Different Meanings for Words

[jaxsue]

I'm in the Southeast US, and people here only use call around to mean calling several people, as in calling around to see who can give me a ride.

I married into a long-standing Southern family, and they would ask if someone could "carry them" to the store. 

[BatCity]

Maybe I just missed it, but I don't recall seeing "mean" on this thread.

In the US, to say someone is mean signifies that they are rude, unpleasant, nasty.

I understand that in some countries, it means they are cheap or miserly (i.e. thy don't like to spend money).

A short story by Maeve Binchy, who is Irish, had me thrown for a loop until I figured this out.

[Nibsey]

Maybe I just missed it, but I don't recall seeing "mean" on this thread.

In the US, to say someone is mean signifies that they are rude, unpleasant, nasty.

I understand that in some countries, it means they are cheap or miserly (i.e. thy don't like to spend money).

A short story by Maeve Binchy, who is Irish, had me thrown for a loop until I figured this out.

Here in Ireland it can mean both. It depends on context. When describing the act of doing something nasty, I'd say "don't be mean" or " that was a mean thing to do" but when used to describe a person, like "my neighbor is mean"  meaning they're a cheap so and so.

[Thipu1]

Where I live (NYC) to 'luck out' means to have very good luck as in, 'We really lucked out on the weather for the Wedding'.

'Mean' can connote two different things but both are connected.

 A person can be 'mean' if he or she is nasty, spiteful or intolerant.  A person can also be 'mean' if she or he is miserly.  In both senses, the term means that someone is not being generous.  It doesn't matter if the 'mean' person is grudging of money or approval.  'Mean' is 'mean' no matter how you see it.       

[Bethczar]

Maybe I just missed it, but I don't recall seeing "mean" on this thread.

In the US, to say someone is mean signifies that they are rude, unpleasant, nasty.

I understand that in some countries, it means they are cheap or miserly (i.e. thy don't like to spend money).

A short story by Maeve Binchy, who is Irish, had me thrown for a loop until I figured this out.

"Mean" can be "miserly" in the US, too. It is perhaps a less common meaning, but not unusual.

[jaxsue]

Maybe I just missed it, but I don't recall seeing "mean" on this thread.

In the US, to say someone is mean signifies that they are rude, unpleasant, nasty.

I understand that in some countries, it means they are cheap or miserly (i.e. thy don't like to spend money).

A short story by Maeve Binchy, who is Irish, had me thrown for a loop until I figured this out.

"Mean" can be "miserly" in the US, too. It is perhaps a less common meaning, but not unusual.

True. I'm US-born-and-raised, and my parents used "mean" for meaning cheap. They were anglo-philes, so that may be the reason.