Americanisms that will never, ever cross over into the UK

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

I have never heard "button-up" used by anyone over the age of...let's say, nine.

No, Miz, a "dress shirt" goes under a suit, is tailored in a more fitted fashion so as not to bunch up under a suit, and has a particular style of collar intended for some number of tie-tying options. Ie the spread collar, the button-tab, the straight-point, etc.

oh yea,h dress shirt, i use that too. i've never heard sport shirt, is that the one made of a thicker cotton, with 2-3 buttons, and a collar, often worn by frat boys?

I'm going to start a band called "Unhelpful Boyfriend"

xxpost

This is what I would imagine a "button-down" to be as well (ignoring the more accurate collar definition.)

We have now morphed from geo-political discussion to general fashion talk.

button-down shirt is used, if not accurately, at least colloquially to any manner of shirts with buttons, some of which are dress shirts

what he said
after i said

I think part of the meaning slippage might be that there's not much significant difference now between a button collar and a non-button collar?

xpost You guys seem to be saying that there is no word that applies to a medium-weight buttoned-front collar-having shirt without collar buttons, of the sort that people wear every day -- the weird thing is some googling agrees, agreeing that the thing in question is just ... a "shirt."

Depends on who you ask, apparently. Technically I think a sport-shirt is any shirt that is made of a woven, ie a non-stretchy fabric that is NOT a knit, has buttons up the front and on the cuffs, but the collar does not button down and is not particularly shaped to be worn with a tie. Also, the body and sleeves are usu cut fuller than a dress-shirt for ease of movement, and the tails are somewhat shorter than on a dress-shirt because it's understood that you are likely to wear the shirt untucked.

Laurel drops tailor science.

a 'sport shirt' is a polo shirt

But what about sport peppers? eh?

I, umm, concur that it feels weird to refer to those items as "sport shirts," given what happens when you substitute the name of an actual sport:

tennis shirt = polo
rugby shirt = polo
polo shirt = polo

No, gab, because a sport-shirt is meant to be worn with a sport-COAT; however you may feel about either item in a general sense, there's a reason their names are so...some might even say,"similar".

Also per the Brooks Brothers website a sport-shirt can actually have a button down collar, so apparently the def is at least somewhat flexible..but they are tending to RAISE the ante on formality, not LOWER it.

how about those guys that tuck in their "sport shirts" wear blackberrys in belt clips, use bluetooth and have flashy gold watches and running shoes?

They should only stay far away from me and enjoy living in Middle America/the 'burbs?

I mean don't get me wrong, my dad is clearly and unabashedly one of them. Well, minus the bluetooth and the watch and the running shoes. But he is a devoted wearer of pleated slacks and sport shirts and sensible brown leather brogues. It's a type.

you've never seen someone wear a polo shirt and a "sport-coat"? the reason the brooks website has sports shirts with button down collars is because sports shirts have nothing to do with tailoring but refer to presentable non-office-wear, i.e. polo shirts or button-down shirts in colors and patterns that are less muted than professional-wear

I was just going to say, actually, that the rise of "corporate casual" as an acceptable every-day style has actually contributed a LOT to the variety of sport shirts available, because suddenly relatively few people wear suits on a regular basis. And I don't deal w/ menswear very much colloquially but I have mentally filed away my info from multiple books about sewing/tailoring and wardrobe guides, so I'm not sure why you're arguing with me?

We need M White on this thread, I think.

pleated slacks and sport shirts and sensible brown leather brogues. It's a type.
as a tall/not big man i am tyrannized by appeals to this 'type'. i do not want to look like fucking Sinbad on his day off thx.