This tag is for questions related to English as spoken in the isles of Britain and sometimes Ireland.
12
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2answers
1k views
“Oestrogen” and “oesophagus” — why are they spelled differently in British English?
Within Biology, there are some biological terms that differ in spelling between the British English and American English dictionaries. For example, oestrogen and oesophagus, as well as the word ...
12
votes
5answers
2k views
Can “already” be used after a simple past verb in American English?
A British colleague asked if these two sentences are grammatically acceptable in American English:
They found already high recognition in Europe and we wish to carry
that further.
...
12
votes
1answer
529 views
“Defense” or “defence”
Is the only difference that in USA they write it with s and in UK they write it with c, or is there anything more?
12
votes
2answers
987 views
Are -er insults a British phenomenon?
In the UK there are a lot of insulting words which end in -er, like this: scrubber (slut), tosser (masturbator), chancer (untrustworthy person), poofter (homosexual), wanker (masturbator, generally ...
11
votes
3answers
3k views
Is there any difference between “color” and “colour”?
What is the difference between color and colour?
11
votes
6answers
3k views
“Speak to” vs. “Speak with”
What are the differences between these two phrasal verbs and what are the best situations to use each?
11
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3answers
1k views
What does the “right” in the “The Right Honourable” mean? Why is it there?
I don't think the right in the "The Right Honourable" means "correct", because I can't see how that makes sense in context. I considered right as a British slang intensifier that means "really", but ...
11
votes
2answers
733 views
How and when did American spelling supersede British spelling in the US?
Considering that Webster published his first dictionary in 1806, is there a recognised tipping point (year, decade, etc.) that marked the move from traditional British spelling to Webster's American? ...
11
votes
5answers
2k views
How many of the “Top 10 favorite British words” are understood by Americans?
Merriam-Webster Dictionary online shows “Top 10 Favorite British Words”. I’m interested in knowing how many of the listed words are understood or accepted by Americans as English, whichever British ...
11
votes
5answers
15k views
Is there any difference between “offense” and “offence”?
"Offense" vs. "offence", which is more correct? If both are correct, are there any differences in shades of meaning and/or usage?
11
votes
3answers
2k views
“Stick it in the boot.” “Er, don't you mean the trunk?”
Does anyone know the etymological history or the reason behind the different names that British and American speakers use to refer to the automobile's largest storage receptacle, or more plainly, the ...
11
votes
6answers
769 views
“Toward” or “towards” – what would a native speaker use?
In this question we learn that toward and towards are interchangeable, but that the former is somewhat more typical of U.S. English and the latter of British English, although there is some indication ...
11
votes
3answers
2k views
When will “Present Perfect vs. Past Tense” cases be affected by culture?
Regarding actions taken in the past, besides the differences those two tenses have semantically, my teacher shared that it could be a British vs American English case.
When talking about past ...
11
votes
5answers
2k views
What's the origin of the word “geezer”?
From Oxford Dictionaries:
geezer noun
1. a man (British informal)
he strikes me as a decent geezer
2. an old man (North American informal , derogatory)
I think in British English ...
11
votes
2answers
11k views
The British pronunciation of the word “schedule”
Is pronouncing the word "schedule" as "shed-ule" only an upper class thing in the UK? Which pronunciation, "sked-ule" "or "shed-ule" is more faithful to the original etymology of the word, i.e. which ...
11
votes
2answers
821 views
Meaning of “Caucasian”
When I search the definition of Caucasian in the NOAD, I find the following definition (it's the first of three definitions):
(often offensive) of or relating to one of the traditional ...
11
votes
5answers
1k views
Identifying British accents
Are there rules of thumb for pinpointing British accents regionally?
What other accents do Americans tend to mistake for British?
Are there good online resources that can help with this? Audio ...
11
votes
2answers
850 views
Preventative vs. preventive
In this answer about the non-word disabilitated, the word preventative is compared (unfavourably, if my reading of the implication is correct) to preventive.
However, I have always used preventative, ...
10
votes
7answers
10k views
Is it true that “tuppence” refers to a woman's vagina in British English slang? If so, why?
I was looking up a definition online, as I often do, in this case the British slang word tuppence; I got the standard "a slang reference to a coin denomination" definition from Wikipedia, but stumbled ...
10
votes
5answers
3k views
How to use “you know”
For a non-native speaker like me, I am always wondering how to use you know correctly, as in the following sentence:
Alright, well, for example, like on
Saturdays, y’know, what I liked to do
...
10
votes
4answers
4k views
“flat” vs. “apartment”
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 8th edition
Flat:
noun. [ countable ] ( BrE ) a set of rooms for living in, including a kitchen, usually on one floor of a building.
Apartment：
noun. ( ...
10
votes
4answers
2k views
Why is 'forty' spelled without a 'u' in Canadian/British English?
I was writing in Word today (with the Canadian English dictionary enabled) and it kept putting a redline under "fourty" which I couldn't understand. A bit of searching says that, even in British and ...
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votes
2answers
1k views
What does the phrase “God and my twin vicars” mean?
As you all may have figured out, I have an affection for Britishisms and peculiar colloquiaisms of British speech. Recently, I came across an inscrutable one watching the hilarious FX show Archer, and ...
10
votes
4answers
386 views
Ambiguous connotation of “just” - How do natives interpret these?
First of all, these questions are a bit related but not what I'm actually asking about:
Is “I just spent all my money” grammatically incorrect?
“I just ate them” and “I've just eaten them” - What's ...
10
votes
4answers
2k views
Is a schwa ever stressed?
Is there a word in RP (Received Pronunciation) where the stressed vowel sound is a schwa?
10
votes
3answers
1k views
What do Brits means when they say “perving around”?
A friend mentioned her British girlfriend talking about drinking and "perving around the pool." What are the possible meanings for this? I gather from my friend's story that this Brit wasn't a ...
10
votes
4answers
375 views
Are Pounds Sterling referred to as squid (in addition to quid)
Commonly pounds are called quid,
but I've come across references to pounds as
squid
Is that a typo or actually a common usage?
Example from Football forums:
It is believed they have ...
10
votes
5answers
2k views
What is the etymology of “blackguard”? Does this British-sounding word have subtleties in its use?
The following is from My Fair Lady, where Eliza Doolittle's father, a man of working-class origins, is about to make his appearance. Prof. Higgins and Col. Pickering, our primary interlocutors in this ...
10
votes
7answers
5k views
When do you use “Cheers” instead of “Thank you” in spoken English?
A lot of time, people say "cheers" instead of "thank you". As I am not a native speaker, I wonder in which case you can use what.
It is used a lot for polite gestures, such as holding a door or ...
10
votes
1answer
322 views
What is “double history”?
I'm a Yank watching the UK version of Being Human and the character mentions sitting next to his ex-girlfriend in "Double History" (season 2 episode 3 around timestamp 24:18). It's clearly a history ...
10
votes
4answers
878 views
The mysterious, unenunciated “w” in the “-wich” of English place names
Doing some reading lately, I've been pondering the strange pronunciations of English place names — namely, that of the 'w' in the "–wich" suffix, which, as I understand it, is not ...
10
votes
3answers
416 views
Very unusual meaning of “abortion”
The following use of the word "abortion" got my attention. It is from Graham Greene's The End of the Affair, published in 1951. Here is the context:
"...Listen. I met a man on the Common today ...
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votes
6answers
820 views
Does “oath” have an implied religious connotation?
In Singapore you don't have to swear an oath in court if you are of certain religions. Instead you affirm that you're speaking the truth:
Circumstances under which affirmation may be made
16. ...
10
votes
3answers
2k views
What is the origin of the British “guv”? Is it still used colloquially?
I.e. is there a known historical reason behind why the British began calling each other "governor" and "guv"? The various online dictionaries I've consulted say it is now a way to refer to those of ...
10
votes
3answers
3k views
“right” vs “correct”
Except when we use right to denote direction, what is the difference between these two terms?
Also, which one is the preferred construction between these two
Am I right?
or
Am I correct?
10
votes
3answers
288 views
Connotations of using “boy” by upper-class liberal Britons in beginning of 20th century
Could someone provide (ideally documented) evidence for the following details of the possible meanings/connotations of the word "boy" as used by a start-of-20th-century upper-class British person of ...
10
votes
2answers
722 views
Answering “Have you got” questions with “I do”
For the question "Have you got any ice cream?" which is correct:
Yes I do
Yes I have
or inversely
No I don't
No I haven't got any
10
votes
6answers
3k views
Difference between “canteen” and “cafeteria”
Are there any differences between canteen and cafeteria?
In India, usually an eating place attached to an office, factory or school is called a canteen. Of course, in some new offices it is called ...
10
votes
3answers
3k views
“Haven't you?” or “don't you?”
What is the right question tag (in British English) when we use the verb have?
I have interviewed a few native speakers and none of them could explain why sometimes they prefer "haven't/hasn't" and ...
9
votes
9answers
816 views
American Equivalent of “Bog Standard”
I'm searching for an American English phrase that is the most readily equivalent to the British expression bog standard (which means, as I understand, plain, ordinary or unremarkable).
I'm tempted to ...
9
votes
7answers
982 views
Are there idioms specific to one English dialect?
Let's get into a little conversation about the differences between American English, British English and regional dialects. Some words are specific to certain dialects (lass is Scottish, the lads is ...
9
votes
3answers
531 views
“I park my car in the yard”
What is the origin of the different pronunciation of words like park, yard,
cartoon, margarine in American and British English?
In other words, why doesn’t British English generally pronounce the r ...
9
votes
3answers
1k views
Why is “a couple of <things>” often shortened to “a couple <things>”?
I would write a couple of . I often read/hear a couple .
I assumed this was an American English thing (I'm British), and just a convenient shortening of the phrase for speaking. It's easier to say a ...
9
votes
3answers
4k views
Why Isn't Citizen 'Citisen' in British English?
In British English vocabulary, most words with 'z's are replaced with 's's. For example, capitalization to capitalisation. Industrialization to industrialisation.
But for some words, like citizen, ...
9
votes
5answers
2k views
Using contracted forms (“don't”, “let's”) in a formal text
How compelled should I feel to use non-contracted forms (do not rather than don't and so on) when writing in a rather formal text, say an academic paper? In one case I am afraid to seem too stilted, ...
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votes
4answers
595 views
Is this correct grammar: “[…] cash can't be beat.”
I found the following phrase in a NYTimes article and I was pretty surprised that it wasn't corrected or edited out: "But when it comes to privacy and freedom, cash can't be beat.".
I am under the ...
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5answers
3k views
“Have not” versus “do not have”
As a non-native English speaker, I have a little doubt about using, or not, the auxiliary verb "to do" with the verb "to have". Are there differences in meaning between "I have not" and "I do not ...
9
votes
2answers
737 views
British pronunciation of “plait”
Having only seen this word in writing, I assumed it's pronounced "plate". howjsay (whose author is british) suggests the pronunciation that rhymes with "flat", but also offers the "plate" one. This ...
9
votes
2answers
208 views
“Music with rocks in” - British English?
I've been reading a multitude of Terry Pratchet books lately, and been exposed to some British terminology that doesn't generally make it over to the states.
The book Soul Music refers to rock music ...
9
votes
4answers
1k views
Why does Britain use “Way Out” rather than “Exit”?
At public transport interchanges throughout the English-speaking world (and where there are English signs for the benefit of travellers in non-English-speaking countries), the exits are marked, ...
