Americanisms that will never, ever cross over into the UK

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".

A'right?" as a greeting sounds v strange to me, yes

This was still strange to me after living in England for two years because when it's said a response is not always required - it's kind of just like hello. I couldn't get that through my head and always tried to respond which seemed awkward.

The correct response is just to say "alright" back!

does anyone else find it slightly bizarre when US media talks about "the City" wrt London?

maybe they're saying "the city" and I'm hearing "the City"

"Paris, France", "London, England", The London Times. Mind you, the British Open has taken off... it should just be called The Open.

'the times of london', please.

Ha ha, right

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

http://www.vinyltap.co.uk/gallery/4n/4nonbbbfm6520401144471140.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/29/66852555_b3e94f7b47.jpg

Coolin'

"Paris, France", "London, England", The London Times. Mind you, the British Open has taken off... it should just be called The Open.

In the company where I work, which is American, we have to give the name of the country after every city we name, unless it's in the U.S. But London is in Great Britain, not England (I don't know why).

http://qntm.org/files/uk/uk.gif

"what's up" is an exact, though not literal, translation of "que pasa"

"Darn Tooting"

http://www.cowfish.org.uk/tubestations/Tooting%20Broadway.jpg

(xxp) Ireland's not in the British Isles tho?

Are you mad?

Well, it's not, it's not British

Or "British", if you prefer

Geographical not political sense.

Even then?

Ha, Curtis, I was looking at the charts for the summer of 1993 the other day, and in one week, "What's Up" by 4 Non-Blondes was directly ahead of "What's Up Doc (Can We Rock?)" by Fu-Schnickens.

wiki says ireland is in the british isles but that sounds fucked up to me.

If you wanna come up with another term to handily describe that bunch of islands situated just to the north of France, go ahead.

Those two big islands hanging off Europe are called the British isles. This is a geographical expression. The one island that is called Britain contains Scotland, England and Wales. Even if Scotland becomes independent or whatever it will still be in Britain. I thought everyone knew this?

The British Isles and Ireland

So would your definition of the British Isles be just Great Britain, Scottish Hebrides, Isles of Man/Wight, Anglesey, Scilly etc? I always thought it included Ireland.

xposts

Oh, that surprises me for some reason. A) it's an island, and B) it's a...for lack of a better word a "holding" of Great Britain. WAIT Wikipedia thinks that the Republic of Ireland is NOT part of the United Kingdom...? Oh, I sort of see in XPosting.

WAIT Wikipedia thinks that the Republic of Ireland is NOT part of the United Kingdom...?

Well obv. it isn't!!!!

presumably 'britain' was the roman designation for the lands it conquered so it's not all that geographical...

waht? course ireland is included in the term "british isles"

it's not a holding of great britain... but great britain is not a political entity...

I think he's playing you, dog

xpost to col. poo

Apparently, he wasn't!

Ireland hasn't been a part of the United Kingdom since 1922.

If they included it they'd just have to call it "Ok Britain"

burn on Ireland!

waht? course ireland is included in the term "british isles"

You try telling the Irish that

Okay, now I'm just confused.

The term British Isles is controversial in relation to Ireland where its use is objected to by many people and by the government of the Republic of Ireland. Its use is also avoided in relations between the governments of the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, who generally employ the euphemism these islands.

The diagram above explains it except, I would argue, for the British Isles bit (xpost)

Hey, we let them name the sea between the islands!