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The other British invasion: how UK lingo conquered the US

theguardian.com

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Re: The other British invasion: how UK lingo conquered the US

#241

Post by alexjplant »

trollied wrote: post #167
hermitcrab wrote: post #165

As a Brit, I feel the cultural traffic is more from the US to the UK. But that is hardly surprising given the larger American population and outsize influence of Hollywood. Ps/ Americans, please keep saying "bummed". It is a constant source of amusement for immature Brits like myself.

I've heard a few Americans say "wanker" recently. It just doesn't sound right in their accent.

I know several people in the US who use the verb and noun forms of "wank" synonymously with "whine" (perhaps because they both have the same starting consonant sound) without realizing how vulgar it is. I've gently pointed out to them what it means in British English and none seem to care.

Re: The other British invasion: how UK lingo conquered the US

#242

Post by jimkleiber »

a_e_k wrote: post #238
jimkleiber wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love this example. I felt ick at realise but yeah, still understood it. Tyre I thought no way, that can't be tire. Kerb, wait, like curb?? And then gaol I think my tongue tied itself in knots and gave up trying to imagine what it might actually mean lol.

Archaic spelling of "jail". Read it with a soft g and a long a and it makes a little more sense. There's also the derivative "gaoler". (American here, but that's one I've come across before.)

My goodness, I never would have guessed. Thank you for sharing.

Also, if gaol can have a soft g, then so can gif? :-)

Re: The other British invasion: how UK lingo conquered the US

#243

Post by circuit10 »

Rinzler89 wrote: post #205
hermitcrab wrote: post #165

As a Brit, I feel the cultural traffic is more from the US to the UK. But that is hardly surprising given the larger American population and outsize influence of Hollywood. Ps/ Americans, please keep saying "bummed". It is a constant source of amusement for immature Brits like myself.

I'd rather Americans start using fags instead of cigarettes, aluminum instead of aluminum and kilometers per hour instead of bald eagles per freedom.

We use miles per hour in the UK though

Re: The other British invasion: how UK lingo conquered the US

#244

Post by waldothedog »

inkyoto wrote: post #108
Izkata wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A better example for why regionality matters: what does "pants" refer to?

Rubbish / nonsense / drivel / twaddle / claptrap etc. Virtually unknown outside the UK.

Rubbish, nonsense, drivel, and claptrap all recognizable to me, a Yankee. Twaddle is a new one tho!

Re: The other British invasion: how UK lingo conquered the US

#245

Post by pasabagi »

Sakos wrote: post #195
dataflow wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unfortunately my teachers were a little unreasonable about this and would still deduct points when I pointed this out... I can see the teacher's perspective here. I don't think it's unreasonable for teachers to mark this down, though I don't think your request to get back the points was unreasonable either. Communicating effectively with your particular audience (the local American audience one in this case) is arg…

In Germany, I wouldn't get marked down for using the wrong spelling, because it just didn't matter. Behavior? Behaviour? Who gives a fuck, it's all the same. It's ridiculous that these regional variations are somehow significant that it warrants points being taken away.

German spelling is ridiculously easy, whereas English spelling is quite hard. I guess the equivalent inverse would be comma use in German.

Re: The other British invasion: how UK lingo conquered the US

#246

Post by qingcharles »

hermitcrab wrote: post #165

As a Brit, I feel the cultural traffic is more from the US to the UK. But that is hardly surprising given the larger American population and outsize influence of Hollywood. Ps/ Americans, please keep saying "bummed". It is a constant source of amusement for immature Brits like myself.

Please Americans, continue to also use the word "fanny pack" especially when you are a tourist in London.

Re: The other British invasion: how UK lingo conquered the US

#247

Post by qingcharles »

circuit10 wrote: post #243
Rinzler89 wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd rather Americans start using fags instead of cigarettes, aluminum instead of aluminum and kilometers per hour instead of bald eagles per freedom.

We use miles per hour in the UK though

Whoosh!

Re: The other British invasion: how UK lingo conquered the US

#248

Post by JimTheMan »

bitwize wrote: post #111
SturgeonsLaw wrote: post #13

As an Aussie I get a kick out of seeing Australianisms get picked up in the global vernacular. No worries seems to be increasing common outside of Australia, and cooked (to describe something that's fucked up) also seems to be prolific on social media these days.

"No worries" is the main phrase I brought back from visiting Australia in 2013. "no worries m8" is a common response from me on $CORPORATE_CHAT when a coworker thanks me. The other one I use occasionally is "yonks".

If you want to take your 'fair dinkum'-ness to the next level, I offer you the equivalent phrase 'No Wokkas'

Re: The other British invasion: how UK lingo conquered the US

#249

Post by JimTheMan »

brailsafe wrote: post #26
SturgeonsLaw wrote: post #13

As an Aussie I get a kick out of seeing Australianisms get picked up in the global vernacular. No worries seems to be increasing common outside of Australia, and cooked (to describe something that's fucked up) also seems to be prolific on social media these days.

It's not occurred to me in ages that "no worries" could be Aussie in origin, thought it was just a degradation of "don't worry about it" here in Canada, or picked up from the Lion King, but we do have a ton of aussies here, at least on the West Coast, so it seems plausible enough. I guess we just don't add "mate" as commonly.

There's an amusing short story from Douglas Adams, who visited Australia back in the day where 'No worries' featured prominently.

https://douglasadams.com/dna/980707-08-a.html

"and get this, this is a very important and significant part of what happens to you on Hayman Island - staff who don't just say "No worries" when you thank them for topping up your champagne glass, they actually say "No worries at all". They truly and sincerely want you, specifically you, not just any old fat git lying around in a sun hat, but you personally, to feel that there is nothing in this best of all possible worlds that you have come to for you to concern yourself about in any way at all. Really. Really. We don't even despise you. Really. No worries at all."

Re: The other British invasion: how UK lingo conquered the US

#250

Post by JimTheMan »

twic wrote: post #101
zimpenfish wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Maybe 'mate' does too, but it always seemed like a neutral, friendly word. It can be negative, definitely, if said with the right intonation.

I think in both British and Australian English, it's what you call someone when you are a hair's breadth away from walloping them.

The word mate can be used both positively and negatively, but is predominately used positively. One of Australia's core values is 'mateship'.

You will be surprised to find that Champ is the word Aussies will use when unimpressed. For instance, "You alright there Champ?" means " You absolute idiot, what in the hell are you thinking?"

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