Grammar quirks

[mmswm]

NO the theatre is where you have your operation, the surgery is where your GP practices

No, the theater is where you go to watch movies. 

No, no, no.  The theater is a particular portion of a multi-faceted war.  For example:  My grandfather was stationed in the Pacific Theater during WWII.

[Diane AKA Traska]

Can I just say this is the most fun forum game I've ever been in?

[starry diadem]

NO the theatre is where you have your operation, the surgery is where your GP practices

No, the theater is where you go to watch movies. 

No, the theatre is where you go to see live plays.  The cinema is where you go to watch films.

Ah, the joys of a common language.

[Mental Magpie]

NO the theatre is where you have your operation, the surgery is where your GP practices

No, the theater is where you go to watch movies. 

No, the theatre is where you go to see live plays.  The cinema is where you go to watch films.

Ah, the joys of a common language.

No, you go to the cinema to watch movies.  You pick up your films from the photo lab.

[Thipu1]

No.  You go to then to lab to pick up your pictures. 

Films are movies with sub-titles that play in very small cinemas.  Disney makes movies, not films. 

[Diane AKA Traska]

No, you use a SD card reader to get your pictures. 

[starry diadem]

NO the theatre is where you have your operation, the surgery is where your GP practices

No, the theater is where you go to watch movies. 

No, the theatre is where you go to see live plays.  The cinema is where you go to watch films.

Ah, the joys of a common language.

No, you go to the cinema to watch movies.  You pick up your films from the photo lab.

Nope, I pick up my photos from the photo lab.  And the negatives.   At least I did, in the good old days before we digitalised our entire lives.

I only go to the movies when I'm in the US.

[bansidhe]

Films are movies with sub-titles that play in very small cinemas.  Disney makes movies, not films.

Thank you. The indiscriminate use of "film" is one of my big pet peeves. I once saw a magazine article titled The Films of Keanu Reeves. That dude most definitely does not make films. In fact, I would characterize most of them as flicks.

[Mental Magpie]

I meant to say you "drop off" your film at the photo lab, not pick up them.

[Thipu1]

Well, first you drop off your pictures at the photo lab,  then you pick up the prints. 

Ah, the old complaint about photo labs, 'Someday my prints will come'.

[Mental Magpie]

Well, first you drop off your pictures at the photo lab,  then you pick up the prints. 

Ah, the old complaint about photo labs, 'Someday my prints will come'.

I drop off my film and pick up my pictures.

[wendelenn]

Films are movies with sub-titles that play in very small cinemas.  Disney makes movies, not films.

Thank you. The indiscriminate use of "film" is one of my big pet peeves. I once saw a magazine article titled The Films of Keanu Reeves. That dude most definitely does not make films. In fact, I would characterize most of them as flicks.

Maybe, but flicks are also chocolate flavored candy (says this San Francisco-bred girl)

http://www.oldtimecandy.com/flicks.htm

Couldn't resist

[oz diva]

Well, first you drop off your pictures at the photo lab,  then you pick up the prints. 

Ah, the old complaint about photo labs, 'Someday my prints will come'.

I drop off my film and pick up my pictures.

I used to do that, probably even in this century, but not this decade.

[scotcat60]

I drop my film off at Boots, a large chemists chain in the UK, they sened it off to be developed, and then I collected the prints later on.

[starry diadem]

To get us back on track re grammar, I wanted to test your views on 'shined' versus 'shone'. 

I can't think of a situation where I'd use "shined" for the past tense of the verb 'to shine'.  I'd always use 'shone'.  So the moon shone in the sky; the light of the torch (flashlight, in the US) shone on the path to light our way etc.  I don't ever shine my shoes: I polish them.  To me, 'shined' sounds totally wrong. 

So, is this just another transatlantic difference that we should forget about or is there a real case to be made to regularise all our irregular verbs?  I can't say I'd like that concept, but I can understand that it would make English an easier language to learn!