Help with English variants wanted! And info on jeeps.

[indri]

nwhepcat is kindly betaing my fic at the moment and what's become apparent is that I sometimes muddle my slanguages. Scots, English, Strine and American---I keep getting them confused.

So I wonder if anyone has any suggestions for the following:

(i) hoon noun 1. a fast, reckless driver of a car, boat, etc. 2. a speedy drive; a fang: going out for a hoon tonight. 3. a hooligan; a lout. This is Aussie slang but I need Brit or US. I'll just use some dull synonym unless someone knows of a word connoting reckless speed.

(ii) bodeganwhepcat tells me this is the term I need but I'm not comfortable with it as it's not a standard part of my vocabulary. Is the term "convenience store" sufficiently dialect-neutral? I think "corner shop" is largely British and "deli" and "milk bar" are Australian.

(iii) bogie A railroad car or locomotive undercarriage. I can't use this with a straight face, as "bogie" is Scots (and English?) slang for congealed snot. I'd prefer something less polysyllabic than "railroad car" or "locomotive undercarriage" though. Will everyone understand me if I write "rail-car"?

(iv) Frosties It's "Frosties" in one country and "Frosted Flakes" in another. Does it matter which I go for? This is Spike POV, so I figure either UK or US brandnames would be OK.

And also---

(v) jeeps Are these manual or automatic transmission vehicles?

Thanks, all. I may have more slightly daft questions tomorrow.

UPDATE 9:30pm Just got back from dinner with the SO (mm, congee), who kindly explained to me all manner of things about jeeps and gears. I am OK now for jeep knowledge.

Comments

[superplin.livejournal.com]

A few comments from a (mostly) American perspective:

(ii) bodega nwhepcat tells me this is the term I need but I'm not comfortable with it as it's not a standard part of my vocabulary. Is the term "convenience store" sufficiently dialect-neutral?

I would go with convenience store, myself. I think bodega is kind of regional, since I have a very hard time imagining it being a commonly used term in, say, the Midwest. (Of course, it may be regionally appropriate to your story, too, so that's worth considering.) I think convenience store is the most neutral.

(iv) Frosties It's "Frosties" in one country and "Frosted Flakes" in another. Does it matter which I go for? This is Spike POV, so I figure either UK or US brandnames would be OK.

Well, if I read "Frosties" I'd have no idea that it referred to Frosted Flakes, unless context made it perfectly clear. I normally think of a "Frosty" as a shake, or if Spike said it I might think he was talking about beer. I rarely associate cold cereal with Spike. ;)

Having never driven a Jeep, and having no idea what to suggest as a synonym for "hoon", that's all I can offer at the moment.

[indri]

"Bodega" is regionally appropriate to my story but I don't want to use the word because I only just learnt what one is.

"Frosties" as beers, yes that makes sense.

I rarely associate cold cereal with Spike.

Whereas my website is called "Blood and Weetabix".

Mmm, Weetabix. Time for my breakfast, I think.

[caille.livejournal.com]

I'm with 'plin on "convenience store". I'd also know what you mean if you said "corner store" or (heh) "the local Stop 'n' Rob". Now and then you'll hear a reference to a "mom and pop" store, typically in this context:

"I'll run down to the store to get some."
"What store? The Safeway's across town!"
"No, no. That little convenience store on the corner. That mom-and-pop market."

As far as "bogie" - I'd be inclined to say box-car, although that implies a transport car with sliding doors, rather than a passenger car. If you are talking about someone trying to get to a specific location on a passenger train, "rail-car" or "coach" might work. If your person was hunkered down in the train tracks trying not to get decapitated, I'd want him to wait until the "box-cars" stopped rumbling overhead.

"Frosties" - in context, I'd get it. If Spike were asking Dawn for some "Frosties", she'd probably say, "Huh?" and he'd have to explain. She'd get it in a second.

Hmm. You asked slightly daft questions. I've given you incredibly daft answers. Honest, I only want to help.

[indri]

It's definitely a goods train, not a passenger train. Apparently there are no passenger rail services at all in Uganda.

"Box-car" will work for some of it---thank you!

OK, no Frosties.

See, I was lost

[tesla321.livejournal.com]

I thought you needed a synonym for "booger".


And Americans have a great capacity for blandly ignoring
trademarks. All sodas are "Cokes", all tissues "Kleenex"
copiers "Xerox", and convenience stores tend to be "7-11".
Nowadays most self-serve gas stations have an all night
convenience store attached.

What *Spike* would call something---hm.

Re: See, I was lost

[caille.livejournal.com]

Hee! The great soda debate...it's so regional. "Coke" in the south, "pop" in the mid-west, "soda" in the west. I'm not sure what it is in the east. Plus nobody can stay put, so you have pops meeting and marrying sodas. Luckily the offspring drink Red Bull.

Re: See, I was lost

[indri]

I grew up saying "fizzy drink" but in South Australia it's usually "soft drink".

I wonder what forces select which words will have so many variants.

Re: See, I was lost

[indri]

I was using 7-11 as a synonym for convenience store in my story, but this turns out to not to fit the period.

It's a minefield!