Terminology: US vs. UK - 1942

[Dinerman]

According to Life Magazine in 1942:

Garters (US) = Sock Suspenders (UK)
Underwear (US) = Pants (UK)
Pants (US) = Trousers (UK)
Vest (US) = Waistcoat (UK)
Business Suit (US) = Lounge Suit (UK)
Bathrobe (US) = Dressing Gown (UK)
Undershirt (US) = Vest/ Singlet (UK)
Raincoat (US) = Mackintosh / Mack (UK)
Rubbers (US) = Galoshes (UK)
Cane (US) = Stick (UK)
Derby (US) = Bowler (UK)
Collar Button (US) = Collar Stud (UK)
Suspenders (US) = Braces (UK)
Sweater (US) = Pullover (UK)
Slacks (US) = Bags (UK)

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Coveralls (US) = Boiler Suit (UK)

 

[Capesofwrath]

The man would probably be wearing wellies with his mac. Galoshes is not Brit usage. He probably would call it a raincoat too. Raincoat is more common than mac.

As for bags? If he was a twenties undergraduate he might call them that. Trousers is correct British usage, or informally strides.

 

[Fletch]

Cuffs on trousers were turn-ups - always hyphenated, to avoid confusion with the popular vegetable.

A drape suit was a lounge suit.

Canvas sneakers such as Keds were plimsolls.

A turtleneck was a roll-neck. This has since changed meaning to mean a low turtleneck that does not fully fold.

A tuxedo was - and is, correctly in all English-speaking cultures - a dinner jacket. The inclusion of trousers was understood. The British abbreviation is DJ.

The long-pointed shirt collar Americans used to call the Barrymore is known in Britain as the spearpoint. Not sure whether it was thus in the '40s.

There may have been some confusion over the the term batwing, a kind of bow tie. In America it usually had pointed ends, aka the diamond or (in the late 40s when he wore them) the Sinatra tie. In Britain it was, and is, square-ended and narrow. The diamond looks like a bat's wings when tied, the square tie like a cricket bat when untied. All clear?

 

[Qirrel]

A drape suit was a lounge suit.

"Lounge suit" was the common English term for what today is simply called a suit. It does not necessarily describe a "drape" suit.

 

[Fletch]

OK, cool. There was definitely some confusion over on this side during the 30s, when the style first arrived here.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

As for bags? If he was a twenties undergraduate he might call them that. Trousers is correct British usage, or informally strides.

Yes, that's why it mentions the "fellow or bloke" thing. It still could incclude the normal trousers though.

 

[Capesofwrath]

Yes, that's why it mentions the "fellow or bloke" thing. It still could incclude the normal trousers though.

Bertie Wooster on Sir Rodrick Spode the leader of the British Black Shorts party.

"Look at that frightful ass Spode swanking about in footer bags."

 

[MisterCairo]

The man would probably be wearing wellies with his mac. Galoshes is not Brit usage. He probably would call it a raincoat too. Raincoat is more common than mac.

As for bags? If he was a twenties undergraduate he might call them that. Trousers is correct British usage, or informally strides.

It's commonly mac in every part of Britain I've ever visited, and I've visited most parts. All my British relatives have always used mac in common parlance. Even the Beatles sang of the man in the plastic mac.

It may be raincoat in the catalogue or when using the Queen's English, but when spoken of colloquially, it's a mac.

 

[Capesofwrath]

Most people in the UK wear hooded waterproof jackets nowadays for everyday wear. Formal raincoats and macs are much less common; and I don't hear the word mac used much anymore. Although I do own a riding mac, and it's still used there.

Cue a children's joke. Have you got a light mac? No but I've got a dark brown overcoat. Boom Boom.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Cigarette Butt (US) = Dog End (UK)
Restroom (US) = Bog, Loo (UK)
Roach Killers [shoes] (US) = Winklepickers (UK)
Movie Theatre (US) = Cinema (UK)
Jelly Sandwich (US) = Jam Butty (UK)
Pissed [angry] (US) = drunk (UK)
"Two nations divided by a common language" - Winston Churchill

-dixon cannon

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Cheap, Stingy (US) = Mean (UK)
Sweats (US) = Track Suit (UK)
Cell Phone (US) = Mobile (UK)
Bum [transient, tramp] (US) = Backside* (UK)

*and if you don't know what that is, don't ask.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

And let's not even talk about fanny.:jaw:

re: the Mac debate above; The man in the picture does appear to be wearing a Mackintosh coat.

 

[herringbonekid]

and U.S. ebay sellers, please DO NOT write 'used pants' on the description if you're sending to the UK.:eusa_doh:

the correct terminology would be 'vintage trousers'.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Private School (US) = Public School (UK)

 

[Shangas]

Private School (US) = Public School (UK)

Which causes no-end of confusion.

This is not one of difference of terminology, but rather, one of pronunciation.

One that ALWAYS threw me off was the word "Aluminium".

My year-9 Geography teacher always pronounced it the American way ("Al-oo-min-um").

Here in Australia, it's pronounced "Al-yu-mini-um". The first time I heard my geo'. teacher say it, I had NO idea what he was talking about, until he wrote it on the whiteboard.

 

[Edward]

"Two nations divided by a common language" - Winston Churchill

-dixon cannon

thought it was George Bernard Shaw?

 

[MisterCairo]

Actually, it's not simply pronunciation. In North America, we spell it aluminum (no second "i").

Which causes no-end of confusion.

This is not one of difference of terminology, but rather, one of pronunciation.

One that ALWAYS threw me off was the word "Aluminium".

My year-9 Geography teacher always pronounced it the American way ("Al-oo-min-um").

Here in Australia, it's pronounced "Al-yu-mini-um". The first time I heard my geo'. teacher say it, I had NO idea what he was talking about, until he wrote it on the whiteboard.

 

[MisterCairo]

More spelling and terminology differences:

Tyre vs. tire.
Kerb vs. curb (thing alongside the street)
Pavement vs. sidewalk.
Football vs. soccer.
Ring off vs. hang up (the phone).
Knock me up vs. wake me up.
Ante-natal vs. pre-natal.
A&E (accident and emergency) vs. "emerg"/emergency (Canada at least)
Chemists vs. drug store.
Fags vs. smokes.



Pronunciation:

Vit a mins vs. VITE a mins



We get a lot of British tv shows shown in Canada, and of course we often use British terms on occasion ourselves or at least are familiar with them, but I've still had to "translate" on occasion for friends (one recent example from the show Faulty Towers, Basil makes a comment about the Samaritans being "engaged". I had to explain that 1) the Samaritans, like the term suggests, are a social support group that, among other things operates (or at least did) a suicide prevention hotline, and 2) "engaged" means "busy", referring to the phone line).

 

[LoveMyHats2]

Some very interesting comparisons of the two languages and examples.

So as I am wondering is the word, "bird" still used in reference in the U.K. for a young available female?

Also, the word "dashing", any difference in use from the U.S. to the U.K.? "Lucky Harold, such a dashing young man"....