# British words in code **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 4, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045 "2014-06-04T17:52:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**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:** [June 10, 2014, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/121 "2014-06-10T12:05:22Z")
Sadly not actually a real thing. > **[BBC - Comedy - Look Around You - Food Gallery](https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/lookaroundyou/programmes/food/gallery1.shtml)** > > A website to accompany the BBC TWO spoof science programme, Look Around You. Picture gallery for Food. ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/122 "2014-06-10T13:28:23Z")
> [@Ken001](#): > > I go to my doctor’s (GP) surgery and have never thought of it otherwise. > > However your point about surgeons made me smile. A few years ago there was an effort to set up a local Medico/Legal society, a convivial creature which exists in a few other cities. > > We (the lawyers) thought this meant doctors in general - GPs plus specialist surgeons. Unfortunately the surgeons were totally non-plussed - why would mere GPs be invited to join? > > The venture died still-born. 😃 No worse really than clinic which is derived from the Latin clinicum- “The word derives from the Greek klinein meaning to slope, lean or recline. Hence kline is a couch or bed, klinikos is sloping or reclining and Latin is clinicus.”- reclining in bed! So surgeries do not necessarily have surgeons and clinic do not necessarily have beds. I have a picture from Minn/StPaul airport of a sign over a bed with the motto- clinically proven- well it would be, wouldn’t it! ---
**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:** [June 10, 2014, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/123 "2014-06-10T13:38:41Z")
Terminology is always being stolen from one domain by another - often to the great annoyance of those who thought they owned it exclusively. I can’t tell you how pissed off the Architects (of the designing buildings kind) get in the organisation where I work, just because I also have ‘Architect’ in my job title (but in an IT context). ---
**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:** [June 10, 2014, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/124 "2014-06-10T15:48:25Z")
It’s even worse than that in my view. To me, “surgery” isn’t a place. It’s an event. Surgery takes place in an operating room. So, to me, a “doctor’s surgery” means surgery performed _on the doctor_. And you can’t go see a doctor “in surgery,” because if he’s in surgery he’s busy, either being operated on, or doing the operating, not waiting around for you to drop by. ---
**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:** [June 10, 2014, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/125 "2014-06-10T15:57:04Z")
(shrug) Bakery, chandlery, distillery, nursery, surgery ---
**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:** [June 10, 2014, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/126 "2014-06-10T16:17:30Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > (shrug) Bakery, chandlery, distillery, nursery, surgery Shrug. Do you understand what “to me” means? It’s not an invitation to read me dictionary definitions that I already know. And it doesn’t even address what I labeled the most annoying uses of “surgery,” those have nothing to do with the practice of health care. ---
**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:** [June 10, 2014, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/127 "2014-06-10T16:50:56Z")
Sorry ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/128 "2014-06-10T17:29:36Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Shrug. Do you understand what “to me” means? It’s not an invitation to read me dictionary definitions that I already know. > > And it doesn’t even address what I labeled the most annoying uses of “surgery,” those have nothing to do with the practice of health care. Why is it annoying? I mean, I could throw it back at you with Commonwealth English “in hospital” versus US English “in THE hospital”. See, to me, the first is more descriptive. If you’re in hospital, you’re sick. If you’re in the hospital, you might be working there or visiting. But the latter doesn’t ANNOY me as such. Each variant has millions of people using it. And likewise, millions use “doctor’s surgery” to mean his consulting rooms. Worse things happen at sea. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/129 "2014-06-11T09:52:51Z")
> [@Ken001](#): > > And for what its worth, morning break is “morning tea” and afternoon break is “afternoon tea”. Or smoko, but that is a workplace use which is fading. Or “barro”, but that is a workplace use that disappeared after the brewery went “dry”. “Dry” as in, no drinking at work “Brewery” as in, Abbotsford, when I worked there. Original home of Abbots Lager. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/130 "2014-06-11T10:51:01Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Or “barro”, but that is a workplace use that disappeared after the brewery went “dry”. > > “Dry” as in, no drinking at work > “Brewery” as in, Abbotsford, when I worked there. Original home of Abbots Lager. My grandfather and great grandfather worked there. 🙂 Eta: my grandfather told me he crashed his motorbike in his parents front yard after finishing his shift there and “accidentally drinking beer instead of coffee”. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/131 "2014-06-11T14:43:54Z")
> [@Pjen](#): > > Punt is also an English term for a kick. In Soccer it means a toe kick rather than an inside foot kick. In rugby it is exactly the same as Aussie rules- **a drop from hands directly onto the foot for a kick**. For another data point: the bolded above is also the exact definition of “punt” in American football. Interestingly, for Americans who play and watch soccer, I don’t hear “punt” used to describe the frequent occasions when a goalie picks up the ball with his hands, drops the ball on his foot, and kicks the ball downfield. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/132 "2014-06-11T15:25:23Z")
“You want to have tea at my house tonight?” is also something that a kid might have said to their friend when asking if they wanted to eat with their family. Even if their family called the meal dinner. Dinner would sound too formal. But the Mum might then say “dinner’s up!” or something, not “tea’s up.” Basically, if a British person says “shall I come over for dinner then?” or “shall I come over for tea then?” check the actual time with them, and if it involves food or not. I have actually been caught out by this - only once, but once is enough. And I am British and my background is working class Scottish and English and I’m now kinda middle class and kinda not and my friends are all sorts, including upper-middle (plus a couple of peripheral friends who are definitely upper-class). There really is no way of knowing unless what they mean by tea or dinner unless they’ve actually used those words in a conversation and you still remember what they meant by those terms. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/133 "2014-06-11T17:35:50Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > OMG! I had a good long look at a few diff maps of England. On this site, there were maps of all kinds for all manner of things in England. I never realized there were such things as counties (like Cornwall, Devon, lots of Shires (Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire). They got a Yorkshire for every direction on the compass. Plus there are many other shires too. (like Lancashire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, etc.) > > Remember that movie, “Sink the Bismark”? They had battleships named after Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, East and West Sussex, Kent, etc. > > The British sure do like naming their ships after their counties. On a bit of a tangent, these are, unsurprisingly, the names of _County_-class cruisers. If you really want to see the kinds of names ships are given when a navy \*\*\*knows \*\*\*they are better than anyone else and don’t give a damn about macho posturing, look at the _Flower_-class corvettes built as anti-submarine convoy escorts, featuring such ships as _HMS Buttercup_, _HMS Pansy_, and _HMCS Snowberry_. ---
**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:** [June 14, 2014, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/134 "2014-06-14T08:36:32Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Shrug. Do you understand what “to me” means? It’s not an invitation to read me dictionary definitions that I already know. > > And it doesn’t even address what I labeled the most annoying uses of “surgery,” those have nothing to do with the practice of health care. I’m sorry. My mistaken impression was that you objected to this on the basis of thinking it was an exception of some sort. It was not my intention to lecture or confront you. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/135 "2014-06-14T09:04:54Z")
Re the tea stereotype: I saw a documentary several years ago about the UK’s electricity grid. They showed one guy sitting in this high tech control room, and it was his job to bring auxiliary power stations online to help out the baseload coal-fired stations when there were peaks in demand. He’d start with the little hydro stations (in Scotland, IIRC) because they can be brought online very quickly, and if he needed even more, he’d dial in some imported French power. Funny part was, he had a TV on his desk. Because TV shows can run over or under advertised time, he needed to keep an eye on _Eastenders_, so that he could increase the available electricity the moment the closing credits started to roll. Why? Millions of kettles being switched on, all over the country.\* Seriously. So I think it’s fair to say they likes 'em their tea over there. \*I had a very distant relative who lived next to the Sydney water supply in 1960s when it was still an open canal. She maintained that the water would flow faster during commercial breaks when there was a popular show being broadcast, a/c all those toilets being flushed at the same time. So, it seems like a real phenomenon. ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/136 "2014-06-14T11:02:08Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > Re the tea stereotype: > > I saw a documentary several years ago about the UK’s electricity grid. They showed one guy sitting in this high tech control room, and it was his job to bring auxiliary power stations online to help out the baseload coal-fired stations when there were peaks in demand. He’d start with the little hydro stations (in Scotland, IIRC) because they can be brought online very quickly, and if he needed even more, he’d dial in some imported French power. Funny part was, he had a TV on his desk. Because TV shows can run over or under advertised time, he needed to keep an eye on _Eastenders_, so that he could increase the available electricity the moment the closing credits started to roll. Why? Millions of kettles being switched on, all over the country.\* Seriously. So I think it’s fair to say they likes 'em their tea over there. > \*I had a very distant relative who lived next to the Sydney water supply in 1960s when it was still an open canal. She maintained that the water would flow faster during commercial breaks when there was a popular show being broadcast, a/c all those toilets being flushed at the same time. So, it seems like a real phenomenon. They will be doing the same for half time in World cup football. Soccer does not have ad breaks, so people have 45 minutes worth of tea (or beer) to void at half time- flushes go and the kettle is switched on! Flushing and filling kettles increase water demand that uses more electricity. I suspect that tonight at about 11.50pm BST there will be one of the biggest peaks of electricity demand for that time ever! ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/137 "2014-06-14T11:06:34Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > For another data point: the bolded above is also the exact definition of “punt” in American football. > > Interestingly, for Americans who play and watch soccer, I don’t hear “punt” used to describe the frequent occasions when a goalie picks up the ball with his hands, drops the ball on his foot, and kicks the ball downfield. You are right, but I remember punt being differentiated from kick when I was being taught half a century or more a goal- all were actually kicks but a punt with the toe was seen as an exception as you have less control, so i can remember being shouted at “kick it don’t punt it, use your instep!” It is a goal kick or clearance and long ones are usually toe kicks and shorter ones instep. ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/138 "2014-06-14T11:09:33Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > It’s even worse than that in my view. To me, “surgery” isn’t a place. It’s an event. Surgery takes place in an operating room. So, to me, a “doctor’s surgery” means surgery performed _on the doctor_. And you can’t go see a doctor “in surgery,” because if he’s in surgery he’s busy, either being operated on, or doing the operating, not waiting around for you to drop by. Even more confusing, British (and Commonwealth) surgeons do not perform surgery in a surgery, they perform it in a theatre, unless they are GP surgeons doing minor ops when they perform it in their surgery. Got that? ---
**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:** [June 14, 2014, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/139 "2014-06-14T13:11:53Z")
“I’ve got breakfast all sorted.” “What? Why the hell would you do that? Now I’ve got to collate it, so Jimmy doesn’t end up eating all the bacon again.” ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/140 "2014-06-14T14:40:41Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > “I’ve got breakfast all sorted.” > > “What? Why the hell would you do that? Now I’ve got to collate it, so Jimmy doesn’t end up eating all the bacon again.” Comes from planning something step by step. When all the parst of the plan are ‘in order’ and ready to go, its ‘sorted’. Sorted can refer to any task however big or small. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045.md?page=8)