British Slang

[SteveShaw]

O my, and I'm happy if I can guess half - nay, a quarter of what is meant or not meant by all these slang or not-slang words. Gone, those oldfashioned days of 'Jeeves & Wooster's' rummy
And actually I'm still figuring out what some of the abbreviations here on the board mean. What's LOL (??!!) or FWIW ? For goodness sake, you could make anything out of them...

Anyway.

There are ... let's say "a lot of German words not widely used in the US, Eire, Britain etc." BUT there are SOME words we (sort of) share: Me with my native-English-speaking Sweetheart beeing invited to German friends for making fresh Pizza; friend tells us enthusiastically what yummy things can go onto it - onions, tomatoes, brocoli, cheese ... and mice !
[Mais, speak mice = sweet corn] - not suitable for vegetarians

Much in language is to do with capturing the zeitgeist and avoiding the ersatz like the plague. Always seek out the echt.

[s1m0n]

It was actually a by-law enacted during WWII that people had to queue at bus stops.

A nation-wide by-law?

[MTGuru]

Nano's list defines Acronym as a true acronym of Abbreviated Coded Rendition Of Name Yielding Meaning. So by self-referential definition, the list entries are, indeed, acronyms.

[Denny]

I'm borderline amusing/annoying.



on good days

[Innocent Bystander]

It was actually a by-law enacted during WWII that people had to queue at bus stops.

A nation-wide by-law?

Apparently so.

[SteveShaw]

Nano's list defines Acronym as a true acronym of Abbreviated Coded Rendition Of Name Yielding Meaning. So by self-referential definition, the list entries are, indeed, acronyms.

It is not an acronym unless it is pronounced as a word. NATO is an acronym whereas BBC is not. In my last post I should have distinguished between abbreviations and initialisms I suppose (I'll pick myself up on that as no-one else has), but one thing's for sure. Very few items on that "A" list are acronyms. I know that "acronym" is a fancy and clever-sounding word that we're all itching to use, but none of that absolves it from needing to be used correctly.

[Martin Milner]

I don't speak British but I do know that "whack off" means to fire somebody. I heard this in one of my classes where somebody said, "and he was whacked off." I was like, "Whaaa?"

I always thought whacking off was something else...

Ditto. I think someone's been pulling your leg, Jack, I've never heard the term "whacked off" used for being fired. The only use I've ever hard for this is for a five-knuckle shuffle, assisted or self-inflicted.

I think bus-stop queueing has broken down partly because of the plethora of buses on different routes sharing the same stop. I've stood politely behind someone waiting for them to get on the bus, only for the driver to close the doors and go, because the numpty was waiting for a different bus.

I've always used the term bumph to refer to documents or leaflets which I pick up (or have shoved through my letterbox) but may never get round to reading, but I never knew the alleged origin was rude. Sounds like a bit of WW2 lingo.



btw, there's a popular English folk song The Lollipop Man which has these lyrics:

The Lollipop Man
Chorus: trad. Verses: © Jim Causley, Paul Wilson & Marilyn Tucker 2007

Chorus (sung at the beginning and after each verse):
Oh the lollipop man has a great big stick
And all that he charges is a penny a lick
And he gets it out whenever he can
He’s a dirty old devil is the lollipop man

Verses:
Who is this with his spurty spout?
A dribbly cone, you can suck it all out
And a knicker-knocker glory, it’s the ice-cream man
But he cannot hold a candle to the lollipop man

Who is this with his grimy sack?
You can have it up the front or he’ll shove it round the back
With his sooty old nuts it’s the dirty coalman
But he’ll never hold a candle to the lollipop man

Who is this with his long stiff brush?
He rams it up the flu with a shove and a push
And he doesn’t give a toss; he’s the chimney sweep man
But he’ll never hold a candle to the lollipop man

And who is this with his floppy mop?
It’s long and it’s wet with a foam on top
Well he’s squeaky clean; it’s the window cleaner man
But he’ll never hold a candle to the lollipop man

Who is this with a silver top?
It’s nothing that a little blue-tit can’t pop
With his manly jugs it’s the creamy milkman
But he cannot hold a candle to the lollipop man

And who is this with his petticoats gay?
Powder puff and curly wig and lingerie
Well it’s old Mollybags, neither woman nor a man
But she’ll never hold a candle to the lollipop man

Who is this taking down your draws?
He never ever shoots and he seldom scores
Well it’s never jackpot with the Littlewoods man
And he’ll never hold a candle to the lollipop man

Who is this with the long bent fruit?
He peels back the skin and he slips on his suit
Well his real name’s Eric, he’s Banana Man
But he’ll never hold a candle to the lollipop man

[SteveShaw]

Your fount of erudition never fails to amaze me, Martin.

[Martin Milner]

Your fount of erudition never fails to amaze me, Martin.

One picks these things up hanging with t' fast & t' furious Morris Dancers.

[izzarina]

I'm borderline amusing/annoying.

Ummm....yeah...I could say something, but I won't. Lucky for you, Denny


It actually has more to do with the fact I couldn't come up with anything to say.....but we won't mention that....

[izzarina]

In my last post I should have distinguished between abbreviations and initialisms I suppose (I'll pick myself up on that as no-one else has).

I noticed it...does that count?

[Wombat]

I always thought whacking off was something else...

Ditto. I think someone's been pulling your leg, Jack, I've never heard the term "whacked off" used for being fired. The only use I've ever hard for this is for a five-knuckle shuffle, assisted or self-inflicted.

Ironically, in Aus we'd say 'jacking off.' Or perhaps 'shaking hands with the wife's best friend.'

[Nanohedron]

I know that "acronym" is a fancy and clever-sounding word that we're all itching to use, but none of that absolves it from needing to be used correctly.

Oh, dear. I have heard even those among the lowly here in the States occasionally use the word, so I didn't realise it was all that fancy and clever-sounding. As for itching? I'm not, but maybe you could see your pharmacist, Shaw.

But you've expressed in the past a fondness for Merriam-Webster, which happens to allow for initialisms to be included in its definition of "acronym". No skin off my nose either way. I'm on record for my distrust in the absolute reliability of dictionaries.

[SteveShaw]

My dictionary of choice is the Oxford Concise. I tend to trust dictionaries more if they are produced in England. I have noticed a tendency for Americans to be lax in the use of "acronym." This is a pity, as the distinctions between acronyms, initialisms and abbreviations are, in my view, well worth preserving. Apart from my dictionary I also have no fewer than three use-of-English guides, by Trask, Howard and Bryson, and all three disallow "acronym" for abbreviations that are not pronounced as words.

[Nanohedron]

Fair enough. I imagine what we have here is somewhat akin to the difference between the British and U.S. meanings of "knock you up in the morning".