Literature The British English vs American English thread!

[RabbitLuvr]

*RabbitLuvr takes a drink*

 

[FortyTwo]

gobsmacked is definitely not a word used here in the US.

Yep. I know the word exists, and I've heard it a couple times, but it's usually been people from the UK saying it. Very rare here.

 

[kazyeeqen]

We don't even really use 'gob'.

 

[RabbitLuvr]

I've been watching Undercover Boss UK. Husband and I have turned it into a drinking game, where we have to drink any time anyone says "gobsmacked."

I added "knackered" to the drinking game.

But then I finished all the UK episodes.

 

[thefadedone]

Is it really bad to call someone a

Spoiler

bloody wanker

?

 

[Blobbenstein]

Is it really bad to call someone a

Spoiler

bloody wanker

?

yes.



unless it is meant in a friendly way.

If it is shouted at George Osborne by a protester, it is more rude(but appropriate).

 

[Joe]

I like the idea that you think Brits talk like people on Downton Abbey Joe - I wish we did, haha. I've never heard anybody say that, I think it's an old-fashioned saying.

The show takes place just after WWI. That's almost 100 years ago. I don't think that British English has remained the same over the past 100 years.

Mrs. Hughes is also a particular character from a particular social class with a particular educational background. So I don't generalize the way she speaks to the way all British people speak.

 

[SummerRain]

Okay, I thought you were bringing it up because you thought it was a current UK word is all. I didn't mean any offense.

 

[Joe]

I saw an episode of Inspector Lewis where he used the word wodge, like the suspect kept adding a wodge of cash to his bank account.

Webster's Unabridged defines it as follows:

Britain : a bulky bulging object : MASS, LUMP <mopped up the mess with a special wodge of blotting paper— Margery Allingham><an enormous wodge of English press cuttings— Richard Aldington>

 

[ledboots]

We don't even really use 'gob'.

We sure as hell use 'smacked' though.

 

[Joe]

During an episode of Call the Midwife, one of the nurses used the expression top-hole.

adjective

British informal, dated or humorous
excellent; first-rate:
this CD is a top-hole purchase

http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/top--hole?q=top-hole

Note: even the dictionary says this usage is dated.

 

[ledboots]

During an episode of Call the Midwife, one of the nurses used the expression top-hole.





http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/top--hole?q=top-hole

Note: even the dictionary says this usage is dated.

Lmao at what I first thought a midwife would be calling a 'top hole.'

 

[Alice-Bee]

snip...
Note: even the dictionary says this usage is dated.

Alot of the words youre looking up will be..I mean CTMW is set in the wartime, and the other programmes you are watching are turn of the Century...

As for wodge, Ive only ever heard wod...like a wod of cash.. :/

 

[SummerRain]

Is it really bad to call someone a

Spoiler

bloody wanker

?

Spoiler: Rude words!

Bloody isn't rude, wanker really is. It's one of the worst swear words you can use...

 

[Alice-Bee]

Spoiler: Rude words!

Bloody isn't rude, wanker really is. It's one of the worst swear words you can use...

Is it? Oops.

 

[SummerRain]

I'd have put it in the top 3 maybe... if not the top 5. But I use all non-racist swear words at some point, I think all words have their place... but I use them sparingly.

I feel a 18+ thread coming on

 

[Alice-Bee]

Perhaps its just me. I swear like a sailor on leave...or whever the expression is...like...all the time.

 

[Joe]

As for wodge, Ive only ever heard wod...like a wod of cash.. :/

I think that word is wad. AFAIK, it is common to British and American English.

 

[Joe]

Inspector Lewis had a character using the term rat-arsed, meaning very drunk.

Also had the expression slanging match.


Also used the term keks (or kecks) to refer to underpants.

 

[Joe]

Another term used was fly tippers. I've been unable to find a definition for this. I assume it is something like a litterbug or someone who empties his trash on public property improperly.