"Yous".
Maybe only other Aussies will understand this one (and we're all common to start with. But there are degrees).

Some people here either have no real concept of grammar, or do this to seem chummy, or larrikin-like... who knows, really. "You" [personal pronoun, plural] becomes "yous".

"When are yous open till?"

I reply as emphatically as possible:

"Wees are open until seven".

I love doing this. They know I'm taking the piss, but are unable to retaliate: if they insist upon addressing me with deliberately incorrect grammar, I've got every right have a go.

Also, people who put milk into their teacup first and then add the tea are pure scum.
(lonelybadger, Fri 17 Oct 2008, 13:29, 11 replies)

Strange
I always thought "yous" was a West Lothian thing.

Interesting it is prevalent on the opposite side of the world as well :)
(Marmite Omelette ...but I feel better having screamed, don't you?, Fri 17 Oct 2008, 13:31, closed)

A click
For the quality comeback.
(Vice Admiral Sir Charles Cockbrush KCB MBE DSO, who is finding it increasingly difficult to log into b3ta.com wants to duck your aunt and kick your puppy, Fri 17 Oct 2008, 13:32, closed)

This is also
A Liverpool thing, saying "Yous". I bloody hate that...
(Panteneman Isn't entirely sure why he bothered on, Fri 17 Oct 2008, 14:38, closed)

Northside of Dublin as well
Pronounced "yoowiz".
(bazmorningstar efil4nat3b, Fri 17 Oct 2008, 15:01, closed)

actually
you'll find it most places. Glasgow, Aberdeen, way up North, London...Barcelona (I dread to think what kind of EFL teacher they had that taught them yous)
(bamboozled Can hear you getting fatter, Fri 17 Oct 2008, 15:01, closed)

Milk?
Actually when making tea using proper tea leaves (rather than that cardboard crap you call teabags) one should always pour milk into the cup first.

Of course if you're making tea in a cup with a one-cup teabag then no, you pour boiling water onto the teabag, leave for a few minutes, remove the teabag then add the milk. But when pouring from a teapot one should add the milk first.

Same with coffee - if you're pouring from a coffee pot, percolator etc you should add the milk first, but with instant you add the milk to the coffee.

And if you're making cappuccino - you MUST add the frothed milk to the cup before pouring in a shot of espresso... ;-)
(RabidRodent I'm the person your mother warned you about, Fri 17 Oct 2008, 15:49, closed)

^this^

( Terry Oblong There's nobody here but us chickens on, Fri 17 Oct 2008, 16:07, closed)

It depends
on what sort of cup you're pouring into. The tradition of adding the milk first arose with the use of fine porcelain china. The more expensive porcelain cups were thinner, a sign of good craftsmanship. This made them prone to cracking when heated suddenly, so you'd pour your milk in first to prevent the heat of the tea from cracking your expensive cups. Therefore it became the thing to do to pour the milk first as it's what the posh people do. If you didn't pour the milk first you were admitting to an inability to buy expensive cups.

If you have a normal cup or mug, feel free to pour in whatever order you wish.
(robbersdog, Fri 17 Oct 2008, 16:08, closed)

Ejumacated now!
This is a wealth of info! Also makes a lot of sense. I myself am too common to have enjoyed the thrills of fine porcelain.

I only had a vague inkling that pouring milk first was common. Someone-or-other said it was common. My ex-in-laws did it, and that sealed it for me. I desperately, desperately wanted to think of them as terribly common. I reasoned that this practice was "common" because it meant that you couldn't be arsed to use a teaspoon to combine the milk and tea.
(lonelybadger, Tue 21 Oct 2008, 10:11, closed)

You're wrong
about the cappucino. It's espresso first, then frothed milk.
(Bazongaloid, Fri 17 Oct 2008, 21:05, closed)

Guid Scots, not Common English
See, what youse are not getting is that in Scotland there's a significant intermingling of the related languages of Scots and English. Particularly in spoken language, particularly in Lowland Scotland (West Lothian, where I'm sat right now at work, being pretty much the epicentre).

And in Scots, the second person plural is... youse. It's analagous to the Texan usage of "y'all" (and its extended version of "*All* y'all"). Having a differentiated second person plural is really useful.

See also the perfectly correct Scots construction of "How no?" which translates to English as "Why not?" It's not bad English, it's good Scots, dropped into a different linguistic context.

Right, rant over, ya bunch o' Soothmoothers.
(MartinB9999, Mon 20 Oct 2008, 17:09, closed)