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Heaven: 2021 Proof Americans and Brits speak a different language

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  • Seattle's streets are a mess because the downtown was platted by three different "pioneers" and each one wanted the streets to run parallel to the shore, so they do, meaning where the plats join up, it's a mess. So "north on 2nd Ave" is truly north if you're south of Yesler, makes a partial left to kind of north-northwest between Yesler and Stewart, makes another partial left at Stewart so it's running pretty much northwest until Denny Way, when it turns and goes north again. Ending up about one mile west of your starting longitude.

    And if you want to know why you can say "Yesler" (without Way) and "Stewart" (without Street) but not plain "Denny" ("Way" is required, and there are no other Dennys), I have no idea.
  • LydaLyda Shipmate
    Back to the bog: when people need to use the facilities it's because "nature calls"
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    What exasperates me is when there is a new build and the developers decide to brand (as they doubtless think of it) every part of it. There is Buckstone in Edinburgh, where, having run through Road, Avenue, Gardens, Crescent, Bank, Loan etc they are driven to whimsies like Dell, Howe, Shaw and Crook.

    How to be universally loathed by delivery drivers.
  • And don't forget, Firenze, that very close by there is Buckstane Park,(the name of a street !)
    It took me once, when on church business, ages to locate this street. I searched all over Buckstone road,Buckstone Wynd,Buckstone Loan etc. before on another occasion finally finding where Buckstane Park is.

    One of the Catholic churches in Glasgow is dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes and the name of the street is Lourdes Avenue. The parish priest was insistent that the street name should be indicated as Lourdes Ave.
  • edited October 2019
    mousethief wrote: »
    Also in the burbs you can have a 4th avenue and a 4th court adjacent.

    When I first came up here (northern England) I was surprised by the number of 'streets'; but not only (say) 'Hope St.' but also 'Back Hope St.'. These are not usually back-alleys running between Victorian terraces, originally provided for the - ahem - night soil man's horse and cart (and which go un-named), but often full-on roads of their own. One I know well has a favourite pub on it.

    We also get 'Bury Old Road' and 'Eccles New Road' (for example), which took a long time before I stopped hearing them as odd. (In case born-and-bred northerners think I'm being snobby about coming from somewhere near the posher-sounding 'Eastern Avenue', I have to tell you that posh, it 'aint :smile: )

    On the subject of toilet euphemism, some of the civil engineers I currently work with have some ripe phrases. One which springs to mind is 'drowning food babies.'
  • In Virginia I once lived on Cherry street, the next street over was Cherry place, which was a one way street and two blocks north was South Cherry street. We prayed the place never caught on fire. Friends visiting for the first time required long driving instructions. About the same time as we were moving there were discussions on renaming the streets, that was over 50 years ago never checked to see if it was accomplished.
  • RossweisseRossweisse Hell Host, 8th Day Host, Glory
    In Kansas City, it's numbered "streets" and "terraces." I couldn't remember whether my uncle and aunt - longtime residents on W. 26th one-or-the-other - lived on the street or the terrace, so I just sent it to their house number on W. 26th. After a month, it was returned to me: too much trouble to look up, even though it was on the same postal carrier route.
  • RussRuss Deckhand, Styx
    I used to think that a "restroom" was something like the waiting room at a railway station

    Do Americans say "railway station" or "train station" ?

    I'd guess that to most Brits it's just the station.
  • Russ wrote: »
    I used to think that a "restroom" was something like the waiting room at a railway station

    Do Americans say "railway station" or "train station" ?
    Train station.

  • Russ wrote: »
    Do Americans say "railway station" or "train station" ?
    Either one, or possibly "railroad station." Simon and Garfunkel said "railway station." "Train station" doesn't scan.


  • Pigwidgeon wrote: »
    Russ wrote: »
    Do Americans say "railway station" or "train station" ?
    Either one, or possibly "railroad station." Simon and Garfunkel said "railway station." "Train station" doesn't scan.

    Of course Simon lived in England for some time, perhaps even wrote that song while he was there.
  • Paul Simon said he got the words while waiting at Widnes railway station.
  • 'Train station', unfortunately, seems to have become naturalised in the UK, at least on the media. Snappier and more up-to-date, I suppose, also fewer keys to press when typing.
  • Pigwidgeon wrote: »
    Russ wrote: »
    Do Americans say "railway station" or "train station" ?
    Either one, or possibly "railroad station." Simon and Garfunkel said "railway station." "Train station" doesn't scan.
    I don't think I ever hear "railway" except in a British context or a musical/poetic context like the example cited. The norm here (American South) is "train" or "railroad." It's pretty much always going to be "train station," but I hear "railroad tracks" as often as "train tracks," maybe more often, even.

  • An interesting twist on this is that some years ago when some American companies with 'railroad' in their names became bankrupt, they were reincorporated as a 'railway' with a name that was otherwise the same, presumably to preserve their name recognition.
  • Paul Simon said he got the words while waiting at Widnes railway station.

    When I get something right, it's likely to lose me. It's apt to confuse me.
  • RussRuss Deckhand, Styx
    ...because it's such an unusual sight ?
  • I am currently dabbling in learning crochet. The problem is that most videos on the internet are made by Americans, and their terms for stitches are offset against the English ones, so it gets very confusing.
  • Golden KeyGolden Key Shipmate, Glory
    Pendragon--

    Maybe look for a conversion table online?
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    It's not really that sort of problem imo. I've opted to go only for British patterns - admittedly in print rather than online.

    But then I think single crochet is all ye know on earth and all ye need to know.
  • HeavenlyannieHeavenlyannie Shipmate
    edited November 2019
    Pendragon wrote: »
    I am currently dabbling in learning crochet. The problem is that most videos on the internet are made by Americans, and their terms for stitches are offset against the English ones, so it gets very confusing.
    I happily use both, but it is not always obvious in the pattern which it is - it helps if there is a reference to single crochet somewhere in the pattern so I know that it is US terms (UK not using a single crochet term but double instead). But luckily most patterns tell me which it is.
    But I’ve seen US crocheters turn up on UK crochet blogs and tell the designers they have got all their stitches wrong. Presumably that happens the other way round too.
  • Golden Key wrote: »
    Pendragon--

    Maybe look for a conversion table online?
    That only works if you know which the pattern is written in, as the terminology overlaps. For instance, if the pattern only uses the stitch ‘double crochet’, this will mean a different stitch in UK and US terms but you won’t know which it is unless they’ve told you.
  • Robert ArminRobert Armin Shipmate, Glory
    There's a bit of non verbal language where America has definitely conquered. Watching a YouTube clip from the 70s I was surprised to see one man giving the Vs to another. It used to be the standard insult over here but it's a long time since I've seen it. The middle finger now rules.
  • Have you met Auntie Doris? May NSFW

    https://youtu.be/SLU4O5YqpQc
  • There's a bit of non verbal language where America has definitely conquered. Watching a YouTube clip from the 70s I was surprised to see one man giving the Vs to another. It used to be the standard insult over here but it's a long time since I've seen it. The middle finger now rules.

    "Giving the Vs"? What is this?
  • EnochEnoch Shipmate
    mousethief wrote: »
    "Giving the Vs"? What is this?
    In Britain, you must never, ever, hold up your fore and middle finger, to someone so that they see a V and the back of your hand. It is extremely rude. The gesture is usually given with the right hand. It is always done with the back of the hand towards them. It's often accompanied by a flick of the wrist, so as to convey a stronger sense of dismissal.

    Don't do it.
  • BroJamesBroJames Purgatory Host
    All you ever wanted to know about the V-sign
  • BroJames wrote: »
    All you ever wanted to know about the V-sign

    Boy is that encyclopedic.

    I have never heard of the palm-inwards variety and unless it's regional I doubt an American without friends in the Commonwealth would know it was insulting.
  • ECraigR wrote: »
    The “of” serves to indicate possession of whatever the object is that’s being taken off the person, I think. It’s superfluous since the mere act of removal indicates possession, but makes a certain degree of linguistic sense.

    One that bugs me is coupons that offer "X% off on your purchase..." I can see how that happens, but it's much simpler to leave out the "on," I think. Happily, it's not that common.
    Rossweisse wrote: »
    Eirenist wrote: »
    The current equivalent of 'bon appetit' (good appetite) in popular British eateries at the moment seems to be 'There you go!' (where?), or, in slightly more upmarket places 'Enjoy!' (I'm not sure if this is intended as a command.) Is there a North American version?
    Those, and "Does everything look delicious?" I can't quite bring myself to respond.

    There's also "Here you go," as well as "here/there you are."
    Eirenist wrote: »
    'Train station', unfortunately, seems to have become naturalised in the UK, at least on the media. Snappier and more up-to-date, I suppose, also fewer keys to press when typing.

    What's unfortunate about that?

    Around here (Detroit), we have a famous train station (as most of us call it) that's famous for having been empty (not quite abandoned - someone always owned it) for over 25 years: the Michigan Central Station, which is the name I've heard and seen most often. But it's also often called the Michigan Central Depot, and sometimes the word "Train" gets inserted before "Station" or "Depot." Anyone into urbex should know this station; but it was recently purchased by the Ford Motor Co., which is renovating it and will use it for office space for its technology (e.g., driverless cars) department, rent out some office space, and have retail on the ground floor, which will be open to the public. Yay!

    ("Michigan Central" was the name of the major rail line that ran through the station, and both were originally owned by the same company as New York's Central Station. There had been another rail company with a depot downtown Detroit as well, and the rail line still exists, and might be used by Amtrack. That station was called the Union Depot, or the Detroit Union Depot, or the Fort Street Union Depot, and its rail line was, not surprisingly, the Union line. I suspect people started calling Michigan Central "Depot" due to confusion between the two stations.)
  • I know about "giving the V's" mainly from watching various late 70's punk rock footage and documentaries.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Or by watching show jumping.
  • Soon after he became PM in 1940 Churchill was spotted giving the (he thought) V-for-Victory sign palm inwards: it had to be explained to him this was not what he thought ....
  • Robert ArminRobert Armin Shipmate, Glory
    The Vs were very common, but I haven't seen them for ages now. Is this just me, or have they disappeared?
  • The Ancient British version of 'train station' is 'railway station'. As in these immortal lines, composed by a local bard, for the opening of the railway on the Isle of Wight:

    'Ah, hark! I hear a whistle shrill,
    And lo! a puff of steam,
    All over hedge, and under hill.
    What? Am I in a dream?
    Visitors to Shanklin well may stare,
    With awe and admiration,
    When they behold a railway there,
    And even railway station!'
  • My paternal grandfather, a former railway man, used to sit me on his knee and bounce me to the tune of:

    Down by the station, early in the morning,
    See the little puffer trains, all in a row.
    Toot, toot, puff, puff,
    And away they go!
  • The Vs were very common, but I haven't seen them for ages now. Is this just me, or have they disappeared?

    I think they have probably been replaced by a verbal "**** you"!
  • I posted this in the "Tidal Wave" thread in Purgatory:
    Pigwidgeon wrote: »
  • Sparrow wrote: »
    The Vs were very common, but I haven't seen them for ages now. Is this just me, or have they disappeared?

    I think they have probably been replaced by a verbal "**** you"!

    Very true. Growing up the V sign was introduced to me as taboo before the middle finger and by 16 they were used equally. I think most British teens would know what you meant by the V but younger kids wouldn’t.

    But it’s also like the term “fag”. When I was at school it meant a ciggie/cigarette & the first time I came across it in any other sense was in an episode of Dawson’s Creek! I was very confused at the time.

    Now no one under 30 at most would call a cig a fag & the US usage is far more prevalent. So if an older Brit calls you a “fag butt” it ain’t homophobic - they are just saying you are rubbish!
  • A colleague from England, who had recently stopped smoking, went into a bar in Yuma, Arizona, and announced that he was dying for a fag. The place went very quiet.
  • Sparrow wrote: »
    The Vs were very common, but I haven't seen them for ages now. Is this just me, or have they disappeared?

    I think they have probably been replaced by a verbal "**** you"!

    Very true. Growing up the V sign was introduced to me as taboo before the middle finger and by 16 they were used equally. I think most British teens would know what you meant by the V but younger kids wouldn’t.

    But it’s also like the term “fag”. When I was at school it meant a ciggie/cigarette & the first time I came across it in any other sense was in an episode of Dawson’s Creek! I was very confused at the time.

    Now no one under 30 at most would call a cig a fag & the US usage is far more prevalent. So if an older Brit calls you a “fag butt” it ain’t homophobic - they are just saying you are rubbish!

    Really? I'd not noticed. Granted I'm a bit (cough) older than 50 but I thought fag was still the standard slang for cigarette.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Is 'fagged' meaning 'tired' still afloat? In this house we still cherish the term from old newspaper ads for tonics that claimed to cure 'brain fag'. (Wish they were still available).

    'Fag end of...' Think that's still current?
  • The V-sign is not just the two fingers, though. The end of the thumb should be visible between them. That, I think, disposes of the myth that links the sign to a French threat at Agincourt to cut off the bow-string finngers of longbowmen.
  • Robert ArminRobert Armin Shipmate, Glory
    That's something I haven't come across Eirenist. It sounds like another old insult where the end of the thumb protrudes between the third and fourth fingers. It suggests that the recipient has tiny genitals.

    (And why can I remember unnecessary rubbish like this, when I cant remember why I went upstairs?)
  • And when I was growing up a fag was also a younger boy at school who lost a race so had to run an errand for an older boy.
  • Golden KeyGolden Key Shipmate, Glory
    Just never, ever say "fag" in the US, or among Americans online.
  • Golden Key wrote: »
    Just never, ever say "fag" in the US, or among Americans online.

    It gets worse. Bumming in UK slang can mean begging. Hence

    "Can I bum a fag off you?"
  • KarlLB wrote: »
    Golden Key wrote: »
    Just never, ever say "fag" in the US, or among Americans online.

    It gets worse. Bumming in UK slang can mean begging. Hence

    "Can I bum a fag off you?"

    We use "bum" that way in the US, too. I heard it a lot more in the 80s than I do now, but I think it's still relatively current.
  • The only ways I've used "bum" have been "get" (can I get something from you), "bottom" (and then only because I hang out with you all and have picked up British slang), and a homeless person. I've never heard "bum" used for any other meaning, actually.
  • LeafLeaf Shipmate
    mousethief wrote: »
    The only ways I've used "bum" have been "get" (can I get something from you), "bottom" (and then only because I hang out with you all and have picked up British slang), and a homeless person. I've never heard "bum" used for any other meaning, actually.
    What about in the sense of "depressing"?
    "I'm bummed about x" or, on hearing disappointing news, "Oh, [that's a] bummer"


  • Leaf wrote: »
    mousethief wrote: »
    The only ways I've used "bum" have been "get" (can I get something from you), "bottom" (and then only because I hang out with you all and have picked up British slang), and a homeless person. I've never heard "bum" used for any other meaning, actually.
    What about in the sense of "depressing"?
    "I'm bummed about x" or, on hearing disappointing news, "Oh, [that's a] bummer"

    Good call. The verb there uses "out" as in "I didn't get the scholarship. That really bums me out."
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