United Kingdom English for the American Novice

Submitted by Honey on Thu, 01/26/2006 - 9:14am

http://www.hps.com/~tpg/ukdict/index.php

I came across this site today, which has a list of UK expressions that are apparently unknown in the US. Some of it is rather funny.

'ROUNDABOUT n. 1. Traffic circle. A British version of billiards played with automobiles. This is an attempt by the British to avoid the dilemma Americans have when four cars come simultaneously to a four-way stop. The British solve this by allowing everyone to continue into the intersection without stopping.'

Kaffeeklatsch

LOL

Submitted by Becky on Thu, 01/26/2006 - 9:53am.

Roundabouts actually exist in some states. In Massachusetts they are called rotaries. Here in California, and in other states that have them, they are called traffic circles as per the definition above.

The last time my mom was in the UK (visiting us when we lived there) she said that the very small roundabouts with no grass in the middle, just pavement, were new to her (we lived in London when I was a toddler) and she called them "virtual roundabouts."

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HA!

Submitted by Jana on Thu, 01/26/2006 - 11:50am.

I know that word from Nat'l Lampoon's European Vacation!!!!!

"Look kids Big Ben!"

I may have to watch that this weekend!

Jana

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Is that the same as DuPont Circle in D.C?

Submitted by julhome on Thu, 01/26/2006 - 1:06pm.

Never driven it, of course...heard about it in American President. Sad that Jana and I get our education from the flicks!

Julie
"We must have patience for love, born of an accidental look." --Me

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Brilliant!

Submitted by Anhata on Thu, 01/26/2006 - 2:06pm.

Yup, there's terms there where I'd not have clue what the Brit was tryin to say. AIRSCREW = Propeller for instance. Since the dictionary is now over 20 years old, some of the terms have crossed the pond, but even so, things like "Aunt Sally" never will.

Anhata
www.familynaturally.com
Your Family's General Store, Naturally

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Lovely

Submitted by Shaun on Thu, 01/26/2006 - 2:31pm.

My first trip to England I was so annoyed by all the cashier/service people who said "lovely." I almost never hear anyone say that in the US unless they are being sarcastic (e.g., "Oh, *that's* lovely," when you tear a hole in your pants). So at first I thought everyone was just really nasty.

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So true, so true!

Submitted by lakshmi_mama on Fri, 01/27/2006 - 6:25am.

We have been living in the UK for 6 months now. The language is quite different here. And it goes both ways - there are plenty of things I say normally that they look at me with blank stares.

The other day I got quite the odd response from a shop assistant in a bakery. I asked if they had jelly donuts. She looked at me like I had 3 heads, and said they had jam donunts. It was only later that I realized jelly is what they call jell-o here. As is gelatin. Which baked in a pastry would just be wrong.

Katie
**************************
Livin' La Vida Limey

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And another thing.....

Submitted by Honey on Fri, 01/27/2006 - 6:47am.

We spell it differently too - doughnut We do it all on purpose to confuse, y'know Big grin

Hi Katie, whereabouts in the UK are you? I'm in London.

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I use both

Submitted by Honey on Fri, 01/27/2006 - 7:02am.

I say lovely quite a lot, both when I think something is lovely eg 'that's lovely!' and when something is definitely not lovely, and I'm being sarcastic (like tearing the pants), eg 'that's lovely!'.

Now what on earth is confusing about that?