I know the napkin/serviette thing is one of those 'class' things in Britain. If you're 'posh' you say 'napkin' if not you say serviette.
I think that in America napkin means nappy as in baby - I think. So... Maybe they do use serviette.
And I always thought Americans used couch rather than sofa or settee, but... Maybe this was meant to be a jokey thing, Ray showing that he does know something about culture.
I shall be interested to hear what our American friends have to say.
I know the napkin/serviette thing is one of those 'class' things in Britain. If you're 'posh' you say 'napkin' if not you say serviette.
Yep we always said serviette ;-)
I think that in America napkin means nappy as in baby - I think. So... Maybe they do use serviette.
Like another word for diaper?
And I always thought Americans used couch rather than sofa or settee, but... Maybe this was meant to be a jokey thing, Ray showing that he does know something about culture.
It could be. It would make more sense if that was the case.
I shall be interested to hear what our American friends have to say.
I think that in America napkin means nappy as in baby - I think. So... Maybe they do use serviette.
No, the nappy thing strikes me as being very British. That use of the term "napkin" would confuse people down here.
Most Americans wouldn't know what serviette means. So aingeal8c was right that it was a mighty strange word for Ray to be using. I always figured that he'd picked up some Canadianisms from Fraser. Or, since the Chesterfield thing doesn't quite square with that, that he's a little more...cultured, civilized, erudite, choose a word, than he appears at first glance.
That use of the term "napkin" would confuse people down here.
Hmm. That's interesting. I have definitely heard 'napkin' used by Americans in a way not related to the thing you put on your lap when eating. I shall dig through my memory some more.
Even though Fraser doesn't use these actual words, Ray may think he would. I've never heard anyone (American) say "serviette" (napkin common in the U.S.) or "Chesterfield" (couch or sofa here), and I wasn't sure what a Chesterfield was when I first heard Ray use the term in The Pilot.
I had no idea either. I wasn't sure what the line was exactly until i looked it up on the transcript.
I would certainly think that Ray was saying those words as a reference to Fraser. I looked at the context of the line agian and I think Ray is making some reference to the way Fraser stops his 'interogation' of Mrs Drake. Simply saying thank you isn't the way Ray is used to doing things. Of course after Ray says the line and walks out ready to go Fraser goes into the line about Drake being there earlier in the day.
I assumed that Ray was being sarcastic. As an American, he could have picked up these words on PBS or something similar (which is where I started to grow my own British vocab list - until the discovery of the Internet, that is *g*).
I still remember the first time I heard the word 'Chesterfield'. My first thought was that it was a chest that held china or something similar. I know better now, but I was confused at first as to why people would want to sit on it.
I assumed that Ray was being sarcastic. As an American, he could have picked up these words on PBS or something similar (which is where I started to grow my own British vocab list - until the discovery of the Internet, that is *g*).
That sounds right. I've picked up all the American owrds form books and TV.
I still remember the first time I heard the word 'Chesterfield'. My first thought was that it was a chest that held china or something similar. I know better now, but I was confused at first as to why people would want to sit on it.
I was confused too becuase the only Chesterfield I had heard of is a town not far form where I live. You can't sit on that either ;-)
Actually - both of these things ("serviette", "Chesterfield") are in Ray's dialog solely because the writers of those scripts were Canadian and those were the words they used, without thinking that Americans would say it differently. Ray Vecchio would not know that Canadians say "serviette" as "napkin", and plus he'd only known Fraser what, a day? He wasn't making fun of him; he was written poorly.
I've always wondered why Marciano didn't bother to correct them. Maybe he didn't realize that they weren't just words he didn't know or wouldn't use.
Actually - both of these things ("serviette", "Chesterfield") are in Ray's dialog solely because the writers of those scripts were Canadian and those were the words they used, without thinking that Americans would say it differently.
I did think both words were Canadian in origin.
Maybe he didn't realize that they weren't just words he didn't know or wouldn't use.
He might not have had the influence with the writers, or they were shooting quickly without time to correct it. Maybe.
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I think that in America napkin means nappy as in baby - I think. So... Maybe they do use serviette.
And I always thought Americans used couch rather than sofa or settee, but... Maybe this was meant to be a jokey thing, Ray showing that he does know something about culture.
I shall be interested to hear what our American friends have to say.
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Yep we always said serviette ;-)
I think that in America napkin means nappy as in baby - I think. So... Maybe they do use serviette.
Like another word for diaper?
And I always thought Americans used couch rather than sofa or settee, but... Maybe this was meant to be a jokey thing, Ray showing that he does know something about culture.
It could be. It would make more sense if that was the case.
I shall be interested to hear what our American friends have to say.
Me too.
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No, the nappy thing strikes me as being very British. That use of the term "napkin" would confuse people down here.
Most Americans wouldn't know what serviette means. So aingeal8c was right that it was a mighty strange word for Ray to be using. I always figured that he'd picked up some Canadianisms from Fraser. Or, since the Chesterfield thing doesn't quite square with that, that he's a little more...cultured, civilized, erudite, choose a word, than he appears at first glance.
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Hmm. That's interesting. I have definitely heard 'napkin' used by Americans in a way not related to the thing you put on your lap when eating. I shall dig through my memory some more.
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I had no idea either. I wasn't sure what the line was exactly until i looked it up on the transcript.
I would certainly think that Ray was saying those words as a reference to Fraser. I looked at the context of the line agian and I think Ray is making some reference to the way Fraser stops his 'interogation' of Mrs Drake. Simply saying thank you isn't the way Ray is used to doing things. Of course after Ray says the line and walks out ready to go Fraser goes into the line about Drake being there earlier in the day.
I can also see Fraser correcting him.
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I still remember the first time I heard the word 'Chesterfield'. My first thought was that it was a chest that held china or something similar. I know better now, but I was confused at first as to why people would want to sit on it.
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That sounds right. I've picked up all the American owrds form books and TV.
I still remember the first time I heard the word 'Chesterfield'. My first thought was that it was a chest that held china or something similar. I know better now, but I was confused at first as to why people would want to sit on it.
I was confused too becuase the only Chesterfield I had heard of is a town not far form where I live. You can't sit on that either ;-)
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I've always wondered why Marciano didn't bother to correct them. Maybe he didn't realize that they weren't just words he didn't know or wouldn't use.
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I did think both words were Canadian in origin.
Maybe he didn't realize that they weren't just words he didn't know or wouldn't use.
He might not have had the influence with the writers, or they were shooting quickly without time to correct it. Maybe.
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