Divided by a common tongue

[W-409]

This is an interesting thread! I live here in Finland and I definitely speak American even though sometimes I'm mixing things up with a British word. But, since I've mostly learnt this vocabulary in the internet or books and during my whole life we've had US cars in our family, most of the words I've learnt are US. Actually many of those British words are something I've never heard before.

[Snake45]

This is an interesting thread! I live here in Finland and I definitely speak American even though sometimes I'm mixing things up with a British word. But, since I've mostly learnt this vocabulary in the internet or books and during my whole life we've had US cars in our family, most of the words I've learnt are US. Actually many of those British words are something I've never heard before.

You're doing it right, then.

[belfast boyo]

US Parking lot = UK Car park

US Parking garage,UK Multi storey car park.

US licence plate,UK number plate.

[Art Anderson]

If I recall correctly, a shooting brake is a 2-door wagon, and an estate is a 4-door wagon (though there may be something about the overall shape in there as well!)

As for the topic, Wheeler Dealers is a great source of info on the different terms that they use in the UK. One that I haven't seen yet is "back box" which refers to the rear most muffler (usually aft of the rear wheels).

Not quite:

Early on, "station wagons" were often termed "Estate Cars" or "Estate Wagons" as being woodies, they really were summer cars, and as such the primary buyers were people wealthy enough to have a summer home or estate, where such cars were kept.

"Brakes" were originally horse-drawn wooden "station wagon" style vehicles, and were often fitted out for specific purposes:  A "Shooting Brake" referred to such vehicles as station wagons, that were fitted out inside to hold rifles an shotguns used for such as hunting, or skeet shooting.  A "Hunting Brake" referred to a station wagon body fitted either with fixed cages or made to transport portable cages for the hounds used in fox-hunting.  Same thing with a Fishing Brake.

All for the sake of the pleasures of the wealthy elite of society in an age gone past.

Art

[peteski]

Bituminous Concrete and Tarmac are exactly the same thing--just two different names.  Ask any civil engineer.

Correct, but I don't recall the last time (other than yours) anybody mention Bituminous Concrete in any sentence. In a casual U.S. conversation the stuff used on the roads is called asphalt or pavement.  But I suspect that Brits use the word Tarmac in casual conversations.

[peteski]

This is an interesting thread! I live here in Finland and I definitely speak American even though sometimes I'm mixing things up with a British word. But, since I've mostly learnt this vocabulary in the internet or books and during my whole life we've had US cars in our family, most of the words I've learnt are US. Actually many of those British words are something I've never heard before.

But the word learnt you are using repeatedly is more common in British English. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/usage/learnt-vs-learned

[DonW]

It's mud guard here in Australia,

Hood is BONNET

Trunk is BOOT

Top is ROOF

Winshield is WINDSCREEN

Vent window is QUARTERVENT

Stickshift is MANUAL

It's PETROL

BRAKE DISCS

TAIL SHAFT

ALUMINIUM

TYRES

Tractor is a TRUCK A tractor plows a field.

That is a couple of the Aussie version, looks like we have a mix of Americanism and British English  ??

Fascinating how a language evolves in different ways depending where it's used. I think we're the richer for it...

[Snake45]

IMHO, not much stupider than calling a laundry detergent or a salad "awesome".   

I asked a young co-worker, who must use the word "awesome" at least three dozen times a day, "If everything even halfway cool is 'awesome,' then what do you say about something that's REALLY impressive and amazing and maybe at least a little bit scary?"

"Oh," she said, with no hesitation whatsoever, "that's 'epic.'"

So there's your free preview of the next word that will be overused into complete meaninglessness....

[DonW]

I asked a young co-worker, who must use the word "awesome" at least three dozen times a day, "If everything even halfway cool is 'awesome,' then what do you say about something that's REALLY impressive and amazing and maybe at least a little bit scary?"

"Oh," she said, with no hesitation whatsoever, "that's 'epic.'"

So there's your free preview of the next word that will be overused into complete meaninglessness....

In the UK You Tube / skater scene there's arisen a big thing for 'epic fails', Usually involving extremely painful contact with trees or park benches and always extremely embarrassing and equally amusing for the bystanders... Dunno if that's made it across the pond? Or maybe that's where it came from? I must admit I like the irony in the expression.

Edited January 26, 2017 by DonW

[Snake45]

In the UK You Tube / skater scene there's arisen a big thing for 'epic fails', Usually involving extremely painful contact with trees or park benches and always extremely embarrassing and equally amusing for the bystanders... Dunno if that's made it across the pond? Or maybe that's where it came from? I must admit I like the irony in the expression.

Oh yes. My work friend has been talking about "epic fail" videos for years. But she doesn't drop "epic" into almost every conversation the way she--and FAR too many others--do "awesome" these days.

[dodgefever]

US tax return - getting money back from the government*, UK tax return - having to fork out thousands to the government

* at least that's how it seems from reading forum posts where US taxpayers seem to expect to get money back in January.

 

US "winningest", UK most successful

US "funnest", UK most fun

I still struggle to believe people really use those words. 

 

 

 

[Snake45]

US tax return - getting money back from the government*, UK tax return - having to fork out thousands to the government

 

 

 

A "return" is your report of your income. If you get some of YOUR money back that the government has held without interest for months, that's a "refund." Two completely different things.

[DonW]

US tax return - getting money back from the government*, UK tax return - having to fork out thousands to the government

* at least that's how it seems from reading forum posts where US taxpayers seem to expect to get money back in January.

 

US "winningest", UK most successful

US "funnest", UK most fun

I still struggle to believe people really use those words.

 

 

 

Which words?

[dodgefever]

A "return" is your report of your income. If you get some of YOUR money back that the government has held without interest for months, that's a "refund." Two completely different things.

In that case we're the same.  I just keep reading recently about what people (from the US) are going to buy with the money "from their tax return".  Clearly, they are using the term incorrectly.

[dodgefever]

Which words?

Winningest and funnest, both of which I heard yesterday.

[peteski]

I asked a young co-worker, who must use the word "awesome" at least three dozen times a day, "If everything even halfway cool is 'awesome,' then what do you say about something that's REALLY impressive and amazing and maybe at least a little bit scary?"

"Oh," she said, with no hesitation whatsoever, "that's 'epic.'"

So there's your free preview of the next word that will be overused into complete meaninglessness....

If you lived in New England (especially in the Boston area) you would hear people use the word "wicked", as in "wicked good" or "wicked awesome!"

[Snake45]

If you lived in New England (especially in the Boston area) you would hear people use the word "wicked", as in "wicked good" or "wicked awesome!"

Yeah, I remember Jimmy Fallon and Rachel Dratch doing some SNL characters a few years ago who did that.

[Ace-Garageguy]

If you lived in New England (especially in the Boston area) you would hear people use the word "wicked", as in "wicked good" or "wicked awesome!"

Back in the early '60s, Jersey-shore high-school surfer kids used "wicked" much as "awesome" is used today, but less frequently. Something had to be pretty freakin' cool to rate a "wicked!".

"Wicked awesome" must be truly awesome indeed.  

[Bugatti Fan]

There is a joke here in England that someone ought to tell Microsoft that there is no such thing as US English!

[DonW]

Well Microsoft have English (U.K.) or English (U.S.), this works for me. And sometimes the American pronunciation is more logical ('Vase' rhymes with 'Base' in the US, whereas it rhymes with 'Bars' over here, which makes no sense.

Then you have Welsh English - 'I'll be there now in a minute', 'Who's coat is that jacket?'

And then there's Robbie Burns with an old Scottish variation:

Wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim'rous beastie,
O, what a pannic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi' bickering brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee,
Wi' murd'ring pattle!

Which means:

Little, sly, cowering, timid beast,
Oh, what a panic is in your heart!
You need not start away so hasty
With bickering prattle!
I would be loath to run and chase you,
With murdering paddle!

 

 

[landman]

On 1/18/2017 at 4:36 PM, stitchdup said:

Well just to confuse things a little more, what you guys in the US call french fries (and are actually Belgian) are chips this side of the pond, but your chips we call crisps which I'm led to believe is what you call salad greens

I got caught with that in England and France. Ordered chips and got fries and in France ordered frites and got chips.

[landman]

On 1/17/2017 at 6:54 PM, Snake45 said:

Imperial Gallons?

The Imperial gallon is 4.54 liters and the US gallon is 3.78 litres.

[1972coronet]

 

"Are you seated comfortable two square on your botty ? Then I'll begin ."

 

[Oldcarfan27]

When I get my allowance here, it's called POCKET MONEY over there. Cheeky Buggers!

[Bugatti Fan]

Don,  The 'Some one ought to  tell Microsoft there is no such thing as US English' was a tongue in cheek joke!

Most of us Brits can understand and use both versions like yourself. US English tends to be more phonetic in the way many words are spelt, for example the English English word Tyres is spelt Tires in the US.  Regarding your mention of Welsh English, well actually no, Welsh is altogether a completely different language to English spoken mainly in North Wales and is derived from ancient Celtic, as is the Gaelic language spoken in more remote areas of Scotland, and the Irish language spoken mostly in the far West of ireland.  As you mentioned the Robbie Burns poem you posted is written in an old form of English from that period. It does however have a number of local Scottish colloquialisms thrown in for good measure.

Due to the influence of Movies and TV programmes over the years from the States, many Americanisms are now becoming more common place in use over here in the UK. What we used to refer to as flats are now referred to as apartments, and a post mortem is more frequently being termed an autopsy.