Americanisms that will never, ever cross over into the UK

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)

What Canadians are saying "9 beer?"

I think I used to say that or something... but I stopped at some point, and I'm not sure why. That's so strange. It must have been a Bruce/Toronto/etc thing because I don't think I ever said it in Ott or Mtl.

xpost

The drunk ones.

They're not in Europe!!!!

That was my point, they're the exception that proves the rule, um, along with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan and all these other "new" countries that now play "European" football.

.but what did Bugs Bunny mean when he munched on a carrot and said "nyyyyaaaahhhhh.... what's up doc?

this is key but the question never seemed to solicit a response other than "I'll tell YOU what's up!" which puts us back to square one.

or sometimes "I'll tell you 'WHAT'S UP'!", similarly unhelpful.

Onimo, I was agreeing with you. But I was referring to far more important issue of the Eurovision Song Contest. Never mind your football.

(It's a bit like if the people of the big island called Hawaii took over the other islands and were dicks to everyone and then eventually Maui got its independence and started saying "WTF, we are not nor have we ever been part of any so-called 'Hawaiian Islands.'")

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?

-- nabisco, Saturday, June 30, 2007 12:08 AM (31 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

'britain' comes from the part of these isles that were colonized by the romans, so you can imagine celts (i am one) not being so keen to subscribe to it. the notion that there are nonpolitical 'geographical' terms is rubbish. it's only coherent if you want it to be -- canada and the USA are coherent, no?

the uk doesn't explicitly claim ownership of 'britain' but an irishman would never call themselves 'british'. because the union is breaking up anyway that word is going out of style on the mainland too.

canada and the USA are coherent, no?

Yes, and it's called North America BWAHAHAHAHHHAAAA

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/crunchydog_2006/bugs.jpg

xpost

Umm yes Canada / US / Mexico are a coherent landmass collectively called "the continent of North America" !!!??

I mean I follow your point about geographical names having a political dimension, but I'm just saying the Irish objection here would seem to have a lot more to do with the words Britain and British lying with the GB people, not some kind of claim that their land is somehow not a part of the same collective island chain.

(I guess this would seem less weird if they had a term they used to refer to the island chain -- I mean, what do Irish topographers call it?)

Along with the fact that "Americans" generally only refers to citizens of the United States and not other residents of North or South America, there's the weird issue that some Spanish-speakers refer to citizens of the United States as "norteamericanos," even if they, too, technically live in North America.

because the union is breaking up anyway that word is going out of style on the mainland too.

Ah, the mainland.

I feel like all this geographical chat has hijacked the fun word-swapping thread.

yeah shit got mad boring

Yes, I'm so confused. And also still can't of think of the hat name I had in mind.

Don't worry about it, Ms. M, it's North West Europeantown.

Now I want to know the hat name too.

I'm thinking perhaps it doesn't really exist and I'm just losing my mind.

ms misery: skully or skull cap?

I got these:

114 Moby Thesaurus words for "hat":
Balmoral, Dutch cap, Panama, Panama hat, Salvation Army bonnet,
Stetson, astrakhan, balaclava helmet, baseball cap, beany,
bearskin, beaver, beret, boater, bonnet, boot, bowler, brass hat,
breech, busby, calash, campaign hat, cap, capote, castor, ceil,
chapeau, chapeau bras, cloak, cloche, coat, cock-and-pinch, coif,
cork, coverchief, coxcomb, crown, derby, dome, fantail, fez, frock,
gown, handkerchief, hard hat, headcloth, headdress, headgear,
headpiece, headtire, headwear, helmet, homburg, hood, jacket,
jockey cap, kaffiyeh, kelly, kepi, kerchief, leghorn, lid, mantle,
millinery, mobcap, mortarboard, nightcap, opera hat, overseas cap,
peaked cap, picture hat, pillbox, pith hat, pith helmet, plug,
poke, porkpie, puggree, roof, roof in, rumal, sailor, scraper,
shirt, shoe, shovel hat, silk hat, skullcap, slouch hat, snood,
sock, sombrero, stocking, stopper, stovepipe, sun hat, sun helmet,
sunbonnet, sundown, tam, ten-gallon hat, tin hat, tip, top,
top hat, topee, topper, trilby, turban, tyrolean hat, wide-awake,
wimple, wind-cutter, yarmulka

Is it in there?

I hope it's "cock-and-pinch."

No, I've looked everywhere and it's nothing mentioned. I'm now convinced it's something I'm only imagining.

Oh poo.

So, what are button downs?

shirts? button-downs.

If it helps, I had this moment in 6th grade where I thought there was another word for "cigarette" that I just couldn't remember, and after fifteen minutes of this one guy listing off euphemisms it became clear that I was actually not-remembering the word "smoking."

you could always go and ask a random kid "what do you call those hats oyu wear at winter?" but they may just think you're crazy.

accentmonkey, what do you mean?

I got into a big argument on another thread a while ago about the term "button-down" for shirts. I thought it was just any shirt with buttons, but I was told that "button-down" only referred to shirts with collars that button down, and that the shirts I was thinking of were just "buttoned" or "button-up."

Yes if a stumble across a kid on the way home I will ask. I'm used to kids thinking I'm crazy.

After work I'm heading to the doctor's for an order to test my thyroid levels. I will actually be pleased if they are low as this could explain the growing "dumbness" I have demonstrated on this thread.

xpost

jaymc is right.

I'm right that I was wrong?

accentmonkey, what do you mean?

I guess I mean shirts, yes? Nabisco referred to them on his trends thread. I've seen the word written down, and I always assumed it referred to an item of clothing (check out the big brain on me) but I never knew what it was.

The only irregularity I've ever caught on that one is that women usually call them "button-up" and men usually call them "button-down." I am not sure how much this correlates to actual buttoning-order trends (and, if so, what the chicken/egg status of that correlation might be).

Jaymc, I meant you are right that it specifically refers to a button-down collar.

if i ever hear a britisher say 'beer me', well, there'll be trouble.
jaymc is right about being right or something. 'button down' is kind of a generalism in addition to its proper meaning.

I've always called them button-down shirts if they button all of the way down. half-button or polo or whathaveyou otherwise. button-up sounds so... childish to me?

My boyfriend's repsonse to the hat name question:

"yeah... it's called gay"

:(

UNHELPFUL BOYFRIEND!

Re shirts: I do maintain that a button-down has a collar that...wait for it...buttons down. Otherwise I believe a men's shirt w/o a particular collar treatment is technically known as a sport shirt.

sport shirt doesn't equal like a polo shirt? Easy way around the whole button affair: dress shirt.

i'll concede that i don't know what the fuck i'm talking about, only how it's used. if i heard 'sport shirt' i'd think it was what jcpenney might call a polo.

yah see xpost