Not my first Rodeo, No 2 - Strimmer or Weedwhacker?
Another shameless rehashing of Blog posts that I wrote back in 2011 when I was still a working Lexicographer.
This one is all about the lexical and cultural differences between British English and American English. The latter is, I'm afraid my British friends, the dominant global variant, even if you scream 'But we invented it!' The fact that we invented football, locomotives and the Internet didn't help us either.
The trouble with British English and American English is that we are all really good with the differences that we know about, but are universally rubbish with the ones we don't know about. Hands up how many of you genuinely knew that the the other bunch used the 'other' name above for one of these.
And there are so many other daily objects that just don't get into the movies/cinema or that don't come up in the Brit/US differences in the picture dictionaries. Yes, we know it's trunk/boot and hood/bonnet, but how do you find out about the ones you've never heard of? I worked on a dictionary that had a list of the Brit/US differences that people had pointed out so far. It was already 1600 words and rising. And far from complete.
I'd be very interested to hear suggestions for new, unknown differences.
And there are so many other daily objects that just don't get into the movies/cinema or that don't come up in the Brit/US differences in the picture dictionaries. Yes, we know it's trunk/boot and hood/bonnet, but how do you find out about the ones you've never heard of? I worked on a dictionary that had a list of the Brit/US differences that people had pointed out so far. It was already 1600 words and rising. And far from complete.
I'd be very interested to hear suggestions for new, unknown differences.
And from the top of my head, here are some ones that might stump some of us British speakers. Brits please say if you knew them all:
1. Furnace: where would you find this?
2. Kitty-corner: If someone is standing here where are they standing?
3. Fixings: what are these?
4. Homecoming: when does this happen? And who is coming?
5. Yard: can you mow a yard?
6. Hooptie: explain, preferably with etymology
And of course if one of my US readers says 'I don't know that', I will be embarrassed, but not ashamed.
And for US readers:
1. Why do brits call it a Bum bag and not a Fanny Pack?
2. What is an artic and what would you do if you saw one? (this is possibly old-fashioned)
3. What is a semi to most British ears, and what is it to American ones?
4. How big is the average purse?
5. If you saw a wreck on the motorway, would it be stationary or moving?
6. Give two common meanings for the word estate in British English
I may feel ready to give answers to these, but I am happy for former lexicographic colleagues (who I know read this) to put the correct answers in the comments after a minimum period of one day. Enjoy!
1. in the basement 2. to my left towards the corner3. Something for dinner 4. Homecoming is about football and a dance. Fun! I enjoyed the differences when living in Ireland. I studied Linguistics and how language changes and differs. But you are a master with this blog and the dictionary you worked on!
ReplyDeleteThese are fun! Kitty-corner = they're across from you diagonally; furnaces usually found in basements, or in the utility room; fixings are ingredients for a meal; homecoming is a weird American thing, party celebrating start or end of American college football season, can't remember which; yard - well, it could mean a measurement in the US, but it can also mean what would be either the garden or the lawn in the UK outside the home; hooptie ??? Never heard it. Why do brits call it a bum bag? 'Cos its a bag what gets tied round your bum, I'd suppose. In the US you pack it on your fanny - which means 'arse' there. Artic - articulated lorry? What gets called a semi, short for semi-trailer truck in the US. If someone asked if I'd seen the semi in the UK, I'd assume they were talking about a semi-detached house, or duplex. How big is the average purse? Hmm. If I recall, purses were small for coins or keys; what you lugged them around in was your handbag, which could be as capacious as you could manage without giving yourself a hernia. Wreck - usually stationary, as in a car accident, although you can also describe a car as being a wreck meaning it looks like it ought not to be moving. Estate - mansion & grounds - ye lordship's posh estate; confusingly, also a group of houses as in ye not-so-posh council estate, which would be called a subdivision here.
ReplyDeleteOops, forgot the default is 'anonymous'. It's me, Brigid.
ReplyDeleteHi Brigid, all correct I'd say, though the fanny pack sounds really strange in Brit English and may get some gasps at ones frankness
ReplyDelete