Literature The British English vs American English thread!

[KLS52]

I'm going to go for it...I might get away with it here lol.

 

[hungryraccoon]

It is quite rude there's certain situations that it could sound jokey, or cheeky. But it really depends what it's referring too.

 

[Amy SF]

I just read this...

Not A Pleasant Experience
IT | Leeds, England, UK | Crazy Requests, Employees, Extra Stupid, Job Seekers
(During an interview for a help-tech position with local computer store

Interviewer: “Well… I can see you have 20 years experience and have the relevant qualifications. But I don’t think we can employ you.”

Me: *rather taken aback* “Oh… well, okay. Thank you for being honest with me. Can I ask why?”

Interviewer: “Well, honestly, it’s because of your age. We’ve found that older people don’t really ‘get’ computers.”

Me: “We don’t really… You did say I was more than qualified, right?”

Interviewer: “Yes, that’s right. Ideally we’d prefer someone who’s a recent graduate, say in their mid 20s so they’re more ‘in-tune’ with technology, like most young people are today. Frankly, you’re too old to know anything about modern computers.”

Me: “And yet on the application it said you were looking for someone with a minimum of 10 years work experience?”

Interviewer: “Yes. that’s right. Anything else I can help you with?”

Me: “No… I’ll just go get my zimmer-frame and shuffle off now. Good luck finding someone who graduated at age 10.”

(Funnily enough, they’re still looking.)

...and had to look up zimmer-frame.

It's a walker!

The British English common equivalent term for a walker is Zimmer frame, ... A walker is a good tool for those who are recuperating from leg or back injuries.

It's kind of a mouthful when you think about it. Dunno why the Brits can't simply call it a walker like everyone else.

 

[Joe]

I was watching the WWII film The Great Escape. There is a scene in which some of the American officers make "moonshine" liquor from potatoes using a home-made still, to celebrate the 4th of July, then offer the booze to their British fellow-POWs as well. While many are coughing and gasping after tasting the moonshine, one British-Scottish officer drinks a mug of it with enjoyment. When asked if he would like some more, he at first bungles the pronunciation of what he means to say (the liquor apparently having affected his speech).

He finally says that he will call an aye. I was unable to find a definition of this phrase in any online dictionary. It seems to mean something like "call it a day," i.e., call it quits.

Are any of you familiar with this expression? Is it generally British or more specifically Scottish?

 

[Blobbenstein]

never hear of it.

I live down south.

 

[hungryraccoon]

I don't really know but aye means yes.

It's very hard to understand Scottish accents (at least I think so, anyway!)

 

[Moll Flanders]

I was just watching a US show and they mentioned tator tots and I always hear that name but I wasn't sure what they were. They look like potato croquettes.

 

[Calliegirl]

I was just watching a US show and they mentioned tator tots and I always hear that name but I wasn't sure what they were. They look like potato croquettes.

I love tater tots, but haven't had them in years.

 

[Amy SF]

I love tater tots, but haven't had them in years.

I last had them in 2013 or 2012, I believe, when I worked at a hospital and got them from the cafeteria, where they were called "hash browns" and were terrible. They were hard as a rock and greasy, and had no flavor other than grease. Before that, the last time I had them was in the sixth grade, I think.

 

[FortyTwo]

Obviously you just had some particularly bad tater tots.

My diet is at the very least 60% potatoes.

 

[ledboots]

Obviously you just had some particularly bad tater tots.

My diet is at the very least 60% potatoes.

[emoji1] I eat a lot of potatoes, but I don't like the tots.

 

[KLS52]

[emoji33]

 

[Joe]

I just saw the film "The Imitation Game," a biography of Alan Turing. One of the scenes shows a young Turing at school. His classmates haze him by tearing up the floorboards and then nailing him underneath. As he pounds on the floorboards from below, his classmates say "Don't be such a kike."
I've never heard the word "kike" used except as a derogatory name for a Jewish person, but there is no indication that Turing was Jewish. So does anyone have a clue as to what this word means in this context?

 

[hungryraccoon]

I was just watching a US show and they mentioned tator tots and I always hear that name but I wasn't sure what they were. They look like potato croquettes.

They look good! Want

 

[ledboots]

They look good! Want

They look better than they taste imo. ;D Kinda oily.

 

[hungryraccoon]

They look better than they taste imo. ;D Kinda oily.

Oh, damn. Well I guess I'll never know anyway

They actually look quite like the herby potatoes from Frankie & Bennys!

 

[Second Summer]

What is actually meant by the British term "a lovely bird"? (I think it's no longer in vogue, but I seem to remember it was used extensively e.g. in the Life on Mars show a few years ago, which was set in the 70s.)

I mean, it's clearly a term used to describe an attractive female, but is that all there is to it? Are they comparing said female to a dead bird hot out of the oven (chicken, turkey, etc) that (in some people's minds) looks and smells good to eat? Or are they comparing the female to a live bird, like a little song bird or something? How did "bird" become associated with "attractive female"?

 

[ledboots]

And also "chick".

 

[Joe]

What is actually meant by the British term "a lovely bird"? (I think it's no longer in vogue, but I seem to remember it was used extensively e.g. in the Life on Mars show a few years ago, which was set in the 70s.)

I mean, it's clearly a term used to describe an attractive female, but is that all there is to it? Are they comparing said female to a dead bird hot out of the oven (chicken, turkey, etc) that (in some people's minds) looks and smells good to eat? Or are they comparing the female to a live bird, like a little song bird or something? How did "bird" become associated with "attractive female"?

Not sure this answers your questions, but here's what I found:

bird (n.2)
"maiden, young girl," c. 1300, confused with burd (q.v.), but felt by later writers as a figurative use of bird (n.1). Modern slang meaning "young woman" is from 1915, and probably arose independently of the older word.

Online Etymology Dictionary

 

[Joe]

And also "chick".

chick (n.)
mid-14c. shortening of chicken (n.). Extended to human offspring (often in alliterative pairing chick and child) and thence used as a term of endearment. As slang for "young woman" it is first recorded 1927 (in "Elmer Gantry"), supposedly from U.S. black slang. In British use in this sense by c.1940; popularized by Beatniks late 1950s.

Online Etymology Dictionary