English vs English

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Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 11:21 am

Yankee according to Ditcionary.com

Quote:

Word History: The origin of Yankee has been the subject of much debate, but the most likely source is the Dutch name Janke, meaning "little Jan" or "little John," a nickname that dates back to the 1680s. Perhaps because it was used as the name of pirates, the name Yankee came to be used as a term of contempt. It was used this way in the 1750s by General James Wolfe, the British general who secured British domination of North America by defeating the French at Quebec. The name may have been applied to New Englanders as an extension of an original use referring to Dutch settlers living along the Hudson River. Whatever the reason, Yankee is first recorded in 1765 as a name for an inhabitant of New England. The first recorded use of the term by the British to refer to Americans in general appears in the 1780s, in a letter by Lord Horatio Nelson, no less. Around the same time it began to be abbreviated to Yank. During the American Revolution, American soldiers adopted this term of derision as a term of national pride. The derisive use nonetheless remained alive and even intensified in the South during the Civil War, when it referred not to all Americans but to those loyal to the Union. Now the term carries less emotion—except of course for baseball fans.

Then there are Limeys = British - term comes from the old days of sailing ships and long journeys without fresh food which resulted in scurvy. The Brits found that this was caused by a lack of Vitimin C, and limes were a very good source of it. Limes were therefore carried on British Ships and the beakaway colonilists in US used it as a derisive term during the revolution.

Can someone confirm what "Bleachers" are. I guess its a stand or something at a sports ground?

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 11:33 am

^^^It is where I'm from. Wink

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 12:40 pm

HitchHiker wrote:

Can someone confirm what "Bleachers" are. I guess its a stand or something at a sports ground?

Yep, bleachers are seats found in sports stadiums. They’re long rows of wood or metal. They’re also known as “the cheap seats” because they don’t have anything to rest your back against. You just sit on this long piece of wood right next to somebody else.

Most sports stadiums will offer two different types of seating. There’s the seats with backs and arm rests, like theater seats, then the bleachers/cheap seats.

Master of Master Baiters Joined: 21 Nov 2008 Posts: 619

Bleachers are what you find for seating in a smaller sports fields like schools and such. They are a metal or wooden structure that has multiple levels of long planks that go across that the crowd sits on. In school gyms, they are often retractable and fold up along the wall so they aren't in the way when there is no sports event.

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 2:12 pm

Bleachers are fun! When you get a gymnasium full of students for a pep rally and they all start stomping their feet on the foot-rest platform, it gets really noisy. And the bleacher seats at a big stadium are usually unprotected, so sun screen is mandatory. (Well, at least in the US - I guess in the UK an umbrella would be. Wink

)

We used to have station wagons in the US - I believe in the UK they were called estate wagons? Of course, they fell out of style a while back, and now we have "crossover" vehicles that sure look a whole lot like station wagons used to look.

And what some areas of the world call a "ute" - is that our SUV? (Sports utility vehicle, or as a friend of mine calls them, urban assault vehicles.)

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 3:58 pm

Craig007 wrote:

In some parts of Scotland, the Police are known as tossers.

In Liverpool they are known as 'The Busys'. Irony being a particular strong point on Merseyside.

I once got collared for an ID parade whilst walking past the local cop shop - The Bridewell - on my way to college in Liverpool one day. Luckily, the witness didn't recognize me. Laughing

I think she was distracted by my flapping flares. Shocked

Baiting Guru Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Posts: 3193

Titania wrote:

We used to have station wagons in the US - I believe in the UK they were called estate wagons? Of course, they fell out of style a while back, and now we have "crossover" vehicles that sure look a whole lot like station wagons used to look.

Almost; we call nothing a wagon unless it's pulled by horses. "Estate Car", as opposed to a "Saloon Car", which has a boot, or a "hatchback" which is a small car trying to be an estate.

Quote:

And what some areas of the world call a "ute" - is that our SUV? (Sports utility vehicle, or as a friend of mine calls them, urban assault vehicles.)

SUV is making its way over here, but we're more likely to refer to it as a 4x4. (pronounced four by four, meaning four wheels, of which four are powered).

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 8:16 pm

americans use a 12 gauge,
brits use a 12 bore.
same planet different world

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 8:26 pm

Titania wrote:

Well, at least in the US - I guess in the UK an umbrella would be.

An umbrella keeps the rain off, a parasol is used to protect from the sun.(at least in posh circles. Laughing

)

SUV's or 4x4 are also known in parts a Chelsea Tractors and are essential in the UK for doing the school run.

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 8:37 pm

Craig007 wrote:

In some parts of Scotland, the Police are known as tossers.

some are tossers.

`the fuzz` -slang for police.
-having ones collar felt, has nothing to do with fashion.

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 10:05 pm

Yastreb wrote:

The book was published and filmed as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Apparently the film was retitled Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone in the US.

Yes, this is correct. I was at work and was using my memory which is apparently not that great. Razz

The book on my shelf is the Sorcerer's stone.

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 3123

Also, the Police can be:

Polis ( Pronounced: Po liss), Pigs, Rozzers, "The Law", The "Old Bill", the MET.

I do enjoy studying the differences between Standard English, and Scottish Standard English.

Mainly, the use of the word "outwith."

Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2009 3:57 pm

Once you look into it the snooty distaste that some of us Brits have for the bastardisation of "The Queen's English" is some way off the mark.

For example the Aluminium / Aluminum thing. Humphrey Davy originally called it Alumium but eventually chose Aluminum. It was only because of the precedent set by the discovery of other elements such as Sodium, Potassium, Calcium etc etc that it was then changed (not by Davy) to Aluminium.

The US eventually chose Davy's spelling whereas the UK carry on with the alternative term but can get a bit uppity about it.

419Eater is my life Joined: 17 Apr 2009 Posts: 351

Just to chip in my two pence, whats the Americans call 'soccer', we Brits call football (there is no such thing as 'soccer'), and what the Americans call football, we Brits call rugby - essentially the same thing but we don't play with the girly pads Wink

Elite Baiter Joined: 16 Jul 2008 Posts: 1407

I don't think many (if any) of us posting on these boards would last 1 hit in a professional US Football match wearing the "girly" pads. Nor would we last very long in a UK Rugby match.

No more relevant than saying F1 drivers are sissys for wearing "girly" seatbelts and "girly" helmets.

Nor would I want to be on the recieving end of a hit from a professional hockey player wearing "girly" pads.

Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 4:37 pm

The difference regarding the pads in American Football and Rugby is that American Football has a lot more contact with much higher impact. A lot of rugby tackles are made around the waist or legs and the majority of times onl one attacking player will be tackled per play of the ball.

AF has the majority of the players on the pitch involved in a very hard collision, during the blocking, at virtually every play of the ball. Without the pads there would be broken bones every 2 minutes.

Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 9:10 pm

Casual Occurrence wrote:

^^^We're Yankees

it depends, some in the UK call us "Septics" Laughing

piss off, bollocks and wanker, proper terms of endearment.

I also have a fondness for "brilliant"