# Things I, as an American, have learned from Terry Pratchett **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 7, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-as-an-american-have-learned-from-terry-pratchett/283618 "2005-01-07T18:32:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![violacrane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c57346/32.png) [@violacrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/violacrane)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-as-an-american-have-learned-from-terry-pratchett/283618/41 "2005-01-08T21:38:01Z")
Gels are posh and quite often “game”, they are the type who feature in the poems of John Betjeman – > [@](#): > > Joan Hunter Dunn, Joan Hunter Dunn, > Furnished and burnished by Aldershot sun Miss Dunn is undoubtedly a **gel**. ---
**Author:** ![Legolamb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@Legolamb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legolamb)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-as-an-american-have-learned-from-terry-pratchett/283618/42 "2005-01-09T00:44:50Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > So they’re what we call “golden raisins”? _Googles_ I’ve never heard them called that, but yes, apparently so. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-as-an-american-have-learned-from-terry-pratchett/283618/43 "2005-01-09T22:02:33Z")
Ook? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-as-an-american-have-learned-from-terry-pratchett/283618/44 "2005-01-09T22:14:11Z")
> [@Detritus](#): > > I haven’t the foggiest idea if the word “twee” is a real English word, but I have learned it well and use it every chance I get. As in: “If I catch you being twee again I will knot your arms behind your head.” That example doesn’t parse for me - it sounds like a regionalism. Generally, ‘twee’ is slightly derogatorary, and typically would describe the same things that American tourists would consider ‘quaint’ 😉 > [@](#): > > I have learned what a “verruca” is (a wart) I don’t know if it’s a medical distinction, but verucas are associated with feet (and with unhygenic swimming and shower facilities…) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-as-an-american-have-learned-from-terry-pratchett/283618/45 "2005-01-09T22:35:40Z")
> [@Wile E](#): > > Ook? _Absolutely_ Ook! ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-as-an-american-have-learned-from-terry-pratchett/283618/46 "2005-01-09T23:07:51Z")
Hmm. I, as an American, was unaware that ‘gone all pear-shaped’ was British slang. It’s certainly a phrase that I’m familiar with, and I don’t think I picked it up from British entertainment. But maybe it’s also a New England thing. ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-as-an-american-have-learned-from-terry-pratchett/283618/47 "2005-01-10T00:00:03Z")
> [@Detritus](#): > > I haven’t the foggiest idea if the word “twee” is a real English word, but I have learned it well and use it every chance I get. As in: “If I catch you being twee again I will knot your arms behind your head.” “Twee” is a real word. It apparently stems from a childish pronunciation of “sweet” (or possibly “treat”). Basically means “affectedly dainty or quaint” (Pocket Oxford dictionary). ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-as-an-american-have-learned-from-terry-pratchett/283618/48 "2005-01-10T01:37:14Z")
I believe a verruca is what we would call a Plantar’s wart–the kind of wart on your foot that grows inward? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-as-an-american-have-learned-from-terry-pratchett/283618/49 "2005-01-10T01:44:59Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Ooo, I’ll have to find my copy of Good Omens, but it goes something like this: > > “Manchester Center was built by the British to be a clean, organized, and well-run city. Interestingly enough, both sides (good and evil) claim this as a victory.” It was Milton Keynes. At the beginning of the book it’s laid out how the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley – senior representatives in the UK of Heaven and Hell, respectively – have decided (without their superiors’ knowledge or permission) to make their work easier by compromising. Each allows the other a sphere of influence to work without interference. “Crowley had Manchester, while Aziriphale got the whole of Shropshire. . . . Nobody was sure who was responsible for Milton Keynes, but they both took credit for it anyway.” Footnote for Americans and other aliens: Milton Keynes “was built to be modern, efficient, healthy, and, all in all, a pleasant place to live. Many Britons find this amusing.” See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton\_Keynes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Keynes). ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-as-an-american-have-learned-from-terry-pratchett/283618/50 "2005-01-10T01:55:36Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > Have you worked out the meanimg of **Djelibabi** from _Pyramids_ yet? I know a jelly baby is a kind of candy, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one. (On _Dr. Who,_ I never caught a closeup of the candy the Doctor was eating.) Is it something like a gummi bear? Or more like a gumdrop? Or a jujube? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-as-an-american-have-learned-from-terry-pratchett/283618/51 "2005-01-10T02:52:56Z")
> [@Crusoe](#): > > Trebor Bassett [Jelly Babies](http://www.missingpiece.com/RADW/jbabies.html). That site still doesn’t make clear what they look like or taste like. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-as-an-american-have-learned-from-terry-pratchett/283618/52 "2005-01-10T10:30:20Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > _Good Omens_. . . the M5’s topography spells out a Satanic invocation. Actually it’s the [M25](http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A179453) which circles London. Both the M25 and Milton Keynes are running jokes in Britain. If you use the M25 regularly it is easy to see why people take the piss (and why it might well be the work of Satan). But [Milton Keynes](http://www.mkweb.co.uk/Places_to_visit/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=400), what’s funny about that? Jelly babies are coloured chewy sweets in the shape of tiny people. ---
**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 10, 2005, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-as-an-american-have-learned-from-terry-pratchett/283618/53 "2005-01-10T10:43:18Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I know a jelly baby is a kind of candy, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one. (On _Dr. Who,_ I never caught a closeup of the candy the Doctor was eating.) Is it something like a gummi bear? Or more like a gumdrop? Or a jujube? Jelly babies are an odd confection; they are, as the name suggests, smallish, notionally fruit-flavoured jelly confections, but the texture is not like other jelly sweets; whereas gummy bears etc have a sort of springy, chewy resiliency to them, jelly babies have more of a soft bite texture, with a sort of firm sugary crust. Imagine a rather unusually soft, large jelly bean and you’re not a million miles away. ---
**Author:** ![jinty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dbc845/32.png) [@jinty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jinty)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-as-an-american-have-learned-from-terry-pratchett/283618/54 "2005-01-10T13:51:46Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > That site still doesn’t make clear what they look like or taste like. Conversation between 2 work colleagues from about 15 years ago I still remember, strangely: Helen: Would you like a jelly baby? Stephen: Oh, go on, but make sure it’s a boy one. Helen (puzzled): Surely there’s not that much difference? Stephen (smugly): No, but there’s that much more jelly. Ba da boom. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-as-an-american-have-learned-from-terry-pratchett/283618/55 "2005-01-10T17:38:05Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I thought _Bjorn_ Stronginthearm was your uncle! 😕 Look, mate, are you trying to tell me I don’t know my own uncle’s name? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-as-an-american-have-learned-from-terry-pratchett/283618.md?page=2)