Category Archives: Yanks vs. Brits

An American-British experiment: some interesting results …

circlesquare

 

Thanks to everyone who participated in our Ameri-Brit “which–that” exercise (see Glossophilia’s post from January 20th; the exercise is shown again below). That was a tough one! There didn’t seem to be a really definitive difference in understanding or usage between the Brits and the Americans on this subject, as I thought there might be, but there was a fairly firm pattern emerging. (Update, Feb 5: my apologies to those whose answers weren’t taken into account when this was published; some of the comments were hidden/unavailable until now.) Continue reading →

Glosso’s advent: Baubles of Britishisms – Happy Chrimbo!

ujbauble ujbaubleujbauble

 

Day 25

A Chrimbo A-to-Zed of Britishisms:

On this day of Father Christmas coming from Lapland, bread sauce, mince pies, Christmas pudding, and pantomimes, let’s celebrate the lingo of Blighty. Happy Christmas, and God save The Queen!

Ace, aggro, any road, argue the toss

Belt up, bent as a nine-bob note, bespoke, bits ‘n’ bobs, blag, bloke, bloody hell, (well) blow me down (with a feather), Bob’s your uncle, boffin, bog roll, bog-standard, bollocks, bottoms up!, brass neck, brassed off, bumf, bung it in Continue reading →

Glosso’s advent: Baubles of Britishisms – Dec 24

bobsuncle

Day 24

Bob’s your uncle!

“Back in the day, this corruption lark seemed to be a lot easier. All you needed to do was pop over to your local post office, pick up some manila envelopes, hoard up a load of unmarked fivers and Bob’s your uncle (allegedly).” — on the FIFA World Cup corruption report, Irish Mirror, 13 Nov 2014

“We all pretty much know the formula for how a Tour de France route looks. Two longish time trials , Alps, Pyrenees, maybe a team time trial at the start, fill out the rest with sprints and Bob’s your uncle.” — PodiumCafe.com, 22 Oct 2014

What Brits exclaim when the desired result is achieved, often at the end of a simple explanatory list of instructions. “There you have it!” “Et voila!”

A BBC article in November presented one theory for its origins. Donnchadh Ó Ceallacháin, curator of the Waterford museum in Dublin, explains how it was associated with Field Marshall Frederick Lord Roberts, the Earl of Waterford, Kandahar and Pretoria, who was known as Bobs. “‘He was appointed commander of overseas forces stationed in Britain. And in November 1914 he was on a tour of inspection of Indian soldiers serving on the western front when he caught a chill, caught pneumonia, and he died aged 82, the oldest serving soldier to die in the war. … His grandparents were just tradesmen, which is what architects were at the time. … Apparently, he was very decent with his troops looking after their welfare. He was very much admired by the regular troops and that’s why he was called Bob’s Your Uncle; it was an affectionate term of endearment.'”  World Wide Words offers other theories …

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Glosso’s advent: Baubles of Britishisms – Dec 23

fullmonty

Day 23

The full monty.

“What Our Travel Pros Suggest: Hobica recommends springing for the full monty: an upgrade to business or first class — but only under certain circumstances.” — Popsugar, 12 Nov, 2014

“The Alpine Lounge in the Castle’s hotel complex has practically been my second home every winter since I was about ten years-old, so I was on very familiar territory when I sat at my table and ordered the full monty afternoon tea recently.” — Galloway Gazette, 9 Nov 2014

“Ten Ways a U.S. ‘Full Monty’ Plan Can Defeat ISIS. … Max Boot, a military historian and the Jeane J. Kirkpatrick national security senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, has just outlined a comprehensive plan for defeating ISIS that goes well beyond the commitments of Obama and U.S. allies. It might best be described as the “Full Monty” when contrasted with the administration’s more limited approach.” — Fiscal Times, 18 Nov 2014

The full amount expected, desired, or possible. The full shebang. According to World Wide Words, someone in the dictionaries department at Oxford University Press, who wrote the entry for this expression, found 16 different theories — ranging from gamblers’ jargon to the British tailor Montague Burton …

Glosso’s advent: Baubles of Britishisms – Dec 22

blowme

Day 22

Well blow me down (with a feather).

“’Well, blow me down,’ he says, ‘I was unlocking the door the other night when I heard a faint thud in the garden.’ — Mike Madden of Honley on finding a ‘meteorite’ in his garden. Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 31 Oct 2014

“Stonehenge was circular? Well, blow me down.” — The Guardian, 1 Sep 2014

An expression of astonishment. As World Wide Words explains, the expression “can be traced to Britain near the end of the eighteenth century. There seem to have been at least two strands to its creation, in both cases the verb being in the sense of the wind blowing. One was a sailor’s oath, blow me down!, roughly meaning “may a gale strike me!” … The other early form was blow me tight! which might suggest inflating a balloon to the point of explosion, but which could be related to an older sense of blow for speaking loudly or angrily or uttering boastful language.”

Also:

I’ll be blowed: “Imagine that eh, well I’ll be blowed, over paid 2nd rate actors playing a childish game, that needs to have it’s profile lifted. Any advertisement is good I suppose. What better way than to involve a law suit or 2. But the chocolateer has done the right thing to save his bacon.” — comment on an article  about a chocolatier who refused to write a boy’s first name on a chocolate Easter egg for fear of Wayne Rooney suing for breach of copyright (sic) on Yahoo Sport, 15 April 2014

Well I’m blowed: “This week I found out he is quitting the chat show, saying he felt it was time to move on and he had some exciting new projects ahead. Well, I’m blowed. 
I’m minded not to 
book that ticket 
for Madame Tussaud’s, to add a touch of my Guerlain lippie to the Titchmarsh, after all.” — Lynne Mortimer interviewing Alan Titchmarsh, East Anglian Daily Times, 26 March 2014

Glosso’s advent: Baubles of Britishisms – Dec 21

sex

Day 21

How’s your father.

“Lady Mary and Lord Gillingham are still technically going steady, despite neither of them wanting to stay together, purely down to the fact that they once had some ‘how’s your father’.” — Digital Spy, Nov 3, 2014

“Office-induced stress, high blood pressure, heavy drinking brought on by the aforementioned stress, being handbagged by the wife for indulging in a bit of workplace-based how’s-yer-father, the list goes on.” — Lancashire Evening Post, Oct 22, 2014

A jocular term for copulation. World Wide Words traces it back to the fertile imagination of the music-hall comedian Harry Tate, whose catchphrase was picked up by servicemen in the First World War.

Also:

Shag: “Married men and women who try to pass off a one night stand as an ‘opportunistic shag‘ are often in denial about the state of their primary relationship.” — Huffington Post UK, Nov 12, 2014

Roger. From the mid 17th to the late 19th centuries, roger was slang for penis, probably because the name’s origin involved fame with a spear. Subsequently “to roger” became a slang verb form meaning “to have sex with”.

Glosso’s advent: Baubles of Britishisms – Dec 20

 

porridge

Day 20

To live at Her Majesty’s pleasure.

“News that notorious police killer Harry Roberts could be released from prison within days could make for a more shocking ending. Roberts is to walk free after 48 years living at Her Majesty’s pleasure, despite being told by a judge he should never be released.” — Burton Mail, 23 Oct 2014

To do time. In jail (or gaol, as some Brits still prefer to call it). To be detained at Her Majesty’s pleasure (or at His Majesty’s pleasure, if the reigning monarch is a king) officially refers to the indeterminate length of service of certain appointed officials or the indeterminate sentences of some prisoners.

Also:

Doing porridge: “Toff’s guide to doing porridge. Prison is dangerous for toffs, writes Yvonne Ridley. Here are a few survival rules for high society criminals.” — The Observer, 5 June 1999

 

Glosso’s advent: Baubles of Britishisms – Dec 19

urinal

Day 19
Spend a penny.

“Brad Pitt gave a local war hero the red carpet treatment when he invited him to a screening of his latest film. Peter Comfort from Ripple, Dover, had helped the world-famous actor get into character for the blockbuster, called Fury. … Pitt turned to the 91-year-old for advice when filming in Hertfordshire. Mr Comfort said: “They wanted a lot of information to make it accurate and fired a lot of questions at me. Luckily there weren’t any questions I didn’t know the answer to. They wanted to know where we slept, where we spent a penny, the living conditions and what it was like in action, so I told them.” — Dover Express, 23 Oct 2014

To pee. A reference to coin-operated pay toilets, which used to charge that sum before decimalization.

Also:
Going to see my aunt
Going to see a man about a dog
Take a slash

 

Glosso’s advent: Baubles of Britishisms – Dec 18

ninebob

Day 18

Bent as a nine-bob note.

“And Geordie and Sidney learn that if you’re a policeman or a vicar, you’re never truly off duty. Claudette, Johnny’s sister has been murdered, devastating everyone close to her. … Geordie immediately sniffs out that the London copper is as bent as a nine bob note, whilst Sidney makes a huge discovery about Claudette that she kept from all but those closest to her.” — STV, 3 Nov 2014

Dishonest. The reference comes from pre-decimalization in the UK (1971), when a ten-shilling (ten bob) note was valid currency but there was no such thing as a nine-shilling note.