Words are funny. Even the word 'Word' looks a little wonky, doesn't it?
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| WORD UP! - not my photo |
Since moving to the UK, I have spent a lot of time thinking about words. I have to choose my words carefully as they may not mean the same thing here as they did there. Shortly after moving to England I purchased some pants that needed alterations. A friend put me in touch with her seamstress and I called and left a message that went something like this:
"Hi Eliza, my name's Jennifer and I understand you're a seamstress. I have a pair of pants that need hemming and I was hoping that you have time this week to meet and hem my pants…"
Halfway through that last word I remembered that in the UK, pants means underpants, and I instantly backpedaled:
"Um… I mean trousers. TROUSERS! I don't need you to hem my knickers, just my trousers... Um… you can call me back at XXXXX."
And I hung up the phone with that feeling you get when you know you've just left an absolutely asinine message for someone you don't even know. Gulp. (Eliza did call back and was super sweet about the whole thing, but still.)
The funny words aren't just the British ones. At my first appointment with an English hairdresser she asked me what I wanted to do about my fringe. "My fringe?" I replied, "Oh, you mean my bangs!" And then we proceed to have a conversation about fringe / bangs. Quite honestly, fringe makes way more sense, as the hair on and around your forehead fringes your face. What does the word 'bang' have anything to do with hair, anyway?*
The Brits love cutesy, short forms of words. For example, I have heard adults say the following sentences:
The Brits love cutesy, short forms of words. For example, I have heard adults say the following sentences:
- brekkie = breakfast: Have you had your brekkie, luv?
- lippy = lipstick: Let me go put on a fresh coat of lippy.
- footy = football: Did you watch the footy last night?
- prezzies = presents: Only one more sleep until Father Christmas brings all the prezzies!
I could go on and on, but you get the picture. I was initially put off by the cute-i-fication of words, but have caught myself using them more and more. Quite honestly, I have started to become kind of fond of them. Oh! And I cannot even tell you how many times I have introduced myself as Jennifer and the Yorkshireman or woman has proceeded to call me Jenny from there on out, and Jenny is typically the name only a few family and close friends have called me. It seems to me that all the shortened words are things people love (brekkie, lippy, footy, etc.) so I suppose I'm in good company.
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| Warning - wonky verge ahead! - not my photo |
And words in America do not mean the same in England. As I mentioned above, pants mean underpants, a Band-Aid is a plaster, a bin is only something you put your trash… errr, rubbish in. In the UK, a shoulder is only the top part of your arm, and a verge is what Americans call the "shoulder" of the road. And don't even get me started on whatever the hell an "adverse camber" is, but needless to say, if you see a sign on the road that says that, do not, and I repeat, do not pull over onto the verge!
The more you know, the better off you'll be, and everything will go, as they say, tickety-boo!
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| Ha! -not my cartoon |
*According to several websites, the origin for the American hair term "bangs" has its origin in equine tail stylings.
The word “bangtail” is defined in the OED as “a (horse’s) tail, of which the hair is allowed to grow to a considerable length and then cut horizontally across so as to form a flat even tassel-like end.”
Therefore, Americans wanted the hair on their forehead to look like a horse's tail. Ummm… okay!
