Brits take a crack at US geography

[J.A.W.]

regardless of the dialect versus language distinction, is it possible for two nederlanders to not understand each other due to not speaking a shared language or are the differences more subtle?

The only thing I have problems with is information that is not quite correct (see my post #76), no matter who posted it.

Edited December 5, 2013 by J.A.W.

[Head Man]

But the larger question is are any Brits taking crack other than Nigella Lawson?

...sniff....

[J.A.W.]

But the larger question is are any Brits taking crack other than Nigella Lawson?

...sniff....

[etherbored]

i showed a provincial map of the netherlands to a co-worker yesterday and she looked at me with a blank expression and said "what am i looking at?"....

[Jazzjet]

But the larger question is are any Brits taking crack other than Nigella Lawson?

Nigella's recipe books are a bit short. Just a few lines on each page.

[page]

is it possible for two nederlanders to not understand each other

Yes, that is possible. I don't know whether it is due to not speaking a shared language or dialect though, but who knows? I still believe what I said was correct, even when something might be official, it needn't be looked at that way in the general opinion. I didn't even stated that it was that. I just said "not every one..." and that was just what it was.

This said however, I am really sorry if I did offend someone with my comment since I didn't mean it in any negative way; but if it was felt as such I do want to apologize for that. Friesland is a beautiful part of the Netherlands. My family has lived there for some time too, so I know some.

[J.A.W.]

is it possible for two nederlanders to not understand each other

Yes, that is possible. I don't know whether it is due to not speaking a shared language or dialect though, but who knows? I still believe what I said was correct, even when something might be official, it needn't be looked at that way in the general opinion. I didn't even stated that it was that. I just said "not every one..." and that was just what it was.

This said however, I am really sorry if I did offend someone with my comment since I didn't mean it in any negative way; but if it was felt as such I do want to apologize for that. Friesland is a beautiful part of the Netherlands. My family has lived there for some time too, so I know some.

Well, Frisian is a language because it has a grammar and a syntax, not because I say so. But what I was referring to was your post about the Netherlands having been a kingdom for 200 years this year, which is not quite correct - see my post #76 earlier in this thread. I find it annoying when people post incorrect information; the internet is full of it. My post wasn't aimed at you personally.

[jeffcrom]

Okay, let's get back to something important. Each U.S. state is divided into counties (expect Louisiana, which is divided into parishes). I expect every European member of this board to name all 159 counties in Georgia. To help you get started, the county in red is DeKalb County, where I live.

Seriously, the fact that Georgia has 159 counties is kind of ridiculous. We rank 21st in terms of size in the U.S., but we have the second highest number of counties, after Texas. I've heard heard various explanations for this, from the idea that a trip to each county seat and back home again was to be possible in one day by horse-drawn wagon from anywhere in the county, to simple political corruption - state legislators were bribed to form more counties so more local hacks could run things.

We have a Cherokee County, named after the people we drove off the land, a Jeff Davis County, named after the president of the Confederacy (who tried to escape arrest by Union forces by wearing a dress and bonnet), a Lincoln County (which seems strange given that we have a Jeff Davis County), and a Taliaferro County, which is pronounced "Tolliver." The town of Decatur is not in Decatur County, and Forsyth is not in Forsyth County. During the Great Depression, Fulton County, which contains most of the city Atlanta, annexed Campbell County to the south and Milton County to the north to save them from bankruptcy. Now the northern part of Fulton County is a wealthy, conservative area whose residents resent their tax money going to help the economically challenged residents of south Fulton County, so they are campaigning to secede from Fulton and reform Milton County. In Georgia, memory is long, but when convenient, memory is short.

And all the Europeans are off the hook - I can't name all 159 Georgia counties, and I doubt that more than a handful of Georgians would be able to do so. While looking at the list of our counties, I even saw one I was totally unaware of until tonight - Schley County.