Much in language is to do with capturing the zeitgeist and avoiding the ersatz like the plague. Always seek out the echt.Ellen wrote: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
British Slang
- SteveShaw
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Re: British Slang
"Last night, among his fellow roughs,
He jested, quaff'd and swore."
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the life that'll never, never die.
I'll live in you if you'll live in me -
I am the lord of the dance, said he!
He jested, quaff'd and swore."
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the life that'll never, never die.
I'll live in you if you'll live in me -
I am the lord of the dance, said he!
- s1m0n
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Re: British Slang
A nation-wide by-law?Innocent Bystander wrote: It was actually a by-law enacted during WWII that people had to queue at bus stops.
And now there was no doubt that the trees were really moving - moving in and out through one another as if in a complicated country dance. ('And I suppose,' thought Lucy, 'when trees dance, it must be a very, very country dance indeed.')
C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis
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Re: British Slang
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.
Vivat diabolus in musica! MTGuru's (old) GG Clips / Blackbird Clips
Joel Barish: Is there any risk of brain damage?
Dr. Mierzwiak: Well, technically speaking, the procedure is brain damage.
Joel Barish: Is there any risk of brain damage?
Dr. Mierzwiak: Well, technically speaking, the procedure is brain damage.
Re: British Slang
I'm borderline amusing/annoying.
on good days
on good days
- Innocent Bystander
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Re: British Slang
Apparently so.s1m0n wrote:A nation-wide by-law?Innocent Bystander wrote: It was actually a by-law enacted during WWII that people had to queue at bus stops.
Wizard needs whiskey, badly!
- SteveShaw
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Re: British Slang
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.MTGuru wrote: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.
"Last night, among his fellow roughs,
He jested, quaff'd and swore."
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the life that'll never, never die.
I'll live in you if you'll live in me -
I am the lord of the dance, said he!
He jested, quaff'd and swore."
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the life that'll never, never die.
I'll live in you if you'll live in me -
I am the lord of the dance, said he!
- Martin Milner
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Re: British Slang
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.chrisoff wrote:I always thought whacking off was something else...Jack wrote: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 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
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Re: British Slang
Your fount of erudition never fails to amaze me, Martin.
"Last night, among his fellow roughs,
He jested, quaff'd and swore."
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the life that'll never, never die.
I'll live in you if you'll live in me -
I am the lord of the dance, said he!
He jested, quaff'd and swore."
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the life that'll never, never die.
I'll live in you if you'll live in me -
I am the lord of the dance, said he!
- Martin Milner
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Re: British Slang
One picks these things up hanging with t' fast & t' furious Morris Dancers.SteveShaw wrote:Your fount of erudition never fails to amaze me, Martin.
- izzarina
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Re: British Slang
Ummm....yeah...I could say something, but I won't. Lucky for you, DennyDenny wrote:I'm borderline amusing/annoying.
It actually has more to do with the fact I couldn't come up with anything to say.....but we won't mention that....
Someday, everything is gonna be diff'rent
When I paint my masterpiece.
When I paint my masterpiece.
- izzarina
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Re: British Slang
I noticed it...does that count?SteveShaw wrote: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).
Someday, everything is gonna be diff'rent
When I paint my masterpiece.
When I paint my masterpiece.
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Re: British Slang
Ironically, in Aus we'd say 'jacking off.' Or perhaps 'shaking hands with the wife's best friend.'Martin Milner wrote: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.chrisoff wrote:
I always thought whacking off was something else...
- Nanohedron
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Oh, yeah: also a mod here, not a spammer. A matter of opinion, perhaps. - Location: Lefse country
Re: British Slang
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.SteveShaw wrote: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.
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.
"If you take music out of this world, you will have nothing but a ball of fire." - Balochi musician
- SteveShaw
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Re: British Slang
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.
"Last night, among his fellow roughs,
He jested, quaff'd and swore."
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the life that'll never, never die.
I'll live in you if you'll live in me -
I am the lord of the dance, said he!
He jested, quaff'd and swore."
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the life that'll never, never die.
I'll live in you if you'll live in me -
I am the lord of the dance, said he!
- Nanohedron
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- Tell us something.: Been a fluter, citternist, and uilleann piper; committed now to the way of the harp.
Oh, yeah: also a mod here, not a spammer. A matter of opinion, perhaps. - Location: Lefse country
Re: British Slang
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".
"If you take music out of this world, you will have nothing but a ball of fire." - Balochi musician