Quick and dirty language usage poll

[altariel]

[Poll #746102]

Comments

[snowgrouse.livejournal.com]

Who uses "bemused" for "amused"? Can't think of particular examples but I've seen confusion, thought you might know a specific one...

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I've seen it used that way by various authors for some time, mostly in mass-market US paperbacks. I was wondering if there's a meaning shift going on.

[aervir.livejournal.com]

Specifying my 'other' answer:

German native speaker with English as a second language. Predominantly British usage, I think, but probably a random mixture of BE and AE. (It used to be predominantly U.S. English while I was watching only American movies and TV shows in the original, so it apparently varies according to outside influences.)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

As a matter of interest, which spelling form do you favo(u)r?

[aervir.livejournal.com]

British spelling at the moment. It may change again, and it's probably not quite consistent anyway.

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

I couldn't choose either answer for "bemused" because it means "absorbed in thought." Someone who's bemused is off in their own world, thinking. That doesn't sound like amusement or confusion to me.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I had never come across that sense of 'bemused' before - thanks. Wish I'd had an 'other' section in the first bit now.

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

Thornogson is certainly an appropriate person to use in an icon attached to a post about bemusement. :)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

;-) Yes, it had to be him!

[791-43.livejournal.com]

I wanted an option that said "amused and bewildered at once"! Really, I tend to think of "bemused" as "fleetingly amused at nothing in particular in a confused sort of way".

*is difficult*

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I'm slightly regretting not putting an 'other' option in that first bit now, although I did really want to find out what meaning it primarily carried for people.

[rcfinch.livejournal.com]

I suppose Amused could be Bmused if A=B, but then, languages usually aren't that exact. (And this non-native speaker was under the impression that bemused meant puzzled.)

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

"Bewlidered" isn't quite it, I don't think, but it's much closer to the meaning than "amused," which is just a misuse of the word.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

This native speaker too. I've seen it used a few times over the years in a way which couldn't mean 'puzzled' but seemed to mean 'amused' (mostly in US mass-market paperbacks), and I wondered if there was a meaning shift going on.

[steverogerson.livejournal.com]

What is British English?

My flavour is English.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

British English is a distinction which comes in useful when trying to track a meaning change between American and British usage.

[steverogerson.livejournal.com]

I consider it a Microsoft invention that should be deliberately ignored. There is English and there is American English.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Poor Noah Webster.

[steverogerson.livejournal.com]

I never said Microsoft invented American English. They iinvented the idea of UK English, which is what I object to.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

It honestly doesn't bother me who invented it. It's still a useful distinction when trying to track a meaning change between American and British usage, which is what I was doing.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Although for its primary meaning is bewilderment or puzzlement, I think you're right that it carries that sense of of affection or amusement with it.

[kerravonsen]

My flavour of English is Australian. 8-)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :-)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Gotcha! :-)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

NZ English.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thanks! (And gorgeous icon!)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I drew it in the GIMP. :-)

[mikekellner.livejournal.com]

Clearly, I chiefly use American English, given where I was born and continue to live. Brit English is OK, but they do seem get a lot of things wrong, which is OK; they are foreigners and I don't expect them to speak our language perfectly.

mk

[altariel.livejournal.com]

With your assistance, we soldier on ;-)

[avon7.livejournal.com]

I said bewildered - bemused meaning amused isn't a meaning I've come across. I also answered other for variety of English because I'm an Australian. On the other hand my version of Australian is more British than most people's because (a) I spent my childhood living in a world of English books and (b) I spent ten years or so of my adulthood engrossed in The Bill. Fellow Aussies have been known to ask me how long I've been here. ;-)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Fellow Aussies have been known to ask me how long I've been here. ;-)

LOL, that's great!

[trixieleitz]

My written English is predominantly British with a smidge of New Zealand. My spoken English is more New Zealand (especially now) with influences from British and American popular culture.

[muninnhuginn]

My chief spoken English is Northern RP (which I think means flat vowels plus actual sentences).

Academically, all those years back, it was Early Middle English.

Workwise, it falls straight into the mid-Atlantic trench (and ought to be left there undisturbed).


[It was good bumping into you on Saturday, btw.]

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Academically, all those years back, it was Early Middle English.

*vbg* I like that answer!

And it lovely to see you on Saturday and to talk to you at length.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I definitely still use 'tyre' and 'kerb' (tho' I don't know what spelling is taught these days).