Linguistic Miscellany Thread

[Raphael]

Except that apparently, vertreten by itself means 'to represent' or 'to substitute'.

Yes, that, too.

So how do you say “misrepresent”?

As in "distort something"? "Falsch darstellen".

As in "be bad at representing someone you're supposed to represent"? I can't really think of anything.

While we’re at it, how do you say “misunderestimate”?

I can't really think of anything. "Underestimate" would be "unterschätzen".

[Travis B.]

America has an idea of American food, but we generally don't know which foods are regional until we move away and can't get them anymore, unless they've been heavily marketed as a regional thing (crabs and Old Bay in Maryland, lobsters in coastal New England...)

As a kid I didn't know that brats were a Wisconsin thing in particular. I thought people ate them anywhere in the US.

[Nortaneous]

America has an idea of American food, but we generally don't know which foods are regional until we move away and can't get them anymore, unless they've been heavily marketed as a regional thing (crabs and Old Bay in Maryland, lobsters in coastal New England...)

As a kid I didn't know that brats were a Wisconsin thing in particular. I thought people ate them anywhere in the US.

I didn't know steak subs were a Mid-Atlantic thing until I left.

On the other hand, I'd never heard of "Maryland-style crab cakes" until then. I'm not sure what makes them "Maryland-style".

[Pabappa]

As for brats, i only know that word because of the jokes... "they just wouldn't behave, eh?" and yes i know the pronunc is different.

[Vijay]

America has an idea of American food

It does? Then what is it?

[Nortaneous]

America has an idea of American food

It does? Then what is it?

Hamburgers, hot dogs, and apple pie. Other things that might come up if you ask: pancakes, waffles, bacon and eggs, French toast, pies in general, sweet corn, cornbread, popcorn, baked beans, biscuits (actually regional, but McDonald's has them everywhere), meatloaf, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, French fries, potato chips, casseroles (stereotypically Midwestern but common outside it), clam chowder, chicken noodle soup, macaroni and cheese, buffalo wings, BLTs, subs, reubens, chocolate chip cookies, cranberries.

But there are some things we don't realize are American. The stereotype for Americans who go to Europe is that they can never find peanut butter. Peanut butter has started to spread to Europe, but I had a hard time finding beef jerky in Germany.

[Vijay]

So breakfast tacos, Americanized Chinese food, and pizza aren't American food? Then what on Earth are they?

[Travis B.]

So breakfast tacos, Americanized Chinese food, and pizza aren't American food? Then what on Earth are they?

Breakfast tacos are definitely American food, while Americanized Chinese food is, well, Americanized Chinese food* and likewise pizza in its American incarnations is Americanized Italian food*.

* These can be considered American food, but they form distinct categories within American food distinct from American food overall.

[Raphael]

In Germany, pizza is traditionally seen as Italian food, although many pizza delivery services explicitly advertise "American style pizza" these days.

[Vijay]

* These can be considered American food, but they form distinct categories within American food distinct from American food overall.

In other words, they're American food, but people don't necessarily think of them as American food.

[Moose-tache]

America has an idea of American food, but we generally don't know which foods are regional until we move away and can't get them anymore, unless they've been heavily marketed as a regional thing (crabs and Old Bay in Maryland, lobsters in coastal New England...)

As a kid I didn't know that brats were a Wisconsin thing in particular. I thought people ate them anywhere in the US.

They're not and they do. Literally nowhere in the United States doesn't enjoy a good brat. As someone who's never even been to Wisconsin, it would never have occurred to me that they would be primarily a Wisco thing.

[linguistcat]

America has an idea of American food, but we generally don't know which foods are regional until we move away and can't get them anymore, unless they've been heavily marketed as a regional thing (crabs and Old Bay in Maryland, lobsters in coastal New England...)

As a kid I didn't know that brats were a Wisconsin thing in particular. I thought people ate them anywhere in the US.

They're not and they do. Literally nowhere in the United States doesn't enjoy a good brat. As someone who's never even been to Wisconsin, it would never have occurred to me that they would be primarily a Wisco thing.

Can concur. I grew up my entire childhood in California, and mostly SoCal, but brats were a big thing for bbqing and anything traditionally summer-ish, or sports related (so baseball games were especially a time to eat them). But also my family would boil them with sauerkraut for winter meals.

[mèþru]

They sell them where I live but there doesn't seem to be a large market for it.

[Raphael]

Americans shorten the word "bratwurst" to what?

[zompist]

But there are some things we don't realize are American. The stereotype for Americans who go to Europe is that they can never find peanut butter. Peanut butter has started to spread to Europe, but I had a hard time finding beef jerky in Germany.

Root beer. Also Dr. Pepper. You can find Americans who don't like them, but to almost all non-Americans they're disgusting.

[Nortaneous]

They're not and they do. Literally nowhere in the United States doesn't enjoy a good brat. As someone who's never even been to Wisconsin, it would never have occurred to me that they would be primarily a Wisco thing.

They exist on the East Coast, but they're not common - you can get them in grocery stores, but not restaurants, hot dog stands, etc.

I went to Michigan once and remember them having a vast array of pickles in the convenience stores. We don't have that either.

But there are some things we don't realize are American. The stereotype for Americans who go to Europe is that they can never find peanut butter. Peanut butter has started to spread to Europe, but I had a hard time finding beef jerky in Germany.

Root beer. Also Dr. Pepper. You can find Americans who don't like them, but to almost all non-Americans they're disgusting.

There's a British guy on Youtube who does videos about "weird stuff in a can", and one of the cans was just A&W.

[Vijay]

Americans shorten the word "bratwurst" to what?

I honestly had no idea what they were talking about until you said that.

[Travis B.]

Americans shorten the word "bratwurst" to what?

We pronounce it /brɑt/ (no, not */bræt/), and we also use the term "bratwurst", which we pronounce /ˈbrɑtˌwɜrst/

[Vijay]

Americans shorten the word "bratwurst" to what?

We pronounce it /brɑt/ (no, not */bræt/)

[Moose-tache]

The /a/ or /A/ phoneme (the "pot" vowel in nearly every North American dialect) is the closest thing to a "Continental A," so it does a lot of heavy lifting in loan words, just as the "cat" vowel does in most British dialects.