# "Americanisms", do they annoy other non-Americans? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 3, 2004, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046 "2004-04-03T11:41:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/121 "2004-04-07T18:58:44Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > For you students of regionalisms, hoodies are known as bunnyhugs in Saskatchewan. And chocolate milk is called Vico (after the brand name that is most common there). The first time I heard “hoodies” was a couple years ago from an Irish friend. I have since heard Canadians say it. (I’m from Northern California.) I never imagined that the language was deficient for not having a slang term for hooded sweatshirts. How often do they come up in conversation? ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/122 "2004-04-07T20:55:19Z")
> [@gex gex](#): > > As mentioned, a Hills Hoist is a rotary clothesline. A brown bomber is, according to the Macquarie, a parking cop (though I’ve never heard it used). a u-ie is a U-turn. No idea what a tallie is. A tallie is a “tall” bottle of beer (750ml) designed to be poured into glasses, as opposed to a “stubby” which is a 375ml bottle. Then there’s the tiny 250ml “twistie” (so called because years ago it was the first size to get a screw off top), otherwise known as a “throwdown” because you can drink an entire one in about five seconds. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/123 "2004-04-09T07:26:04Z")
Huh. We say U-ie for U-turn in Canada as well. I think it’s a pretty obvious derivation… ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/124 "2004-04-09T07:37:39Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Huh. We say U-ie for U-turn in Canada as well. I think it’s a pretty obvious derivation… Well I feel like a dork now! Of course I know what a U-ie is. I just realised I have never seen it written before. ---
**Author:** ![sunfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sunfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunfish)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/125 "2004-04-09T12:21:53Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > “Soccer” did originate in England. You could always try “footy”. But isn’t “footy” short for Australian rules Football? ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/126 "2004-04-09T12:50:36Z")
> [@sunfish](#): > > But isn’t “footy” short for Australian rules Football? Not that I know of. ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/127 "2004-04-09T13:22:30Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by The Loaded Dog_ > A tallie is a “tall” bottle of beer (750ml) designed to be poured into glasses, as opposed to a “stubby” which is a 375ml bottle. Oh. Right. I call them “longies” as in a “long neck.” > [@](#): > > _originally posted by sunfish_ > But isn’t “footy” short for Australian rules Football? In Victoria. In NSW and QLD, footy means Rugby League. I’m pretty sure footy=soccer in the UK. Basically, whatever the most popular local code is, that’s footy. ---
**Author:** ![htns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@htns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/htns)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/128 "2004-04-09T16:18:13Z")
Tell me…how is “arse” pronounced? Just wondering. ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/129 "2004-04-09T16:49:31Z")
Arse rhymes with farce. I concur with gex gex on long necks, and I’d call the 250ml bottles “grenades”. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/130 "2004-04-09T17:28:37Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > A tallie is a “tall” bottle of beer (750ml) designed to be poured into glasses, as opposed to a “stubby” which is a 375ml bottle. Then there’s the tiny 250ml “twistie” (so called because years ago it was the first size to get a screw off top), otherwise known as a “throwdown” because you can drink an entire one in about five seconds. So that’s like an Imperial pint and a standard 12 oz in terms of size? ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/131 "2004-04-09T20:39:02Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > A tallie is a “tall” bottle of beer (750ml) designed to be poured into glasses, as opposed to a “stubby” which is a 375ml bottle. Then there’s the tiny 250ml “twistie” (so called because years ago it was the first size to get a screw off top), otherwise known as a “throwdown” because you can drink an entire one in about five seconds. This is fun! In the parlance of my hometown (Finger Lakes region, NYS): 750ml (approx. 25USfloz) - we had no term for this and I don’t think I’ve ever seen beer in a bottle of this size. There were 32oz beers that showed up at the supermarket very occasionally. Otherwise you had the 40oz, the 12 oz and the 6oz. 375ml - approx 12USfloz, just a normal beer, unless it was a tall bottle, in which case it was called variously a “long neck,” a “bar bottle” or a “tall boy.” “Tall boy” was also used for a 16oz can of beer. 250ml - approx 8USfloz - I don’t recall ever seeing that size, though we did have 6oz bottles called “splits.” 40USfloz - called a “forty” - pronounced foe-dee with emphasis on the first syllable. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/132 "2004-04-09T20:43:17Z")
> [@Neurotik](#): > > So that’s like an Imperial pint and a standard 12 oz in terms of size? 750ml is slightly larger than an Imperial pint. About 26 British fluid ounces, according to an online converter I used. ---
**Author:** ![Doobieous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Doobieous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doobieous)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/133 "2004-04-10T03:37:47Z")
some thoughts: I live in coastal, central california. - We say “Bust a u-ie” for “make a u turn” here. I thought it was a regionalism. I guess not. - We say soda for generic soft drink, but when going for cola i’ve caught myself saying “Diet coke” or “coke”, and having the waitress ask “Is pepsi fine?” - Hoodie is common, but i began saying that BEFORE old navy picked it up. - My school has “regionalisms” which are really acronyms for different departments/buildings: “yeah i need to go to the MLC (media learning complex - computer labs) to check my mail, then to the OBC (Otter bay cafe) for food, or maybe the DC (Dining commons) or the BBC (Black Box Cabaret), and then i have to stop off at the CSC (Campus Service Center) to get my parking permit, and visit the WLC (World languages and cultures) building to talk to my advisor. I may stop off at the OSC (Otter Sports Center) to go to the gym” - We dont’ have distinct regionalisms for things here, it’s general western, but town names are regionalisms: “I had to drive to Salas to get gas, then i had to visit my mom out in watson, and then it was off to Gilas to the outlets” Salas - Salinas, Watson - Watsonville, Gilas - Gilroy (say with a Mexican American Accent and it’s even more authentic). I love distinct regionalisms (Which is why i love watching BBC America). I hope the british, the aussies, and the new zedlanders keep theirs. But saying “pop” with a minnesotan or wisconsin accent is grating, but at the same time overly cutesy. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/134 "2004-04-10T11:12:28Z")
Pan-Australian English tends to be _much_ more homogenised than its US equivalent. We don’t go for regionalisms to anywhere near the same degree. One noble exception to this is beer terminology. An interstater can be lost in a bar. So I can only talk for Sydney. **Gex gex** , the big 750ml bottles are also called “long necks” here, but I’ve never heard “longies”. This was confused when some of the breweries put out 375ml stubbies with long necks on them, and called them “long necks” on the carton. “Tallies” is less than a decade old. They used to be just “large bottles”. **Hawthorne** , I’ve only ever heard the term “grenade” applied to those erstwhile Coopers stubbies (375ml). Remember the ones with the rip top? **Neurotik** , a large beer bottle is 26 imperial gluid ounces. I don’t know the exact US equivalent. Our wine bottles are the same size. Aren’t US wine bottles also 750ml? I had a feeling they were, but may well be wrong. As for “footy”, it does mean whatever species of the sport is played in your home state, but the Australian Rules guys tend to use the term the most. ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/135 "2004-04-10T13:13:03Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted be The Loaded Dog_ > Gex gex, the big 750ml bottles are also called “long necks” here, but I’ve never heard “longies”. This was confused when some of the breweries put out 375ml stubbies with long necks on them, and called them “long necks” on the carton. “Tallies” is less than a decade old. They used to be just “large bottles”. I’m not surprised. I doubt there’s many differences in language between Sydney and Newcastle. I’d just never heard of Tallies. > [@](#): > > As for “footy”, it does mean whatever species of the sport is played in your home state, but the Australian Rules guys tend to use the term the most. Hm. Didn’t know this. Certainly here in Newie, the sport that (the right hon.) Andrew Johns plays is called footy. ---
**Author:** ![htns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@htns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/htns)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/136 "2004-04-10T13:40:56Z")
Here are a few Americanisms for beer: 40: Beer in a big 40 ounce bottle (a bit more than a liter) Tallboy: 24 ounce can. Malt Liquor: Cheap fortified beer, tastes like crap but a great way to get plastered. Beer in the USA is mostly sold as 12 ounce, 16 ounce, 24 ounce, 32 ounce, 40 ounce and 64 ounce (though the 64 is actually banned in some places cos lots of lawmakers associate it with drunkeness). ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/137 "2004-04-10T14:20:38Z")
> [@htns](#): > > [snip] > …24 ounce… Where do you hail from? Just curious because I can’t remember seeing a 24oz round here. I’ve spent all my drinking years in Ithaca NY and Boston MA. Maybe they’ve totally passed under my radar, though, or the blue laws around here may be limiting the selection. I’ve certainly never noticed a 64oz! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BoringDad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@BoringDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoringDad)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/138 "2004-04-12T03:04:22Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > The soft drink thing is particularly interesting. > > American south: Coke (all brands). > American east coast: Soda. > American midwest: Pop. > Most of Canada: Pop. > English speakers in Quebec: Soft drink. > > This is probably glossing over a lot, and I know it’s incomplete (U.S. west coast?) but this is what I remember from my dialectology course. Through the miracle of the Internet, and the fact that some people are running out of things to research, I present you with a map of the usage of these terms in the US. There is another website out there that has similar maps for other US regional dialects, but I couldn’t find it right off. [http://www.popvssoda.com/](http://www.popvssoda.com/) ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/139 "2004-04-12T04:11:27Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > **Oz** might not be Kansas, but it also isn’t Australia. The only **Ozzie** is an ageing rocker. My countryfolk and I are _Australians_ or _Aussies_. And although I don’t want to see a ‘z’ (that’s ‘zed’), I want you to pronounce it as if it were there instead of the double ‘s’. There is no ‘s’ sound in “Aussie”, although there is in “Australia”. I’m confused - are you saying Aussies don’t refer to Australia as “Oz”? That’s something I definitely have only heard from Australians. ---
**Author:** ![jastu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/43a26b/32.png) [@jastu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jastu)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046/140 "2004-04-12T07:19:50Z")
> [@chula](#): > > I’m confused - are you saying Aussies don’t refer to Australia as “Oz”? That’s something I definitely have only heard from Australians. I must confess I’ve said Oz on the odd occasion when I lived there and have heard many other Aussies use it too. Over here people refer to it as Aussie not Oz so I’m safe. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americanisms-do-they-annoy-other-non-americans/238046.md?page=6)