Verbal Oddities

Many things are just a little different here, and some of them are verbal.

First, there are what I call "Britishisms".  It's not just the spelling of words like metre and colour, but words that strike my American ear strangely.  Like "revision", which is used as I use "review".  When I first heard, "I am doing revisions with my class today", I thought, "Huh?  What are you changing?"     Another one is "invigilate", which is used as I would use "proctor"--to supervise students taking a test.

And, of course, there is the often-used phrase "doing our level best", which is at least understandable.  As a math teacher, I even like it better than the American claim of giving 110% of one's effort.    

Then there are words that give me pause because they are not used with the same implication as at home.  The usage of "somehow" and "somewhere" are the biggest offenders.  As in, "I live down there, somewhere."  The speaker does know where he lives, but doesn't feel like being specific.  Or, "Somehow, I am a student teacher."  The speaker isn't casting doubt on his abilities or making a statement about how he came to be a student teacher.  It just seems to be a meaningless tag word, like some of us use "so".

So,...finally, there are the gasps.  When I am talking with a person, usually a woman, she will often utter short gasps.  It's startling, to say the least, because what I am saying is not frightening or momentous.  It took awhile, but I finally realized that the gasps are just acknowledgement, like we would say "uh-huh".

But all of these expressions are becoming more familiar, so don't be surprised if you hear me utter them, when I return home in 18 months' time.  Of course, I might also be spouting Swahili occasionally too, calling mangoes "maembe" and chicken "kuku".  (Great word for chicken, don't you think?)

Tutaonana!