Britishisms

[BigNick]

According to this article, a number of British English words and expressions are entering US usage. (A lot of Brits think the traffic is all the other way.)

How many of these do you recognise/know/use? Any others?

 

[kumquat]

I never realized they were British. I recognize about 20 as being common since my youth. But, I live in Canada, so YMMV.

 

[FIREd]

I must be watching too much BBC America because I am familiar with most of them.

 

[W2R]

All but three of the thirty are terms that I have been familiar with for ages. And, I don't watch BBC.

Some of these terms have never been exclusively British. For example, I was taught "Autumn" and "Fall" as synonyms in elementary school back in the 1950's. I preferred "Autumn" since it had no secondary meaning.

 

[Amethyst]

I remember being small and hearing my older sister use "Bloody" at home because she'd heard some British rock group using it, and our Irish mother chastising her for using such shocking language. I took it to heart, and still shudder when I hear someone say something is "bloody" this or that.

Amethyst

 

[Alan]

I can't say that I have particularly noticed any of those terms being used by Texans where we live.

On this site last year I mentioned my understanding of the word muppet, and not many folks here had the same interpretation. Interesting to see that it is now listed as a Britishism being used by Americans.

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f38/my-dh-has-prostate-cancer-53678-11.html#post1035247

Muppet, n. A stupid person; from the name for the puppets used in the TV programme The Muppet Show. "I am a Brit living in Idaho. One of the biggest Britishisms I see, and have helped perpetuate, is the term 'muppets' to refer to brainless individuals. I love this term as it conjures images of the loveable Muppets but in reference to a person it definitely conveys a lack of intelligence or substandard education. In this state there are plenty of 'muppets'." George Hemmings, Idaho, US

 

[brewer12345]

Can any British people help on a word meaning? "Lights." I have a Maltese recipe for rabbit that mentions sauteing the rabbit along with its liver and "lights." Kidneys?

 

[Alan]

Can any British people help on a word meaning? "Lights." I have a Maltese recipe for rabbit that mentions sauteing the rabbit along with its liver and "lights." Kidneys?

Sorry Brewer, I've not heard of that one.

 

[Alan]

Sounds like it might be the lungs and liver.

http://unclestinky.wordpress.com/2008/04/19/recipes-liver-mush-hog-lights-stew/

HOG LIGHTS STEW
(“lights” are the lungs and the liver of a pig, cooked together)

• 1 set of hog lights
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 toes garlic, chopped
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• Flour

Chop your lights up into bite-size pieces. Fry down in a heavy pot with the onion and garlic till it is brown. Add water to cover, salt and pepper, and stew till tender. If it’s not thick enough for you, use a little flour to make it thicker. Spoon that over rice and some Scratch Backs* on the side, and you’re fixed.

 

[brewer12345]

ewwww...

I will not be doing that. I generally like British food (I am even a devoted fan of marmite), but I draw the line at offal.

 

[Alan]

It looks like "lights" means lungs.

Offal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In some parts of Europe, scrotum, brain, chitterlings (pig's small intestine), trotters (feet), heart, head (of pigs, calves, sheep and lamb), kidney, liver, spleen, "lights" (lung), sweetbreads (thymus or pancreas), fries (testicles), tongue, snout (nose), tripe (reticulum) and maws (stomach) from various mammals are common menu items.

 

[Alan]

ewwww...

I will not be doing that. I generally like British food (I am even a devoted fan of marmite), but I draw the line at offal.

We ate offal growing up but never lungs or brains.

You are safe with marmite as it is made from brewer's yeast, or the waste product from brewing, IIRC

 

[Major Tom]

On this site last year I mentioned my understanding of the word muppet, and not many folks here had the same interpretation. Interesting to see that it is now listed as a Britishism being used by Americans.

I have never heard an American use the word muppet in that way either.

I've been watching quite a few period dramas recently, mostly set in England in the late 1800's/early 1900's and think it would be perfectly ripping if we still used words like "bounder" and "beastly".

 

[braumeister]

Just a difference in outlook. I've always thought it was offal good.

My favorite offal is heart (beef or chicken), but chicken gizzards is also a favorite snack around my house. Liver and onions or bacon has also always been a treat. Kidneys are very good as well. Does tongue count? That's a delicacy in my book.

 

[Alan]

I've been watching quite a few period dramas recently, mostly set in England in the late 1800's/early 1900's and think it would be perfectly ripping if we still used words like "bounder" and "beastly".

I also like "getting my dander up", as in the first minute of this clip from Fawlty Towers

Fawlty Towers S02E06 - Basil the Rat - Part 3 of 3 (END OF FAWLTY TOWERS) - YouTube

 

[BigNick]

My favorite offal is heart (beef or chicken), but chicken gizzards is also a favorite snack around my house.

Gizzards (gésiers) are a delicacy in France. You'll often find a salade de gésiers on the menu in the South-West, with small pieces of rich, dark-red meatiness. Until you find out what they are, they taste delicious!

 

[W2R]

I've been watching quite a few period dramas recently, mostly set in England in the late 1800's/early 1900's and think it would be perfectly ripping if we still used words like "bounder" and "beastly".

You never think of the dregs of match.com and the like as bounders or cads? I sure do when I hear tales of what they do sometimes.

And the word "beastly " comes to mind when trying to describe New Orleans' weather in August.

 

[Major Tom]

I also like "getting my dander up", as in the first minute of this clip from Fawlty Towers

"Would you care for a rat?"

 

[Major Tom]

You never think of the dregs of match.com and the like as bounders or cads? I sure do when I hear tales of what they do sometimes.

And the word "beastly " comes to mind when trying to describe New Orleans' weather in August.

Your beastly summer weather would make me wilt W2R, but it doesn't stop me from wanting to visit sometime.

Caddish behavior is alive and well, sad to say. We just have slightly more graphic terms to describe the perpetrators of such rotten deeds these days.

 

[JakeBrake]

Back in the day attending USMC radio school, we were taught to never use the word "repeat" while talking on the radio. We were taught to say "say again your last."

We were taught that to the British (including Australians, Canadians, or anyone else in the English-speaking British Empire military, "repeat" meant to repeat an artillery barrage.

 

[Meadbh]

Since we have wandered into the kitchen, pop over to YouTube and search for "Supersizers". It's a BBC series in which a food critic and a comedian spend a week dressing up and eating the diet of historical eras in British history (with a few exceptions such as Ancient Rome and the French Revolution). Each hour long episode is comprised of 6 videos. It's hilarious and very informative.

"Gobsmacked" is a word very familiar to me from my youth in Ireland and I always assumed it was Irish because "gob" is Irish for "mouth" and it means "speechless". But apparently it originated in Scotland in the 1980s. Scots Gaelic is similar to Irish Gaelic.

 

[Chuckanut]

My favorite British words are 'bangers and mash' and 'pint'. They are great when used together.

 

[utrecht]

I have never heard an American use the word muppet in that way either.

I've been watching quite a few period dramas recently, mostly set in England in the late 1800's/early 1900's and think it would be perfectly ripping if we still used words like "bounder" and "beastly".

I call people "muppets" every now and then but I have no idea why I started using it or if I ever heard it used in that manner before. I never watch BBC and I had no idea that anyone else used the word in any other way other than to talk about the actual "Muppets".

 

[Nemo2]

Jobsworth, gleaned from reading British papers online, (I haven't set foot there for almost 30 years, and I don't recall hearing it used then, although the link says otherwise), is one of my favorites, and one that, IMHO, should transfer well to North America.

 

[veremchuka]

I only use autumn when referring to the autumnal equinox. Twit I have used for decades and que was a common DP term. I never use any of the others. I know a lot of British words they use to describe various parts of an automobile but that's another story.