Americanisms that will never, ever cross over into the UK

hey, i thought of a few canadianisms that will never make it to the uk, do those count?

double-double (a coffee w/ 2 creams, 2 sugars)
bunny hug (a hoodie)
buddy (means "that guy" ie. Hey, did you see buddy's hat? Lame)

bunny hug (a hoodie)

????

xxxxxxxposts.. but isn't the england/wales/scotland landmass called Albion?

Saskatchewan, don't ask me.

I'm from "midwestern Ontario," where we drop the letter T from a lot of things. I lived in Tiverton (Tiver'n) in Bruce County (Cowny) for eight years. We have no fun words. Although I do remember the word "kife" meaning steal, but this may have been more than a regional thing?

holy shit, that was a UK thing?! why the fuck did we use it in the Bruce?

I had no idea "twat" could rhyme with "fat," I've actually corrected someone who said it that way

To be fair the Brit vowel is a sort of in-between sound that I don't know the official marks for, but it's not the midwestern twangy "feeyat" either.

I had no idea "twat" could rhyme with "fat," I've actually corrected someone who said it that way

man alive!

a few people in the US use it that way, but no one in the US pronounces it that way

to be fair I checked this before correcting them

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/twat

In my understanding, the United Kingdom used to refer to England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. When (most of) Ireland became independent in the early 20th century, the United Kingdom began to refer to everything except for that area. Great Britain is pretty much the same thing, except it doesn't include Northern Ireland. I have no fucking idea how the Isle of Man and Jersey and Guernsey and whatever other random islands you have factor into this.

Shetland! Orkney!

One of the best Canadianisms is "toque," since there's not really any equivalent word in the US (we just say, like, "winter hat").

I had no idea "twat" could rhyme with "fat," I've actually corrected someone who said it that way

"you fackin' twat"
"i think you mean 'twot', my good sir"

Really? Toque isn't used elsewhere? I feel so ethnocentric, not knowing that.

people in the US use "toque" to refer to chefs' hats; I wasn't aware there was any other use

whaaaaaaaaaat! chef's hat!

ok my mind is now blown along with everyone else's. a toque is a (usually) wool winter hat!

it's just 'chef hat' to 99% of Americans though, although we all suspected it had a french fancy name.

WTF do kids call winter knit hats? For the life of me I can't think of the slang-y term for them.

Beanies.

This confusion is all just a matter of Ireland being grouchy about imperialism, though, right? Cuz the objection doesn't seem to have much merit any other way, per the way I've always understood this:

- coherent group of islands = British Isles / Britain
- the biggest island among them = Great Britain

So the Irish grouchiness seems based on allowing the "Great Britain" designation to turn the people on it into the "British," as opposed to the Irish, until eventually Irish people are like "fuck no we're not part of Britain" -- i.e., kinda mussing up the political/geographical senses of the word and rolling them together? But of course at present the UK doesn't claim full ownership of the "Britain" word -- it's "the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (and miscellaneous islands)," isn't it?

Beanies.

Nah, I'm thinking of something else. Besides beanie really means a smaller, usually more rigid, hat. Rather than the knit ones which can roll down past your ears.

Granted, it would be annoying if your island were not THAT much smaller than the next one, and history was still like "this one is GREAT Britain, and they are going to come take all your stuff and call you savages, but don't worry, you're part of Britain too!"

I HAVE HEARD PLENTY OF AMERICANS USE THE WORD TOQUE TO REFER TO A SPECIFIC TYPE OF WINTER HATS.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toque

also used: toboggan, which i had no idea what was being referred to the first time someone accused me of wearing one.

Canadian variant
Main article: tuque
In Canadian English, "toque" is also a common alternative spelling of tuque (IPA: (tuk)), a knit woollen winter hat, originally worn by French-Canadians but now a staple of the Canadian winter wardrobe. This "fashion" originated when coureurs des bois kept their woollen nightcaps on for warmth during cold winter days. The Canadian Oxford Dictionary regards the use of toque for this hat to be assimilated from the etymologically unrelated French word tuque

i.e. there's something very canadian about that word

I have only ever heard "toque" from Canadians and then actually it was pronounced "tuke". We called knit winter hats uh stocking caps? Or just winter hats. XP yes!

lol cold people

I had no idea "twat" could rhyme with "fat," I've actually corrected someone who said it that way

"you fackin' twat"
"i think you mean 'twot', my good sir"

-- That one guy that quit, Friday, June 29, 2007 12:55 PM (18 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

I don't get British humor

toque is also used colloquially to refer to chefs themselves, i.e. "Top Toque"

'beanie' has come to encompass almost every type of knit hat in the last maybe 15 years in my neck of the woods.

SHUT UP ABOUT THE CHEF HATS

Nabisco's basically right about the Britain thing, except, you know, "grouchiness" is kind of understating it. Given the history and all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beanie

vindication never felt so comfy

It would work better if people had ever used the term "British" to refer to all the people of the whole island group -- which we can't really do now, since there's no good alternative form for people from the UK. (UKer? Great Britisher and/or Northern Irelander and/or Miscellaneous Non-Irish British Islander?)

I know it's pedantic but I'm referring to a knitter's/seamstress definition of hat styles.

I'm going insane b/c I can't remember the name I'm thinking of.

It would totally be fun to refer to someone as "Great British," though.

pejorative sense etc.

vindication never felt so comfy

I still don't trust an Angeleno when it comes to winter hats, though.

vindication never felt so comfy

That would make a great tagline for a movie.

x-post: My folks are from the upper Midwest and this is how they referred to it.

The best Canadaism that will never catch on anywhere (but wish it would) is when Canucks tell you about their drinking last night and mention "my head hurts, I had 9 beer last night". That refusal to pluralize beer to beers is so charming.

The island of Ireland is geographically part of the British Isles. I'm stunned that so many people, particularly British people who went to school here, don't know this.

That Irish Republicans don't wish to be associated with the word British is neither here nor there. There are many Brits who don't want to be associated with the word European but changing continents to suit ones political will is a bit tricky*.

*Isreal in Eurovision/European football doesn't count

xpost Is it because Canadians are surrounded by moose and deer?

Maybe they actually mean "9 deer"

gabbneb's diagram:8080

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

yes, yes, yes...but what did Bugs Bunny mean when he munched on a carrot and said "nyyyyaaaahhhhh.... what's up doc?"? Was he asking what was the matter, or was he saying what's happening, or was he just saying hello? THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT.

oooooo nice

*Isreal in Eurovision/European football doesn't count

They're not in Europe!!!!

(This is a passionate argument held around May time every year in our house)