.

No! YOU guys do dates backwards! Lol

 

[Occams Barber]

In American parlance, "conviction" can either mean being found guilty of a crime, or it can also mean a strong belief in something, as in a "personal conviction" that something is wrong or right. Christians just happen to use this often.

Definition of CONVICTION

I would also normally use 'conviction' to mean strong belief. The difference I'm talking about is the use of 'convicted' as a word derived from 'conviction'.

While most English speakers would describe themselves as 'having a personal conviction' few, outside of the US, would describe themselves as being 'convicted'. As you said, it appears most often in the context of a Christian belief.

OB

 

[Der Alte]

That one's pretty common in Christian circles here too, although it may have become so due to the predominance of American publishers of Christian works.
The one that always jumps out at me is spelling. Gaol/jail, -our/-or, -ise/-ize endings, that sort of thing.
Oh, and dates! Americans write the date backwards, and it does my head in!
But as for forum-specific stuff, I think each forum develops its own peculiarities over time. I'm on a parenting forum which has a whole lot of abbreviations and phrases which would be pretty meaningless anywhere else.

I spent 22 years in the US Army I still use their dating e.g. today is one April 21
How about cars, US/Aus hood/bonnet, trunk/boot, windshield/windscreen, tire/tyre, wrench/spanner.

 

[Occams Barber]

That one's pretty common in Christian circles here too, although it may have become so due to the predominance of American publishers of Christian works.

I'd bet money it's derived from American idiom - probably via movies or American TV preachers.

The one that always jumps out at me is spelling. Gaol/jail, -our/-or, -ise/-ize endings, that sort of thing.

Thank Mr Webster for that.

Oh, and dates! Americans write the date backwards, and it does my head in!

With a new PC and some apps I will often need to change the spelling to Australian English and the dd/mm/yyyy date format instead of the very strange mm/dd/yyyy.

OB