# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/141 "2010-12-27T20:47:20Z")
Not specific to UK/US I think but I tend to hear Brits and Canadians say “on line” rather than “in line” as in “waiting on line at the supermarket” vs “waiting in line at the supermarket.” ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/142 "2010-12-27T21:10:14Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > Not specific to UK/US I think but I tend to hear Brits and Canadians say “on line” rather than “in line” as in “waiting on line at the supermarket” vs “waiting in line at the supermarket.” Thisis surely a joke at this point in the thread? ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/143 "2010-12-27T21:20:09Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Maybe that’s just a Yorkshirism. I know I heard in “Brassed Off” and “The Full Monty”. Nope, I also use that turn of phrase (Lancastrian). ---
**Author:** ![nicole1912](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9de0a6/32.png) [@nicole1912](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nicole1912)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/144 "2010-12-27T22:15:32Z")
You know, I hear a rumour that Brits use the phrase “on line” instead of “in line”, when talking about queuing, unlike Americans. (Never, ever heard it actually used myself. But there’s this persistent rumour…) ---
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/145 "2010-12-27T23:26:24Z")
UK: Are you having a laugh? US: Are you making fun of me? (African Amer.: Are you talking about me?) ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/146 "2010-12-28T02:57:05Z")
UK: I’m going to have a poo. US: I’m going to take a dump/crap/poop/shit/whatever. US: [He attends a school where his parents pay the tuition] He attends private school. UK [He attends a school where his parents pay the tuition] He attends public school. US: [He attends a school that is funded by the state with tax money] He attends public school. UK: [He attends a school that is funded by the state with tax money] He attends state school. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/147 "2010-12-28T02:58:48Z")
US: [She lives in a building built with tax money for the purpose of providing housing for low-income individuals] She lives in a housing project. UK: [She lives in a building built with tax money for the purpose of providing housing for low-income individuals] She lives in a council estate. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/148 "2010-12-28T03:57:30Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > US: [He attends a school where his parents pay the tuition] He attends private school. > UK [He attends a school where his parents pay the tuition] He attends public school. Another difference is that in the UK the term is “tuition fees”. Tuition = teaching. ---
**Author:** ![giddyonup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f6c823/32.png) [@giddyonup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/giddyonup)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/149 "2010-12-28T08:37:58Z")
My favorite is - US: ‘How are you?’ UK: ‘Alright?’ Any Brits can correct me if I’m wrong with the translation, but this phrase that was hardest for me to get used to while studying abroad in London. I would walk into a pub, and someone would say, ‘Alright?’, to which I would respond ‘…yes?’ After some time and observation I realized that they were asking how I was, not literally asking if I was ok. Someone came into the store I work in in LA and said it the other day and I was quite chuffed. =) ---
**Author:** ![Charley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/97f17d/32.png) [@Charley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charley)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/150 "2010-12-28T12:02:10Z")
Not to pick too many nits, but the public/private school thing is always a little overstated IMO. For instance, I went to private school, as in my parents paid the school fees. However, it would never be described as a ‘public school’ - that feels wrong. I’m not sure of the distinction, it’s one of those ‘you’d know it if you came across it’ situations, but to me ‘public’ schools are the big, establishment, olde worlde ones like Eton, Winchester and the like. My school was a couple of hundred years old and like all of its ilk, determinedly upper and upper-middle class, but would never have been called a public school You don’t come across ‘attends’ school so much here, either - it’s more ‘goes to’, but I guess ‘attends’ is the formal version. The ‘alright?’ as a greeting also seems to be a regional/age thing, although I’d agree it’s fairly widespread these days. I think of it as a Southern English thing (I hear it in an Estuary English/South London accent when I read it). ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/151 "2010-12-28T12:31:36Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Also, many British people (including, once, myself), presumably having heard the American expression “fender bender,” believe that “fender” is the American word for what they themselves would call a car’s _bumper_. It is not. A bumper is a “bumper” on both sides of the Atlantic. _Fenders_, in America, are those parts of a car’s bodywork that partially cover the wheels, protecting them from the elements (and, like bumpers, they do rather often get bent during minor accidents). I do not think British English actually has a word with quite the same meaning, although the rough equivalent on a bicycle would be called a “mudguard” (I am not sure if that is what it is on an American bike). US - Fender UK - Wing US - Side mirrors UK - Wing mirrors From the days when the mirrors weren’t mounted on the doors but further forward on the wing/fender. ---
**Author:** ![Hallucinex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba9def/32.png) [@Hallucinex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hallucinex)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/152 "2010-12-28T12:34:17Z")
> [@giddyonup](#): > > My favorite is - > > US: ‘How are you?’ > UK: ‘Alright?’ > > Any Brits can correct me if I’m wrong with the translation, but this phrase that was hardest for me to get used to while studying abroad in London. I would walk into a pub, and someone would say, ‘Alright?’, to which I would respond ‘…yes?’ After some time and observation I realized that they were asking how I was, not literally asking if I was ok. Someone came into the store I work in in LA and said it the other day and I was quite chuffed. =) This one took me a while to get used to when moving out here from Australia a couple of years ago. I’ve heard it as any variation of “Are you alright?” (“alright?”, “you alright?”). I kept thinking that I must have looked upset somehow, I also kept going “umm..yeah, I’m fine..” ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/153 "2010-12-28T13:08:31Z")
> [@Charley](#): > > Not to pick too many nits, but the public/private school thing is always a little overstated IMO. For instance, I went to private school, as in my parents paid the school fees. However, it would never be described as a ‘public school’ - that feels wrong. I’m not sure of the distinction, it’s one of those ‘you’d know it if you came across it’ situations, but to me ‘public’ schools are the big, establishment, olde worlde ones like Eton, Winchester and the like. My school was a couple of hundred years old and like all of its ilk, determinedly upper and upper-middle class, but would never have been called a public school. Well if one’s school isn’t state-supported, but it isn’t an olde worlde one like Eton, then what kind of school is it? And I know this isn’t a GQ thread, but if I can piggyback a GQ onto this thread: Percentage-wise, about how many UK kids attend state schools vs. [del]public[/del] [del]private[/del] parents-pay-tuition-fees schools? ---
**Author:** ![OneChance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/74df32/32.png) [@OneChance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneChance)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/154 "2010-12-28T13:59:43Z")
US: I’ll call you. UK: I’ll phone you. The UK version always makes me laugh inside. It just sounds dirty. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/155 "2010-12-28T14:02:01Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Well if one’s school isn’t state-supported, but it isn’t an olde worlde one like Eton, then what kind of school is it? > > And I know this isn’t a GQ thread, but if I can piggyback a GQ onto this thread: Percentage-wise, about how many UK kids attend state schools vs. [del]public[/del] [del]private[/del] parents-pay-tuition-fees schools? Apparently the term is [Independent School](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_school_(United_Kingdom)), and 7% of UK kids go to them. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/156 "2010-12-28T14:36:38Z")
UK: To knock a girl up = to visit her at home US: To knock a girl up = to impregnate her ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/157 "2010-12-28T14:44:07Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > UK: To knock a girl up = to visit her at home > US: To knock a girl up = to impregnate her While someone might conceivably say “I will knock you up in the morning”, meaning to knock on the door to wake you up, the phrase you quote above means exactly the same in the UK as the US. [UK slang cite](http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/k.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/158 "2010-12-28T15:03:38Z")
> [@giddyonup](#): > > My favorite is - > > US: ‘How are you?’ > UK: ‘Alright?’ > > Any Brits can correct me if I’m wrong with the translation, but this phrase that was hardest for me to get used to while studying abroad in London. I would walk into a pub, and someone would say, ‘Alright?’, to which I would respond ‘…yes?’ After some time and observation I realized that they were asking how I was, not literally asking if I was ok. Someone came into the store I work in in LA and said it the other day and I was quite chuffed. =) The correct response is “alright?”. Think of it more like a grunt you’re expected to repeat back; don’t focus too much on the actual words. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/159 "2010-12-28T15:06:39Z")
In the US, a person is is “bent” is slightly off. In the UK, a guy who is “bent” is homosexual (“not staright”). ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/160 "2010-12-28T15:21:57Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > In the UK, a guy who is “bent” is homosexual (“not staright”). Or a crook. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070.md?page=9)