TWO NATIONS DIVIDED BY A COMMON LANGUAGE

BY MS. PAULA BRIGGS

The following contribution, recently received from Paula Briggs, has been reproduced verbatim (with just a couple of observations from me) 

I have been looking at the area of your site where you discuss the differences in language between the US and the UK.  Two genuine events come to mind.

A friend stayed over in Texas a few years ago at the home of a clergyman and his wife.  Feeling the need for a cigarette after the long flight she chose the unfortunate wording "I could really murder a fag!"   Her hosts were horrified, particularly as she had flown over to assist the church in its charity work in a local prison!

I think the phrase "I could murder" as a substitution for "I would like" is probably most common in the North West of England though I have heard "I could murder a cuppa" in many parts of the UK. (I think this is used pretty widely throughout the UK)

Around twenty years ago, an aging and slightly deaf friend of my parents stood in the middle of a rather quiet and exclusive restaurant in Chester and invited my mother in her booming Washington State accent to "park her fanny" in a nearby seat.  This certainly turned a few heads!  When it was explained to her what the word meant in English, she blushed deep red and said that it was considered a rather polite word in the US.

On this seemingly popular topic of the gluteus maximus, "derriere", being French, is common to both languages.  We would use bum, rear-end, bot, bottom or botty (the latter to small children) commonly.  Tush is used but very rarely and in very particular sayings such as "shake your tush" (to dance) or "move your tush" (move out of the way - used informally to friends or family - never to a stranger).   I think what our US counterparts would refer to as a bum, we would call a tramp and what they would refer to as a tramp, our grandparents would probably have called a strumpet or fluzy. 

Bum, derriere, backside, rear-end, bottom, butt, buttocks, and tush are the most common word to refer to the gluteus maximus. Bum could also be slang for someone homeless or lazy. A tramp is used for a woman who... doesn't respect her body - usually a street walker/hooker/"skank", etc.

Kim

"Ass" has been adopted to some degree and is generally considered more polite than the vulgar "arse", though it would still not be the correct word to use when speaking to a local vicar or a great aunt.  As in the US, its meaning is made far more extreme and derogatory by adding "hole" to the end of either variant.

I may be mistaken, but I believe "gotten" is actually an old English word.  It follows similar rules to bite and smite - (you got, bit or smote, or you have (or were or have been) gotten, bitten or smitten) and prima facie, I would guess its roots were German.  Can anyone enlighten me on this issue?

 In response to some of Scott Jamieson's observations: - 

Git: It is heard in some parts of the USA, but here it's a verb, a corruption of "get," and it means "get out," a strong command to leave immediately. Recently, "get out" has also been adopted as a slang term to mean "I can't believe it!" (e.g. "You're taking me to Hawaii? Get out!").

In this context, we would probably say "Get Away" in the UK and this spawned a series of TV advertisements for a major holiday company as to get away also means to go on holiday (or vacation) as in "Did you manage to get away this year?"

Git is rarely heard in the UK outside certain parts of London.  I doubt many British people actually know what it means (no matter how often we might watch Eastenders).  It is very often preceded with the word "old", in which context it can be either highly derogatory or mildly affectionate, depending on the context.  Using "daft or "silly" in front of an insult often softens the effect, even if the offensive language itself is quite strong.  Therefore, "old git" could be an insult but "daft old git" could actually be an expression of gentle admonishment, tinged with endearment.

Git, probably from movies and books, has become a word not totally rare. I'm an Anglophile at heart, but I've heard classmates call someone else a git before. It could also be "get out" if you have a lazy way of speaking.

Kim

Roundabout vs. Rotary: ????? I only know the term roundabout as a particular kind of intersection, with an island in the middle. These are quite rare in America, but we do have them. I only know the term rotary as an adjective, describing something with a mechanical part that revolves (e.g. a rotary engine). Or, we have here a Rotary Club, which is a business/fraternal organization. 

As far as I am aware, a roundabout in the UK would usually be a gyratory intersection as described above but also a carousel or a piece of children's playground equipment that can be spun round.  I have never heard of a rotary as a noun, only as an adjective as in the 'rotary engine' example, though we do have the Rotary Club over here too. 

Roundabout, as an adjective can mean "approximately"  ("it was roundabout half past seven") or it can mean indirect ("he took a very roundabout route to get here" or "he reached the conclusion in a very roundabout way").  I am guessing this is a regional colloquial expression.

It mentions that roundabouts are rare in America. I can count at least five within ten minutes from my house in New Jersey. They aren't at all rare. I've driven to Canada quite a few times and also all over the East coast and LA area in California. Roundabouts, or circles as they call it in my area, can be found all over the continent as far as I know. Also, "in a roundabout way" is a phrase I use and have heard used all my life.

Kim

A few extra words for discussion

The pavement in the USA seems to refer to the road surface.  In the UK, it refers to the sidewalk.

Pavement could mean anything paved, depending on the context.  Kim

Whereas the term tap is generally used in England for a faucet, I believe the latter is sometimes used in parts of Scotland.

Tap and faucet are synonymous here. For example, one wouldn't say faucet water, but tap water.

Kim

A "not for the family" one:

An American colleague at work recently observed that to say someone was pissed in the USA meant that they were angry or annoyed but in the UK it seemed to mean they were very happy (it is actually a vulgar expression for being completely drunk). (in the UK we would say "pissed off" to mean being angry or annoyed).

Pissed off is used the same, to be "pissed" means to be drunk but is sometimes a shortened way of saying pissed off.                                                                                          Kim