Britishisms in Stories About Americans, and Vice-Versa

[Trionyx]

England and America are two nations separated by the same language. (Attributed to G Bernard Shaw)

 

[Bramblethorn]

One that I hadn't noticed until a few years ago is the 's' in direction words: where US English would use "She moved forward", UK or Australian English might have "She moved forwards".

Currently I'm re-reading a book that was written as a collaboration by a US author and a Canadian author, and although I'd need to go over it closely to be sure, I think it's switching between those two conventions, presumably according to which author wrote which passage.

 

[KeithD]

toward/American; towards/British
afterward/American; afterwards/British

 

[SamScribble]

A while back, a British consultancy paid me a not-inconsiderable sum of money to turn a major gobbledegook report into something a bit more readable.

I completed the rewrite; put it to one side for a couple of days; and then took it out again, read it through, and made a few more tweaks. I then emailed it over to a young woman who was coordinating things for the project team at the client’s end.

The next time that I saw the report, I almost didn’t recognise it. The woman had diligently accepted every one of Word’s suggested spelling and grammar changes. And, for some obscure reason, she had her machine set to English (United States). She also had every last MS Grammar box ticked.

 

[Rustyoznail]

We’ve just moved to Office 365 at work. All the templates are in US English, and the change language refuses to stick.

Bloody annoying.

 

[LAHomedog]

We are skipping over knickers vs. panties. I co-wrote a published story on here with a British female out of London. She wrote "knickers," I wrote "panties," we had a lot of spirited discussions about the two via London to Los Angeles emails.

 

[ElectricBlue]

We are skipping over knickers vs. panties. I co-wrote a published story on here with a British female out of London. She wrote "knickers," I wrote "panties," we had a lot of spirited discussions about the two via London to Los Angeles emails.

I use both, because here in Oz women use both terms to describe their undies. Which is another term for underwear in Oz (although possible not so common these days).

 

[Rustyoznail]

I use both, because here in Oz women use both terms to describe their undies. Which is another term for underwear in Oz (although possible not so common these days).

Bec wears panties and panty hose. I don't know what the difference is in naming.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Bec wears panties and panty hose. I don't know what the difference is in naming.

Panties - similar to bikini bottoms (whatever the cut).
Knickers - can be the same, but my daughter for example generally refers to knickers when she's referring to her lacy bits and bobs.
Panty hose = stockings with a crotch, all one garment.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Panties - similar to bikini bottoms (whatever the cut).
Knickers - can be the same, but my daughter for example generally refers to knickers when she's referring to her lacy bits and bobs.
Panty hose = stockings with a crotch, all one garment.

No kidding…

And panty liners?

 

[RetroFan]

I use both, because here in Oz women use both terms to describe their undies. Which is another term for underwear in Oz (although possible not so common these days).

That's true, I tend to interchange the terms in my Australian stories and have used 'Knickers' in two story titles - 'My Nephew Got Into My Knickers' and 'Perving on Natalie's Knickers'.

Fanny is another interesting slang term, it means vagina in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Ireland but in the USA and Canada it means buttocks.

Generally I don't think I've messed up too much, in one of my American stories a man complains about his children referring to them as 'those bloody kids'. You don't hear Americans use the term 'bloody' very often, if at all.

 

[ElectricBlue]

No kidding…

And panty liners?

For periods or incontinence.

Surely you've seen the ads which imply period blood is blue, and the fetching forty-year old something who almost winks, implying urinary incontinence is oh so flirty sexy, pretty fucking hot?

If not, you need Foxtel .

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Pantyhose (US) = tights (UK)
The footless stretchy leg coverings that are US tights are usually leggings here though dancers may speak of them as tights.

I asked some Americans a while back what they thought of the word 'knickers' and the consensus was they understood what garment was meant but couldn't conceive of it being a sexy version, only the sort of large coverage item an old lady might wear. Conversely many Brits find the word 'panties' revoltingly twee - it sounds like what a toddler would wear over a nappy/diaper and under a frilly dress.

I usually try to avoid either word in my stories.

It's very rare I encounter an American phrase I don't understand, but I recommend not ever standing in a mid-West Walmart and loudly asking a friend, "wtf is 'intimate apparel'? Do Walmart really sell cock-rings and pasties?" Staff were remarkably reluctant to serve me after that.

 

[SimonDoom]

Pantyhose (US) = tights (UK)
The footless stretchy leg coverings that are US tights are usually leggings here though dancers may speak of them as tights.

I asked some Americans a while back what they thought of the word 'knickers' and the consensus was they understood what garment was meant but couldn't conceive of it being a sexy version, only the sort of large coverage item an old lady might wear. Conversely many Brits find the word 'panties' revoltingly twee - it sounds like what a toddler would wear over a nappy/diaper and under a frilly dress.

I usually try to avoid either word in my stories.

It's very rare I encounter an American phrase I don't understand, but I recommend not ever standing in a mid-West Walmart and loudly asking a friend, "wtf is 'intimate apparel'? Do Walmart really sell cock-rings and pasties?" Staff were remarkably reluctant to serve me after that.

I got a good laugh out of your response.

"Twee" -- I can't recall ever having heard that word. I had to look it up.

Knickers v. Panties seems to be a real point of cross-pond contention. The word "knickers" has a whiff of Benny Hill about it, to me. A bit comical, and therefore not sexy. Whereas I love "panties," although I know the word really sets off some Brits.

Arse v. Ass, of course. No American says "arse." And definitely not "blooming arse." No American says "blooming" for that matter.

Fanny -- the front to a Brit and the back to an American. That one seems strange to me.

Bum -- few Americans use this term. They say "Butt."

There are some British terms that are gaining more currency here. For instance, I believe the phrase "spot on" is British. I don't recall ever hearing that term when I grew up, but I hear it now in America.

No American uses "kit" for clothing.

I'm curious what word uses make it most immediately evident that the speaker is an American.

 

[jaF0]

I'm curious what word uses make it most immediately evident that the speaker is an American.

The 'u' is a dead giveaway.

Colour.

 

[SimonDoom]

The 'u' is a dead giveaway.

Colour.

I agree. That's the number 1 thing to look for to determine that the writer is not an American.

Is the reverse true? The absence of a "u" telling the reader the author is American? Or is there something else?

To me, it seems like the Brits like taking a little more time to say something, whereas Americans want to get to the point. Like that extra (and, to an American, extraneous) "i" in "aluminium." We say "aluminum." It takes just a tiny bit longer to say it the Brit way.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Hmm... I worked for a company that bought a British company and had to spend a couple of months in the England. Woking actually. And the spell check on my browser doesn't seem to know Woking.

Anyway, after spending the time in England, when I came back so did a bunch of Brits who then took up residence in America.

A lot of times, in my head, while I write, I will hear one of them in their accent telling me to use one of their words instead of the American word I was typing. I worked with them for a long time, more than 10 years.

They were from all over England, New Castle, Liverpool, London, even some of the different parts of London. Each had there own way or would that be accent, of talking and word usage.

The most I learned was about swear words...

Bloody was equivalent to Fuck in America.
Fuck wasn't even considered a swear word in England.

Also...

Pants were men's underwear.
Trousers were were a mans pants.

There are a bunch more. Some have already been mentioned and some have not. But I'm just up from a rough nights sleep and the mind is not quite up to speed yet.

Coffee, I need coffee.

 

[KeithD]

Is the reverse true? The absence of a "u" telling the reader the author is American?

Yes, this.

My editor (Spain, by way of Australia, Singapore, and the UK) frequently gets me by using "jumper" where I use "sweater."

As I think I mentioned before, one of my earliest jobs in news journalism was translating BBC British into U.S. AP for news coverage going to the U.S. Executive branch. (e.g., "tabled" is bringing a bill to the table in the UK. "Tabled" is pushing a bill off the table in the United States.)

 

[oggbashan]

Yes, this.

My editor (Spain, by way of Australia, Singapore, and the UK) frequently gets me by using "jumper" where I use "sweater."

As I think I mentioned before, one of my earliest jobs in news journalism was translating BBC British into U.S. AP for news coverage going to the U.S. Executive branch. (e.g., "tabled" is bringing a bill to the table in the UK. "Tabled" is pushing a bill off the table in the United States.)

A "Woolly Jumper" is a mythical Australian animal, a cross between a kangaroo and a sheep. up there with the Bunyip, the Drop Bear, and Oozlum Bird.

 

[jaF0]

'No worries!'


British or Aussie?

 

[yowser]

One of the only differences that continues to ring oddly to my American ears is British verb usage with collective nouns (singular in American, plural in British) which I mostly hear with respect to sports teams.

England have won the match!

Wales are having trouble on attack.

Can’t get accustomed to it. On the other hand, reading cricket columns in the newspaper is fascinating, like trying to make my way through a paper on particle physics. I have no idea what is going on. Bill Bryson did a wonderful (American interpreted) version of a cricket game as heard on radio, recounted in his book about Australia ‘In Sunburned Country.’

 

[KeithD]

One of the only differences that continues to ring oddly to my American ears is British verb usage with collective nouns (singular in American, plural in British) which I mostly hear with respect to sports teams.

Yes. "Staff" in British is plural (are). In Americanese it's a unit, singular (is).

 

[jaF0]

'The office staff' is not singular.


'A staff member' is.

 

[LAHomedog]

'No worries!'


British or Aussie?

Thanks to "Crocodile Dundee" I think "no worries" is now international. I use it all of the time as does my wife and adult children and many friends.

Working with the same British writing partner I kept getting hung up on "braces" vs. "garters." She kept writing "I smooth my braces" and I couldn't understand what her teeth had to do with it. Also, my late father who was born in 1911 use to call suspenders " braces."

 

[Kumquatqueen]

"Twee" -- I can't recall ever having heard that word. I had to look it up.

Arse v. Ass, of course. No American says "arse." And definitely not "blooming arse." No American says "blooming" for that matter.

Fanny -- the front to a Brit and the back to an American. That one seems strange to me.
...
No American uses "kit" for clothing.

I'm curious what word uses make it most immediately evident that the speaker is an American.

Note to self: make sure it's the Brit saying 'get your kit off' in my next chapter of "I Say Ass, You Say Arse"...

Fanny can be a euphemism for fuck (he was doing sweet Fanny Adams = was doing fuck all), or mean to faff about (what's a lrss-formal American word for procrastinating?). 'You're a fanny' is somewhere between dickhead and tosser on the insult scale.

America doesn't seem to have the range of insults Brits have - what is there between twit and dickweed at the mild end and sonofabitch and motherfucker at the other?

Words that give away Americans immediately -
Gee, how quaint, so cute, I just love... for tourists.
Sonofabitch and motherfucker
Sentences: 'I was so sad when Diana died.' I mean, some Brits were, but that was over 20 years ago. Even her sons are over it.
'Which church do you go to' or any other assumption of religiosity.