Although I am teaching American history this year, I’m not some crazy, gung-ho American who thinks everything we do in America is the best and only way to do it. I am also an English teacher, and I have to admit that I was quite smitten with the way some of the Europeans use the language. Not only was it seemingly more proper, but it was just cute. Here are a few examples.
"NO FOULING" : This is my absolute favorite. See the steam rising up? By the way, this was taken in Ireland and that other language is Gaelic.
This evidently means you can only set your stuff down, or unload here. It is not for parking. Again, lovely usage and the correct use of the word “set” which means “to place”.
It just rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? Instead of an awful, demanding, “Watch the step!”, we get, “Mind the step”, and it even has a “please” in it. Music to my ears.
And, “to let” means “for lease”. One of the Oasis members who will remain unnamed said, “I just want to put an ‘i” there in between the two words.
And, when two parties have agreed on a price, it is “sale agreed” instead of a boring old “sold”. Maybe we should be a little more formal in our speech after all. Cheers!