Britishisms sneaking into American vernacular

[Louise Anne]

probably from the old days when spices were mixed with 'sweetmeats' to make small morsels of sweet food?
They'd be "boiled spice that gi thee goom boils"

Thank you
That make loads of sense becuse my granddad worked for a grocery wholesale company from 1914 and all his life apart from the war years

 

[Louise Anne]

Has any one noticed that there only two people from the UK who are taking part in this topic and if you look Estaban68 says from England and as I am from the UK (United Kindom)
Maybe that is a small hint for you all to think about as you use "British" also your are all referring to English! not British we do not go to university and study "British" we go to study English literature or language.

 

[dhermann1]

I just used the phrase "British" because that's what they use in the article. Yes, the whole on-going identity crisis of the various and sundry nations of the British Isles is a fraught topic, and I intend to steer well clear of it.

 

[Louise Anne]

I just sheering clear of this thread now!

 

[vitanola]

They had sold out of Xi3's

Well, if the no longer had an Essex on the showroom floor you could at least have looked at a Terraplane.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I'm married to a Brit so I use/hear them every day lol

 

[Widebrim]

I sometimes use bloody (not around Brits), as well as smashing (around Brits) and corker every once in a while.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I speak English and "American" so that must make me bilingual.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I sometimes use bloody (not around Brits), as well as smashing (around Brits) and corker every once in a while.

"Corker" is another old New Englandism -- it was my grandfather's favorite expression of enthusiasm: "Ain't that a cocker!"

 

[Fletch]

Provisions from Shackleton's first Antarctic Expedition, 1907-09

"Irish Brawn" was not just what dug the tunnels of New York, but also a kind of pork headcheese.

"Boiled Fowl" undoubtedly was.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Don't knock it till you've tried it. It forms a delicious gelatinous mass that when cooled and sliced makes a great sandwich -- and smells, when it's cooking, like nothing else on earth.

"Lunch tongue," on the other hand, I could do without. I make it my policy not to eat food that's been in someone else's mouth.

 

[dhermann1]

The reason Bloody is considered such a bad word is because it's actually a contraction for By Our Lady, which would have been quite sacriligious back in the day. It's just held on to its bad connotation by inertia, I guess.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

I think I mentioned earlier that I actually have a English/British (Sorry mates! "British/American"!) dictionary. The first change that I noticed was regarding what a set of drums is called. I started playing back in mid-'66 and all yanks refered to that collection of tubs as a "drum set". When I read the 'Beatles; Authorized Biography' back about 1968, I noticed that the author refered to drums as a "drum kit". I thought that odd and very British so I started to say it that way. Almost immediately I was pummelled back into using the term "drum set" because "nobody calls it a drum kit!". Well the years go by and lo and behold, every kid playing drums these days refers to his "kit". And of course if you go to buy a collection of drums to play all at the same sitting, you're buying a "drum kit". So, somewhere along the line, yanks switched to the term "kit" and no one bothered to tell me that it's ok. So in any conversation with anyone under thirty, I sound like the dolt from the 20th Century who still thinks he's a drummer because he has a "drum set". Go figure!! -dixon cannon

 

[Fletch]

One I use a lot lately is "dog's breakfast" - which can be anything, but is generally an unholy mess.

DeShays made a complete dog's breakfast of his full dress suit when he attempted his own alterations.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I didn't find it to be strange, either. We were just discussing booking a room at work for a friend's wedding.

I can't believe that "book a room" is not that common in the U.S. I've used it all my life.

I believe the cheese we produce has 'sell-by' dates on it.

Yeah, it's the same here (Syracuse) and where I grew up (Adirondacks). I wonder if that's the Canadian influence? I think I've also seen sell-by on local cheese and dairy. I don't think I've seen an expiration date in a couple years- I'll have to be more diligent in my checking. (I don't buy a lot of "processed food" but I'll check what I do buy.)

The way I understood them is the sell-by date is when the store has to sell an item. You then have a few days to a week to use the item (depending upon what it is). The expiration date is when it starts to "go bad"- although you probably have a day or two or even a week after that. But that could be my mind trying to make sense of why there are two different kinds of dates. Needless to say, food doesn't last that long around here to experiment.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

I was first introduced to the music of Ian Anderson and his various configurations of 'Jethro Tull, back in about 1971 or so. In listening to his lyrics (Aqualung LP) is the best example, there are little colloquialisms that are thrown in that make no sense to a yank. I went to London for the first time in late '72 and I made it a point to inquire into the obscure meanings of these terms. I made it a point to to ask them in a 'Wimpy Bar', as that was the first confusing term that I heard Ian sing. Turns out 'Wimpy Bar' isn't what we might think (wink, wink, nod! Nod!), it is in fact a chain of hamburger restaurants fashioned after Popeye's mate, Wimpy! But what the hell is a 'dog end' that Aqualung bends to pick?!!! Well, it is in fact a discarded cigarette butt. Then he goes down the 'bog' to warm his feet! What the?!!! The 'bog' is none other than the "restroom" or "bathroom", usually a public one. And I then learned very quickly that "there are no elephants or lions too" in Piccadilly Circus. One other comes to mind upon my visit to Apple Records in (not on!) Savile Row. That is "salve - ull" row, not bloody "Sa-ville" row ya daft yank git! -dixon cannon
P.S. Aqua-Lung used with kind permission of U.S. Divers, Santa Monica California USA

 

[sheeplady]

I didn't find it to be strange, either. We were just discussing booking a room at work for a friend's wedding.



I believe the cheese we produce has 'sell-by' dates on it.

Well, since you're up north we might still be all influenced by the Canadian's. Which isn't a bad thing.

My husband, who lived all over the northeast and some in the midwest (PA, NY, MA, MO) growing up uses "make a reservation." No wonder people around here ask where he is from.

Although now I am going to be really self-conscious whenever I book a room. What have all those people thought of me all these years???

 

[MikeBravo]

"Lunch tongue," on the other hand, I could do without. I make it my policy not to eat food that's been in someone else's mouth.

I'm the same, I'd rather have an egg

ba-boom-tish

 

[esteban68]

Bloody isn't considered that bad anymore, it depends what company you are in you certainly wouldn't use it in front of an ageing aunt though!
Wimpy bars were rubbish pure 60's British imitation Americana, thank god Mc Donalds et al came over, though that has had side effects!

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Another one of my favorites that I use a fair amount is "naff."