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Path: utzoo!watmath!watnot!ccplumb
From: ccplumb@watnot.UUCP (ccplumb)
Newsgroups: sci.lang
Subject: Re: "Presently" ?= "Now"
Message-ID: <12092@watnot.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 17-Oct-86 23:23:34 EDT
Article-I.D.: watnot.12092
Posted: Fri Oct 17 23:23:34 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 21-Oct-86 07:37:14 EDT
References: <3489@utcsri.UUCP> <2579@ihlpg.UUCP>
Reply-To: ccplumb@watnot.UUCP ()
Distribution: net
Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 26
Keywords: colour, flavour, honour, centre, cheque, night, barbecue, etc.
Summary: A report on Us Canadians Up Here

Yes, it is true that Canadian usage tends to follow the American model, but
"presently",  in particular, I've heard used both ways (as "now" and "soon").
The distinction frequently comes through in the usage. When used to mean
"at present" (e.g. "I'm presently patching the kernel to let me setuid root
whenever I want to."), it's used rather like an adverb, but when used to
mean "soon" (e.g. "I'll get it working presently.") it seems to be some 
other part of speech, whosename is unknown to me. (I just _speak_ the
language. I never claimed to _understand_ it!)  The "now" meaning is more
frequently heard, however.

ONE thing the yankees haven't managed to impress on us is their  fanatic
desire to abbreviate the language. I really do wonder how they got banks,
those bastions of continuity, (sight exaggeration confessed) to  offer
"drive-thru check cashing".  And _must_ they purge haf the vowels from
the language?  It's a royal pain to restore "colour", "honour", "arbour",
etc. (see keywords line in header) to a spelling-checker's dictionary.
Are there any Brits (or Scots,  Welsh, or Irish) out there who've felt
this American linguistic imperialism? How do you get your spelling
dictionaries? I wouldn't mind hearing a few other flames about my
pet peeve.

    -Colin Plumb  (ccplumb@watnot.UUCP)

Postscript: (Did *you* know what "P.S." means?) Actually, changing dictionaries
            is trivial, beside convincing graphic terminal drivers to set
            the screen colour in the Queen's english.