Have You Ever Been Left Home Alone or Anywhere Else?

jimintoronto said:
Yeah all those people who came here to Canada from China, South America and Africa say that all the time. Not. It is a phrase that is unknown to people who grew up speaking a language other than English. JImB.
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I was born in London, left when I was 17, I'm now 80...I don't say fortnight, and I can't recall if I ever did.
 

Nemo2 said:
I was born in London, left when I was 17, I'm now 80...I don't say fortnight, and I can't recall if I ever did.
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Nemo 2. My first Wife was from Yorkshire ( Barnsley ) and it took me about 2 years to learn all of her speech oddities. Thick as 2 short planks, or going 14 to the dozen, were just 2 of her favorite sayings. As Churchill once said..The British and the American people are similar people, divided by a common language. JimB.
 

hollydolly said:
You must be the only Brit who never has
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I've been told "they broke the mold..." ;)

Oh, I meant to ask you......I know the term United Kingdom has existed for eons, but up until I left as a teen all I ever heard people say was "England".........now, on the rare occasions I'm in proximity to a group of Brits, (on ships generally), it's "UK this, UK that".......when did it start?
 
Nemo2 said:
I've been told "they broke the mold..." ;)

Oh, I meant to ask you......I know the term United Kingdom has existed for eons, but up until I left as a teen all I ever heard people say was "England".........now, on the rare occasions I'm in proximity to a group of Brits, (on ships generally), it's "UK this, UK that".......when did it start?
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I've been wondering that, too.. or, more to the point, what word/term do people prefer???
 
Nemo2 said:
I've been told "they broke the mold..." ;)

Oh, I meant to ask you......I know the term United Kingdom has existed for eons, but up until I left as a teen all I ever heard people say was "England".........now, on the rare occasions I'm in proximity to a group of Brits, (on ships generally), it's "UK this, UK that".......when did it start?
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well England is not the UK... which is Scotland , England Wales and Northern Ireland...

Saying England when they mean UK is like saying British Columbia when you mean the whole of Canada or Texas when you mean the whole of the USA..and even more so for the UK because England, Wales , NI and Scotland are seprate countries, not just separate states
 
JaniceM said:
I've been wondering that, too.. or, more to the point, what word/term do people prefer???
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Saying the UK is like saying ''the US''... it's just a term meaning the whole of the 4 sovereign countries.. which are presided over by one governemnt. if you're referring to an Englishman, you would say England.. but generically it's the UK..
 
jimintoronto said:
Nemo 2. My first Wife was from Yorkshire ( Barnsley ) and it took me about 2 years to learn all of her speech oddities. Thick as 2 short planks, or going 14 to the dozen, were just 2 of her favorite sayings. As Churchill once said..The British and the American people are similar people, divided by a common language. JimB.
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I honestly can't recall using many/most/any of those expressions .........I did when I came to Canada from Oz in 1965, and for a couple years hung around primarily with Ockers, Yarpies, Kiwis, and the like, use some Australian terms but hardly ever nowadays....(they'd be dated anyway).

I do still however use shway (with appropriate hand gestures) for 'slow down', that I picked up in Saudi and have observed used in Israel and elsewhere.....and other M.E. terms.
 
hollydolly said:
but you said you never used the word Fortnight... I think maybe your memory isn't the greatest... the United Kingdom has been in use since 1801
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As I noted in post #29: I know the term United Kingdom has existed for eons
hollydolly said:
well you lived in England and you were just a child, so your memories will be from then
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Ah, the penny has dropped, (that term I remember), - I was 17 when I escaped, and I hadn't heard it......vox populi and all that.
 
hollydolly said:
How ?..do tell !!
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I guess I was about 10; parents divorced when I was 8; we kids lived with our dad (I for one would much rather have lived with Mom but that wasn't in the cards, long story). One summer, Mom sent me a plane ticket to visit her for about a week; I got off the plane and she wasn't waiting for me; I waited in the airport for a couple of hours, I think; finally, I called her from a pay phone--wonder of wonders, I had enough change to do so, usually I didn't--she says she thought I was supposed to arrive the next day; jumped in the car and came & got me begging me the whole time to not tell anybody else so she wouldn't have to listen to the same old what a terrible mother she was. So I haven't told anybody 'till now and I'm just now thinking that I don't remember her apologizing to me for me having to sit there by myself worried and wondering if something had happened to her (car wreck on the way to pick me up, etc.); she just was begging me not to tell anyone else, sigh.
 
I'm not alone right now. I have the cats.

I wasn't that young, 13. But I went to San Francisco with my mother and stepfather. And in typical borderline style my mother flipped and got extremely angry with me. Over a simple nothing comment I made.

We walked back to the car all the while I'm feeling doomed. Again. The car was in a large, multi level parking garage. They left me there. I remember wanting to just leave but where would I go. Was this really safe? I don't think so. San Francisco 1973. There was a lot of murders and such happening in the Bay Area and Santa Cruz at that time.
 
hollydolly said:
wow..only 10 and you flew alone... and to rub salt into the wound your mother forgot about you... :(
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Remy said:
@officerripley I'm really sorry about that scary event. It's not lost on me that your mother made herself the priority in the scenario instead of you, the child.
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Thanks gals. I guess she didn't exactly forget, I think it's more like it wasn't important enough to remember the right date which still bothers me. But compared to my dad, she was parent of the year, sigh.
 

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