# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/81 "2009-10-31T11:38:20Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > 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. So how would I translate the following sentence into British: Star Trek has had six series. ---
**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 31, 2009, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/82 "2009-10-31T12:10:11Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > So how would I translate the following sentence into British: > Star Trek has had six series. It’s a fairly unusual circumstance, but you could say that there have been 6 different TV versions of Star Trek (if that’s what you meant). ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/83 "2009-10-31T12:36:21Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > 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. I think partly because of the popularity of US TV DVD boxsets, the term season in the American sense now has plenty of currency here. Season and series are both used but I would guess that the American term is slowly supplanting the other term. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/84 "2009-10-31T12:38:49Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Then I was reading a book set in Dublin and the author refers to the guy carrying a “holdall”. And then says it has groceries in it. Would this be a tote bag kind of thing? > > [http://www.qispackaging.com.au/request\_quotes/images/rfq/plain/nwpp.jpg](http://www.qispackaging.com.au/request_quotes/images/rfq/plain/nwpp.jpg) > > I know I could look these up but this is more fun, and folks can add others. Depending on when the book was written, ie if it was in the last couple of years I think this would be as people above have said, a sports bag. Because plastic bags are no longer free, 22c a go nowadays, people pack their groceries into all sorts of bags. I usually bring a rucksack for grocery shopping. PS Dublin isn’t British 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/85 "2009-10-31T13:40:53Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > So how would I translate the following sentence into British: > Star Trek has had six series. I think series can be used both in the meaning of different years of a single run, and different runs of a single overall show. So you could both talk about the second series of The Next Generation, and about The Next Generation being the series before Deep Space Nine. ---
**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, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/86 "2009-10-31T13:59:06Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > I think partly because of the popularity of US TV DVD boxsets, the term season in the American sense now has plenty of currency here. Season and series are both used but I would guess that the American term is slowly supplanting the other term. Season (in the American sense) is certainly understood, and sometimes used, but I don’t know whether it’s supplanting the use of series. Season already has another meaning in terms of British TV, where it’s the whole schedule of programmes on a channel, for one quarter of the year. ---
**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 31, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/87 "2009-10-31T15:24:46Z")
Here is a question for non Brits - do you know what an “allotment” is? ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/88 "2009-10-31T15:43:55Z")
> [@Rayne\_Man](#): > > Here is a question for non Brits - do you know what an “allotment” is? I doubt I’d know what an allotment is if I weren’t an old Eastenders addict. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/89 "2009-10-31T17:15:39Z")
> [@Rayne\_Man](#): > > Here is a question for non Brits - do you know what an “allotment” is? It’s a patch of land where people without yards can garden, right? I don’t know how the system works (I’m guessing there’s some kind of fee involved), but I’ve occasionally seen references to allotment gardens in fiction. I doubt this is well known in the US, though. If I hadn’t read about them before I think my guess would have been that an allotment was a kind of pension. ---
**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 31, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/90 "2009-10-31T17:20:20Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > It’s a patch of land where people without yards can garden, right? I don’t know how the system works (I’m guessing there’s some kind of fee involved), but I’ve occasionally seen references to allotment gardens in fiction. > > I doubt this is well known in the US, though. If I hadn’t read about them before I think my guess would have been that an allotment was a kind of pension. That is correct. The land is usually owned by the local council and is rented out at a very nominal sum (about £25 a year) to the individual plot user. ---
**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/91 "2009-10-31T17:22:18Z")
If I said “donkeys years”, would you know what I meant? ---
**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, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/92 "2009-10-31T17:40:20Z")
I use that phrase fairly often over here and nobody has ever given me a “huh?” look. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/93 "2009-10-31T17:40:43Z")
> [@bluecanary](#): > > If I said “donkeys years”, would you know what I meant? This is another one I’ve encountered only in fiction. It means “many years” or “a long time”. I don’t know _why_ it means that, but it does. 🙂 I wouldn’t expect many other Americans to be familiar with this expression, but in books at least it’s usually clear enough from context. If someone says “I haven’t seen one of those in donkey’s years!” then there’s not much else it could mean. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/94 "2009-10-31T17:45:48Z")
I hear “in donkeys (or is that donkey’s) years” or in “in dunkeys years” all the time. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/95 "2009-10-31T18:54:01Z")
Sorry I’m late - I was [dilly-dallying!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_Dilly_Dally_on_the_Way) I wanted to add that real men (and Monty Python sketches set ['op North](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OopNorth)) wear [string vests](http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Lifeandhealth/Pix/pictures/2007/12/07/stringvest4.jpg). ---
**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, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/96 "2009-10-31T18:58:31Z")
> [@glee](#): > > I wanted to add that real men (and Monty Python sketches set ['op North](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OopNorth)) wear [string vests](http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Lifeandhealth/Pix/pictures/2007/12/07/stringvest4.jpg). With [matching handkerchief](http://www.flickr.com/photos/7232802@N06/485340695)for the ultimate in sartorial elegance. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/97 "2009-10-31T20:10:03Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > With [matching handkerchief](http://www.flickr.com/photos/7232802@N06/485340695)for the ultimate in sartorial elegance. What. The. Hell. Surely, he was dressing ironically? Please? ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/98 "2009-10-31T20:15:37Z")
Possibly, [OTOH](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gumbies). ---
**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, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/99 "2009-10-31T20:19:27Z")
> [@Oni no Maggie](#): > > What. The. Hell. > > Surely, he was dressing ironically? Please? That particular individual might have been. Or he might not. The knotted handkerchief was definitely [relatively common beachwear](http://www.icons.org.uk/nom/nominations/handkerchief)at one time. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623/100 "2009-10-31T20:20:30Z")
> [@Oni no Maggie](#): > > What. The. Hell. > > Surely, he was dressing ironically? Please? It’s typical of a certain period where people from urban centres would go to the coast for a holiday. It was too hot for the usual cloth flat cap, but something was needed to keep the sun off the head… so the knotted hankie made a handy alternative. You don’t see it so much now though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-britishisms-mean/515623.md?page=6)