Or, indeed the famous Victorian boarding house keeper's sign in the window: "Young men taken in and done for".

Lumme, you ain't 'alf a caution, and no mistake ! (Kathleen Harrison, do you think or Irene Handel ?)

Oh, Mrs Huggett, without a doubt, strike me pink if I tell a lie:

Dandy Nichols as well! Wonderful !

May I venture Celia Johnstone in This Happy Breed? Climbing up the social scale, but the little sayings are there - and she manages to keep from straying into RADA tones for, oh ,at least 80% of the time.

quote:

Originally posted by Jonathan:
The passenger side is the nearside (because it's the one nearest the kerb).

Jonathan

Is that the same as "curb"???

quote:

Originally posted by PatrickLondon:
Or, indeed the famous Victorian boarding house keeper's sign in the window: "Young men taken in and done for".

This reminds me…
For the longest time the rather posh Paris store "Old England" had an old black&white photo poster showing high-collared white-clad Edwardian ladies at a horse race, with the caption "Ladies Introduced by Members only".
French passers-by were rolling on the boulevard des Capucines dying laughing.
In French, "introduire" means more often "penetrate" and members are, well, (eyebrow-raising) members, as in "bien membré".
OK, mods, cut this off if you must.

quote:

Is that the same as "curb"???

I didn't know the answer to this question and while looking it up I came across these pages from Wikipedia on spelling differences, but some entries are more than that (spelling) - I have read one several times and am still confused as what to they are saying about barmy/balmy - are we both talking about being mad with this word?

Oh, and curb = kerb when we are talking about the sidewalk/pavement. But of course we also use curb to mean restrain.

quote:

am still confused as what to they are saying about barmy/balmy - are we both talking about being mad with this word

Balmy derives from "balm", hence fragrant, soothing, calming

Barmy derives (I think) from "barm" - the froth on top of fermenting liquids like beer: so a barmy person's been a bit too near the barmaid's apron, perhaps.

quote:

cut this off if you must

oooh matron!

quote:

oooh matron!

Patrick, I was trying to make out the difference in word meaning here (on the Wiki site) - When I say someone is mad (as in, crazy) I say they are *barmy* - does an American say they are *balmy*? That is what that website seemed to be saying. But of course we talk about balmy breezes, air, day etc. Nothing to do with being mad.

Here's one that I don't think has been mentioned before. I did a "find" search, and nothing came up. My clever spouse mentioned it this morning.

British: spanner
U.S.: wrench

There was another one we talked about at the same time, but I can't now remember what it was. If I recall it, I'll post it here also.

Ann

We use both words, actually, Ann, for two slightly different things.

In Britain, the wrench is the open kind, often adjustable, and the spanner is usually the closed hexagonal (it could be a ratchet circle) kind but sometimes you get an open bit at the other end, like a wrench, in which case it is called a 'combination spanner'. They both do much the same job.

PS I am NOT a diy expert but I have used the odd spanner or wrench in extremis. Off to mend something with a 'Phillips' screwdriver, now as it happens (do you have those?).

I'm not too sure about this. I use open-ended or ring spanners but am fairly sure that the "adjustable spanner" is the American wrench.

So, in the USA, are your wrenches adjustable?

Apparently "wrench" is a generic term in the US (don't know about Canada), and "spanner" is generally used only for a specific kind of wrench. Here's what Wikipedia has to say about the subject:

"A wrench or spanner is a tool used to provide a mechanical advantage in applying torque to turn bolts, nuts or other hard-to-turn items.

In American English, wrench is the standard term, while spanner refers to a specialized wrench with a series of pins or tabs around the circumference. (These pins or tabs fit into the holes or notches cut into the object to be turned.) The most common shapes are called open-end wrench and box-end wrench.

In British English, spanner is the standard term. The most common shapes are called open-ended spanner and ring spanner."

Take a look at the wide variety of wrenches sold in the Home Depot building supply chain.

Ann

quote:

Originally posted by felicity:
We use both words, actually, Ann, for two slightly different things.

In Britain, the wrench is the open kind, often adjustable, and the spanner is usually the closed hexagonal (it could be a ratchet circle) kind but sometimes you get an open bit at the other end, like a wrench, in which case it is called a 'combination spanner'. They both do much the same job.

PS I am NOT a diy expert but I have used the odd spanner or wrench in extremis. Off to mend something with a 'Phillips' screwdriver, now as it happens (do you have those?).

Yes the "Phillips" actually orginated in the states:

Henry F. Phillips (1890 – 1958), a U.S. businessman from Portland, Oregon, has the honor of having the Phillips-head screw and screwdriver named after him.

The importance of the crosshead screw design lies in its self-centering property, useful on automated production lines that use powered screwdrivers. Phillips' major contribution was in driving the crosshead concept forward to the point where it was adopted by screwmakers and automobile companies.

This was in an email I got this morning - is it correct? I hadn't heard it before, and it's not in our UK-US dictionary!

quote:

'Afters'... the British word for dessert, usually referring to a sweet treat served after the main course.

Yes, but a slightly old fashioned usage and maybe considered slightly 'incorrect' in some quarters. It may also be used more in some parts of the country than others.

We say 'pudding' for that 3rd course (even if it is not an actual pudding ie fruit or a yogurt).

Neither of these would appear on a menu - it would be Dessert.

Thanks for the clarification. When I was last in England (besides just changing planes!) "sweet" seemed to be used instead of dessert. eg., "Shall we have a sweet?"

Afters, sweets and desserts all mean the same thing in Australia too.

They are general terms used for the third course of a meal.

Elly

I forgot about 'sweets' ! It is very much like 'afters', a term that used to be in common usage but is becoming a bit old-fashioned - my 85 year old mother still says it , which confuses my teenagers - they think she is offering them a piece of confectionary (ie candy in US terms)

Pantone Mug Gets Your Coffee and Cream Just Right

I am just reading Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye where someone asks for "Tea with cream and sugar". I don't think cream goes with tea, so I suspect that here "cream" stands for milk. I remember at one time in the US alternatives being white coffee or coffee without cream; so I wonder if in that case the cream was really milk.

It reminds me of a joke I heard in the seventies. On a flight a woman was asked how she wanted her coffee. She answered, "I like my coffee the way I like my men; strong and sweet.
"Ah, yes.", said the flight attendant, " But black or white?"

It is probably a whole lot more complicated but for a start, unless this is now out of date:

US: Coffee with cream
UK: Milk coffee

Actually, being pretentious, back in the UK in the 60s I would have asked for cafe au lait whenever possible.

Oh dear, the whole coffee malarkey....

Ever since That Chain opened up in the UK, we've had the whole Café Nervosa litany of weird and wonderful names to deal with (and don't get me started on people ahead of me who are ordering cappuccinos for several when all I want is what John would call a Long Black*); plus the Italian chains who've imported their own terminology.

Where once you could have black or white or frothy, and posh was getting it from a filter or a cafetière rather than instant, we now have to negotiate all the different terminologies and size conventions.

Grrr.

*"Americano" in most places nowadays; "café allongé" in France. Nowhere seems to do filter coffee any more.