English variants that cause confusion by Eloisa

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English variants that cause confusion

POSTED BY: ELOISA
UPDATED: Monday, October 9, 2006 01:31
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Wednesday, September 20, 2006 12:41 PM

Following an exchange on Phoenixrose's lovely grammar thread, it seems that a note of odd differences between UK, US and potentially other (Australian?) varieties of English could be very useful round here, simply in terms of making some of what we read in people's fan fiction more comprehensible. Most people are familiar with various words being spelt differently in different areas - one possible exception being spelt, burnt etc, which are past continuous variants in British English that I've known to confuse Americans - but what is less clear in many cases is when words or phrases mean different things in different areas or are completely country-dependent. As a result I'm starting this thread.

I invite all of you to participate as much as you would like. I'm going to start the ball rolling with a few examples, some of which you will know and others you (hopefully) may not.

***

The one that caused so much confusion on the other thread was quite, which is used in the UK in, as I understand, the same way that "rather" is used in US (and UK) English - its standard definition is slightly but in an ironic sense it can also mean surprisingly greatly and extremely, the latter being closer to the US usage. As this is dependent upon tone of voice, it is something that will come across very badly in internet fiction, but also fails to work in other contexts. I was slightly aggrieved when my sister's American boyfriend first told me my cooking is "quite good", for instance, as his tone of voice had indicated "so-so" instead of "very good", which is what he'd meant.

In the UK, to knock someone up means to wake them up, whereas in the US it means to make them pregnant.

In the UK, a pound sign is £, our currency symbol. I understand that in the US it can mean #.

To be pissed in the UK is to be drunk, although it can be used in the US sense of being angry.

UK braces, as well as things that children wear on their teeth to straighten them, are US suspenders.
UK suspenders are US garter belts.
UK breeches are US knickers.
UK knickers are US panties.
This combination causes hilarity at fencing sessions when US gentlemen are heard to refer to the state of the suspenders on their knickers.

On the radio earlier, I heard a south-eastern Briton use shocking to mean good. This is not a common usage at present; shocking normally means bad.

The wonderful old chestnut, familiar to all readesr of Bill Bryson:

A flan in the UK is a tart in the US (though tart is used in the same way in the UK too).
A tart in the UK is a tramp in the US.
A tramp in the UK is a bum in the US.
A bum in the UK is a fanny in the US.
A fanny in the UK is "the place where God split her" in H. Washburne-speak.

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Wednesday, September 20, 2006 1:07 PM

EMMARIGBY

All good (and funny!) points to consider. I'm fairly good at converting to Britspeak in my head but I always get thrown by a reference to pants.

Yes, I know that in the US pants are trousers. Unfortunately my subconcious doesn't. I therefore recently read a story where Simon was leaning against a bulkhead in slightly rumpled pants and WHam! There was that image of him in Y fronts that just wouldn't be dislodged. I had to go and have a lie down!

I know it's silly (especieally since Sean has recently confessed to being a boxers or nothing kind of guy!) but it's one language difference I just can't get over!

___________________

Hissssssssss!

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Wednesday, September 20, 2006 1:11 PM

FUTUREMRSFILLION

Well

Try explaining to the newly arrived in the UK American parish Priest why your 4 year old needs a flask (US thermos) and a rubber(US eraser) for school.

edited to add

UK US
footpath sidewalk
motorway highway or interstate
junction highway exit
crisp chip
bisquit cookie
scone bisquit
crumpet english muffin
lift elavator
push chair stroller
child minder babysitter (my UK friend
said "we don't sit on babies
here")
dole (spelling?) welfare
lorry truck
jacket potato baked potato

----
Bestower of Titles, Designer of Tshirts, Maker of Mottos, Keeper of the Pyre

I am on The List. We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

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Wednesday, September 20, 2006 1:29 PM

JESUIT

I'm English and I think I speak far too much American now...

Quote:
Originally posted by Eloisa:
A bum in the UK is a fanny in the US.
A fanny in the UK is "the place where God split her" in H. Washburne-speak.

That reminds me of The Office (UK)

[On hearing Dawn's going to America and advises she keeps travellers cheque in a bumbag]
Keith: Word of warning...Out there...they call them 'fanny packs'......'Cause a fanny means your arse over there.........not your minge."

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Wednesday, September 20, 2006 1:59 PM

ELOISA

Sean.... *melts into a puddle*

FMF, I get the reference to a "rubber" (condom), but what does the word "flask" mean in US English?

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Wednesday, September 20, 2006 2:20 PM

RMMC

And speaking of posteriors...

UK= Arse ,, US= Ass
UK= Ass '' US= Donkey
UK= Tube '' US= Subway
UK= Subway ''US= Underground walkway
UK= Carpark '' US= Parking lot
UK= Zebra crossing ,, US= Crosswalk
UK= Bird {slang} ,, US chick {slang} (Sland use in reference to a girl or young woman not the creatures with feathers

)
UK pronunciation for last letter of alphabet is "Zed."
US Pronunciation for last letter of alphabet is "Zee."
UK spelling is "realise." ,, US spelling is "realize."
UK spelling for : colour ,, US spelling for : color
see also: Favour/favor, flavour/flavor, honour/honor, etc.
UK spelling for aluminium (pronounced al-u-MIN-e-um);; US spelling for aluminum ( pronounced ah-lum-in-um)

This is what I'm remembering right now...except for:
Rude gesture.... UK peace sign turned around (ie: back of hand facing in fist towards recipient, first and middle fingers extended)
Rude gesture (aka: "the bird").... US fist, except for middle digit which is extended up, back of hand facing recipient.

Yep, that's it for now.

*******
RMMC

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Wednesday, September 20, 2006 2:20 PM

FUTUREMRSFILLION

We call it a thermos. A flask to us you put a little brandy or such in and carry in your pocket.

Oh and one time when I first got to the UK, I went into a shop in the high street and asked for a fanny pack.

edit - RMMC you forgot one! Pelican crossing or Pedestiran Lighted Zebra crossing. We don't have those here. Just WALK signs that make an annoying noise :)

Could not understand the look I was getting!

And to all the US peeps, the C word was used a lot by my british friends until I explained it meant fanny to us.

----
Bestower of Titles, Designer of Tshirts, Maker of Mottos, Keeper of the Pyre

I am on The List. We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

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Wednesday, September 20, 2006 2:35 PM

RMMC

Quote:
Originally posted by FutureMrsFIllion:
edit - RMMC you forgot one! Pelican crossing or Pedestiran Lighted Zebra crossing. We don't have those here. Just WALK signs that make an annoying noise :)

I hadn't seen nor heard those when I've been there, but then I was last in England 12 years ago.

I think I'm kinda happy I hadn't heard those things, from the sounds of it. *giggle*

There are more, but they're rather rude language, and I was trying to keep it on the somewhat cleaner side of life. Yeah, it's a first, what can I say?

EDIT I just remembered, thanks to reviewing your post

UK Chemist ;; US Pharmacist/Pharmacy/Drug Store
UK High Street ;; US Main Street

********
RMMC

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Wednesday, September 20, 2006 10:14 PM

PHOENIXROSE

You think you know--what's to come, what you are. You haven't even begun.

Wow, I didn't know a lot of these.
Here's some I do know, though:

A "fringe" in the UK is "bangs" in the US (to us a 'fringe' might be the bits of thread sticking out around a pillow or curtains, or a dress or jacket)
A "bun" in the UK is a "donut" in the US. (At least I'm pretty sure.)
A "queue" in the UK is a "line" in the US.

That's all I can remember.

Hey, here's a nifty site I just found:
http://english2american.com/dictionary/wholelot.html
Might make things easier. Trying to find a similar site for American to English.
Here's a quick one that's not all that in-depth: http://www.relojournal.com/apr96/gloss.htm

http://www.bigdamnthankyou.com - show Universal your gratitude!

The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows. - Gautama Siddharta

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Thursday, September 21, 2006 12:38 AM

JESUIT

UK Doughnut for US donut

UK fit for US hot (sexy, but we use both)

If we go on accents next rather than standard English, we get a whole lot more...

My Geordie dialect (which I never use):

netty/bog for toilet
toon for town
lashed/mortalled for drunk
I'm not an expert so that's the most I can think of before my brain starts hurting.

Not a spelling difference but Lieutenant is pronounced Left-tennant in UK.

But I think the English are getting Americanised with TV...no more US shows!...

Oh wait... No more US shows except for Firefly!... And more Badger!

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Thursday, September 21, 2006 2:50 AM

ELOISA

PR, a "bun" in the UK is a generic term for a small cake (muffin in the US?) or petit four or scone. It might be used for a non-ring doughnut but this would be less likely. Incidentally, "bang" is used in the UK as a slang term for sexual activity.

FMF, "flask" in the US sense is "hip flask" here.

I found another site! http://www.effingpot.com.

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Thursday, September 21, 2006 3:26 AM

PHOENIXROSE

You think you know--what's to come, what you are. You haven't even begun.

Ah, ok, I knew it was some form of pastry. It's not a pastry, here. It's plain bread, like a hamburger bun and the like.
We've been known to use 'bang' in that way as well.

http://www.bigdamnthankyou.com - show Universal your gratitude!

The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows. - Gautama Siddharta

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Thursday, September 21, 2006 3:30 AM

PENGUIN

Someday maybe the British will learn how to speak English the right way!

King of the Mythical Land that is Iowa

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Thursday, September 21, 2006 3:51 AM

FINN MAC CUMHAL

Note:

> In the UK, a pound sign is £, our currency symbol. I understand that in the US it can mean #.

The pound sign used for GBP is non-existent in the US. So there is unlikely to be any confusion between # and £, except that not all Americans will immediately understand that £ is a unit for British currency and a few might not immediately understand that a “pound” or “pound sterling” is a British currency.

> UK breeches are US knickers.

Neither the term breeches nor knickers is in wide use in common American English. (Except among various grampas and grammas.)

> A tramp in the UK is a bum in the US.

Both tramp and bum are used interchangeable in the US to mean some sort of destitute vagrant. And while bum is likely to be interpreted as a tramp, it has recently gained fairly wide acceptance as also meaning buttocks.

The term fanny means buttocks in the US.

I just remember that there is another meaning for fanny in British English. I had forgotten about that.

Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum.

Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system.

-- Cicero

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Thursday, September 21, 2006 4:44 AM

JESUIT

Quote:
Originally posted by Penguin:
Someday maybe the British will learn how to speak English the right way!

Bah! [Insert lecture about how we invented the language along with everything else]

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Thursday, September 21, 2006 3:49 PM

RMMC

Quote:
Originally posted by Penguin:
Someday maybe the British will learn how to speak English the right way!

Pssst! Penguin.

Dunno how ta tell you, but the reason for the different spelling and pronunciation for aluminum/aluminium was a spelling error in an early American dictionary.

*****
RMMC

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Friday, October 6, 2006 11:46 PM

NICODEMUS

Other items of clothing that have different meanings across the pond.

Skivvy/Skivvies: in the US, I belive this is reffering to underwear, whereas in australia (and possible the UK), it's a thickish garment similar to a long-sleeved tshirt.

Thong(s): what we in australia call thongs, are called shower shoes or flip-flops in the US, as the american definition of a thong is an item of underwear.

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

If you find yourself getting too worked up about stuff that isn't real (RP Threads etc), then go outside, breathe in some fresh air and try feeding the ducks. (Because ducks don't care about your politics, religion, skin colour, choice of music or even your haircut. They like everyone, provided you bring them food.)

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Saturday, October 7, 2006 12:44 AM

GLADIATOR32

In the cultural hole that is Essex (UK), we have a lovely dialect. For example:

Diamond - a positive remark about someone - "He's a diamond geezer"

Geezer/geez - chap, bloke, man

Fella - chap, bloke, man

Innit - don't know if you have this in the US, but in the UK (especially Essex) is a shortened Isn't it - "It's minging, innit"

Minger/Minging - ugly, foul, disgusting

Bovvered - not bothered about somehting

That's all I can think of for now.

www.myspace.com/32dan32

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Saturday, October 7, 2006 12:52 AM

GLADIATOR32

Oh, another one that I've been noticing in south Essex:

A bit - very, exeptionally - "it's a bit good"

www.myspace.com/32dan32

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Saturday, October 7, 2006 1:35 AM

WASHSYOUNGERSEXIERBR

Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges

Okay Im from YORKSHIRE so we have a strong accent that i shall fill you all in on:
aye= yes
badly= not in a good state of health, i.e.'How's Martha?', 'She's badly.'
bairn= child
butty= sandwich
cack-handed =left-handed, clumsy
faffing= messing about
jammy= very lucky
jiggered= very tired
manky= not nice, unpleasant
ta= thanks
tarra= bye
tek= take
thee, tha= you
thissen= yourself

www.myspace.com/didxl
sexier.younger.brother@hotmail.co.uk

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Saturday, October 7, 2006 4:07 AM

KILYTH

Quote:
Originally posted by RMMC:
Quote:
Originally posted by Penguin:
Someday maybe the British will learn how to speak English the right way!

Pssst! Penguin.

Dunno how ta tell you, but the reason for the different spelling and pronunciation for aluminum/aluminium was a spelling error in an early American dictionary.

Actually it wasn't. It's because the discoverer called aluminium first, then decided to change it to aluminum. Europeans kept the -ium ending cos it fits in better with plutonium, uranium and all the other -ium elements.

[/delurk]

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Saturday, October 7, 2006 4:16 AM

PHOENIXROSE

You think you know--what's to come, what you are. You haven't even begun.

Quote:
Originally posted by Gladiator32:
Oh, another one that I've been noticing in south Essex:
A bit - very, exeptionally - "it's a bit good"

I use 'a bit' to mean, well, a bit. A little. A piece. A bit. Weird.

Also, we use 'geezer' to mean an old man.

http://www.bigdamnthankyou.com - show Universal your gratitude!

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow in sunlight. - Gautama Siddharta

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Saturday, October 7, 2006 6:03 AM

KELAI

What most people find odd about me is my ways of spelling -- though I am American, I spell everything the English way [i.e. color//colour].

Also, I use the metric system, which they use all over the world except US... Kinds standard is dumb, metric much easier!

---

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Saturday, October 7, 2006 9:15 PM

GLADIATOR32

Quote:
Originally posted by PhoenixRose:
Quote:
Originally posted by Gladiator32:
Oh, another one that I've been noticing in south Essex:
A bit - very, exeptionally - "it's a bit good"

I use 'a bit' to mean, well, a bit. A little. A piece. A bit. Weird.

Also, we use 'geezer' to mean an old man.

http://www.bigdamnthankyou.com - show Universal your gratitude!

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow in sunlight. - Gautama Siddharta

Most people use a bit in the usual sense, but then along come the Southend-on-Sea types to confuse everyone else!

Got another for you all:

Chav - term for a young 'un usually from London/Essex; wears Burberry and/or shell suits, but ALWAYS with a baseball cap with a hood over it; drives shoddy, clapped out Corsa's, 205's or Escort's with ground-shaking sound systems, fancy rims and custom rear lights; hangs around outside McDonalds chewing gum, smoking, spitting on the floor and pathetically trying to intimidate folks. Female Chavs like to have their hair in a 'Croydon Facelift' (hair tied into a pony tale at the top of the head, with the hair pulled as TIGHT as possible); male Chavs like to hang around with underage (usually 12 or 13 yo) girls, thinking they're "Playa's".

You probably got 'em the world over, but that's Chavs from my neck of the woods. If anyone ever calls you a Chav, be insulted. VERY insulted.

www.myspace.com/32dan32

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Sunday, October 8, 2006 1:31 AM

PHOENIXROSE

You think you know--what's to come, what you are. You haven't even begun.

All right, not that we need a huge debate going in this thread, but I have to defend my system of measurement, since I'm tired of how many people talk about its cons without talking about any of its pros.
One of its pros is that the words are shorter and easier to say. Stupid? Maybe. But the words flow better, I think. "Going the extra mile" sounds so much better than "going the extra kil-o-met-er". "Inch by inch" likewaise sounds better than, uh, "centimenter by centimeter."
This brings up another thing; the inch. I love the inch. It's a simple, easy measurment, easier to say than "two and a half centimeters". I like the inch. I also like the foot. The foot has no easy equivelent in metrics. I think it's thiry centimenters or somesuch. Ugh.
Anyway, I like my height being "five feet and six inches (or even 'five and a half feet') rather than "one and a half meters" or (more specifically) "one meter and seventy centimeters."
Sure the metric system is based on tens. I get how that makes some mathmatical sense. But in terms of actually measuring stuff and being able to easily say how long or tall or whatever things are, the US system is the best.
And there was a whole article in Discover a few months ago that talked about Celsius and Fahrenheit and how Fahrenheit was able to communicate what it felt like a lot better. I believe it said that there's a big difference in the feel of 74 degrees and 75 degrees Fahrenheit, but they're both the same degree Celsius.
So I like our systems of measurement, thank you very much.

Thread jacking over. We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

http://www.bigdamnthankyou.com - show Universal your gratitude!

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow in sunlight. - Gautama Siddharta

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Sunday, October 8, 2006 6:50 PM

KELAI

Quote:
I love the inch. It's a simple, easy measurment, easier to say than "two and a half centimeters".

In the metric system, you dont use a 'half' YOu would say 2.5 -- all in decimals, in tens.

---

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Sunday, October 8, 2006 6:51 PM

KELAI

Quote:
I love the inch. It's a simple, easy measurment, easier to say than "two and a half centimeters".

In the metric system, you dont use a 'half' YOu would say 2.5 -- all in decimals, in tens.

---

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Monday, October 9, 2006 1:31 AM

GLADIATOR32

Most folks I know use both the imperial AND metric systems, depanding on the situations. For example, all the road signs in Blighty are MPH, and a recent move to change them all to KPH was chucked out. All speedometers here have the imperial as the primary measurement. Most weather forecasts use Celcius as the main temperature measurement, but MPH for wind speeds. We just seem to use whichever system best fits what you are trying to do/say/measure.

www.myspace.com/32dan32

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