"Separated by a common language"? Tabloid claims British English invading America

[Shelby2]

My husband is from Manchester, England and uses all of those. He also occasionally needs a 'kip' when he's tired (nap), says 'summit' instead of 'something', 'nowt' instead of nothing. Also things like "I thought I gave it you back" instead of "to you". 'pissed' means drunk, not mad, and 'taking the piss' means going to far with something.("Well now you're just taking the piss"). The funniest thing is he says they think our way of speaking is invading them, and he would cringe when his teenagers said 'awesome'.
Also, 'thank you' is 'cheers' or 'ta', 'goodbye' is also 'cheers'-though he usually says "cheers-bye" like it is one word.

 

[Shelby2]

LOL he is shocked by this article and insists it is the other way around-people are saying 'guys' instead of 'blokes' haha he's still talking to himself in there about it!

 

[Nova]

I've heard the diminutive form - "ginge" - used dismissively, which I suspect betrays an anti-Irish bias.

My family was always adamant that we were Scots (i.e., Protestants) NOT Irish, but they drew the line at ethnic slurs. LOL.

 

[Saturn]

Perhaps us Brits could post a few sayings that we believe to be totally British, and let our American friends crowbar them into their daily lives to impress their friends and colleagues.

Here's one for starters...

I like the cut of your jib

ie I like your style, normally agreeing with their comments or way of thinking. Old naval term relating to a ships sail.

As for local accents, you wouldn't believe it, our whole country is the size of one or two of your states, but even we have a problem understanding someone from 40 miles away.

 

[Saturn]

One quick question, on our bottles of detergent for dishes, are the words Washing Up Liquid, what do you have on the American bottles?

Also would you take Washing Up Liquid to be shower gel?

 

[Linda7NJ]

One quick question, on our bottles of detergent for dishes, are the words Washing Up Liquid, what do you have on the American bottles?

Also would you take Washing Up Liquid to be shower gel?

Dish soap? Lol I'm going to have to look to be sure but that's what I call it

 

[Shelby2]

I call it dish soap, my husband calls it 'washing up liquid'. He also says "clean my teeth" instead of "brush my teeth", and aluminum foil is just called "aluminIum"

 

[Shelby2]

One quick question, on our bottles of detergent for dishes, are the words Washing Up Liquid, what do you have on the American bottles?

Also would you take Washing Up Liquid to be shower gel?

My bottle says 'dish washing liquid'.

 

[wfgodot]

Sunday Mail has re-branded its initial article - new lede, two graphs, different headline, same basic info:

The British are coming! How 'English' common sayings are crossing the Atlantic and conquering American conversation

 

[wfgodot]

Remembered another....

English: dust bin
American: trash can

(Any fan of the Sex Pistols should know this one; in their great 'God Save the Queen,' one of the most memorable images of pop music occurs: "We're the flowers in your dust bin.")

Another, though this doesn't crop up in conversation (unless you're an English teacher like me): the Oxford comma

 

[Nova]

Perhaps us Brits could post a few sayings that we believe to be totally British, and let our American friends crowbar them into their daily lives to impress their friends and colleagues.

Here's one for starters...

I like the cut of your jib

ie I like your style, normally agreeing with their comments or way of thinking. Old naval term relating to a ships sail.

As for local accents, you wouldn't believe it, our whole country is the size of one or two of your states, but even we have a problem understanding someone from 40 miles away.

Saturn, I have heard "the cut of your jib" in a few plays and movies. At the moment I can't be sure whether the pieces were British or American. If the latter, the usage would be considered very "hoity-toity" and perhaps archaic. I doubt many Americans could tell you what a jib is, much less how one is "cut".

 

[wfgodot]

Just saw this one on the London24 site:

The Met Police are keen to hear from anybody in and around the surrounding area who may have seen somebody acting suspiciously.

 

[Quiche]

Diapers, nappies.

Panties, knickers.

My mind is obviously in the dust bin. :giggle:

Oh, and wank.

 

[wfgodot]

I think the only English term that ever threw me was the (now archaic though one sees it occasionally in one of the lesser tabloids, I understand) spelling for "jail":

G-a-o-l.

Yikes.

 

[wfgodot]

Oh, and wank.

I do admit to using freely the term "w a n k e r" when referring to persons not to my liking.

And wow, WS does actually censor it!

 

[Betty P]

From one of the links above, a Cockney cash machine (ATM)

http://www.cockneyrhymingslang.co.uk/blog/post/cockney-cash-machine-song.aspx

While I use a few British terms (bit, ******, bin) I doubt I could ever master rhyming slang. It's funny, though.

 

[Shelby2]

Broom=brush
Ran=legged it
Dumpster=skip

 

[Marie]

One quick question, on our bottles of detergent for dishes, are the words Washing Up Liquid, what do you have on the American bottles?

Also would you take Washing Up Liquid to be shower gel?

Saturn, our dish soap says "Dish Washing Liquid" or "Liquid Dish Soap".

"Liquid Hand Soap" for hand cleaning gel.

Shower gel is just shower gel Sometimes it's 'Bath and Shower Gel.'

We simply say 'wash dishes', leaving out the Up part; ie "After dinner please wash the dishes." Mostly we say "Do the dishes" rather than "wash the dishes."

"Washing up" phrase is only used to refer to the action of cleaning oneself. "Wash up before you go back outside to play" would mean to wash your hands, and perhaps check that your face and clothes are clean and your hair combed.

I just remembered a phrase I picked up from the kids tv show Teletubbies 12+ years ago. It's "tidy up." My kids were young and loved the show and I just started using that phrase because they knew what it meant from the show. To this day I still say, "Okay, it's time to tidy up. Let's get this room clean!"

 

[legalmania]

My roommate had a friend over from England and when we were at the gas station he asked the attendant if he could check under his bonnet. Of course the guy didn't know what he was talking about. A bonnet is a hood where he was from. Here is a vocabulary of a few more words.

http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/british-american.htm

 

[Linda7NJ]

I call it dish soap, my husband calls it 'washing up liquid'. He also says "clean my teeth" instead of "brush my teeth", and aluminum foil is just called "aluminIum"

I call it tin foil


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