Britishisms in Stories About Americans, and Vice-Versa

[LAHomedog]

Vacation vs. holiday.

 

[jaF0]

Vacation vs. holiday.

Which brings us to caravan vs. camper/trailer.

 

[oggbashan]

Vacation vs. holiday.

Semester versus Term.

Michaelmas Term.

Graduation? Only for University students in UK.

Maths (UK) Math (US).

Football? Don't ask.

World Series? What world?

Cricket? You don't understand it. We Brits don't get baseball either.

Morris Dancing? Why?

Line dancing? Why?

 

[SimonDoom]

A subtle one: "I go to university."

You don't say this in America. You usually say "I go to college," even if your college is, in fact, a university. In America, "college" denotes an undergraduate program, while "university" refers to an institution that contains both undergraduate and graduate programs. But even if one is studying as an undergraduate at a "university" like the University of Texas, which has many graduate schools, one typically says something like "I go to college at the University of Texas."

Some others:

"Lift" in place of "elevator" is a quick giveaway you're reading a Brit. As is the use of "flat" for an apartment. No American ever uses those terms.

And nobody in America says "bollocks," unless maybe they're a Sex Pistols fan (I am, but I still don't say it).

 

[oggbashan]

...

Some others:

"Lift" in place of "elevator" is a quick giveaway you're reading a Brit. As is the use of "flat" for an apartment. No American ever uses those terms.
...

Another housing one. If you are in a two or multistorey building, the floor at the bottom is the 'Ground' floor in the UK. the 'first' in US.

In a British lift (elevator) press G for Ground to go to street level. (Unless it is a US made elevator!)

Roads. We drive on the left and have roundabouts which confuse Americans. And 'magic' roundabouts that confuse even Brits! We give way to traffic coming from the right, and we give way far more than the average US driver would. Road distances and speeds (and limits) are in Miles and Miles per Hour but markers for distances to motorway off slips are placed at 100 metre distances. We just think 100 yards ish...


Speed limits? As a rough rule of thumb, unless a police car is in view, we add ten per cent because we know the police won't bother - but speed cameras will... So a national motorway speed limit of 70 mph is really 77 (plus a bit for luck so say 80). Driving at 70? Everyone will pass you. Speed cameras are prominent and bright yellow. The whole traffic queue will brake suddenly on approaching a known (and usually signed) speed camera location. Hidden speed cameras are just NOT cricket...

 

[jaF0]

Another housing one.

I've never been able to grasp the whole 'estate' thing. I can only get that it may be a community or neighborhood.

In the US, an estate is a massive property owned and usually occupied by a single family and whatever caretakers they employ.

 

[oggbashan]

I've never been able to grasp the whole 'estate' thing. I can only get that it may be a community or neighborhood.

In the US, an estate is a massive property owned and usually occupied by a single family and whatever caretakers they employ.

That can be the case in the UK as well, but a suburban estate is usually one of houses built to a similar style by one single developer.

 

[jaF0]

That can be the case in the UK as well, but a suburban estate is usually one of houses built to a similar style by one single developer.

So, a subdivision.

 

[ElectricBlue]

A subtle one: "I go to university."

You don't say this in America. You usually say "I go to college," even if your college is, in fact, a university. In America, "college" denotes an undergraduate program, while "university" refers to an institution that contains both undergraduate and graduate programs. But even if one is studying as an undergraduate at a "university" like the University of Texas, which has many graduate schools, one typically says something like "I go to college at the University of Texas."

Some others:

"Lift" in place of "elevator" is a quick giveaway you're reading a Brit. As is the use of "flat" for an apartment. No American ever uses those terms.

And nobody in America says "bollocks," unless maybe they're a Sex Pistols fan (I am, but I still don't say it).

gas (petrol or fuel), sidewalk (pavement), 'z' instead of 's' in words, no 'u' in colour, imperial measurements. Mom instead of Mum.

The university/college one - many secondary schools are called colleges here in Oz, while in universities, a college is a student residence. With the Lit eighteen year rule, that's always a check point for me - yep, we 're in America for this one.

For me, spelling is the biggest give away, some of the cultural differences are very obvious - Australia has been influenced both by the Brits and America, so I can pretty much always tell which side of the Atlantic a story is set.

 

[LAHomedog]

In America I think that some of this is geographical. I was born in NYC, grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, lived in Pittsburgh, Louisville, Kentucky and now Los Angeles. Different areas uses different words for the same thing.

For example, college, vs. university above. I have attended both. Out in CA people call it school. As in, "What school did you go to?"

In Pittsburgh it is "hoagie" out here it is a subway sandwich. In NYC when I was a kid it was a "Dagwood sandwich."

Brit v American:

Boot vs. truck.
Roundabout v traffic circle
Bobbie vs. cop

I hear and read "cunt" from my British friends and in British writing. Seems to be acceptable, maybe common. In my life it is just this side of the N-word especially amoungst the professional women who I know.

 

[jaF0]

Lieutenant.

US, loo - tennant. (Not only while they're tenants in the Loo)

But I seem to recall some Brits using 'Lef - tennant', unless I was just mis-hearing something.

 

[jaF0]

Brit v American:

Boot vs. truck.

I think you mean trunk.

Boot:

US; goes on your feet.
UK; a storage area in a vehicle for stuff, including your boots.
Germany; a boat.

 

[LAHomedog]

Lieutenant.

US, loo - tennant. (Not only while they're tenants in the Loo)

But I seem to recall some Brits using 'Lef - tennant', unless I was just mis-hearing something.

Turner Classic Movies was running WWII movies all weekend for Memorial Day. It was "Left-tennant" constantly.

When I'm in England, I am always taken by the different pronunciations. For example, "al-U-min-ium" compared to The State, "a-lume-inum."

 

[SamScribble]

I hear and read "cunt" from my British friends and in British writing. Seems to be acceptable, maybe common. In my life it is just this side of the N-word especially amoungst the professional women who I know.

In Britain, cunt's usage tends to vary by social status.. In the lower strata, cunt is often a term of derision. ('He's a useless cunt.') Further up the ladder, a cunt tends to be a vulva - and a thing of beauty. Cunt can also be used (of a man) to express the idea that he's 'a fine fellow, worthy and reliable'. 'A good cunt.' I think I may have also heard it used in this sense on visits to Australia.

Some years ago, a posh totty girlfriend used to refer to her gynaecologist as her 'cunt fettler'. I wonder what our American cousins would have made of that.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Another housing one. If you are in a two or multistorey building, the floor at the bottom is the 'Ground' floor in the UK. the 'first' in US.

In a British lift (elevator) press G for Ground to go to street level. (Unless it is a US made elevator!)

I think G is more common in Australia, but like you say, it depends on who made the... box-that-goes-up-and-down.

gas (petrol or fuel), sidewalk (pavement), 'z' instead of 's' in words, no 'u' in colour, imperial measurements. Mom instead of Mum.

The university/college one - many secondary schools are called colleges here in Oz, while in universities, a college is a student residence.

And up to the 1990s, Australian "college" could also be a kind of tertiary institution - I think you might have been in Canberra when CCAE was still a thing, before it became Uni of Canberra?

In Britain, cunt's usage tends to vary by social status.. In the lower strata, cunt is often a term of derision. ('He's a useless cunt.') Further up the ladder, a cunt tends to be a vulva - and a thing of beauty. Cunt can also be used (of a man) to express the idea that he's 'a fine fellow, worthy and reliable'. 'A good cunt.' I think I may have also heard it used in this sense on visits to Australia.

Yep. Lovely exchange here between Edgar Wright and the British Board of Film Classification discussing how "cunt" would affect his rating.

'No worries!'

In Australia, sometimes modified to "No wuckas" (or is it "wukkas"?) as part of our penchant for abbreviating words in a way that doesn't actually make them shorter.

 

[jaF0]

Another housing one. If you are in a two or multistorey building, the floor at the bottom is the 'Ground' floor in the UK. the 'first' in US.

In a British lift (elevator) press G for Ground to go to street level. (Unless it is a US made elevator!)

Unfortunately there is no standard. I've seen G for Ground or 1. I've also seen G for Garage when there is an underground parking garage. And there can be '3', 'Street', '1' when the street level is really the second floor in the building, usually when the more main street at the front is higher than ground level at the other side of the building.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I think G is more common in Australia, but like you say, it depends on who made the... box-that-goes-up-and-down.

And up to the 1990s, Australian "college" could also be a kind of tertiary institution - I think you might have been in Canberra when CCAE was still a thing, before it became Uni of Canberra?

Yep. Lovely exchange here between Edgar Wright and the British Board of Film Classification discussing how "cunt" would affect his rating.

In Australia, sometimes modified to "No wuckas" (or is it "wukkas"?) as part of our penchant for abbreviating words in a way that doesn't actually make them shorter.

Yes, correct on all counts. I love the exchange with the film censor - I'm sure they all got the Lady Chatterley and Oz trial transcripts as prescribed reading.

And as Sam notes, cunt in Australia runs the whole gamut from abuse to affection. I use it to give the power of the word back to women, since men are afraid of it so much.

 

[LAHomedog]

I think you mean trunk.

Boot:

US; goes on your feet.
UK; a storage area in a vehicle for stuff, including your boots.
Germany; a boat.

Yeah. My bad. That dyslexia thing...

 

[PennameWombat]

In Britain, cunt's usage tends to vary by social status.. In the lower strata, cunt is often a term of derision. ('He's a useless cunt.') Further up the ladder, a cunt tends to be a vulva - and a thing of beauty. Cunt can also be used (of a man) to express the idea that he's 'a fine fellow, worthy and reliable'. 'A good cunt.' I think I may have also heard it used in this sense on visits to Australia.

Some years ago, a posh totty girlfriend used to refer to her gynaecologist as her 'cunt fettler'. I wonder what our American cousins would have made of that.

In the 1990s in my thirties I lived in New York. Playing football, (I mean soccer ) I met a Glaswegian immigrant about my age and we became good friends. He was married (to a Yank), worked as a plumber but his true avocation was a musician. All that aside, cunt for him was a rude but all-purpose filler.

It could indicate hatred: “He’s a right Rangers supporting cunt!” (Took me a while to unpack the many layers of that one!)

Or simply annoyance: “Ya cunt!”

Anyway, he’d learned to avoid it around (most) women but there were a couple of times I had to intervene on the pitch (I mean, field ) or in the pub to smooth things over when American males took it as a “let’s step outside” threat when it wasn’t.

Over the years his usage of it lessened to just when we watched Celtic-Rangers on the telly (oops, TV ). Then anyone in blue was a cunt (which is accurate) and the ref was “the mason in black.”

Yes, correct on all counts. I love the exchange with the film censor - I'm sure they all got the Lady Chatterley and Oz trial transcripts as prescribed reading.

And as Sam notes, cunt in Australia runs the whole gamut from abuse to affection. I use it to give the power of the word back to women, since men are afraid of it so much.

I’ve had a couple of professional American women characters use it in that way. One used it in the throes of illicit passion and even wondered momentarily at herself. But then she got back to the fucking.

 

[SimonDoom]

I love the word "cunt." Chaucer used it, or its Middle English equivalent. Shakespeare put puns on the word in his plays. I like the hard, short sound of it, and its lewdness and contrariness. It has a fun subversive quality. It doesn't have the cutesiness of "pussy."

It is quite true, however, that many women do not see the word the way I do. Some like it, and some don't ever want to hear it. As a word-focused man, it's one of the things I like to find out about a partner early in a relationship: what does she think about "cunt"?

 

[PennameWombat]

<snip>And as Sam notes, cunt in Australia runs the whole gamut from abuse to affection. I use it to give the power of the word back to women, since men are afraid of it so much.

I love the word "cunt." Chaucer used it, or its Middle English equivalent. Shakespeare put puns on the word in his plays. I like the hard, short sound of it, and its lewdness and contrariness. It has a fun subversive quality. It doesn't have the cutesiness of "pussy."

It is quite true, however, that many women do not see the word the way I do. Some like it, and some don't ever want to hear it. As a word-focused man, it's one of the things I like to find out about a partner early in a relationship: what does she think about "cunt"?

My Australian-born and bred wife uses cunt but mostly as a strong invective but she'll use it to address either men or women.

If the right mood strikes during sex, she or I can use it to refer to a specific part of her anatomy. But that isn't universal and I've had to fine tune my usage.

 

[RelentlessOnanism]

In the 1990s in my thirties I lived in New York. Playing football, (I mean soccer ) I met a Glaswegian immigrant about my age and we became good friends. He was married (to a Yank), worked as a plumber but his true avocation was a musician. All that aside, cunt for him was a rude but all-purpose filler.

It could indicate hatred: “He’s a right Rangers supporting cunt!” (Took me a while to unpack the many layers of that one!)

Or simply annoyance: “Ya cunt!”

Anyway, he’d learned to avoid it around (most) women but there were a couple of times I had to intervene on the pitch (I mean, field ) or in the pub to smooth things over when American males took it as a “let’s step outside” threat when it wasn’t.

Over the years his usage of it lessened to just when we watched Celtic-Rangers on the telly (oops, TV ). Then anyone in blue was a cunt (which is accurate) and the ref was “the mason in black.”



I’ve had a couple of professional American women characters use it in that way. One used it in the throes of illicit passion and even wondered momentarily at herself. But then she got back to the fucking.

I've noticed a tendency in American media (Conan O'Brien's show springs to mind) to assume that 'cunt' is a relatively innocuous word in the UK. As if we all go round, happily calling each other 'cunt' all the time. I can assure you that the word is very much beyond the pale for many people here in Britain. I'd suggest it's not quite as shocking as it seems to be in the States, but I wouldn’t say it in front of my mum.

 

[Rustyoznail]

"Fuck" regularly makes it on TV here, especially after 8.30pm. "Cunt" rarely.

"No wukkas" is short for "No wukkin forries", which is actually a semi polite way of saying "No fucking worries".

 

[Javahead]

A very simple one: what does “bungalow” mean to you?

In the US, a bungalow is a specific style of (usually) one story house, not all one story home. But most one story houses in the US are not called bungalows - at least on the West Coast, the “ranch house” style is more common, and there are others as well.

But I’ve had British guests call our house - very much in the ‘California Ranch House’ style - a bungalow. Which to me is a very different looking beastie.

 

[KeithD]

Coming from a family of builders, we considered a bungalow a one-story, with rooms running front to back, and ranch style a one-story with rooms laid out more in a horizontal line.