Words & Phrases You Associate with England?
Aug 14th, 2010, 04:03 PM
#62
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lassie
luv
salt and pepper crisps
the tube
fish and chips
still water
trolley
bloody
toilets
way out
lift (elevator)
tea & scones
egg & cress
All said to me on my first trip to England last September with those lovely, lovely English accents. And I did find few parts of England quite quaint. The Cotswolds for one, and such wonderful manners by almost everyone I encountered.(Except the drunk man on the bus that tried to smell my hair. Yuck.)
luv
salt and pepper crisps
the tube
fish and chips
still water
trolley
bloody
toilets
way out
lift (elevator)
tea & scones
egg & cress
All said to me on my first trip to England last September with those lovely, lovely English accents. And I did find few parts of England quite quaint. The Cotswolds for one, and such wonderful manners by almost everyone I encountered.(Except the drunk man on the bus that tried to smell my hair. Yuck.)
Aug 14th, 2010, 05:37 PM
#63
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<i>A 'hoarding' is either a billboard or a temporary fence of large boards as around a construction site.</i>
Thanks, ParisAmsterdam. Now visualizing what it is, I think it's a terrifically descriptive term!
Thanks, ParisAmsterdam. Now visualizing what it is, I think it's a terrifically descriptive term!
Aug 15th, 2010, 05:54 AM
#66
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Ever come across this?
"Tha'd mither a boathorse till it dropt in't cut"
(loosely translated: You would pester a poor old horse that is towing the canal boat until (out of desperation) it would jump into the canal.)
That was one of my grandma's sayings (broad Lancashire dialect)
"Tha'd mither a boathorse till it dropt in't cut"
(loosely translated: You would pester a poor old horse that is towing the canal boat until (out of desperation) it would jump into the canal.)
That was one of my grandma's sayings (broad Lancashire dialect)
Aug 15th, 2010, 10:54 AM
#69
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PatrickLondon on Aug 14, 10 at 4:28pm
"...the difference comes from the different Latin root words - scedula and scola..."
Thanks! I knew I should have participated in that ancient Latin student exchange program when I had the opportunity.
"...the difference comes from the different Latin root words - scedula and scola..."
Thanks! I knew I should have participated in that ancient Latin student exchange program when I had the opportunity.
Aug 15th, 2010, 11:01 PM
#71
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Re "knock you up"
Do people really say this or is it just an urban myth? I have never ever heard a British person use this expression except in jest, or with the alternative meaning (i.e. nothing to do with getting up in the morning).
Do people really say this or is it just an urban myth? I have never ever heard a British person use this expression except in jest, or with the alternative meaning (i.e. nothing to do with getting up in the morning).
Aug 15th, 2010, 11:57 PM
#72
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rain
soft light
greenery
brown sauce
the smell of frying fat (in pubs and small cafes)
mind the gap
M and S and Topshop
old churches
polite notices
offhand/cusory customer "service"
wonderful parks with old fashioned perennial borders
small, taste filled stawberries
ghastly coffee
soft light
greenery
brown sauce
the smell of frying fat (in pubs and small cafes)
mind the gap
M and S and Topshop
old churches
polite notices
offhand/cusory customer "service"
wonderful parks with old fashioned perennial borders
small, taste filled stawberries
ghastly coffee
Aug 16th, 2010, 01:07 AM
#73
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"Do people really say this or is it just an urban myth?"
Neither.
"knock you up" was a reasonably common phrase 20 or so years ago. Now, though, as more people visit America they're aware of the other meaning - and as every teenager is surgically attached to their mobile phone, parents no longer need to provide their children the wake-up service the phone's alarm function carries out more reliably.
Above all, though, it's not a phrase foreign visitors wouldn't have heard even back in the days when every Lancashire mill town had a professional knocker-up, going round workers' houses at 5 am, bestirring them for a prompt start.
It's not at all rare, even now, when you're staying with friends. A polite offfer to knock guests up is part of a host's duties: only when speakers of colonial dialects are staying is the offer made with an ironic grin, or with a inoffensive circumlocution.
Neither.
"knock you up" was a reasonably common phrase 20 or so years ago. Now, though, as more people visit America they're aware of the other meaning - and as every teenager is surgically attached to their mobile phone, parents no longer need to provide their children the wake-up service the phone's alarm function carries out more reliably.
Above all, though, it's not a phrase foreign visitors wouldn't have heard even back in the days when every Lancashire mill town had a professional knocker-up, going round workers' houses at 5 am, bestirring them for a prompt start.
It's not at all rare, even now, when you're staying with friends. A polite offfer to knock guests up is part of a host's duties: only when speakers of colonial dialects are staying is the offer made with an ironic grin, or with a inoffensive circumlocution.
Aug 16th, 2010, 01:10 AM
#74
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>.Re "knock you up"
Do people really say this or is it just an urban myth?<<
The occasion to say it doesn't really arise now. But there was a time before alarm clocks and factory hooters when people really were employed in mill towns to go along the streets knocking at doors and windows to get people up for work.
Do people really say this or is it just an urban myth?<<
The occasion to say it doesn't really arise now. But there was a time before alarm clocks and factory hooters when people really were employed in mill towns to go along the streets knocking at doors and windows to get people up for work.
Aug 16th, 2010, 11:07 AM
#75
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Above all, though, it's not a phrase foreign visitors wouldn't have heard even back in the days when every Lancashire mill town had a professional knocker-up, going round workers' houses at 5 am, bestirring them for a prompt start.>
Ah but Her Royal Highness just now only made her Piper redundant- the one that piped up every morning in son just below her bedroom window - i guess we could say he was knocking up the Queen?
If so sounds like a capital offense for sure!
Ta!
Ah but Her Royal Highness just now only made her Piper redundant- the one that piped up every morning in son just below her bedroom window - i guess we could say he was knocking up the Queen?
If so sounds like a capital offense for sure!
Ta!
Aug 18th, 2010, 01:26 AM
#76
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People tend to say "Can I help?" instead of the American "Can I help you?"... it's a subtle difference, but it jumps out at me!
And yes, London is quaint. Even the gross and dirty bits that you all hate. Americans tend to think that anything "different" is quaint, especially when it's said in a cute little accent! (Patronizing tone is meant sarcastically, of course).
And yes, London is quaint. Even the gross and dirty bits that you all hate. Americans tend to think that anything "different" is quaint, especially when it's said in a cute little accent! (Patronizing tone is meant sarcastically, of course).
Aug 18th, 2010, 05:35 AM
#80
Winds light to variable
Dover, Wight, Portland. West or northwest, backing southwest, 4 or 5, increasing 6 at times. Slight or moderate. Showers. Good
And to take you through until tea, Christopher Martin Jenkins.
"The Referees a Wanker, The Referees a Wanker!"
"Advantage Miss Williams. New Balls please"
Bridleway
Right of way
Public footpath
Parish Churches: St Cuthbert's, St Botolphs, St Swithin's etc.
Dover, Wight, Portland. West or northwest, backing southwest, 4 or 5, increasing 6 at times. Slight or moderate. Showers. Good
And to take you through until tea, Christopher Martin Jenkins.
"The Referees a Wanker, The Referees a Wanker!"
"Advantage Miss Williams. New Balls please"
Bridleway
Right of way
Public footpath
Parish Churches: St Cuthbert's, St Botolphs, St Swithin's etc.
