UK BritishTerminology

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Campin_Cat
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07 Oct 2017, 5:24 pm

underwater wrote:

What's a pram in American?

Baby carriage.

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07 Oct 2017, 5:26 pm

underwater wrote:

What's a pram in American?

Qualifier: I googled it said pushchair or buggy, but do people actually use those terms? I can't recall having seen them a lot. Sometimes google doesn't make sense.

Sometimes, someone might say "baby buggy"----but, that doesn't seem to be as prevalent as it was, say, in the 60s.

Your "pushchair" (for a disabled person), is a "wheelchair", over here----also, it seems you call what WE call, a "stroller" (for a toddler), a "pushchair".

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07 Oct 2017, 5:31 pm

Michael829 wrote:

I've never understood "dinner" vs "supper" in England.

In the U.S., they're synonymous.

No, they're NOT synonymous----again, it depends-on where you are, in the U.S. To MY people (Southerners), "dinner" is the noon-day meal (aka "lunch"), and "supper" is the evening meal; to most other Americans, "dinner" is the evening meal.

Michael829 wrote:

Alright, one thing I'll never accept: The double-is: "The thing is-is..."

How do you feel about the double "that" (ie, "I heard that that motorcycle is the most expensive brand")----and, if you're okay with one, why not the other? (just curious)

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07 Oct 2017, 5:35 pm

naturalplastic wrote:

Chichikov wrote:

BirdInFlight wrote:

Yes, it's in error, but an awful lot of people DO call sticky tape "sellotape" and a tannoy a tannoy. There I just did it too. Is it just killing you inside and has it ruined your day?

Talk about pedantic.

Get the f**k over it. Not all people use brand names for things but an awful lot of people do, and most people understand what they mean.

One of us certainly needs to get over it.....

"Sellotape"?

?Is that what we Americans call "Scotch Tape" (which is also an incorrect usage of a brand name for a generic thing, in fact I don't even know what the generic term for clear general purpose sticky tape is).

"Cellophane tape"----in-fact, I thought that's where the word "Sellotape" came-from (figuring they had just shortened the word "cellophane"); but, somebody said it was a name-brand.

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07 Oct 2017, 5:37 pm

Joe90 wrote:

Also kids have school uniform in the UK, whereas most USA schools don't.
I sometimes get uncomfortable watching films of kids at schools in the USA because kids not wearing uniform makes it seem less school-y than when watching British films where all kids are wearing uniforms.

Most kids in the U.S. wear uniforms to school----in major metropolitan areas, at least----cuz, kids started getting beat-up / killed for their sneakers / designer clothes, and stuff (meaning, they would get robbed of those things).

We don't have uniforms like what y'all seem to be used to seeing----like, Harry Potter-type----most, I think, just have tan pants (trousers), and whatever color Polo shirt (or like, maybe, several schools have white shirts, but the name of the schools will be in a different color of printing, on the shirt); except for parochial schools (Catholic and what I call "Orthodox Lutheran" - and Jewish, too), which, last-I-knew, were still wearing Harry Potter-type uniforms (Jewish, basically black-and-white; Catholic and Lutheran: girls' skirts are like tartans, almost - 'cept, fuller).

See that little girl, second-from-the-left? What she is wearing, we call a "jumper" (what y'all call what WE call a "sweater"). Here's another version:

Most U.S. films you see, won't reflect that, cuz it's "boring", maybe----at least, not unless it's part of the story (like "Dead Poets Society").

Last edited by Campin_Cat on 07 Oct 2017, 5:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

kraftiekortie
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07 Oct 2017, 5:40 pm

Dinner, to us in NYC, was always the main meal, taken at 6 PM.

The noon meal was always "lunch." Then, in the 1970s, "Brunch" became a word, since people in those days used to wake up late, right before lunch--but actually wanted breakfast because they had just woken up.

In the old days, "supper" was actually sometimes a light meal taken before bedtime. Elegant people, especially in literature, used to "sup."

In the US (at least in the North), most kids in public school don't wear a uniform to school, though kids in Catholic School do. In some "inner city" areas, some schools (especially "charter schools") require uniforms.

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07 Oct 2017, 5:48 pm

naturalplastic wrote:

ASPartOfMe wrote:

naturalplastic wrote:

If any of you Brits find yourself here strolling the streets of the USA, and you suddenly get an urge for a cigarette don't EVER ask the locals "where can I find a fag?".

“Fag” or “fa***t” is roughly the homophobe equivalent to “n****r” in America.

Exactly.

In England fag/fa***t means a "cigarette".

Originally a "fa***t" was the bundle you made of the sticks you gathered for kindling to start your fire.
Its easy to see how that evolved into meaning cigarette since cigarettes are burning sticks.

How the American usage to mean "a homosexual male" originated is not so obvious to me.

But in the 19th Century private all male schools in England younger boys worked as servants for older boys. And the servants were called "fags". So you have an all male school, horny teen guys, and no girls around to date, and some kids have power over other kids to force them to do stuff, and if you let your imagination go you can imagine how that usage of the word "fag" could have evolved. Or that was my theory once. But the trouble with my theory is that that was in England (where they don't use the word for homosexual), and not in the US (where we do use it to mean that). So its still a mystery.

Yeah, I'm thinkin' that's where we, in the U.S. got it from----it's fairly common, IMO, that words / terms get swapped, OFTEN, back-and-forth, over the "pond".

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07 Oct 2017, 5:49 pm

hurtloam wrote:

I'm just wondering as an British lass, are there any terms we use (I'm including folks from Ireland, Scotland and Wales in we) that Americans don't understand at first of find weird when they read our posts on here?

Well, I don't think anyone has used this in a post, on here, but there's a word that's been buggin' me, for AGES, that I've heard on British television shows, and that is (spelled phonetically): "sherOPidist"; or, I've even heard it, pronounced by a Brit, as "curOPidist". The only thing I've been able to think-of, is that it is the same as our "chiropractor" ("ch" pronounced like "k", long "i")----but, I couldn't swear to it, cuz I don't know how to spell, what they're saying. Could a BRIT please help me out?

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07 Oct 2017, 5:52 pm

I wanted, also, to give some of my experiences, of living in the U.K., and the differences in the languages:

I said something about "bangs" (short hair over forehead - "fringe" to a Brit), and my friend said "Oh, don't say that"----cuz, over there (at least where *I* lived, that means what our "knocked up" means, over here: "pregnant").

Also, I went to a shoe store, over there, and asked them if them had any slides, and they had no idea what I was talking-about, so I just had to wander-around the store, 'til I found what I wanted: "mules", to y'all. Now, that word is used over here, as well----and, quite frankly, I HATE it (I'm not really sure, WHY).

I remember when I first got my orders to the U.K., my aunt said: "Oh, THAT'S good, cuz they speak English, TOO, so I'll be able to come, visit you!!", and my friend said: "Oh, I've got NEWS for YOU----when I was over there, I asked a cop (bobby) where Piccadilly Circus was, and all I understood, was "left"! !". LOL My first major lesson, during the years that I lived there, was that y'all speak English, and WE speak American!! That was an eye-opener, I tell ya!! LOL

Maybe my WORST experience----and, I really shouldn't be telling this (LOL)----was in the airport, when I first arrived..... I was trying to figure-out how to get out of the airport, so I wandered around and around..... and around, and..... I'm thinking it was a half-hour..... Then, maybe, after the HUNDREDTH time (not literal), of passing the sign that said "Way Out", I stopped and said to myself "Way out, WHERE?", and then it hit me: "Oh----the way out of this fakakta airport!!". LOL

After I had lived there, awhile, and had bought a car, I had car trouble, and stopped along the road, to see if someone could help me (it's still like that, here, in the South - practically anybody will help you out), and a man did..... The first thing he said, though, was that he would have to go get a torch----and, I thought: "OMG, what's he gonna do, blow-up my car?"----what y'all call a torch, we call a flashlight, over here.

Your "give way" (road sign), is what we call "yield", over here.

Other interesting things, of note, between the languages, is often a Brit will pronounce something that ends-in an "a", like it ends in an "r" (ie, "America" is pronounced by some Brits: "Americur")----and, things that end-in an "r", are pronounced, by some, like they end in an "a" (ie, "daughter" = "daughta"). Also, often, accents are just put on different parts of a word (I can't remember, now - but, there was a word I heard on a British TV show, and it took me FOREVER to figure-out what they were saying - then, when I put the accent on a different part of the word, I finally figured-it-out - I WISH I could remember what it was, now)----or, if we pronounce something with a long vowel, for instance, many Brits, it seems, will pronounce it, with a SHORT vowel (ie, yogurt has a long "o", over here).

Almost nobody has an accent, when they sing, and you can't tell where they're from, until they speak----SOME do, like Country singers, but.....

Last edited by Campin_Cat on 07 Oct 2017, 5:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

kraftiekortie
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07 Oct 2017, 5:55 pm

Never heard "slide" used in that context.

I guess it's because I'm a man.

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07 Oct 2017, 6:10 pm

Biscuitman wrote:

Fascinated by languages and cultural differences!

I like how in the UK collective nouns can be singular or plural but in America they are only singular.

Example:
'England are great at football'
'America is great at football'

Yeah, that makes me a little nuts, when I see somebody say that----and "learnt", too----cuz, over here, that's bad English ("learnt" literally makes me cringe, when I read it).

*****************

Oh----I forgot to say that your "Way Out", is called "Exit", over here.

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07 Oct 2017, 6:16 pm

Although we follow mostly the metric system, we still use mph for vehicle speed and road signs

also find it incredibly confusing when on holiday over in the US they use:

(UK) = (US)
Jelly Jello
Jam Jelly
Toilet Restroom
Maths Math (most irritating imo)

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07 Oct 2017, 6:33 pm

Britishisms and the Britishisation of American English

Quote:

There is little that irks British defenders of the English language more than Americanisms, which they see creeping insidiously into newspaper columns and everyday conversation. But bit by bit British English is invading America too.
"Spot on - it's just ludicrous!" snaps Geoffrey Nunberg, a linguist at the University of California at Berkeley.
"You are just impersonating an Englishman when you say spot on. Will do - I hear that from Americans. That should be put into quarantine," he adds.
And don't get him started on the chattering classes - its overtones of a distinctly British class system make him quiver.

Last year Yagoda set up a blog dedicated to spotting the use of British terms in American English.
So far he has found more than 150 - from cheeky to chat-up via sell-by date and the long game - an expression which appears to date back to 1856, and comes not from golf or chess, but the card game whist. President Barack Obama has used it in at least one speech.

Yagoda notices changes in pronunciation too - for example his students sometimes use "that sort of London glottal stop", dropping the T in words like "important" or "Manhattan".

Kory Stamper, associate editor for Merriam-Webster, whose dictionaries are used by many American publishers and news organisations, agrees that more and more British words are entering the American vocabulary.

One new entrant into the Merriam-Webster dictionary in 2012 was gastropub (a gentrified pub serving good food), which was first used, according to Kory Stamper, in London's Evening Standard newspaper in 1996, and was first registered on American shores in 2000.

There has also been "a huge up-tick", says Stamper, in the use of ginger as a way of describing someone with red hair.

"When people put on a British accent [now], we consider it affected and funny - but it doesn't happen very frequently"
She sees this as clearly tied to the publication in the US of the first Harry Potter book. Dozens of words and phrases were changed for the American market, but ginger slipped through, as did snog (meaning "to kiss amorously") - though that has not proved so popular.

We are not seeing a radical change to the American language, says Jesse Sheidlower, American editor at large of the Oxford English Dictionary - rather a "very small, but noticeable" trend.

And it is not so much the masses who use these terms, says Geoffrey Nunberg, as the educated elite. Journalists and other media types, like advertising agencies, are the worst offenders, in his view.

"It sounds trendy - another borrowing we could use without - to use a British term. It just sounds kind of Transatlantic."

British TV shows like Top Gear, Dr Who, and Downton Abbey may be another reason more British words are slipping in, says Yagoda, as well as the popularity (and easy access via the internet) of British news sources, such as The Guardian, The Economist, The Daily Mail - and the BBC.

Yagoda also points to a number of British journalists who have risen to influential positions in the US, including Tina Brown - who has worked as editor of Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, The Daily Beast, and Newsweek - and Anna Wintour, editor in chief of American Vogue.

Some words, often the more formal ones, were once common on both sides of the Atlantic, but dropped out of American English usage while remaining popular in Britain, says Yagoda - amongst (instead of among), trousers (instead of pants), and fortnight (two weeks) are examples.

And some words which Brits regard as typically American - including "candy", "the fall", and "diaper" - were originally British, but dropped out of usage in Britain between about 1850 and the early 1900s, says Kory Stamper.

And though a few people do take umbrage at the use of British words in American English, they are in the minority, says Sheidlower.

"In the UK, the use of Americanisms is seen as a sign that culture is going to hell."
"But Americans think all British people are posh, so - aside from things that are fairly pretentious - no-one would mind."

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07 Oct 2017, 6:40 pm

Scorpius14 wrote:

Actually, we say "jam" AND "jelly" over here, for nearly the same thing: fruit spread, for toast----jelly is smooth, though, and jam has actual bits of fruit, in it ("jam" and "preserves" are often used interchangeably, though - but, sometimes, "preserves" is a little different, in that even MORE of a piece of fruit is used; also, "preserves" is sometimes used interchangeably with the word "canning" [or, "canned" - what we do to preserve fresh food, for the winter]).

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07 Oct 2017, 8:06 pm

ASPartOfMe wrote:

Britishisms and the Britishisation of American English

Quote:

Yagoda notices changes in pronunciation too - for example his students sometimes use "that sort of London glottal stop", dropping the T in words like "important" or "Manhattan".

One new entrant into the Merriam-Webster dictionary in 2012 was gastropub (a gentrified pub serving good food), which was first used, according to Kory Stamper, in London's Evening Standard newspaper in 1996, and was first registered on American shores in 2000.

There has also been "a huge up-tick", says Stamper, in the use of ginger as a way of describing someone with red hair.

"When people put on a British accent [now], we consider it affected and funny - but it doesn't happen very frequently"
She sees this as clearly tied to the publication in the US of the first Harry Potter book. Dozens of words and phrases were changed for the American market, but ginger slipped through, as did snog (meaning "to kiss amorously") - though that has not proved so popular.

Yagoda also points to a number of British journalists who have risen to influential positions in the US, including Tina Brown - who has worked as editor of Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, The Daily Beast, and Newsweek - and Anna Wintour, editor in chief of American Vogue.

Some words, often the more formal ones, were once common on both sides of the Atlantic, but dropped out of American English usage while remaining popular in Britain, says Yagoda - amongst (instead of among), trousers (instead of pants), and fortnight (two weeks) are examples.

"In the UK, the use of Americanisms is seen as a sign that culture is going to hell."
"But Americans think all British people are posh, so - aside from things that are fairly pretentious - no-one would mind."

I think I've heard the "t" being dropped, in words----but, maybe, the more common, is the "t" being put in a different syllable; for instance, on "Doc Martin", the characters are in Cornwall, and Elise says "Mart-in", vs. "Mar-tin"----over here, often, if someone would say "Mart-in", others would consider that person to be low-class (and, still others would just wonder where the person was from, cuz the more common pronunciation is "Mar-tin".

I don't think I've ever heard an American use the term "gastropub"----only Brits.

I HAVE heard Americans use the word "ginger" to describe someone with red hair, and I don't like it, cuz it seems the only reason some of them do it, is cuz they think it makes them look cool----or, like, they're trying to say to British people "See, I'm hip----I know one of YOUR words"; and, that's just stupid, to me.

I TOTALLY think Americans got "ginger" from HP----and, we pick-up other stuff from "Downton Abbey", and other shows; in-fact, I've often thought that's why I've never given-up (or, had difficulty giving-up) some British English words / terms / expressions, like: "She's in hospital", because it's almost like I never left over there, cuz I'm still exposed to British English, everyday.

OMG, British journalists are about to drive me, to drink (not literal)! ! I've been watching "BBC News America", for quite awhile, now; but, recently, they changed anchors, and it's all I can do to listen to her long-enough, to hear their version of what's going-on in the U.S., because she talks through her nose----then, one time, she was away, and was replaced by another woman, and SHE talked through her nose----then, she'll ask a correspondent a question, and SHE talks through her nose!! I never realized so many Brits talk through their nose. I want that man, back, so I can enjoy BBC, again, cuz the BBC has alot of interesting things on there, about other countries, that our News shows, don't----AND, I ONLY want to hear the NEWS; NOT people making PERSONAL comments on the stories!! GOD, I miss Gwen Ifill and Tim Russert----if ALL my news was delivered by Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff (and, some others - like, Savannah Guthrie, Matt Lauer, and Lester Holt), I could live with that.

I STILL use the word "amongst", and I'm always puzzled as to why it highlights it, as misspelled----now, I know!! My grandfather used the word "fortnight"----in-fact, when I went to England, I realized that alot of the words they used, were what now is referred to as "old English", over here----for instance, "davenport" was still used over there, where I was (this was in the mid-80s), and my grandfather used that word, too.

I'm just the typical not-liking-change Aspie----for instance, when *I* was learning English, "alot" was ONE word (as was the word "thankyou", when one says "thankyou for the gift") - and, I'm just not willing to change it, if, for no other reason, than because I see the decay of the English language, with the Internet, now, as one ignorant person saying something, and even more ignorant persons, following-suit. I'll never understand why when one person says something, WRONG, the next person to come-along, will just repeat it, instead of saying it, the way they've been taught----then it becomes a fad, then mainstream----then, the next thing ya know, they've changed it, in the dictionary. Another one is saying "unconscious" when they mean "SUBconscious"----I've even heard professional psych people use it, incorrectly; and, when they say it, CORRECTLY, I practically want to stand-up and CHEER!! All this "wrong word usage" drives me CRAZY!! Even *I* say "cuz", instead of "'cause", and I shouldn't.

No, I don't think "all British people are posh"----I think the way alot of them talk, sounds classy, though; but, I often thought the way Hugh Grant talked was classy, until I heard him say "Americur", and I almost fell-over; and, I also think that Brits think that Cockneys are low-class. Still, I love to hear alot of them, talk----as long as they don't talk through their nose----Judi Dench could read the phonebook to me, all-day, and I'd be a happy camper!! LOL

That reminds me..... Another difference in our languages is that we say "fell-down" when someone is standing-up, and then hits the floor / ground----whereas I've always heard Brits say "fell-over", for that; "fell-over", for US, means "astounded" (like I just used it, in the preceding paragraph).

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08 Oct 2017, 1:35 am

Dinner, supper & tea are all words meaning your evening meal. Your use of them would be depending mostly on your location in the UK but also your social standing a little too.

Grew up saying tea but my wife dragged me up the social ladder and I now say dinner.

Similar - grew up saying couch but she has converted me to 'sofa'. I feel posh even typing that word out! :lol:

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