I opened up the Guardian Weekend magazine to find a fantastic word to add to my English lexicon:
Blubatorium.
Definition: The seconds of calm consideration a toddler takes after falling over. This gives time for the little team of crash investigators inside his head to rush to the scene and assess damage, parental liability, and sweet-extortion potential. A decision is then made as to whether or not it's worth crying.
OK, so maybe it's not a real word, but what makes a word a real word? How many people have to use a word before it becomes accepted?
Every once in a while, Rich and I will be having a conversation when one of us looks at each other inquisitively... as if to say, "we speak the same language, why don't I understand what you are saying?"
Well, most times we can figure it out... but it is interesting how many different words we use as yanks and brits... and why we didn't seem to notice it much when we were in China.
Here are a few of the recent Britishisms that I've discovered (BE= British English, AE= American English):
bespoke (BE) = tailor-made (AE), as in a bespoke tour or a bespoke suit
custom (BE) = service (AE), as in "Thank you for your custom"
top something up (BE) = (no equivalent: to add to a number or amount to bring something up to a certain amount), as in "I'd like to top up my phone". It can also be used as an adjective, as in a "top up card"
hob (BE) = stove top (AE)
rag and bone man (BE) = junk man/junk dealer (AE) (man who goes around buying second hand goods from people in a neighborhood and then sells them to someone else for a living, usually on the street), as in "He used to make a decent living as a rag and bone man, but now the Chinese have flooded the market" (taken from an article in the Guardian)
hair dryer (BE and AE)= blow dryer (AE?)
I'm just taking a guess here. Do any Brits use the term blow dryer instead of hair dryer?nail varnish (BE) = nail polish (AE), as in "I just bought a bottle of nail varnish for 2 quid"
wee (BE) = pee (AE), as in "He's gone for a wee three times now!"
supply teacher (BE) = substitute teacher (AE), as in "Supply teachers depend on bribery to get through the day"
city center (BE) = downtown (AE), as in "The U1 bus will take you to the city center of Oxford"
fug (BE)= (no AE equivalent) a warm and smoky atmosphere in the room, as in "she liked the cozy fug of the music halls"
winge (BE) = complain (AE), as in "Usually all we do when we get together is winge about our professors" (someone who does a lot of winging can also be referred to as a
winger (second syllable pronounced like the 'ger' from 'germ')
git (BE) = (no AE equivalent), an unpleasant or contemptible person, as in "What a cheeky git" (see below)
rubbish (BE) = crap (AE), as in "He's a rubbish football player"
tea (BE) = supper (AE), as in "What's for tea tonight?"
posh (BE) = upper-class (AE), as in "She may sound posh, but she's not" (
note: according to google, this comes from the label that was written on the trunks of the wealthy from Europe: "portside out, starboard home")manc (BE) = accent from Manchester, as in "I wish I had a manc accent"
manky (BE) = inferior, worthless, dirty, etc. (AE) as in "That's a manky piece of meat"
gone off (BE) = rotten or spoiled (AE), as in "The milk's gone off again"
ta (BE)= thanks (AE), as in... "Cheers mate, ta"
cheers (BE) = thanks (AE), as in... "Cheers mate, ta"
mate (BE) = dude, man (AE), as in... "Cheers mate, ta"
Words that Brits seem to enjoy using more frequently than my fellow Americans do:
Brilliant- as in "That's brilliant!" (often times used in response to simple things that really aren't what I would define as brilliant, like handing over the correct change to the lady behind the till)
a bit- as in "I'll be just a bit late to class today"
quite- as in "I'm not quite sure what you mean"
lovely- as in "It's lovely to be here"
proper- as in "I can't wait to get a proper job"
cheeky- as in, "What a cheeky git he is, asking me to pay for his beer again!"
I also recently discovered a recipe for "toad in the hole" (sausage cooked in a batter), which seems to be quite similar to (yet not exactly the same as) an American "pig in a blanket" (hotdog wrapped in dough). Yummy by the way. And easy to make. The cooked batter in a toad in the hole is the same as yorkshire pudding, which is actually the same as Anton's special rolls, which my mother reminded me are called "popovers" (Anton's is a restaurant in MN for those of you who don't know).
My non-British friends are trying to figure out which British accent they'd like to acquire, since many Brits (at least in Oxford) seem to judge people by which part of the country they are from. While some of my friends prefer posh accents from the South, I quite like (like the use of quite there?) the Manc accent. Not sure why, but I have to admit that when I listen to Radio 2, I tend to mimic the djs from Manchester. I just like it, ok? I especially like it when they make the o's so long that lovely sounds like low-vly. I have also decided though, that I am quite happy (there I go again with the quite) to keep my Minnesotan accent, thank you very much.
I asked Rich if he could remember the word that he recently realized he's misunderstood for a long time... but he can't remember any better than I can. One morning a few weeks ago, he had an epiphany and realized that one of the words he thought I had been saying since he met me was not actually what I was saying at all. We laughed. The story would be much better if one of us could remember the word.
On that note, I'm off. Gotta get some more reading done, as usual. Hrmph.
P.S. Note to self: make list of grammar usage differences, including word order and prepositions
