Questions tagged [british-english]
This tag is for questions related to English as used in Great Britain, and sometimes Ireland.
2,482
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Swear words in common usage by educated people in 1916
What swear words might have been commonly used in conversation (and, in particular, oral argument) in and around 1916, by literate men? As sources from the time are largely written, it is difficult to ...
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1
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"Financier" in British and American English
I am teaching English to a group of university students whose major is Finance, and whose native language is not English. I have no background in economics in general or finance in particular. I am ...
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Allophones of /ə/
In (non-rhotic) British English there seem to be two major allophones of the phoneme /ə/. The first which can be heard in potato, career or the weak form of from as an [ə].
However, there's also a ...
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What is the origin of BrEng ‘bird’ meaning “young woman”?
Bird:
(Brit.) a girl or young woman, esp one's girlfriend (Collins Dict. )
According to Etymonline, bird:
"maiden, young girl," c.1300, confused with burd (q.v.), but felt by ...
user66974
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Shalln't vs. Shan't in British English
I am a British English speaker and often use "shall" and "shall not". When I contract "shall not", I pronounce it [ʃɑlnt] -- that is, the "l" sound remains. My question, therefore, is how do I spell ...
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What is the correct way to style academic degrees after a name in British English?
What is the correct way to style academic degrees in British English?
I've got a name:
Jane Doe RN Dip HV BSc
My question is: How should I style the degrees?
Jane Doe, RN Dip., HV, BSc.
or:...
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Is it true that Cockney English is disappearing? And being replaced with "Jafaican"?
I read a couple of comments to that effect on this Youtube video, which is basically a man ranting in Cockney from the movie Football Factory (2004). The comments bemoan American ignorance about the ...
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Non-standard grammar feature in British dialect?
I moved from Worcestershire in the UK to a non-native English speaking country when I was a child, which has made me very aware of my accent. Unlike my parents, I used to have a regional accent. I ...
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Demonstrative "which"?
I was watching a British panel show from the early 2000s, and at the end of each episode, a buzzer would indicate that the time was up.
What was strange was the way in which the host would react to ...
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Earliest use of "book," the slang verb meaning "to leave quickly" [duplicate]
"Book," the slang verb meaning to leave quickly--has anyone found it used prior to the 1840s? I found it used in chapter 143 of Varney the Vampire: "[I]f the old watchman comes round, we may have to ...
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Crepi il lupo in English? [closed]
What is the English version of the Italian:
"In bocca al lupo / Crepi"Crepi il lupo"?
Is this correct?:
"Good luck! / Cracks the wolf"
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I've heard something like "young pop" as a synonym for "young man/people". Is it right?
I've heard something like "young pop" as a synonym for "young man/people". Is it right? How do you spell "pop" in that context?
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How accepted is ‘f***ing’ in informal conversation?
For the past twenty years I've heard people use the adjective "fucking" more often than ever before in the US: in real life, in movies and on TV. Sentences like "You fucking idiot." I've also heard ...
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Use of 'pagan' in an essay: is it acceptable or not?
I'm writing an essay right now and I'm deliberating whether or not I should use Pagan gods instead of Greek gods (to provide variation in the essay). I've looked up the word pagan in the dictionary ...
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What is the exact word for the person who calls the speakers in an event using a mic?
What is a person who speaks on the mic that which person is going to come next to speak called?
user1478
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Why are "bath" and "bathe" pronounced differently?
I'm specifically talking about British English. In British English, "bath" (noun) has a long vowel ([ɑː]) while the verb "bathe" has a diphthong ([eɪ]) and sounds more like the ...
user387258
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How do American English and British English use the definite article differently?
I decided to make sure that I know this important difference between American and British English, so I wrote what I have found out so far and I would be grateful to anyone who reads this and tells me ...
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Is the pronunciation difference between “BrE deuce” vs “AmE deuce” systematic?
While checking the exact pronunciation of the term deuce, I noticed that there is a clear difference between BrE /djuːs/ and NAmE /duːs/.
While it is true that pronunciation has more exceptions ...
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What are these silent H's in place names in England?
I went to England and heard people pronouncing place names weirdly.
For example,
Caterham was pronounced "K-ter-rum" or "K-trum" instead of "K-ter-ham"
Selhurst was pronounced "SEL-lust" instead of "...
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Pronunciation of "lorry", "worry" and "sorry"
I have always pronounced lorry as "lur-ee" (as if to rhyme with worry), for as long as I can remember. Everyone else I know pronounces it as "lor-ee" (as if to rhyme with sorry).
Which one is ...
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"How be you" or "How are you"?
I have never heard the phrase "How be you?" until yesterday, and started arguing that this was incorrect and that the correct phrase is "How are you?". My friend's reply was "This is how it's taught ...
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What does it mean to "feel Humpty"?
I was reading a book written in the UK and a character stated that speaking to her sister made her "feel Humpty". I am not sure what she was feeling, as the rest of the dialogue gave no clue. Can ...
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Why do the British refer to things as 'posh'
Why do the British refer to something very smart, or people who are very well-off as being 'posh'?
user52780
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Meaning of "at least Dick Turpin wore a mask"
I tried to sell my stuff and one of the guys asked me if I could bargain on the item and I said no. He replied with the message,
At least Dick Turpin wore a mask.
What does that mean?
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London dialect usage
I found the following sentence in this article and was trying to understand it. I could get the meaning from the context, but I cannot deconstruct the sentence at all.
They introduced pugnacity, ...
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What is the difference in meaning between "pattern" and "rhythm"?
What is the difference in meaning between pattern and rhythm?
It seems to me that the former is more American-English and the latter more British-English. Are these more or less synonyms or are there ...
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How is "eff and blind" used?
A crossword clue in the Times 2 Jumbo Crossword Book—an assemblage of crosswords published in the Times—reads "use obscene language". The answer given is "eff and blind", confirmed ...
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Meaning of "Right Out" in Context [closed]
A particularly quotable 1970s British comedy film includes the following pseudo-old-english instructions for dispatching a troublesome foe:
First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin, then shalt thou ...
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"British English" or "English English" or simply "British"?
Is it correct to say "British English" or "English English" or simply "British" when taking about the language used in the UK?
I've seen people write English English too somewhere. Do they refer to ...
user223534
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Usage of "to waiver" in BrE and AmE
According to the site metro.co.uk, during a recent speech the British PM said:
Theresa May: "Our resolve will never waiver".
Though it is clear what she means by that sentence, "...
user66974
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Screaming for the beagle
In the 1951 film "Scrooge" with Alastair Sim, Mrs. Dilber runs down the stairs screaming and says "You'll force me to scream for the beagle!" What does she mean by that?
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Word to describe the completion of a planned rail journey
I am a native English speaker with, what I consider to be, an excellent vocabulary but I recently ran into a problem whilst compiling my list of New Year's Resolutions.
One item on the list is to ...
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"Were that you who did that" vs. "was that you who did that"
Which of the following is correct?
Were that you who did that?
Was that you who did that?
Obviously one has to use were with you, but which one goes here in this case?
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Use of 'That" rather than "the"
The weather reports on the BBC frequently use the word "That" when I was expecting either no article or possibly "the". For example 'There will be more of that cold weather.' when no cold weather has ...
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Englishman or English man?
Which group is correct (in British English)? Is there any difference? And which group do you use?
Group 1 (the one I use)
English man, English woman, English men, English women
Irish man, Irish ...
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Title of a widow?
I have to book a flight for my grandma who was married and became a widow. She still has to get a new ID but I want to book the flight asap. How do I write her title? Miss, misses, or?
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How do the British pronounce "want"?
I'm not a native English speaker, so I am learning the pronunciation of words mostly from using Google.
The way I found how to pronounce the word "want" was more or less like how I (british-way) say "...
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Un cancel? A word or phrase to say I'd like to cancel my cancellation
Say I have cancelled an appointment, but I then decide that I would like to go after all, so I cancel the cancellation... Do I uncancel the appointment? Seems a bit clumsy even if it's a valid ...
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"That's bang out of order": pun, anagram or play on words?
There is a one-liner by Tim Vine, a British stand-up comedian, that sees him pull out a card with the word...
BNAG
and exclaim:
That's bang out of order!
The joke is derived from the idiom out ...
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Could "shingled" mean "pebbly"?
One of the definition of shingle is
a mass of small rounded pebbles, especially on a seashore.
You can say
a shingle beach
(more common usage in UK than US perhaps)
Is it also correct English ...
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Meaning of the verb 'snort' in a sharp dialog
I could not figure out the meaning of the verb 'snort' implied in Sir Elton John's reply to Lily Allen during some award ceremony, after her disrespectful comment on his age. He said:
I could still ...
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"Fall term", "autumn semester", "autumn term" or "fall semester"?
Please clarify which is UK English, American English, and where and when to use which:
Fall term (American English?)
Autumn semester (UK English?)
Autumn term (wrong?)
Fall semester (wrong?)
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"Enclosure" vs. "attachment"
If I understand it correctly, one usually uses the term enclosure when referring to extra documents to e.g. a letter. But what if these extra items are not other documents and papers?
Say I have ...
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How widespread is the usage of Senior, Junior, III in British English?
Upon asking about the Spanish equivalences of Senior, Junior and III, I got to know that these are commonly used in United States, but not that much in Britain. Talking about the United Kingdom, a ...
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What are people, male or female, working in a Brothel, called?
They sure are not called call girls or hookers (absolutely not!). I don't believe "call girls" because these are people working in an establishment, right there, not making calls, not that 'kind'. ...
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What is the meaning of “cop” in: “if London cops it, he'll cop it”?
What is the meaning of the text in bold:
He says if London cops it, he'll cop it. And not to worry, Dad.
I have found these meanings for cop in The Free Dictionary, but none of them seem relevant ...
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Meaning of Down to the?
What is the meaning of down to the?
E.g. in this statement:
In order to use this feature, the statements must be exactly the same
- down to the number of spaces, tabs, capital/small letters.
My ...
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"Amendment" or "Addendum" for book correction
A clarification of a European building code has been issued, therefore a separate correction for the book is released. What would this correction be called?
I have had the words amendment and ...
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How would you use rationale in a sentence?
How is rationale used in a sentence? Can it be used in place of logic?
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Is there a word for 'everything' in the Northern English dialect?
I'm wondering if there's a word for everything in the Northern-English dialect that's spoken in and around Yorkshire.
I know that there's summat (something), owt (anything), and nowt (nothing), but is ...
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