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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Hello dear Brit wordsmiths: Last night I watched three episodes of a British comedy called "As Time Goes By." (It was a special presentation while the Maine PBS was raising money.) In the second show, the phrase "chuntering" was used by main male character Lionel (Geoffrey Palmer). The female lead Jean (Judi Dench) said, in effect, that he was going on and on about something and he responded "I am not chuntering on..." I thought I caught the meaning by context but I wonder. The episode had to do with the day after Lionel proposed to Jean for those who know the show. The OE says chunter means to "mutter, grumble, murmur querulousy" but that's not what he was doing exactly. Please enlighten me. While I am chuntering on, in the third episode about a wedding anniversary, the words tent and marquee were used interchangeably. Americans use tent for the big, free-standing rooms put up outdoors to shelter an area for a party or a circus! (Sometimes the same thing, n'est ce pas?)  What we call a marquee is the overhead awning extending from a doorway to the curb or driveway. A marquee can be canvas or any type of material that shelters. What's with that? And ... what the h--- is/are cream (creme) tarts? wow
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Well, I'm only a Brit at two generations removed, but here goes:
In New Zealand, "tent" and "marquee" are interchangeable. However, a marquee can also be, as you suggest, a large awning. In fact, I've also seen marquee used to describe an extremely permanent type of shop verandah over the front door of a picture (movie) theatre.
Cream tart is a kind of cake topped with whipped cream. Usually, I think, a sponge cake, but I may be wrong.
"Chuntering" or "chundering" (as I've heard it pronounced) means going on endlessly about something extremely trivial or boring in usage here in Godzone. I haven't heard it for years, though. To "chunder" also means to vomit, so it's probably a misuse of the word in relation to "chunter", although since "chunter" could also be referred to as "verbal diarrhoea", maybe there is a relationship after all?
For what it's worth ...
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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the OED has chunter (chunner, chounter, chunder) as: To mutter, murmur; to grumble, find fault, complain. Also in extended use. 1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. II. 117 Th' capt'n went away chunterin'. 1921 D. H. Lawrence Sea & Sardinia iv. 135 A thin old woman+was chuntering her head off because it was her seat. 1949 C. Fry Lady's not for Burning 27 You+fog-blathering, Chin-chuntering, liturgical,+base old man! 1955 D. Barton Glorious Life i. 19 Paul's telephone rang.+ There was long chuntering on the wire. 1957 ‘N. Shute’ On Beach i. 2 The baby stirred, and started chuntering and making little whimpering noises. 1965 Spectator 5 Mar. 295/3 An old man+chunters a bit of folk tune which the solo horn dreamily perpetuates. 1968 Autocar 25 Jan. 27/2 The Herald ‘chunters’ straight across the road in front of us. ...so I guess it's used for most any sort of going on and on. [M-W doesn't do chunter justice at all, having it simply as synonymous with mutter] p.s. - Max, this one will show up in wwftd real soon.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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...so I guess it's used for most any sort of going on and on
Sounds about right, the Scottish version is "blether"
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Pooh-Bah
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>In New Zealand, "tent" and "marquee" are interchangeable. However, a marquee can also be, as you suggest, a large awning. In fact, I've also seen marquee used to describe an extremely permanent type of shop verandah over the front door of a picture (movie) theatre
Here, a tent tends to be the kind of thing one goes camping in, so the Wedding companies like to hire Marquees to make it sound grander, also in use at summer sporting events, in the years when we have summers. Marquees can be very grand but the main difference between the USA & UK (not sure about NZ?) is that weddings, until recently, have only been able to take place in a church or in a Registery Office, so the concept of getting married in one's parents' house has seemed rather strange until now. I always think a wedding reception in a marquee is a bit of a special event as only fairly rich families can a) afford them or b) have gardens big enough to cope. I'm not sure that they'd be too pleased if their expensive marquee was called a "tent". "Four Weddings and a Funeral" gives a fair range of "better off" weddings.
I'd tend to call the kind of thing that is attatched to the side of the house (or often, caravan) an awning. I think the ones on the side of shops are also called awnings but I'm sure that someone is trying to make more up-market ones called Marquees.
By the way I think up-market isn't used as a term in the USA - I saw someone use up-scale which may mean the same thing.
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Pooh-Bah
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I'm going to be staying at the Marriott Marquis on Broadway soon. I mentioned it to my friend from DC who was staying. "You can't stay there," she said, "until you learn to pronounce it properly!"
Any idea as to what I'm doing wrong?
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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>And ... what the h--- is/are cream (creme) tarts?
Cream cakes is a generic term for anything that you get from a cake shop with cream in it. If it were made of sponge it would be a cream sponge. Tarts tend to be made with a pastry case. Individual strawberry or fruit tarts are popular and they would have a dollop of cream on top. I think that people would be more likely to refer to the kind of fruit, rather than the cream.
I rather suspect that the episode was written by a man! (ouch, waiting to be told I'm sexist)
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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In reply to:
I'm going to be staying at the Marriott Marquis on Broadway soon. I mentioned it to my friend from DC who was staying. "You can't stay there," she said, "until you learn to pronounce it properly!"
Any idea as to what I'm doing wrong?
it's hard to tell when you chunter like that.
does she want you to say 'mar key'? [as opposed to ma[r] kwis]
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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I just have to think de Sade rather than Queensbury.
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