# Britishisms **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 24, 2004, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462 "2004-12-24T09:51:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/221 "2005-01-04T00:14:47Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > So if you’re driving uninsured and/or driving an untested (i.e. possibly/probably dangerous) vehicle, or one you don’t legally own, you can’t ‘tax it’ (get a licence disc) and you can (in theory) be more easily spotted by the rozzers. Of course it only needs renewing every six or twelve months, so it isn’t a perfect or even moderately speedy system. AFAIK, the police have no direct access to the DVLA records. However, it’s a convenient Al Capone tactic - if you can’t do them for anything else, then tax evasion is good enough. I suspect that an invalid tax disc is enough of a reason to breathalise a driver should they choose to, even if nothing else is untoward. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2005, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/222 "2005-01-04T00:41:01Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > AFAIK, the police have no direct access to the DVLA records. I did not mean to imply that they did, but rather that the tax disc is designed to be readable at a distance, the colour scheme constantly changes so that out-of-date discs are fairly easy to spot, even if the vehicle is in motion (I seem to recall talk of automated machine-reading by roadside cameras, but maybe I imagined that). An invalid tax disc is enough for them to stop you and more than likely they’d have you present your driving licence, insurance, MOT etc at your local station within 7 days. AFAIK, once they’ve stopped you, they can breathalise you _as long as they have reasonable suspicion that you have been drinking_ - this includes answering ‘yes’ to the question ‘have you drunk anything containing alcohol in the last x hours’, maybe it even includes answering ‘no’, if they decide to have reasonable suspicion that you’re lying. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2005, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/223 "2005-01-04T11:46:20Z")
This thread is cool. Makes me realise how we have adopted most things from the Poms and some things from Yanks and some we must have just made up. Sidewalk\>Pavement\>Footpath Fries\>Chips\>Chips Chips\>Crisps\>Chips Candy\>Sweets\>Lollies Thongs (or is that Aussies that call them that?)\>Flip Flops\>Jandals Oh and our schools go primary, intermediate and secondary and uni. Kinda makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/224 "2005-01-04T11:59:08Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I did not mean to imply that they did, but rather that the tax disc is designed to be readable at a distance, the colour scheme constantly changes so that out-of-date discs are fairly easy to spot, even if the vehicle is in motion (I seem to recall talk of automated machine-reading by roadside cameras, but maybe I imagined that). I didn’t realise that about the colours. The only machines I’ve heard talked about are an extension of the congestion-charge-type number-plate readers, which are proven technology: the problem is the massive inaccuracies in the DVLA’s data! ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/225 "2005-01-04T23:14:04Z")
> [@calm kiwi](#): > > Thongs (or is that Aussies that call them that?)\>Flip Flops\>Jandals \*Thongs \* is the Australian usage. ---
**Author:** ![ColonelDax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@ColonelDax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColonelDax)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/226 "2005-01-04T23:34:50Z")
> [@calm kiwi](#): > > Fries\>Chips\>Chips > > Chips\>Crisps\>Chips Are the terms in your post arranged in the order Yank/Brit/Kiwi? If that’s the case, am I correct in understanding that New Zealanders use “chips” to refer to both of the delicacies that Americans would call Freedom, er, French fries and potato chips? ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/227 "2005-01-04T23:49:56Z")
> [@calm kiwi](#): > > This thread is cool. Makes me realise how we have adopted most things from the Poms and some things from Yanks and some we must have just made up. **LifeOnWry drags the thread to a screeching halt** Now what in the hell is a “Pom”?? ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2005, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/228 "2005-01-05T00:03:17Z")
> [@LifeOnWry](#): > > **LifeOnWry drags the thread to a screeching halt** > > Now what in the hell is a “Pom”?? I think this might have been answered in an earlier post, but \*Pom \* is a term used by Australians (New Zealanders too I think) to refer to the English. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2005, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/229 "2005-01-05T00:43:47Z")
One Britishimsm that I know causes confusion is “Alright?”, which is short for “Are you alright?” Americans tend to take this as an inquiry into their mental or physical state of being, but it is just the British way of saying “how are you doing?”. If you reply that you are in the best of health, thank you very much, you may receive a puzzled look from your British interlocutor. You are supposed to reply by returning the question: “Alright?” ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2005, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/230 "2005-01-05T01:12:29Z")
Theres also: Toward (US) as opposed to towards (UK). Worrisome (US) and worrying (UK) - adjective, as in ‘we received some worrying news this morning’. Lonesome (US) and lonely (UK). ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2005, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/231 "2005-01-05T01:19:15Z")
> [@Martha](#): > > Toward (US) as opposed to towards (UK) That’s a regional difference within England. Many places would regard you as strange if the ‘D’ is audible… ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2005, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/232 "2005-01-05T07:40:38Z")
Talking about regional differences , one word I am curious about is _while_. To most people in the UK it means _during the time that_ or _as long as_ . In Yorkshire it means _until_. So they would say " he was here while 3 o’clock ". I have heard that this word nearly caused train accidents when automatic level-crossing barriers were first introduced . The warning notice originally said \*\* do not cross while the lights are flashing\*\*. To a Yorkshireman that means " until the lights flash". Now they say **wait when the lights are flashing**. Although this variation is mainly confined to Yorkshire I have also heard it used by some older people here in the East Midlands. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2005, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/233 "2005-01-05T08:03:09Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > I think this might have been answered in an earlier post, but \*Pom \* is a term used by Australians (New Zealanders too I think) to refer to the English. Where English equals British, as it also does in American English… ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2005, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/234 "2005-01-05T08:07:17Z")
I think this is more of an Australian thing but: Thong(s) \> Flip-flops A group of women wearing black rubber thongs may not be as exciting as you had hoped. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2005, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/235 "2005-01-05T11:15:50Z")
‘Way too’ and ‘far too’. Both are used in the US, but ‘way too’ is never used in the UK. ‘Kids today are growing up \*way too \* fast’. \*‘Far too many \* children are failing’ ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2005, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/236 "2005-01-05T11:20:05Z")
> [@Rayne Man](#): > > I have heard that this word nearly caused train accidents when automatic level-crossing barriers were first introduced . The warning notice originally said \*\* do not cross while the lights are flashing\*\*. To a Yorkshireman that means " until the lights flash". Now they say **wait when the lights are flashing** This has a whiff of urban myth about it: The first automatic crossing (in Staffs in 1961) had the official wording [“Train Operated Signals and Barriers Ahead”](http://www.crepello.demon.co.uk/sig/Spath.htm), which was criticised for its vagueness. I’m sure _some_ alternatives included the word ‘while’ before the modern [STOP when lights show](http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/signs05.shtml) was established - but I find it hard to believe that Department of Transport bureaucrats really bothered with the idiosyncracies of provincial dialects. ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2005, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/237 "2005-01-05T12:15:08Z")
My brother’s father-in-law is from Rotherham and uses “while” in that bizarre Yorkshire way. If he says “I waited at the bus stop while the bus came” there is no problem. But if he gets on a train and sees the notice saying “Do not use the toilet while the train is standing in a station” - because traditionally the bogs on British trains dischaged directly onto the track - he is actually stupid enough to wait UNTIL the train was standing in the station. But with most trains in GB having Controlled Emission Toilets, this sort of confusion will soon be obsolete. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2005, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/238 "2005-01-05T13:43:25Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > This has a whiff of urban myth about it: > The first automatic crossing (in Staffs in 1961) had the official wording [“Train Operated Signals and Barriers Ahead”](http://www.crepello.demon.co.uk/sig/Spath.htm), which was criticised for its vagueness. I’m sure _some_ alternatives included the word ‘while’ before the modern [STOP when lights show](http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/signs05.shtml) was established - but I find it hard to believe that Department of Transport bureaucrats really bothered with the idiosyncracies of provincial dialects. All I can say that this story was told to me by a Yorkshireman back in the 60’s . Perhaps he was just pulling the leg of a “foreigner”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/239 "2005-01-05T15:47:48Z")
> [@Usram](#): > > One Britishimsm that I know causes confusion is “Alright?”, which is short for “Are you alright?” > > Americans tend to take this as an inquiry into their mental or physical state of being, but it is just the British way of saying “how are you doing?”. If you reply that you are in the best of health, thank you very much, you may receive a puzzled look from your British interlocutor. You are supposed to reply by returning the question: “Alright?” Practically no question spoken in a cheery voice on meeting someone needs a literal answer, does it? ---
**Author:** ![garius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e19b73/32.png) [@garius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garius)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2005, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462/240 "2005-01-05T16:09:31Z")
> [@](#): > > One Britishimsm that I know causes confusion is “Alright?”, which is short for “Are you alright?” And don’t forget “Wotcha” or “Hows Tricks?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britishisms/281462.md?page=13)