# British, American different turns of phrase **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 22, 2010, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070 "2010-12-22T13:58:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/201 "2010-12-30T13:05:39Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > _Everyone_ in the UK wears school uniform, no matter what sort of school it is. It’s actually a great leveler – poor and rich kids look identical, and school uniform is cheap compared with kitting the brats out in logo’d gear every day. Growing up, most of us kids had a very small wardrobe on non-uniform clothes, as we only wore them at the weekends It also means that the process of getting the kids fed, scrubbed, dressed and out the door can be finitely timed. There is no agony over what to wear, because there is no choice. As a parent, I like it. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/202 "2010-12-30T13:39:25Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > _Everyone_ in the UK wears school uniform, no matter what sort of school it is. It’s actually a great leveler – poor and rich kids look identical, and school uniform is cheap compared with kitting the brats out in logo’d gear every day. Growing up, most of us kids had a very small wardrobe on non-uniform clothes, as we only wore them at the weekends (heh, that’s another - don’t USAians say ‘ **on** the weekends’). For this particular construction, we’d usually say “We wear the other stuff on weekends.” No “the.” ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/203 "2010-12-30T14:24:35Z")
We’d likewise say “at weekends”, without the “the”. You’d only use “the” if it were “the weekend”, singular. So either “at the weekend” or “at weekends”. “At weekends” is used when referring to habitual behaviour (“she plays tennis at weekends”). “At the weekend” can be used for that, or for the specific forthcoming weekend, depending on context. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/204 "2010-12-30T14:31:02Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > For this particular construction, we’d usually say “We wear the other stuff on weekends.” No “the.” I’m from NE Ohio, and I’d say both constructions are common. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/205 "2010-12-30T14:42:44Z")
Topically: US: what are you doing for New Year’s? UK: what are you doing for New Year? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/206 "2010-12-30T15:08:06Z")
> [@OneChance](#): > > US: I’ll call you. > UK: I’ll phone you. > > The UK version always makes me laugh inside. It just sounds dirty. _Call_ used to mean “visit in person.” (“Mrs. Jones _called_ on the grocer.” “The ship _called_ at Hamburg.”) The meaning hangs on in phrases like _social call_ or _calling card,_ which you used to leave when someone was not in. So back when a lot of Americans had not grown up with phones - imagine! - or didn’t necessarily use them for everyday business, they too would use _telephone_ or _phone_ as a verb. In the UK the common form for a long time was _'phone_, with the apostrophe. Same with _'plane._ (Short for _aeroplane,_ if you please.) ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/207 "2010-12-30T15:19:07Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > Again, this is a dialectal and/or old-fashioned word used in some parts of the UK. “Leftovers” would be the usual term, and “leavings” would sound strange to many British English speakers. Oh. OK then. My one and only cite: [Paddington Takes the Air](http://books.google.com/books?id=6QxKzo0pjfMC&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&dq=leavings&source=bl&ots=_IQ0qp5oWB&sig=BJnhJSVC6FOWepM8_8zmpsIQREY&hl=en&ei=ZaIcTfDDC4O78gbsydCRDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22must%20have%20been%20in%20the%20leavings%22&f=false) (1970), by Michael Bond. Mrs. Brown says, “It must have been in the leavings when I cleared up after breakfast.” ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/208 "2010-12-30T15:20:19Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > _Everyone_ in the UK wears school uniform, no matter what sort of school it is. I didn’t mean to imply otherwise. Though I only went to the one school (Upper Nidderdale High School, _represent_!) so I could only speak to that from experience. 🙂 That reminds me of another difference: in England, “high school” is 1st through 5th years (maybe also 6th?), which would be the rough equivalent of 6th through 10th (maybe also 11th) grades. In the US, “high school” is typically 9th through 12th grades. Also, what seemed to be commonly called a “primary school” in England would be called a grade/grammar/elementary school in the States – though we do sometimes talk about “primary school students.” > [@](#): > > It’s actually a great leveler – poor and rich kids look identical, and school uniform is cheap compared with kitting the brats out in logo’d gear every day. Growing up, most of us kids had a very small wardrobe on non-uniform clothes, as we only wore them at the weekends (heh, that’s another - don’t USAians say ‘ **on** the weekends’). Those are exactly the same arguments used in the US for uniforms in private schools. I grew up always wearing a uniform – Catholic schools in the states, public school in England – and I appreciated it. The biggest difference between US uniforms and English uniforms was the ties: it amused me that both boys _and_ girls wore them. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/209 "2010-12-30T16:09:56Z")
English/Welsh school year systems have historically varied a lot by region. The terms “primary school” and “high school” are not used consistently, for example. In recent years, a more nationwide year system has been adopted, that is quite close to the American “grade” system. Pupils (students) are now said to be in “Year 11” when they approach the GCSE examinations, which mark the end of compulsory education at age 16. A significant proportion of students continue education in one form or other for some years afterwards. Different rules probably apply for Scotland and Northern Ireland, which have always had separate educational systems. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/210 "2010-12-30T16:23:34Z")
Apologies to all for the hijack, but… > [@Ximenean](#): > > Pupils (students) are now said to be in “Year 11” when they approach the GCSE examinations, which mark the end of compulsory education at age 16. Are the GCSE’s anything like the O-levels? I was a 3rd year when I left, and IIRC my friends and I were just starting to prepare for our O-levels. Are O- and A-levels still around? (Holy crap it makes me feel old to realize that I left England almost 26 years ago!) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/211 "2010-12-30T16:28:07Z")
My understanding is that O-levels were converted to GCSEs and that A-levels still exist. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/212 "2010-12-30T16:47:25Z")
O-Levels (GCE [General Certificate of Education] Ordinary Level certificates) were combined with the later CSE (Certificate of Secondary Education) to form GCSEs. They are certificates in individual subjects such as mathematics, raher than general high school diplomas, so people are said to have “six GCSEs”, say, meaning that they got a passing grade or better in six subjects. Before the GCE/CSE merger, O-Levels were more difficult and more prestigious, and were seen as certificates for brighter kids, who went on to A-Levels (GCE Advanced Level) and then usually university. There are/were further complications such as AS-Level and S-Level, but that is enough for me. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/213 "2010-12-30T19:15:50Z")
Thanks, **ascenray** and **Ximenean**! > [@Ximenean](#): > > Before the GCE/CSE merger, O-Levels were more difficult and more prestigious, and were seen as certificates for brighter kids, who went on to A-Levels (GCE Advanced Level) and then usually university. That’s how I remember it. I feel like most of the other kids in my class were expected to take at least one O-level, but few of them expected to do anything with it: where I lived, most kids did not go on to university after school but either worked in a shop or on the family farm. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/214 "2010-12-30T19:40:51Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > That’s how I remember it. I feel like most of the other kids in my class were expected to take at least one O-level, but few of them expected to do anything with it: where I lived, most kids did not go on to university after school but either worked in a shop or on the family farm. That sounds more like people taking A-levels, at age 16 to 18, where there are no mandatory subjects and students have free choice over what they study, usually three subjects but it can be less. Students of 14 to 16 years age, in my day, were required to take O-levels or CSEs in about eight subjects, at least two of which were mandatory, English and Mathematics. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/215 "2010-12-30T19:43:55Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > We’d likewise say “at weekends”, without the “the”. You’d only use “the” if it were “the weekend”, singular. So either “at the weekend” or “at weekends”. > “At weekends” is used when referring to habitual behaviour (“she plays tennis at weekends”). “At the weekend” can be used for that, or for the specific forthcoming weekend, depending on context. If we’re talking about the upcoming weekend, we say “I’ll be wearing them _this_ weekend.” ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/216 "2010-12-30T19:48:57Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > A friend of mine referred to “not being good at maths” in a conversation about statistics yesterday. I said “are you _sure_ you’re not from England”? I swear that one’s a SDMB thing. I’ve never heard anyone say “maths” anywhere else, but around here people are forever talking about maths. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/217 "2010-12-30T20:01:53Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > That sounds more like people taking A-levels, at age 16 to 18, where there are no mandatory subjects and students have free choice over what they study, usually three subjects but it can be less. Students of 14 to 16 years age, in my day, were required to take O-levels or CSEs in about eight subjects, at least two of which were mandatory, English and Mathematics. Nah, it was definitely O-levels. We were 13-14 years old at the time (in 1985). When I said “expected to take at least one” I think I was remembering the two mandatory ones…though what’s the difference between “required” and “mandatory,” the way you’re using them? Anyway, mostly I remember that hardly any of my classmates were planning to continue their schooling past the age of 16 and there was a lot of complaining about the testing. Typical teenagers. 🙂 > [@Blackberry](#): > > I swear that one’s a SDMB thing. I’ve never heard anyone say “maths” anywhere else, but around here people are forever talking about maths. “Maths” was used when I was there. No one ever said “math.” Maybe “maths” was more common 25 years ago but has gotten phased out over time? ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/218 "2010-12-30T20:13:27Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > “Maths” was used when I was there. No one ever said “math.” Maybe “maths” was more common 25 years ago but has gotten phased out over time? I don’t know what the Brits say (except what I learn from books I read by British authors, and Law & Order: UK, but I haven’t heard them talk about maths); I’m American. I’m just saying, Americans on this board do say maths on a regular basis. I always wondered if it was just a pretentious thing, or what (which is fine–I can appreciate a little well-placed pretentiousness). ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/219 "2010-12-30T21:19:15Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > If we’re talking about the upcoming weekend, we say “I’ll be wearing them _this_ weekend.” Us too. This is like a dance in which we gradually realise that we are all making the same steps and there is no partner ;). **Misnomer** , there’s no difference between “required” and “mandatory” - I was actually trying to use what I thought was an American term, to make myself more comprehensible! ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/220 "2010-12-30T21:51:32Z")
Northern Ireland FWIW- kids start school at age 4-5, in Primary school in P1. Primary school (either Catholic or Protestant is P1-P7) Secondary school is either a high school or a grammar school- usually either Catholic or Protestant and entry based on the 11+ exam (high achievers go to the grammars), or an integrated school- a state run school, with the stated ethos of being cross community, non sectarian and for all academic abilities- starts at age 11-12 with Year 8. GCSEs are at age 15-16 in Year 12, A- levels at age 17-18 in Year 14, with some AS levels in year 13. Northern Ireland has a rather odd situation- there are several grammar schools which get the majority of their funding from the government, and a small amount from tuition fees. I mean _tiny_ fees in comparison to English or US private schools. In my day (1992-2000) it was £130 per child per term (£360 a year). The Northern Ireland Assembly is planning to change the school starting age to 5, do away with the 11+ exam and have kids just attend their nearest post primary school. In response many of the grammars are talking about either becoming private schools, or introducing their own entrance exams. Fun times, and makes planning my child’s education rather difficult (ok she isn’t even 2 yet, but I’m \*that \*kind of mother). Any how- I was thinking about school things, and I thought about sports. US-I’m going to put on my skates and play hockey. UK- I’m going to put on my ice skates and play ice hockey. US-I’m going to put on my sneakers and play field hockey. UK- I’m going to put on my trainers and play hockey. I don’t think Americans realise how much idiom is sports based- specifically American sports based. Much of it has crossed the Atlantic, some of it hasn’t and will still bemuse unsuspecting British people. “Getting to first base”. (To be fair, we’ve worked this one out). " A Hail Mary move". “Pinch hitter” “Drop the gloves” “end run” “full court press” “run interference” “do an end run” “first down” A classmate of mine at Uni was American, and a big sports fan. I was mystified by a good amount of what he said - the explanation usually being “you know, like in baseball/football/hockey”. Me: 😕 Him::dubious: :smack: As a result, I know a lot of the idioms, but very little about the actual sporting events they relate to. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070.md?page=12)