Terminology: US vs. UK - 1942

[Capesofwrath]

All of those American terms would be well understood in the UK and many are taking over from the British usage anyway. With US films and TV shows having been shown for so long it's hardly surprising.

There is movement in the other direction too, with many British and Australian terms in common usage in the US. Again mainly through film and TV imports and sometimes changed slightly. Like say the word wanker. That's a mild insult in the US, but it's not something you would call someone you didn't know well in the UK or Ireland unless you wanted to fight him.

There are a lot of American imported words which I really don't like, but the one I detest most is not American at all but an English slang word soccer. It was invented by Victorian university sportsmen to differentiate the game of rugby football which is mostly a handling game, from the game played with the feet since both laid claim to being called football. The games were called rugger and footer in contemporary slang terms. So association football to give it its correct name, started to get called assoch by rugby types, then asoc, and finally soccer.

There are a lot of types of football in the world so in countries like the US and Australia where they call their mostly handball versions football, the name soccer took off. As it already had with middle class rugby and cricket followers in the UK in a slightly derogatory way. Most of the world does call it football though. Or versions of it like fusbal, or fotbal or some such, and no British football fan would let the word the word soccer pass his lips.

 

[Fletch]

We get a lot of British tv shows shown in Canada, and of course we often use British terms on occasion ourselves or at least are familiar with them, but I've still had to "translate" on occasion for friends (one recent example from the show Faulty Towers, Basil makes a comment about the Samaritans being "engaged". I had to explain that 1) the Samaritans, like the term suggests, are a social support group that, among other things operates (or at least did) a suicide prevention hotline, and 2) "engaged" means "busy", referring to the phone line).

What's the Brit for "going to be married"?

And now that we're off the 40s and off clothing: Are there leavings after a leaving party? Or do they all get eaten? lol

 

[MisterCairo]

What's the Brit for "going to be married"?

And now that we're off the 40s and off clothing: Are there leavings after a leaving party? Or do they all get eaten? lol

Engaged, I get it! But now you ask...

"Getting wed" seems to be used often in shows and films. I gather it isn't proper grammar, but it's what one hears.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

More spelling and terminology differences:

Tyre vs. tire.
Kerb vs. curb (thing alongside the street)
Pavement vs. sidewalk.
Football vs. soccer.
Ring off vs. hang up (the phone).
Knock me up vs. wake me up.
Ante-natal vs. pre-natal.
A&E (accident and emergency) vs. "emerg"/emergency (Canada at least)
Chemists vs. drug store.
Fags vs. smokes.



Pronunciation:

Vit a mins vs. VITE a mins



We get a lot of British tv shows shown in Canada, and of course we often use British terms on occasion ourselves or at least are familiar with them, but I've still had to "translate" on occasion for friends (one recent example from the show Faulty Towers, Basil makes a comment about the Samaritans being "engaged". I had to explain that 1) the Samaritans, like the term suggests, are a social support group that, among other things operates (or at least did) a suicide prevention hotline, and 2) "engaged" means "busy", referring to the phone line).

Centre vs. Center
And don't forget the extra "U" in such words as "colour" and "flavour."
Then there's also...

Downtown (US) = City Centre (UK)
Programme vs Program

 

[Capesofwrath]

What's the Brit for "going to be married"?

And now that we're off the 40s and off clothing: Are there leavings after a leaving party? Or do they all get eaten? lol

The older usage which people still said when I was young was courting.

Are you courting then, and when will you tie the knot? Pity it's not used anymore it was a lovely old word.

 

[Shangas]

It gets even more confusing if you throw in the Antipodes.

(US) Downtown (UK) City Center (AUD) CBD/Central Business District.

 

[MisterCairo]

Canada is a fascinating hybrid. Most of us use what is considered "Canadian" spelling for words such as colour, honour, odour, centre and theatre, but we use the "American" program (you can still find the rare programme in Canada, but it is RARE), and we say highway versus freeway (US) or motorway (UK).

Center and theater and color and so forth are common enough.

One thing the internet is doing to our written language - we use cheque, but "check" is popping up on blogs and so on. Scary thought indeed....

 

[Shangas]

To me, I check to make sure that I haven't lost my keys.

I write a cheque if I need to pay for something.

If I need to pay for a meal, then I ask for the bill.

And in Australia, we never tip. If we do, then there's a tips-jar at the cash-register/front counter. But we never tip in the bill. EVER. And I wouldn't bother doing so anywhere else in the world. The first time I went to the 'States (about 1997, I thnk), and encountered the tipping culture, was a big shock.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Don't forget lift vs elevator & torch vs flashlight.

 

[Foxer55]

Shangas,

Which causes no-end of confusion.

This is not one of difference of terminology, but rather, one of pronunciation.

One that ALWAYS threw me off was the word "Aluminium".

My year-9 Geography teacher always pronounced it the American way ("Al-oo-min-um").

Here in Australia, it's pronounced "Al-yu-mini-um". The first time I heard my geo'. teacher say it, I had NO idea what he was talking about, until he wrote it on the whiteboard.

That's funny. I often wondered about it. Seems like whoever was saying alyuminiyum got their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth for too long on the "L" while they were trying to spit it out.

 

[Shangas]

Tap V. Faucet.

Toilet V Crapper V Dunny V Loo V John. (this could go on for a while...!!)

 

[John in Covina]

Canada is a fascinating hybrid. we say highway versus freeway (US) or motorway (UK).


....

The term freeway is not ubiquitous in the US - I grew up in NY and did not hear the term freeway at all. Highway was used most often Now freeway seems to indicate no tolls which is not true in California land of Taxes. Tollroad had tolls but a turnpike was the route around the tolls.

 

[John in Covina]

What's the concept of calling a car trunk a boot? I have carried and stored stuff in a trunk but never in a boot.

 

[Shangas]

I never really understood that, either.

The "trunk" for storing stuff came from the early days of motoring, when literally the only way to store things in your car was to load it into the TRUNK (the steamer-trunk) which was strapped onto the rear luggage-rack of your motor-car...

In those days, you had a rumble seat in the back, and a rack for a luggage-trunk. That was your only storage (if the rumble seat was holding passengers, that is).

So the trunk that was strapped to the luggage-rack became the "trunk" that we have in cars today.

Where "Boot" comes from, I have no idea.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I was listening online to Talksport the UK sports talk station and I always found the traffic report with its different terminology rather interesting...

"...and in Redbourn there's a lorry tipped over on the M1 Motorway at Junction 9 with lots of queuing."

 

[Shangas]

I never understood where "lorry" comes from, either!

"Van" I'm sure, comes from "caravan".

"Car" comes from "motor-carriage".

"Automobile" comes from the words "Self Moving".

"Lorry"??? No idea!!

 

[Dixon Cannon]

British Self-Taught: With Comments in American ≈ I have a copy of this book which a bought years ago after my first visit to Britain. Fascinating stories behind some of these very words.

http://www.amazon.com/British-Self-Taught-With-Comments-American/dp/0026075202

-dixon cannon

 

[Dixon Cannon]

All of those American terms would be well understood in the UK and many are taking over from the British usage anyway. With US films and TV shows having been shown for so long it's hardly surprising.

There is movement in the other direction too, with many British and Australian terms in common usage in the US. Again mainly through film and TV imports and sometimes changed slightly. Like say the word wanker. That's a mild insult in the US, but it's not something you would call someone you didn't know well in the UK or Ireland unless you wanted to fight him.

There are a lot of American imported words which I really don't like, but the one I detest most is not American at all but an English slang word soccer. It was invented by Victorian university sportsmen to differentiate the game of rugby football which is mostly a handling game, from the game played with the feet since both laid claim to being called football. The games were called rugger and footer in contemporary slang terms. So association football to give it its correct name, started to get called assoch by rugby types, then asoc, and finally soccer.

There are a lot of types of football in the world so in countries like the US and Australia where they call their mostly handball versions football, the name soccer took off. As it already had with middle class rugby and cricket followers in the UK in a slightly derogatory way. Most of the world does call it football though. Or versions of it like fusbal, or fotbal or some such, and no British football fan would let the word the word soccer pass his lips.

Absolutely! When I began playing drums in the 60's I played on a "drum set". Over the decades the British term of "drum KIT" has come into common useage. You can tell the old-school musicians by which term they use.

-dixon cannon

 

[Shangas]

It's my experience that the British are very fond of the word 'kit'.

Your army-equipment is your "kit". You stored it in your "kitbag". If you were going out camping, or for some special occasion, you made sure that you were "kitted up" for the activities ahead. Before you left the house at the start of the day, you made sure you had all your necessary 'kit' in your pockets before you closed the front door.

Almost everything came in 'kit' form, from tents and camping, to first-aid supplies.

 

[MisterCairo]

In Canada we have faucets and taps, interchangeably used.

We use cheques except for the ignorant who think they use checks. We too pay the bill in restaurants for the most part, but some of us ask for the check.

You know a Canadian if they can say "homo milk"* without smirking while wondering why you are laughing or looking shocked. We pay the "hydro" bill each month (electricity) even though 40% of our power is nuclear (Ontario at least).

We use kit, especially in the military as we are British based. If a soldier or sailor or airman is ill and goes to the MIR (medical inspection room) and is deemed to sick to continue on duty, they get a sick chit. While training, you may get a red chit for poor behaviour or failing an inspection. Chit, if you're wondering, is Sanskrit for paper (British Imperial Army in India influence).

The first aid kit is of course something every home should have. My friend Ivan has a great drum kit.

Canada v. US:

Pop (Canada) v. soda (US) [yes, I know in full it's soda pop, we shortened to one word, you the other]
Chocolate bar v. candy bar
Homogenized v. whole (milk)
ATM v. ABM (or is it the other way around?) Cash point in the UK as I recall


UK terms I actually use even though they're not common used in the lexicon in Canada:

The loo
Knickers
Petrol
Bollocks
Glove box
SHED-JOO-UL v. SKED-JOOL
Spelling "organise"


This is fun...