ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: homemade

New2grammar — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:47:44 GMT

Thanks, Avangi and GG. Your descriptions are much better than the dictionary's.

Re: homemade

Grammar Geek — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:34:45 GMT

People from the Southern part of the US will refer to Yankees sometimes, usually in jest, over cultural differences or lack of knowledge of Southern ways. For example, New Orleans is really, really hot and humid. My cousin, a Southerner all his life, would laugh about how the Yankee tourists would come down and not understand how to move slowly and pace themselves and get exhausted in the heat.

Referring to New England, Yankes have a reputations for some things - being very frugal, both with money and words. They don't talk to strangers much, but will gladly offer help if needed. In true Yankee fashion, I never met my next door neighbor, despite living there for five years. (On the other hand, if you were to skid off the road on the ice, six people would appear with tow ropes in a matter of minutes.)

How did we get onto this conversation? Do we need to slip the thread into this new topic?

Re: homemade

Avangi — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:30:06 GMT

What's wrong with the one about my grandfather? People often say that one of America's strengths lies in the ingenuity of ordinary people. "Yankee ingenuity" is a common expression.

Re: homemade

New2grammar — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:12:45 GMT

Avangi, Could you give me an example of a daily conversation in which yankee will be used ?
Thanks

Re: homemade

Avangi — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:01:33 GMT

Never thought of it that way. In my opinion, the yankee pride from world war II pretty much washed out the regional differences on this side of the pond. I know I'm contradicting myself. There were some pretty strong north-south feelings during the "civil rights movement." I guess it depends on the nature of the conversation.

Re: homemade

New2grammar — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:52:12 GMT

Thanks, Avangi. I see no reason for it to be amusing. Have you ever heard or said it for amusement purposes?

Re: homemade

Avangi — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:48:40 GMT

Hi, New2, re "Yankee"
I don't really know much about it. As your reference suggests, it's meant different things at different times. Also from different perspectives. I think if you're in Europe it applies to all Americans; if you're in the US it applies to New Englanders. You also hear the expression "Connecticut Yankee," which perhaps Amy could explain.

Of course some people still have a Civil War mentality ('War Between the States) in which southerners think of northerners as yankees and northerners think of southerners as rebels.

Personally, I've never associated it with any emotion other than pride.

- A.

Re: homemade

New2grammar — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:56:36 GMT

Off topic: Avangi, well, I guess anybody can asnwer this question, I always wonder why Americans say yankees. Sometimes, they find it amusing. Why so?

Here's some history I found
The origin of Yankee has been the subject of much debate, but the most likely source is the Dutch name Janke, meaning "little Jan" or "little John," a nickname that dates back to the 1680s. Perhaps because it was used as the name of pirates, the name Yankee came to be used as a term of contempt. It was used this way in the 1750s by General James Wolfe, the British general who secured British domination of North America by defeating the French at Quebec. The name may have been applied to New Englanders as an extension of an original use referring to Dutch settlers living along the Hudson River. Whatever the reason, Yankee is first recorded in 1765 as a name for an inhabitant of New England. The first recorded use of the term by the British to refer to Americans in general appears in the 1780s, in a letter by Lord Horatio Nelson, no less. Around the same time it began to be abbreviated to Yank. During the American Revolution, American soldiers adopted this term of derision as a term of national pride. The derisive use nonetheless remained alive and even intensified in the South during the Civil War, when it referred not to all Americans but to those loyal to the Union. Now the term carries less emotionexcept of course for baseball fans.

Re: homemade

New2grammar — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:46:26 GMT

Thank you, everyone. I see the difference now.

GG, I have two questions. Is frosting the same as icing? I believe they are uncountable.

Grammar Geek
(Unless it was from the European bakery in Yarmouth, Maine, where they had seven-layer cake with raspberry filling and a mocha frosting. Now THAT was fine eats!)

What is the meaning of 'eatS'?

Re: homemade

Avangi — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:45:44 GMT

Grammar Geek
I remember hearing a girl say she liked her mother's cookies because they were so much better than the "boughten" ones.

Hi GG. My mom told me that when bakery-made sliced bread first came on line everyone considered it a rare treat, but not long afterward the home-baked bread, hand-sliced, was the treat.

Re: homemade

Grammar Geek — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:35:56 GMT

Very generallly, the opposite of handmade would be machine-made or mass-produced, and the opposite of home-made would be store-bought.

My mother always made my birthday cakes; I liked them so much better than the cakes that some of my friends had that were store-bought.

(Unless it was from the European bakery in Yarmouth, Maine, where they had seven-layer cake with raspberry filling and a mocha frosting. Now THAT was fine eats!)

I remember hearing a girl say she liked her mother's cookies because they were so much better than the "boughten" ones.

Re: homemade

Avangi — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:16:26 GMT

New2grammar
I feel that some things tend to be associated with one of the terms more than the other.

This would be true for a given culture at a given point in time. If you were to make a list of products, artifacts, tools etc. which are currently popular among a certain group, you could go down the list and choose whether "handmade" or "homemade" might better apply, if either.

My grandfather used to fashion homemade farm tractors from abandoned street vehicles, and fit them with handmade/homemade snowplows, saw rigs, dump bodies, etc. for his personal use. He was a true exponent of yankee ingeniuity. This sort of activity was not uncommon for that time and place.

Perhaps I misunderstood the question. - A.

Re: homemade

optilang — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:15:12 GMT

New2grammar
Optilang, What are the opposites for the two terms?

Mass-produced.

Re: homemade

Feebs11 — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:08:41 GMT

Something that is handmade is not necessarily homemade. Furniture may be handmade in a factory; fine ceramics may be handmade in a pottery. But things that are homemade will also be most likely handmade. Something crafted in wood could be homemade.

I feel that this is another case where the context of use will govern its meaning.

Re: homemade

New2grammar — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:39:58 GMT

I feel that some things tend to be associated with one of the terms more than the other.

You would say a wood craft as handmade and not homemade, wouldn't you?