Timeline for British idioms in America
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
13 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jul 27, 2023 at 22:58 | vote | accept | Sajjad Khorrami | ||
| Jul 27, 2023 at 22:15 | history | edited | Mari-Lou A | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
improved grammar and formatting, reduced size and empty white space in the screenshot,
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| Jul 27, 2023 at 22:13 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | @MichaelHarvey: I expect the Internet, globalization in general, and the rise of planet-spanning Anglophone entertainment giants (Netflix, Amazon, Apple TV,...) means we all tend to know previously "regionally distinct" usages. And if they meet a need, we'll eventually start to actually use the most useful terms from abroad. | |
| Jul 27, 2023 at 21:55 | comment | added | Michael Harvey | @FumbleFingers - do Americans still snigger? I'd have thought that even cowpunchers in the remotest parts of Wyoming have heard that Brits call cigarettes 'fags', and have got (gotten?) over it. I understand that the word 'shag' is wildly funny in the US now, thanks to the execrable Austin Powers films, and also everybody there now knows that 'wank' is not just a typical New York dentist surname. | |
| Jul 27, 2023 at 21:13 | answer | added | Astralbee | timeline score: 3 | |
| Jul 27, 2023 at 20:55 | review | Close votes | |||
| Aug 11, 2023 at 3:05 | |||||
| Jul 27, 2023 at 20:08 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | @MichaelHarvey: Who? What? Do Brits still pop out for a fag, or do Americans still snigger? | |
| Jul 27, 2023 at 20:06 | comment | added | Michael Harvey | @FumbleFingers - do they still do that? I thought it had gone the way of Mrs Slocombe's pussy. | |
| Jul 27, 2023 at 20:05 | comment | added | Michael Harvey | That dictionary entry says that 'beat around the bush' is mainly a US idiom, and 'beat about the bush' is a mainly UK idiom. They are so similar that Americans will understand the British version and vice versa. In many expressions, 'around' may be replaced by 'about' without destroying meaning (in US and British English). | |
| Jul 27, 2023 at 20:05 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | As a typical example, Americans often snigger at the BrE usage I'm just popping out for a quick fag because they "pretend" they understand fag as meaning male homosexual. But they only do that for the sake of humour. Almost all Americans know perfectly well that fag is used in BrE to mean cigarette. | |
| Jul 27, 2023 at 20:02 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | Some Americans might not recognize certain BrE usages, but most will be recognized (either because the American has heard them before, or because in context the meaning is obvious anyway). For the reverse situation, Brits will almost always recognize AmE usages, even if we don't normally generate them ourselves. That "imbalance" is partly because American culture dominates the world, and partly because there are far more Americans than Brits, so we encounter their ways more than they encounter ours. | |
| S Jul 27, 2023 at 19:44 | review | First questions | |||
| Jul 27, 2023 at 23:01 | |||||
| S Jul 27, 2023 at 19:44 | history | asked | Sajjad Khorrami | CC BY-SA 4.0 |