Americanisms that will never, ever cross over into the UK

And we do say "half past a monkey's ass and a quarter to his balls." I've never figured that one out either,.

"right" as an intensive ("you've made a right mess of this")

Ack, I've known people from the Atlantic Canadian provinces who do this. "I ran right fast," "He's right weird," etc.

My Scottish friend used to live in Albany and said that Americans don't use "quarter past" or "quarter to" when talking about the time. Is this true?

Seems blatantly false to me. If anything, I'd kind of imagined that saying "quarter to four" instead of "3:45" was an Americanism.

(I'd actually assumed the "right" was an Eastern Canadian thing of possible Scottish or Irish origin.)

"hard" for tough ("well ard", or best "soz ard")

well of course hard means tough, but we're much less likely than you are to use it alone as a general descriptor for an individual's personality (as opposed to their body/muscle definition). we'll get close with infrequent (semi-outmoded?), more-specific colloquialisms like "hardass" (a tough taskmaster) or "hard case" (tough to rehabilitate/crack). to the extent someone might get described as a "hard(, hard?) man," i think it's used in a sort of ironic way that theoretically pays tribute to the "hard" character but ultimately dismisses its value in the grand scheme of things.

"pure" for good or as an intensive

this doesn't seem at all out of the ordinary, but then i'm not exactly sure what sort of usage you're referring to, so maybe not

My Scottish friend used to live in Albany and said that Americans don't use "quarter past" or "quarter to" when talking about the time. Is this true?

some (often middle-aged/older?) Americans use it, but it's not common the way it is across the pond; the standard is "three-thirty" rather than "half-past-three"

i thought they said "quarter of..."?

i never know if it means 'to' or 'past'.

'to'

quarter to - quarter of, quarter 'til
quarter past - quarter after

but again, i think times are more common

and i think 'quarter to' is more common than 'quater past'?

i think we just don't like using 'past'; manifest destiny and all that

i don't think quarter of is more common than quarter to, necessarily

haha I was never sure what "quarter of" meant either. Hm, that's interesting, gabbneb.

I say "quarter of" and "quarter past" all the time.

well, like i said, some americans do use them. i think they're more common in new enland?

Maybe as I do live there although I was raised in New York. I have no idea why I find this thread so fascinating but I love it.

i'm pretty sure my great aunt and uncle use them and they're originally from brooklyn, but by way of pittsburgh and the military

Ooooh - my Mom is from Pittsburgh and since she was one of the two people who taught me how to talk, I might have picked it up from her! Maybe it's a Pittsburgh thing!

do any british people ever say "good lookin' out"? because I use that one all the time. also: "good call", "good on ya" (that's more of an australian thing, right?)

I say "good shout" rather than "good call", but "good call" is in fairly regular use over here, I think? "Good on ya" is pretty standard too, same as "good for you" (I use the former, my mum uses the latter, maybe it's an age thing?)

never heard "good lookin out" but "good call" and "good on ya" are used. "good call" feels quite american.

a lot of americanisms come in through business-speak.

'good looking out' is black american afaik (we also use 'hard' to say tough, if maybe not in the same way as scots et al. "he think he hard..."

Interesting. FWIW, I don't think I've ever heard "good lookin out" (or "suitcase" or "shitty" to mean drunk. I know "shitfaced" though.)

Gabbneb, you're really saying that the norm in America is to say "three forty-five" or "four fifteen?" I'm not sure I've heard those around here much at all.

yeah three forty five etc. is normal, my parents do the quarter past thing but not too many people my age and younger.
is the use of the word 'tin foil'(for aluminum foil) still common? This girl called me a grampa for using it, which was news to me.

'good looking out' is black american afaik

I say tin foil but the again I also do the quarter past thing as I said earlier. I guess at nearly 30 I'm not that young anymore so maybe that's why! Also, when i was in college in upstate NY, people said shitty to mean shitfaced all the time.

really? I don't know when or where I picked it up, but I had no idea! is it "black" enough that it would be kinda weird to hear a white guy using it?

heh the only reason i said afaik(which i wouldn't for millions of other black expressions) is because it seems it could easy be a regionalism that black folks happened to pick up.

Girl in my office just said "on the weekend". Still grates.

delicious

pizza

Why does saying "So Co" for "Southern Comfort" upset people so much? We Americans just like to nickname our liquor. It's a sign of affection.

Using "vacation" instead of "holiday". I think this is why the Go Gos were less successful than Madonna.

You have it all confused. A holiday is a special day that everyone gets off at once, except for a few people with really shitty jobs. A vacation is when you go somewhere special.

Americans don't say "going on holiday".

I know that! I'm an American! I was explaining this to you! Why are you confusing me! Are you a magician!

I found out long ago it's a long way down the holiday road.

Americans go to the hospital.

UK will never have PocketBooks

Americans go to the hospital.

If they can afford it lol amirite?

Why does saying "So Co" for "Southern Comfort" upset people so much? We Americans just like to nickname our liquor. It's a sign of affection.

-- Jenny, Thursday, 20 December 2007 19:43

The annoying mid-management mid-20s bracket have taken it upon themselves to rename South Congress Ave "the SoCo District." This, like "SoCo with Lime" annoys the shit out of me.

like, totes tubes, bro

California is not part of America, no matter what it looks like.

Handy explanation for one of the above items: in December of 1932, the Church of England officially sanctified the acts of taking time off work and drinking too much and annoying the people of the Mediterranean

Thus, quite literally: holy days

California is not part of America, no matter what it looks like.

I can attest to this whole-heartedly. Once you cross over into Nevada, you realize "Hey. This is what America is actually like!"

Americanism that will never cross over: that'll be 5 quid, m8

Argh, I can't stand 'regular' to mean 'normal' or 'medium' eg regular fries. Or 'he's just a regular kid'. What is it that happens regularly?? A person being described as regular would, to my family, mean something to do with the frequency of his bowel movements.

Using "vacation" instead of "holiday". I think this is why the Go Gos were less successful than Madonna.

-- Dewey B., Thursday, December 20, 2007 2:30 PM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Link

The Go-Gos were referring to going away on a trip (going on holiday); Madonna was referring to a day off ("just one day out of life", ie, a holiday).

Also, I would like to put forward the following as an Americanism that will never, ever cross over in the UK: "vacay."

you are lucky. that word has etched its way into everyone's lexicon somehow and it really, really bugs me.

a lot of x-posts: HA HA, p.p.! now that song is stuck in my head!

'commencement'