English to English: 'translating' a cultural divide
What does “to gauge” mean?
Read this article from The Guardian and try to find out more about cultural differences between English and American. It’s always time to learn something!
Since its launch last May, the Guardian’s English to English Tumblr project has explored hundreds of topics that cause great confusion (or, at the very least, a bit of head-scratching) to people reading from different locations around the globe.
The project was launched by journalists in our US office after we found ourselves constantly defending ‘Americanisms’ in story threads. We’d come to learn that an ‘Americanism’ was a vague descriptor that, yes, included how we phrased and spelled things, but also would come to gauge how we devoted coverage to celebrities, holidays, music and foods.
What does it mean? Click and find out!
to cause (v) to make something happen
head-scratching (n) to think hard about something
thread (n) an idea or a feature that is part of something greater
vague (adj) not clear in a person’s mind
to gauge (v) to make a judgement about something, especially people’s feelings or attitudes
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