Americanisms

[Famine]

Apples and pears.

Explain.

If your refering to Cockney Slang, then it means Stairs.

Indeed. Everyone always gets Cockney Rhyming Slang wrong though - you never say the rhyming word. So you'd say "Apples" which means "Apples and Pears" which is a rhyme for "Stairs", me old China.

Incidentally, I'd like to introduce Americans to two things. The first is "avoirdupois":

This is a system of weights and measures using ounces and fluid ounces for solids and liquids or powders, most commonly used in baking and home cooking.

The second is the "box" (or "manhole cover" if you're a lady):

This is a hardened cover for the nether regions used in sports where there is a fast-moving, dense projectile (hockey goalkeeper, cricket).


The American term for both of these things is "cup". I do not want to eat a cake that has been prepared using a sweaty manveg pouch.

 

[W3H5]

Apples and pears.

I'll rabbit on a daily if you'd lend a king or take a butchers.

When crims were doing porridge in kitchen they didn't want a bottle earwigging what came from their north. They made up a language so nobody had a scooby what they were on about.

 

[axletramp]

It's all gone a bit Pete Tong around 'ere.

 

[W3H5]

I know people, old Londoners, who still talk like that. Sometimes even I get confused about what they're saying.

 

[Pupik]

When crims were doing porridge in kitchen they didn't want a bottle earwigging what came from their north. They made up a language so nobody had a scooby what they were on about.

...and we butcher the language? At least we don't quite sound like escapees from an insane asylum. Except for the drunk rednecks.

As for the cup versus box, I don't see the fuss. Plenty of foodstuffs are contained in a box, which you still call a "tin" (even though it's made of paper, not metal...usually that metal isn't actually tin, either).

Jaguar comes from the Central American animal, so its a Spanish loanword. "Jag-wahr" sounds closer to the Spanish pronunciation. The "u" and "a" together create a w-sound of sorts, depending on your tongue. But being that Proper Nouns can be pronounced any way its creator wishes...

 

[Mike Rotch]

Nobody has mentioned this yet:

Coupé - "Coop'ay": hardtopped sports cars or sporty variants of sedan (saloon) body styles, with doors commonly reduced from four to two, and a close-coupled interior.

vs

Coupé - "Coo'p": Something that sounds like you keep chicken in, but American's believe is a hardtopped car in 2+2 fashion.

vs

Coup - "Coo'p": Something you do keep chickens in.

 

[niky]

You mean "coup" as in "coup de grace"? The one that's pronounced "cooh"?

 

[PeterJB]

Two prime examples here: Gloucestershire 'Gloss-te-sheer' and of course Worcestershire 'Wuss-te-sheer'. When you encounter somebody from Wiltshire or Somerset expect about 50 r's to be added to those.

 

[axletramp]

There's a town called Trottiscliffe near where I grew up in Kent. It's pronounced 'Tros-ley'.

 

[niky]

Two prime examples here: Gloucestershire 'Gloss-te-sheer' and of course Worcestershire 'Wuss-te-sheer'. When you encounter somebody from Wiltshire or Somerset expect about 50 r's to be added to those.

It's not "Whirrrrshirshtershrrrrr....", then? Everytime the topic comes up at the dinner table, I often just stand up to go get the bloody bottle myself.

 

[W3H5]

Nobody has mentioned this yet: Coupé

Wouldn't that fall under a different rule altogether being a French word?

 

[Pupik]

Nobody has mentioned this yet:

Coupé - "Coop'ay": hardtopped sports cars or sporty variants of sedan (saloon) body styles, with doors commonly reduced from four to two, and a close-coupled interior.

Coupé - "Coo'p": Something that sounds like you keep chicken in, but American's believe is a hardtopped car in 2+2 fashion.

Here's the thing: We Americans usually ignore all accent marks, except for the occassional metal ümlaut. It's almost always ignored, probably strictly for orthographic reasons. That's not to say they don't appear at all, but in the spirit of this thread, Americanization of language typically drops all accents, diacritical marks, macrons, thorns, et al...basically, anything that's not the 26 letters of the alphabet.

Erase the accent, and you get a final "e" sound which is usually silent in almost all American English words, if preceded by another vowel. Thus: "coupe" would be interpreted as coop.

Wouldn't that fall under a different rule altogether being a French word?

...that's best for another thread. Being stuck in French spelling bee is a nightmare of mine.

 

[axletramp]

So Beyoncé is pronounced Bey-on-ss?

 

[Pupik]

So Beyoncé is pronounced Bey-on-ss?

I think because the media calls a proper noun what it is, then her name is pronounced the way it is.

I'm sure her record producer, Wikipedia, and herself are the only one who use the accent mark.

 

[axletramp]

I think she's just being prétentieux.

 

[Villain]

If your refering to Cockney Slang, then it means Stairs.

I know what it means. I would like the explanation.

 

[Famine]

I know what it means. I would like the explanation.

I'll rabbit on a daily if you'd lend a king or take a butchers.

When crims were doing porridge in kitchen they didn't want a bottle earwigging what came from their north. They made up a language so nobody had a scooby what they were on about.

I'll tell you a story if you listen.

When convicts where serving time in prison, they didn't want a policeman listening in on their words. They made up a language so nobody had a clue what they were talking about.

Rabbit = Rabbit & Pork = Talk
Daily = Daily Mail = Tale
King = King Lear = Ear
Butchers = Butcher's Hook = Look
Kitchen = Kitchen Sink = Clink = Gaol/Jail
Bottle = Bottle Stopper = Copper
North = North & South = Mouth
Scooby = Scooby Doo = Clue.

 

[axletramp]

When I was college I once convinced a fellow student, who was Turkish, that 'Steel Rule' was slang for 'Swimming Pool'. "Fancy a dip down the steel?"

Oh, the hilarity!

Can I just point out to anyone who's from outside the UK and not been to London, that very few people use rhyming slang regularly. I worked in London for over 13 years and have family who are from the East End (Forest Gate) and apart from the odd "she can rabbit on" no one spoke like they do in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. If anything it's American slang that's becoming more prolific and traditional slang is disappearing - which is the very nature of slang, I suppose.

 

[Pupik]

...traditional slang is disappearing - which is the very nature of slang, I suppose.

One only has to listen to C. Montgomery Burns a few times to understand that slang and language is far from permanent.

 

[W3H5]

To be honest I rarely use rhyming slang these days. I did a lot with my pals in London, but it was mostly really local stuff from our town and a lot of it wasn't rhyming slang, just replacement words.

To this day a conversation with my father may take place where we speak nothing but slang so that our US / European friends cannot overhear our conversation while at the same table.

Usually along the lines of........
Fat man - "Any reddies in ya sky?"
Me - "Na, boracic. Got some salmon though."

I can't for the life of me workout why I still call a phone a dog when only 1 other person I know understands what I mean.

My name causes the most troubles in Asia. Ever tried getting a non-native speaker to pronounce Sean? And that's even without the foda on the a which I only use in handwriting. I get called Shawn a lot.

 

[Jimlaad43]

Meopham, (Proper)Kent: Mep-um
Wrotham, (Proper)Kent: Roo-tum

 

[Keef]

But B'you'gatti by any reckoning should be the right pronunciation, right?

Boo-gah-tee.

Anyways, is it just me or does Bugatti look more like an Italian word than French?

As for your pronunciation explanation, Gatti would have an A pronounced as in the word shaft (first word that came to mind, lol).

If you want a gah sound, as in bravo, you should say Gotti, like the mafia guy. Everybody knows how that is pronounced.

 

[Grand Prix]

Boo-gah-tee.

Anyways, is it just me or does Bugatti look more like an Italian word than French?

Yes, yes it is. Ettore Bugatti was Italian, but the company was in Alsace, France.

 

[Famine]

Can I just point out to anyone who's from outside the UK and not been to London, that very few people use rhyming slang regularly.

I'd counter that nearly everyone does in their daily language without realising it. Even something as benign as "not on your Nelly!" is based in Cockney Rhyming Slang. Some contend "scarper" (meaning to get the flock out of here) is CRL - Scapa Flow = go - but it may be based in the Italian "escappare" (to leave quickly).

 

[axletramp]

Fair point, I just didn't want people getting the idea that Guy Ritchie's world existed beyond 1979! I think it is fair to say that Americanisms are the more dominant force in changing everyday UK slang away from traditional (including cockney) and regional versions.

 

[mattythedog]

Some interesting phrases/words used at my school, dunno if they are unique but I'll try and explain them best I can.

Par, as in "you par him"- sort of like you mock him, make fun of.
Peak- like shame on you.
Scrape out/in, as in "stop scraping in"- like butting in on conversations that you weren't in.

Don't worry if that's confusing. U don't understand half the things some of my friends say half the time.

 

[Keef]

Fair point, I just didn't want people getting the idea that Guy Ritchie's world existed beyond 1979! I think it is fair to say that Americanisms are the more dominant force in changing everyday UK slang away from traditional (including cockney) and regional versions.

Blame it on rap. Blame everything on rap.

 

[Submerged]

No, blame it on Hollywood and national television.

 

[Villain]

It's all Guy Ritchie's fault.

 

[axletramp]

Blame it on rap. Blame everything on rap.

"Guns don't kill people, rappers do"

It's all Guy Ritchie's fault.

I never forgave him for marrying Madonna... and "Gaw blimey g'vnor, you ain't got no minerals..." etc