Americanisms that will never, ever cross over into the UK

x post to TomD. - Coventry is not a very exciting place but it's not nearly as bad as people make it out to be. It's kind of grim but so are a lot of other places! I was expecting much worse based on what I'd been told.

Does 'Darn Tooting' get said in the US?

I've never heard it said other than in jest.

Is "pesky" still in common usage in the US?

also:

"you want that i" vs "do you want me to" FITE!

ironic slang is the old/new ironic dancing

xxpost yes, why wouldn't it be?

Charlie that's a whole 'nother topic

If you ask "have you got", then grammatically the reply should be "yes I have", and if you ask "do you have", then the reply is "do you have". I think that's the point being made above.

yeah, only who the fuck speaks grammatically?

Does 'Darn Tooting' get said in the US?

http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/brands/0015/5755/brand.gif

May we never start referring to our main courses as "entrees"... aargh.

-- mike t-diva, Friday, June 29, 2007 4:37 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Link

I have never ever heard that this is wrong

It is becasue entree should actually be used to refer to an appetizer, right?

The word entrée is French. It generally means "entry", and "a smaller, first course" when used in relation to food.

I think the US is the only place where entree means main course. Every else it means the starter course.

If "Darn tootin'" is out then I'm guessing "Great horny toads!" is too

"zee" vs. "zed" fite

zed zed top

I've read that entrée it could come from entre, between, back from when meals had umpteen courses and between the soup and the salad and the large hunk o' meat you might have a fish dish or something.

But yeah definitely a merkinism.

It dates back to the beginings of service á la Russe in western Europe where courses would Enter into the meal rather than the á la Française tradition of a big buffet. With mixed styles courses that entered into the meal rather than being present at the start were Entrées and could be at any stage of the meal. In europe they have become the entry into the mean, or the first course to enter.

xpost

I doubt "Zee" will ever cross over

Merkins be revisionist etymologizing

xxxposts

also there's that guaranteed French rib-tickler "à la mode", meaning "with a scoop of vanilla ice cream"

When I was little I didn't know what that meant and one day while playing restaurant (my parents owned restaurants so I played that instead of playing house) I made up a menu with chicken a la mode. Yum.

Rooster

your ideas intrigue me

xpost

In coastal New England a "regular" coffee was one with cream and sugar. The counterperson fixed it for you. I think it's a dying practice.

Beth - I'm in Boston and hear people use that all the time still!

damn straight - same goes for NYC delis and it hasn't died out yet there as far as i know

That's brilliant! Because that's exactly how I like my coffee. Everyone serious west of the East Coast drinks coffee black, no sugar.

the 'regular coffee' thing still confounds and infuriates me every time i try to order a goddamn cup of coffee out here.

i am serious midwestern coffee drinker.

Charlie that's a whole 'nother topic

pls to xpln, tracer?

"Great horny toads!" is too

Horny toads are nearly extinct. :(

"basketball boots" wtfomglol

If "Darn tootin'" is out then I'm guessing "Great horny toads!" is too

"Consarnit" and "Razzle Frazzit" however, are making a comeback. ; )

Are there still varmints west of the Pecos?

I am still staggered by this "entree means main course thing" wtf. Its an entree! Not a main!

Do Americans say starter then?

What does "what's up?" mean in America? I've always used it to mean "what's the matter?", but it seems to mean "what's going on?".

Similarly, in the UK, "are you all right?" seems to mean "what's going on?" but in the US, it means "what's the matter?/is there something wrong?" This caught me off-guard the first few times I heard it when studying over there.

* american brain explodes *

Charlie "you want that i" is, to me, a very regional NY area thing (i also wanted an opportunity to say "whole 'nother")

xpost - totally! people say it ALL THE TIME - "you all right then?" - i'm like, why shouldn't i be? do i look hung over or something?

Do Americans say starter then?

Sometimes. Sometimes appetizer.

Like, dude, me and my homeys were totally shitty last night, i can't believe that fucking guy stole a suitcase from Wal-Mart, what the fuck

If you hadn't explained it, I wouldn't have understood "shitty" or "suitcase" in this context. I also don't live in Montana, though.

people in england have been saying 'what's up' meaning 'hello' for ages.

Just "A'right?" as a greeting sounds v strange to me, yes -- I think of it as a Keef thing. Um, on second thought tho, the whole "a'ight?" thing belies any American claim of strangeness.

totally! people say it ALL THE TIME - "you all right then?" - i'm like, why shouldn't i be? do i look hung over or something?

I wouldn't say it myself. "How's it going" or "How's things" are more likely.

Haha Tracer perhaps the subtext is "you are British / in the UK, are you coping okay."

"Are you all right?"
"Yeah, sure, why wouldn't I be?"
"Well, you're Welsh."

The "Alright?" thing got my wife all the time. She's used to it now.

What does "what's up?" mean in America? I've always used it to mean "what's the matter?", but it seems to mean "what's going on?".

I definitely use it in both contexts, but the latter, more "American" one feels... dated. Like, HI MY NAMES THE 90S

Surely you're thinking of "what up."

the 'sup?' lolcat is concerned for your wellbeing

Way upthread xp to Nabisco: I think "Herb" is not just a nerdy-sounding name but a reference to a Burger King campaign in the mid-80s, isn't it? A nerdy guy who had never eaten a Burger King burger and yet hung out at Burger Kings across America, waiting to be spotted?

Yes, that's what I was told re Burger King + "Herb".