Today was our last workshop, sadly enough, and though I wasn't presenting, I still managed to surprise Dilys.
After the Americans in the room compared the Scottish and American pronunciations of 'ghoulish' (gowl vs. gool), I told one of the presenters that I would nix a part of his piece.
"Lauren!" Dilys cried. "You said 'nix!'"
"Um...yes?" I replied, worried I had somehow said something offensive in Scottish English.
"I haven't heard anyone say that in years!" she continued. "I almost thought I'd made it up. Is it common?"
"Sure," our other American told her. "Like in Pig Latin. Ix-nay."
She seemed confused by this. Apparently, Pig Latin's not quite so universal as we think.
According to the OED, 'nix' as a verb isn't Greek, but American slang first recorded in 1903. Oh well.
Drinks after class were rather pleasant, however.
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