#brit speak

[okamirayne]

[ismenejane]

A Writer’s Guide To Shit Americans Don’t Say

This list is not exhaustive. But hopefully helpful. 

Swear Words -Bloody/bleeding: Unless your character is an Anglophile, no American I’ve ever known has said this unironically. If the situation is calling for it, use fucking or goddamn instead. -Wanker: Same thing. Depends on the time period or region your character is in, but maybe use dickhead or douchebag instead.  School-Related Terms/Words  -University: “When we were at University” isn’t a sentence the average American would use. We say college. Or Undergrad. “I went to college at The University of Oregon.”  -Term: Sometimes? But really rarely. “End of term” should probably be “End of semester” or “trimester.” A “term paper” should be a “paper for my final” or something similar.  Speaking of... -Exams: yeah nobody says this. We say finals. “I have finals that day.” “My final for English is an essay.” Also when it’s not the end of the semester, it’s called a test. “I have a test in History today.”  -Maths: It’s math. Not maths. Typing “maths” into my American tumblr is getting it underlined in red.  DANGER  the next section is DUMB. WE KNOW. Our school system is confusing as all fuck. But here we go.  When you are 5 (generally) you start Elementary School. It is usually Kindergarten-6th Grade. Anything before that is called Pre-School.  Depending on your school system, after Elementary you will either attend Junior High or Middle School.  Middle School tends to be 6th-8th grade.  Junior High is 7th-8th or 7th-9th.  High School is 9th-12th grade. Then you go to college or community college or you’re just done. There’s no 6th form. Lower or Upper.  -9th Grade: Freshman year. -10th Grade: Sophomore year.  -11th Grade: Junior year (and usually when you take the ACTs or SATs which are college entrance tests, but you can take these in 12th grade as well).  -12th Grade: Senior year.  Freshman through Senior year is also used for college. No one is ever a 1st year etc. If you’re in college for more than four years, you tend to be called a Super Senior. (Did I mention it’s dumb??)  Then:  College, Masters, PhD or Doctorate, Post-Doc.  “I’m getting my Masters in English from Yale.”  ”I’m in a PhD program at Loyola.”  ”I’m doing my Post-Doc at the U of M.”  Clothing -Trousers: it’s pants.  -Underpants: Now, some people say this. Usually grandparents. If you’re writing high school fic they’re saying underwear, y’all. Or panties, maybe.  -Bustier: lolololol NOPE. Unless your character is fancy as shit and super into lingerie, they’re calling that a bra. Or a corset if it is one.  -Spectacles: not after 1960, really. We say glasses.  -Jumper: Never. We say sweatshirt or sweater. Or long-sleeved shirt.  Random things: We say wallet, purse (not handbag unless you’re fancy or in the 1950s, again), bag (not satchel).  Meals We have: Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Dinner.  We do not have:  Tea, Supper (unless again your character is from the 50s or super wealthy and pretentious).  Food -Crumpets: lols. We don’t really have an equivalent. English Muffins, maybe.  -Biscuits: when a Brit wants to say this, it’s usually a cookie. Biscuits tend to be for dogs only.  -Pudding: Dessert. Pudding here is a very specific type of dessert. So if you’re like me and read the English Harry Potter, it was hella confusing. “Why are they eating pudding every night?? Don’t they ever get cake? Or pie?”  -Sponge: Cake. Nobody says sponge here. Unless they’ve gotten super into Bake-Off (which is called The Great British Baking Show over here). “I’m making a cake for Melissa’s birthday! It’s red velvet with cream cheese frosting.”  -Streaky bacon: it’s just bacon. That’s our only bacon here. I know. It’s sad.  More to come later. 

[sirussly]

I really need to know. Do you (and by you I mean people from UK) actually use 'fancy' to say you like someone? Or is it just something they did back in the 70s? I may or may not have learned English reading wolfstar fics and I need to know if I'd sound ridiculous if I actually talked like that

(( OOC: Well, I can’t speak on behalf of the entirety of the UK, but it’s definitely a phrase me and my friends used regularly. However I would say it’s more of a juvenile expression used for crushes at school - you’d rarely get one adult telling another that they “fancy” them, unless in a jokey way. Other similar phrases are “getting dumped” or “dumping” rather than “breaking up”, or thinking someone is “fit” rather than “hot”. But again… don’t go overboard on these expressions. We still use all of the american counterparts too. ))

[angstymilfy]

Ran across this and now I’m confused. 🤔

Any Brits on here, to confirm what “mad” means to y’all? Cause I’ve only heard it used (in American television/movies), as something like “outta your mind.”

So am I the one tripping, or is it whoever made this little infographic?

[cassp-er]

my favourite phrase of all time is 'have kittens' when you think someone is going to freak out because gosh I don't get where it came from and I would really love to have kittens

[pulpbomb]

Question for British people:

I'm reading a fic & it's confusing me. I'm usually great at Brit speak & know about pants/underwear, crisps/chips, chips/fries, ad infinitum.

But...

For you all, does the term "fancy dress" not mean tuxedos &/or gowns but instead costumes?

ETA: I guess it's just me. When I hear "fancy dress", I think "dressing fancy". Sometimes I'm far too literal! Thanks all! :-)

[mybadtvhabit]

ATTN: Brits writing fics for American shows

Hi!

So I personally kind of love it when Brit speak leaks through the fics of American shows...though it does take me out of the flow of things, sometimes.  The dialogue is usually decent, it's just the wording of the action that does it - because fic action is so succinct and stylized.

Anyway, I picked up on one phenomenon.  I don't think Brit writers use "pretty" enough.  I'm talking "pretty" the adverb.  Like, I'm a pretty good cook - he was a pretty bad liar - I'm pretty positive that's the last thing on his mind - etc.

I feel like the non-American English fics use "quite" more than "pretty".  

So there's that observation for you, in case you care.