# What Britishisms most baffle Americans? What Americanisms most baffle Brits? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 18, 2024, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941 "2024-10-18T08:53:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 18
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2024, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/341 "2024-10-21T14:41:01Z")
> [@Gryphea](#): > > maybe some you don’t even realise are rhyming slang Taking the Mickey. From Mickey Bliss. Piss. There’s a few semi modern ones. If you go to university you don’t want to graduate with either a Desmond or a Dougie. I was waiting to pick up my neighbours from the station late on Saturday night and some drunks asked me if I knew where they could get a Ruby this late. I sent them in the direction of an Indian restaurant, and not a late night jewelers. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2024, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/342 "2024-10-21T14:44:44Z")
Another cultural-specific use of language which has faded (in this case, pretty much completely). Socially the polar opposite of rhyming slang in that it comes from the posh end of teh spectrum. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2024, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/343 "2024-10-21T14:55:35Z")
In the US, the common kleenexy term is “Tylenol” whereas in Britain, it is “Paracetamol”. There may be some differences in the recipe, though. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2024, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/344 "2024-10-21T15:43:53Z")
Not quite. By amazing coincidence I was reading about this just this morning. Paracetamol is the non-branded substance name approved by the British drug naming agency. Acetaminophen is the corresponding non-branded substance name approved by the American naming authority. The actual chemical is the same stuff and is properly called N‑(4‑hydroxyphenyl)acetamide. Tylenol is the name brand of one (leading) US manufacturer of acetaminophen. I don’t know enough about British OTC pharmaceuticals to offer some brand name(s) of paracetamol. I also don’t know how much in general Americans vs Brits differ about calling their various medications by brand name versus the non-branded substance name. See also: **[International nonproprietary name - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_nonproprietary_name) [United States Adopted Name - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Adopted_Name) [British Approved Name - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Approved_Name)** ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2024, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/345 "2024-10-21T15:46:18Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > There’s also the point that the place that grape flavour occupies in the US palate (drinks, preserves, sweets, etc) is already taken by blackcurrant in the UK. A major reason why black currants haven’t become popular in the U.S. is that plants have long been considered hosts for white pine blister rust, and growing currants was illegal in some states. Same goes for gooseberries, though resistant varieties are now available. > **[White Pine Blister Rust](https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/white-pine-blister-rust/)** > > White pine blister rust is a serious, tree-killing disease of eastern white pine and its close relatives. Learn how to manage this disease in this factsheet. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2024, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/346 "2024-10-21T16:06:56Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I don’t know enough about British OTC pharmaceuticals to offer some brand name(s) of paracetamol. There’s a few. I don’t think one name rises above them all. We have Panadol, Calpol (for kids), Hedex, off the top of my head. I think except for Calpol, it’s more common to just call it paracetemol. > [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Did you Brits ever really say “I say!” a lot, or was that mostly a Nigel Bruce sort of thing? Sad to report, we do not. Do Australians actually say ‘g’day’? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2024, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/347 "2024-10-21T16:14:48Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Do Australians actually say ‘g’day’? Not sure about that, but I have heard both Aussies and Brits (regionally) turn “no” into a 3-syllable word. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2024, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/348 "2024-10-21T17:09:15Z")
Can you really trust a nation that insists on stuffing extra letters into perfectly good ol’ American words?!? Case in point: - American: Aluminum (/əˈluːmɪnəm/ pronounced uh-LOO-muh-num). Simple. Clean. Gets the job done. - British: Aluminiminuminiminum (/ə-loo-mɪn-ɪ-mɪn-ʌm-ɪn-ʌm-ɪ-nʌm/ pronounced uh-LOO-muh-nim-uh-nim-uh-nim-uh-nim). Is it a word or a verbal conga line? Honestly, they should leave word-making to us Americans. We like our words like we like our coffee—short and strong! ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2024, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/349 "2024-10-21T17:15:25Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > British: Aluminiminuminiminum There are a fair number of elements – Sodium, Lithium, Beryllium, Radium, Vanadium, Plutonium, and many others, mostly metals – that end in “-ium”, so the Brits feel it appropriate that Aluminum have that extra letter. I do not feel the same way, but as long as we can understand each other. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2024, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/350 "2024-10-21T17:22:50Z")
> [@JacobSwan](#): > > Taking the Mickey. From Mickey Bliss. Piss. Interesting! But who the heck is Mickey Bliss? From a one-minute Google search, it seems no one knows. May not have been anyone. Maybe a local vaudeville performer. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2024, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/351 "2024-10-21T17:47:28Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Also, “China” refers to a friend, and is a shortened version of “Meet my friend. There’s nobody finer. You’d have to go all the way to China.” I think this is more likely to be “china plate” = “mate”. > [@pjd](#): > > It’s just an old fashioned way of spelling it. (As in “ye olde foode shoppe is shite”) That’s absolute shite, where did you hear that? It’s a dialectical form, used in Scotland and the north of England, and it rhymes with “night”. > [@Tibby](#): > > For example, saying “I haven’t got a Scooby” (meaning “I haven’t got a clue”) is still apparently used across the UK, even outside of London. You do get rhyming slang elsewhere - I’m not convinced that “not a Scooby” was ever just a London thing since it is clearly relatively recent. Another example that I think is specific to Glasgow is “heehaw” which is rhyming slang for “fuck all”, ie nothing. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2024, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/352 "2024-10-21T17:56:40Z")
> [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](#): > > That’s absolute shite, where did you hear that? I didn’t, I made it up. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2024, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/353 "2024-10-21T18:00:18Z")
> [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](#): > > You do get rhyming slang elsewhere - I’m not convinced that “not a Scooby” was ever just a London thing since it is clearly relatively recent. Here’s a couple links that suggest a connection: > **[What does Scooby Doo mean in Cockney?](https://www.studycountry.com/wiki/what-does-scooby-doo-mean-in-cockney)** > > The whole point of rhyming slang is that it's a two word phrase, the second of which rhymes with the word you're actually using, but you only say the first > **[I Hadn’t a Scooby About This One – Now I Know](https://nowiknow.com/i-hadnt-a-scooby-about-this-one/)** ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2024, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/354 "2024-10-21T18:12:48Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > Here’s a couple links that suggest a connection: They just explain what rhyming slang is, which as I say exists elsewhere. There is a lot in Irvine Welsh books, eg East Fife = wife. There’s no evidence in your links that Scooby Doo = clue originated in London rather than somewhere else like Edinburgh or Glasgow. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2024, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/355 "2024-10-21T18:17:50Z")
Not rhyming slang, but [Sweet Fanny Adams](https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/sweet-fanny-adams.html) is gruesomely charming, although if it has fallen out of use perhaps an indication that our world is now a better place ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2024, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/356 "2024-10-21T18:54:04Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > There are a fair number of elements – Sodium, Lithium, Beryllium, Radium, Vanadium, Plutonium, and many others, mostly metals – that end in “-ium”, so the Brits feel it appropriate that Aluminum have that extra letter. I do not feel the same way, but as long as we can understand each other. So then why do they leave “Platinum” alone, and don’t try to insert an extra “i”. Or “Lanthanum”? And if they’re that obsessed with consistency why do they ignore the trend of the names of letters ending with “-ee”, as in Bee, Cee, Dee, Gee, etc. and insist on saying “Zed” instead of “Zee”. No other letter ends in “-ed”. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2024, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/357 "2024-10-21T19:08:38Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > So then why do they leave “Platinum” alone, and don’t try to insert an extra “i”. Or “Lanthanum”? Nobody chose to ‘insert an extra “i”’ - Aluminium and Aluminum were variants of the name at around the time the metal was first isolated - by Humphry Davy, a Briton, who suggested it should be named ‘Alumium’ - different sets of scientists apparently ignored that and settled on different choices of spelling. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2024, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/358 "2024-10-21T19:09:08Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > > [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](#): > > > > That’s absolute shite, where did you hear that? > > I didn’t, I made it up. Oh, a bullshiter, eh? ---
**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:** [October 21, 2024, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/359 "2024-10-21T19:10:32Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > And if they’re that obsessed with consistency why do they ignore the trend of the names of letters ending with “-ee”, as in Bee, Cee, Dee, Gee, etc. and insist on saying “Zed” instead of “Zee”. No other letter ends in “-ed”. Ah, yes, consistency. Aee Bee Cee Dee Eee Fee Gee Hee Iee Jee Kee Lee Mee Nee Oee Pee Quee Ree See Tee Uee Vee Wee Xee Yee Zee. It’s not a trend. It’s not consistency. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2024, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/360 "2024-10-21T19:40:31Z")
And don’t get me started on the way Americans say the name ‘Craig’…shudder… 🤪 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941.md?page=19)