English question

[druffine]

My colleague has a calender in his room and everyday there is a new thing to learn about English as a language on.

Today's hint is:

Kaspar was really worried about the joint his elderly neighbour had invited him to on Sunday. Might he have misunderstood something?

The calender explains that: no, that old Lady does not want to smoke some pot with him but she's going to make him a nice piece of meat to eat.

Question is, does anybody talk like that? Do you invite someone over to a joint in a non-drug-y way?

Thanks for the help.

Comments

[ficbitca-bear.livejournal.com]

What makes this sentence even more confusing is that I'd initially read being invited to a joint as being invited to somewhere kind of seedy and disreputable. Which has nothing to do with pot or meat.

[druffine.livejournal.com]

Hm... now that you mention that I see it, too.

They try to make you less confused by confusing you more. Great!

[rivana.livejournal.com]

Sure, nothing strange about it. It's a slang term for a place to hang basically. Like a bar, or a diner etc. But can also be in reference to someone's home if it's a discussion between a second and third party. The expression's a bit of an oldie really.

Oh, and "let's blow this joint" for example is a term of phrase that means let's get out of here (leave this place).

[druffine.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's just interessting that they meant something completely different from a place to hang out. I like the "let's blow this joint" expression. Sounds so "boooom" LOL

Something Dean would say?

[rivana.livejournal.com]

:-) Pretty much, though he'd probably say something like -let's blow this popsicle stand- instead.

[druffine.livejournal.com]

LOL.

I guess I'm laughing my ass off on phrasings in fic which for native speakes are pretty normal... I have lots of fun reading fic.

Popsicle stand! *LOL*

[menomegirl.livejournal.com]

That sentence is confusing. I've heard the phrases beer joint and juke joint but I've never heard a gathering like the sentence suggests referred to as any kind of joint.

I suppose you could call a piece of meat a 'joint' but....I've never heard it used that way in connection with a barbecue.

[druffine.livejournal.com]

Hm, they really messed up the phrasing. I mean, I don't say: Hm, I'm really worried about the pizza my mom invited me to on Sunday. That sounds weird - independent from the content actually. LOL.

[fanbot.livejournal.com]

Clearly English and not American. :) We will never have a cuppa tea, either. Unless, of course, we're Spike fans. :)

[druffine.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they teach us "English" English here at school and everywhere. Something about the queen speaking the clearest English on earth??? *shrugs*

Anyway, I find it very hard to differ the English and the American apart from the obvious "cuppa" because I haven't heard them spoken live yet (apart from TV Series). Guess I need a native speaker to point out the differences anyway. I tend to attach the way a person speaks to the person's character and not to the country they come from. I'm like: "Hey she speaks like Spike!" I'm not like: "Oh she must be English." *makessense?*

[piratepurple.livejournal.com]

My grandmother may have referred to a piece of meat as a joint, but she was 80 when I was born. It's no longer in use in that sense.

[druffine.livejournal.com]

Why don't they put hints like that to dictionaries? I mean they tell you that something is slang or tech. or coll. but they don't say it's a term not used anymore. *pout*

[tabaqui]

No. Nobody actually talks like that. Heh. What a weird sentence. And 'joint' as a piece of meat is fairly old-fashioned, as well. What his elderly neighbor might actually have said would be 'Please come over for Sunday dinner, we're having my special home-made pot roast!' or 'Why don't you join us for supper on Sunday, Kaspar? We're going to barbeque.'

:)

[druffine.livejournal.com]

*laughs*
Your comments always make me laugh. Really loud. I'm glad we met, wouldn't want to miss you.´*hugs*

[tabaqui]

Well hey, at least i'm good for somethin'!
:)

[cleeaz.livejournal.com]

No one I know uses that term, to me a joint is more of a construction term - joint is still used for pot references though. It is only in cook books that I've seen joint used in terms of meat.

Cindy Lee (who loves the absolute craziness of the English language).

[druffine.livejournal.com]

Hah! I see... I had some dark memory about the phrasing... "popping his joints" or something. Isn't it used to describe all kinds of joined ends like hinges?

Oh it's a wonderful word for bad!fic: To Spike Xander looked like a tasty joint. *urgh*

I love the English language, too, the craziness comes extra. LOL.

[pixel-0.livejournal.com]

I was going to talk about the joint thing, but I think the rest of your flist already has you covered. :)

Other than that, um *shuffles feet awkwardly* remember that fic you asked about from Jess' POV? Yeah, it's finished. You pretty much prompted it, so I thought you might be curious as to what came out of that. :)

[druffine.livejournal.com]

*runs off to read*
*is stopped by boss ordering to work*
*cusses*
*sends ficlink home*
*waits for the time at work to end*
*waits...*
*waits...*
*only 4 hours left*
*waits...*