Post by Haight on Jan 5, 2018 13:59:47 GMT
Interesting stuff, thanks for the head's up. I did know that Roma != romanian (though in the greater context the aside is 100% understood!), but I perhaps sheepishly did not actually realize that The Roma originate from Romania despite most Romanians not being Roma (which in retrospect makes total sense, but as this thread illustrates, my knowledge of the Roma / Romany Rye can just about fit in a thimble with zero fear of overflowing even if held by a jump roping child!).
What is very interesting to me is that "Traveller" in the US is 50-'s 60's slang for "Communist", and was appropriated for a short spell to mean any style of Socialist. It's not used in common argot very often at all, but if someone said to me "Oh, hey, this is Bob, he's a traveller" - this would be such a bizarre way in this country to describe someone who travels a lot for either work or pleasure that my first instinct would be that someone is trying to give me a cue on the political leanings of Bob.
Which of course, in US history and culture has a storied and steep history all its own stemming from the nineteen teens and twenties, all the way through the eighties.
And all this comparing differences in US and UK cultures, which lets face it, a large portion of US culture has its historical roots partially with the UK (put another way, my friend from Essex likes to say on the 4th of July "Happy Traitors Day you treasonous c***!").
This is the kind of stuff that fascinates me in terms of cultural differences.
What is very interesting to me is that "Traveller" in the US is 50-'s 60's slang for "Communist", and was appropriated for a short spell to mean any style of Socialist. It's not used in common argot very often at all, but if someone said to me "Oh, hey, this is Bob, he's a traveller" - this would be such a bizarre way in this country to describe someone who travels a lot for either work or pleasure that my first instinct would be that someone is trying to give me a cue on the political leanings of Bob.
Which of course, in US history and culture has a storied and steep history all its own stemming from the nineteen teens and twenties, all the way through the eighties.
And all this comparing differences in US and UK cultures, which lets face it, a large portion of US culture has its historical roots partially with the UK (put another way, my friend from Essex likes to say on the 4th of July "Happy Traitors Day you treasonous c***!").
This is the kind of stuff that fascinates me in terms of cultural differences.