# What do these Britishisms mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 29, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623 "2009-10-29T16:32:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/61 "2009-10-30T18:49:27Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Sounds like Orangina. Similar, I suppose, but without the pulp and with a higher proportion of juice – 55%, oddly enough. > [@elfkin477](#): > > It’s a cola like Pepsi or Coke, and I can’t speak fairly about the tasted because I feel **all** colas taste like battery acid as **ElvisL1ves** claims Moxie does. But do they have Moxie in England, Jolly Old as well as England, New? Nah. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/62 "2009-10-30T18:55:18Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > It’s a cola like Pepsi or Coke Moxie is based on gentian root. I stand by my assessment of its flavor. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/63 "2009-10-30T19:18:53Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > so a ‘boot sale’ is what yanks call a ‘flea market’ (not a bug sale) and not the selling of high topped foot ware. Not exactly - a flea market is generally a purpose-built series of stalls, while a car boot sale is usually just a bunch of cars parked in a field with shit for sale in them. ---
**Author:** ![dada2fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ccd318/32.png) [@dada2fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dada2fish)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/64 "2009-10-30T19:27:40Z")
What’s a “boat race”? As in, Mott the Hooples/David Bowies - All The Young Dudes. “Freddies got spots from ripping off the stars from his face. Funky little boat race.” ---
**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:** [October 30, 2009, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/65 "2009-10-30T19:39:49Z")
The most famous boat race is that between the universities of [Oxford and Cambridge](http://theboatrace.org/article/introduction) ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/66 "2009-10-30T19:49:02Z")
So it is, but in this case, it’s rhyming slang for “face”. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/67 "2009-10-30T19:49:56Z")
But the “boat race” MissSwitac is asking about, is Cockney rhyming slang for face. eta “SNAP!”, WotNot. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/68 "2009-10-30T20:48:19Z")
I’m reading a book in which a character uses a lot of rhyming slang, but most of it is in context so I can figure out mostly what’s being said. However, the character also says the following (paraphrasing): “Hurry up, it will be darkmans soon.” Also, “it’s almost lightmans.” From the context, it appears to simply mean dark and light. If so, what’s with the -mans suffix? Google search tells me nothing, since there is a book called “Darkmans” and all the hits are for that. A little help? ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/69 "2009-10-30T21:36:43Z")
That is either a fairly obscure dialect thing, or a character quirk dreamt up by the author. At least, I’ve never heard of it. [ETA] Actually, there are quite a few relevant results if you Google for “darkmans” and/or “lightmans” (including the quote marks, so that it omits things like “dark man”). ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/70 "2009-10-30T21:52:46Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > That is either a fairly obscure dialect thing, or a character quirk dreamt up by the author. At least, I’ve never heard of it. > > [ETA] Actually, there are quite a few relevant results if you Google for “darkmans” and/or “lightmans” (including the quote marks, so that it omits things like “dark man”). You are right, though I had to go to the fifth page of Google results! > **[darkmans - Wiktionary, the free dictionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/darkmans)** Means darkness. Well, that was anti-climactic. Thanks for the tip, **Ximenean**! ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/71 "2009-10-30T22:57:37Z")
Maybe it works better if your Google query includes both “lightmans” and “darkmans”. I’m seeing a few references to “cants”, old street languages. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/72 "2009-10-31T02:34:58Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > a car boot sale is usually just a bunch of cars parked in a field with shit for sale in them. Basically a yard sale done out of the trunk/boot of your car in a place where several car-owners/crap-sellers congregate. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/73 "2009-10-31T02:40:46Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > Maybe it works better if your Google query includes both “lightmans” and “darkmans”. I’m seeing a few references to “cants”, old street languages. Right again! I googled “lightmans” and got nothing, but quite a few with “darkmans” “lightmans” together. I had never heard of thieves cant before. And, reading some of the canting rhymes and songs online, I can’t make heads or tails of them. Very interesting. Plus, thanks to all this, I’m going to check out Darkmans by Nicola Barker. Sounds like an interesting book. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/74 "2009-10-31T03:54:46Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > In a bar, when Brit has an orange, wtf is that? Orange juice. I’m sure you’re familiar with orange juice! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/75 "2009-10-31T04:11:09Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I once heard (in the US) that they are “braces” if they attach via buttons sewn into the waistband, but “suspenders” if they attach with clips. > [@Johnny\_Angel](#): > > In the U.S., a convention has arisen to refer to suspenders that clip on as _suspenders_ but ones that button on as _braces_, which is a useful distinction, though I suspect it’s valued more for implying that braces are extra more classier. But do the British actually make such a distinction? Is that distinction very recent, or maybe regional? I never heard of “braces” in that context before. Been awhile since I’ve lived over there, though. > [@Shakester](#): > > On the other hand, what the Brits call a “vest” is called a “singlet” around these parts. Over here, a “singlet” is what I would call a “tank top.” Is that British usage? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/76 "2009-10-31T04:23:20Z")
Singlet is in use in Britain but only in the sense of an athletic-type tank top - what you’d wear to run the 1600 meters in the Olympics. A wife-beater/undershirt deal is a vest. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/77 "2009-10-31T04:49:33Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Over here, a “singlet” is what I would call a “tank top.” Is that British usage? Australian. “Tank-top” is a synonym, but more people (in my experience) would say “singlet” than anything else. The American term “wife-beater” is known and I’ve heard it used, basically because any usage that’s both tasteless and funny will be adopted by Australians no matter where it came from. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/78 "2009-10-31T06:44:24Z")
I just started a [British Television Series](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=538083) thread, and it made me remember that American TV uses “series” to refer to the show itself and a year of the show as a “season,” while British TV uses “series” to refer to the year. For instance, the first year of MASH would be called its “first season” in the US and its “first series” in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/79 "2009-10-31T11:09:21Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > Australian. “Tank-top” is a synonym, but more people (in my experience) would say “singlet” than anything else. In this part of America, at least, it’s also called an “Italian tuxedo”. Is there a difference between a boot sale and a jumble? American terms include yard sale, tag sale, flea market, garage sale, rummage sale, swap meet, white elephant sale, and probably others. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/80 "2009-10-31T11:28:14Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Is there a difference between a boot sale and a jumble? American terms include yard sale, tag sale, flea market, garage sale, rummage sale, swap meet, white elephant sale, and probably others. A car boot sale (in my experience it’s more usually called “car boot sale” than just “boot sale” – presumably to avoid any confusion with footwear reductions) is an event where sundry individuals turn up at a site (a field, a carpark, or similar) and sell their own junk from the back of their car. It might be a regular event, or an occasional thing, or a one-off. I think there’s generally an entrance fee involved. A jumble sale tends to be more of an occasional fund-raising type deal – a church, club, school or similar will ask members to donate their unwanted knick-knacks, and they all go onto the one sale table, staffed by volunteers, the proceeds going to the organisations funds, or to their designated charity. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623.md?page=5)