Outdated/incorrect terms

[AFriendlyFace]

Hi everyone,

 

So language fascinates me and I like to discuss it

 

 

Anyway, recently today I dropped my lip balm and exclaimed, "Oh darn! I dropped my Blistex". It wasn't Blistex at all, it was actually Carmex. I switched brands a couple of years ago, but for the majority of my life I preferred Blistex and thus I'm in the habit of saying 'Blistex' to refer to the ointment instead of 'Carmex'. I similarly seem to note that MANY people refer to it as Chap Stick, which I believe is another name brand.

 

So I thought it would be fun to compile a little list of these things.

 

 

There's Kleenex, which is a brand name maker of 'facial tissues', but not actually the product itself.

 

Similarly people "Xerox" things instead of more accurately making copies (Xerox is another brand name).

 

We also have "White Out" the brand name as the term for 'liquid paper' or 'correction fluid' (or whatever you want to call the stuff if you don't call it 'white out' )

 

In the south, especially among the older generation, it's not uncommon to refer to a refrigerator as an 'ice box', which goes back to the days when they were little more than glorified ice chests and the way they worked was that the people would insert a very large block of ice into them each day.

 

Also in the south particularly, many people say "coke" to refer to any type of soda or soft drink.

 

In my particular region when growing up, though I'm sure this is VERY local, people would say "Tony's" to describe any spicy seasoning because Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning was the 'big name'.

 

A popular one nowadays is of course "google it" to mean look it up online. Many/most people do in fact use Google to do this, but there are certainly other search engines out there.

 

"YouTube" seems to be going this way too in that if someone 'youtubes it' they put a video online or watched a clip online (regardless of the particular site, though again YouTube actually is the most common by far).

 

Sticking with this line, we have "I 'facebooked' him" to refer to a message sent to someone via the Facebook network.

 

A few nights ago I was out with friends and when one of them took a group shot of us he said, "I'm going to 'space it'" to mean, put it on Myspace. I'm not sure if that's just a slang term among my group of friends or if it's an actual wide-scale trend.

 

Another brand name one we have is "Scotch Tape" which can be used to describe any transparent tape, not just actual Scotch Tape.

 

 

 

So what other ones do you guys know of?

-Kevin

[clumber]

Well, the ones in england that I know:

 

 

CELLOTAPE - Clear, sticky tape (not actually sure what its called... other than cellotape). Cellotape is the most common brand.

 

TIP-EX - same as your 'white-out', again, its a brand.

 

COKE - seen people use it to refer to any cola except pepsi. Can also refer to cocaine, but nevermind that

 

 

BRITAIN and The UK are not the same thing. Britain is the largest landmass in the British Ilses, whereas the UK is the union of England, Scotland, Whales and Northern Ireland. Also, while we;re on the subject, the Union Jack is NOT the flag of England. England's flag is St Georges cross. By calling the union jack the 'england flag' you offend the scots and welsh, by calling them english, and you offend the english, by calling the scots and welsh english The UK is suffering from Cabin Fever

[NickolasJames8]

lol...I don't know if this would count or not, but when my stepmom talks about soda, she calls it a diet. I know she means diet soda, but I think it's kinda weird how she leaves the name of the soda off (She drinks diet sprite). She'll be all, "Nick, can you grab me a diet from the fridge?" Maybe it's a southern thing or something.

[AFriendlyFace]

CELLOTAPE - Clear, sticky tape (not actually sure what its called... other than cellotape). Cellotape is the most common brand.

Sounds like our "Scotch Tape" come to think of it I have heard of Cellotape for the Brits.

TIP-EX - same as your 'white-out', again, its a brand.

Had never heard of that, thanks!

COKE - seen people use it to refer to any cola except pepsi. Can also refer to cocaine, but nevermind that

Yep, just the same!

 

BRITAIN and The UK are not the same thing. Britain is the largest landmass in the British Ilses, whereas the UK is the union of England, Scotland, Whales and Northern Ireland. Also, while we;re on the subject, the Union Jack is NOT the flag of England. England's flag is St Georges cross. By calling the union jack the 'england flag' you offend the scots and welsh, by calling them english, and you offend the english, by calling the scots and welsh english The UK is suffering from Cabin Fever

Wow! I can't believe I didn't know that! That's most informative, thanks!

 

lol...I don't know if this would count or not, but when my stepmom talks about soda, she calls it a diet. I know she means diet soda, but I think it's kinda weird how she leaves the name of the soda off (She drinks diet sprite). She'll be all, "Nick, can you grab me a diet from the fridge?" Maybe it's a southern thing or something.

 

That is funny/cute

[Daisy]

If you combine the english, scottish and irish flags you get the union jack. The welsh are alittle bit left out with their dragon.

 

My gran refers to soda as 'pop'.

 

chap stick is another name for lipbalm over here too. I think it may be a brand-name or just the general name (use when your lips get chapped from the cold). we also call it lipsalve - thats what I refer to it as.

 

xerox. I think what you mean is photocopy. by a machine called a photocopier. no idea whether thats a general name or it originated from a brand.

 

of course there's also the 'mobile phone' or mobiles as usually called versus your cellphone.

and holiday versus vacation.

 

Interesting topic,

Celia

[Daisy]

oh and one of my housemates refers to the remote (control) for the TV as 'the box'. I have never ever come across that before and she always confuses me when she asks me to pass the box. though I think it is an older name in some regions maybe just nowhere near where I come from .

 

I also hear you say the time weirdly too . Something about the halfpast clock maybe, just my friend was telling us of how people were getting confused when she said the time because you say it backwards or somthing (though she said you mainly said it digitally which is why I've never noticed before). Correct me if I'm wrong.

Edited June 3, 2008 by Smarties

[NaperVic]

hmmm, I can only think of a few right now...

 

To Hoover - means to vacuum.

 

I Tivo'ed the latest episode of Ugly Betty so we can watch it next week.

[Razor]

In my particular region when growing up, though I'm sure this is VERY local, people would say "Tony's" to describe any spicy seasoning because Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning was the 'big name'.

 

 

Kevvers, where did you grow up? We use that here. Not so much any more because of the downswing in the locals and the sad lack of many crawfish/shrimp boils, but when I was little it was "Tony's".

[colinian]

We also have "White Out" the brand name as the term for 'liquid paper' or 'correction fluid' (or whatever you want to call the stuff if you don't call it 'white out' )

Liquid Paper is a brand name of opaque correction fluid manufactured by the Sanford division of Newell Rubbermaid Corporation.

 

Just thought you'd want to know. There will be a quiz tomorrow afternoon.

 

 

Colin

[Bandage]

TIP-EX - same as your 'white-out', again, its a brand.

We use that here as well

 

I also hear you say the time weirdly too . Something about the halfpast clock maybe, just my friend was telling us of how people were getting confused when she said the time because you say it backwards or somthing (though she said you mainly said it digitally which is why I've never noticed before). Correct me if I'm wrong.

You mean half past 7 is the same as half 8? In Belgium it depends on where you live what you say, lol!

 

Well, instead of coke, we use cola here in Belgium coke really makes me think of coca

[AFriendlyFace]

Kevvers, where did you grow up? We use that here. Not so much any more because of the downswing in the locals and the sad lack of many crawfish/shrimp boils, but when I was little it was "Tony's".

I'll tell ya specifically sometime privately, but yeah in Louisiana. Like a good cajun boy I always keep Tony's on hand among my various spices, and in fact used some just yesterday.

 

Liquid Paper is a brand name of opaque correction fluid manufactured by the Sanford division of Newell Rubbermaid Corporation.

 

Just thought you'd want to know. There will be a quiz tomorrow afternoon.

 

 

Colin

 

Thanks, Colin!

 

oh and one of my housemates refers to the remote (control) for the TV as 'the box'. I have never ever come across that before and she always confuses me when she asks me to pass the box. though I think it is an older name in some regions maybe just nowhere near where I come from .

"Remote control" itself is such an amusing little phrase. Literally it's just controlling something from a distance, it almost sounds like a euphemism rather than an actual name for something.

 

"I want to have "Remote Control" (air quotes) over my television. MUHAHAHAHAHA"

 

It seems like they could have come up with a better name for it. Evidently the person who named it wasn't the one who named the television itself, otherwise we'd probably call it "big glassy screeny thing"

 

 

 

Take care all

-Kevin

Edited June 3, 2008 by AFriendlyFace

[greenmann]

jello= (instant) gelatin (simlification of the brand Jell-o, dunno how wide spread that is across the country, but it's certainly true here).

 

 

band-aid= that little medical boo-boo cover upper (also a brand name, what's funny is I have actually seen a generic box use a very similar phrase, so similar I had to read it twice to recognize it was different. Unfortunately, I don't remember the phrase they used )

 

um, kind of esoteric, but a "blue jay" here in the northwest is actually the Stellar's Jay. Different bird (though closely related, and prettier, if darker) than the Blue Jay pretty much any where else in the country.

 

hmm, I may have to come back to this... I know in an hour I'll probably think of more

[Jack Frost]

In the south, especially among the older generation, it's not uncommon to refer to a refrigerator as an 'ice box', which goes back to the days when they were little more than glorified ice chests and the way they worked was that the people would insert a very large block of ice into them each day.

No one says that here in the great old North.

 

Also in the south particularly, many people say "coke" to refer to any type of soda or soft drink.

Coke = any cola products including Pepsi. If the resto has only Pepsi, you can still say "give me a coke".

Soda = anything else that is not coke

Edited June 4, 2008 by Jack Frost

[Daisy]

jello= (instant) gelatin (simlification of the brand Jell-o, dunno how wide spread that is across the country, but it's certainly true here).

I think you are refering to what in the Uk is just called 'jelly', no brand name there I don't think. Also I heard that you call 'jam', jelly, the stuff you put on toast to be clear.

 

band-aid= that little medical boo-boo cover upper (also a brand name, what's funny is I have actually seen a generic box use a very similar phrase, so similar I had to read it twice to recognize it was different. Unfortunately, I don't remember the phrase they used )

 

In the Uk they are just called plaster's.

 

You're right, I keep on thinking of more and more .

 

kevin: its not thaaat funny . we do have some ridiculous names here though when I stop and think about them . btw, what do you call them?

 

Celia

Edited June 4, 2008 by Smarties

[AFriendlyFace]

This term is very regional. We call subs "HOAGIES".

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoagie

It is very regional (as I understand), but I would most definitely have known what you were talking about and may possibly have used the term myself if for someone reason I was trying to come up with synonyms for a sub.

 

I think you are refering to what in the Uk is just called 'jelly', no brand name there I don't think. Also I heard that you call 'jam', jelly, the stuff you put on toast to be clear.

Hmm, Jelly and Jam are two distinct entities here (though similar) and neither is "jello" (which is much different from the other two).

 

 

kevin: its not thaaat funny . we do have some ridiculous names here though when I stop and think about them . btw, what do you call them?

Oh well just call it the remote control here too, I was just saying it's a silly name for it in general. LOL

[rknapp]

This term is very regional. We call subs "HOAGIES".

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoagie

 

No one has really tried real hoagies/subs until you go to Pennsylvania. The rest of the state subs...they're shitty. And Canadians don't know what I am talking about if I say "oh it's tuna hoagie with cheese."

We use hoagie and sub interchangeably, depending on where you get it. If you get it at deli, it's usually called a hoagie. If you get it at Sub Way, it's a sub.

 

If however someone was to call it a "hero", they would be promptly shot.

 

I've noticed a lot of people in the northeast referring to remote controls as "clickers". Doesn't matter what the thing is controlling remotely, it's called a clicker and it pisses me off every time.

 

Also, a lot of people in South Jersey refer to Reese's Pieces as "Reesees Piecees" and that pisses me off even more!

 

As for the ice box comment... when someone says ice box I immediately think of a cooler, not a refrigerator. I was born in Florida, by the way.

[AFriendlyFace]

We use hoagie and sub interchangeably, depending on where you get it. If you get it at deli, it's usually called a hoagie. If you get it at Sub Way, it's a sub.

If however someone was to call it a "hero", they would be promptly shot.

What if it had just saved a drowning child or something?

 

I've noticed a lot of people in the northeast referring to remote controls as "clickers". Doesn't matter what the thing is controlling remotely, it's called a clicker and it pisses me off every time.

It mustn't just be in the northeast because I've heard many people in my area refer to remote controls as clickers too.

 

Also, a lot of people in South Jersey refer to Reese's Pieces as "Reesees Piecees" and that pisses me off even more!

Also something I've heard around the south.

 

 

What about "buggy" for a shopping cart?

[clumber]

My grandad (and a fair few other older people I know back in Lancashire) call the remote control "The Gadget".

 

 

 

"Pop" = soft drinks (generally fizzy).

 

My uncle works as a "pop-man"... basically, he has his van and he goes around houses selling them pop and sweets and crisps and stuff. The sweets tend to be cheap sweets that are either older brands or just a bit naff.

 

 

"Sweets" is what you in america insist on refering to as "candy".

 

 

"Naff" = bad, rubbish, not good.

 

 

I have just realised how many of my terms I'm having to exlain to you when I try to explain other things . This is barmy.

 

 

"Barmy" = daft, silly, strange.

 

 

 

 

Now, British way of saying the time:

 

8:00 = "eight o'clock"

8:05 = "five past eight".

8:10 = "ten past eight"

8:15 = "a quarter past eight"

8:20 = "twenty past eight"

8:30 = "half past eight"

 

You get the idea. Some small breaks in the pattern but easy to understand.

Now this is where it gets complicated...

 

8:35 = "twenty-five to nine"

8:40 = "Twenty to nine"

8:45 = "a quarter to nine"

8:55 = "five to nine"

9:00 = "nine o'clock"

 

You see?

 

And then there are the little things when you are telling someone the time, because it is never exactly five past eight or whatever...

 

8:04

 

Now, normally that'd just be "around about five past eight", or something else easy to understand. However, I have a tendency to say that a time like that would be "just knocking on five past eight" (or just five past, if the hour is obvious).

 

Actually, thats a good point, often you don't actually say the hour, because its assumed that that is obvious, so you might ask the time and get told its "oh, just around about quarter past".

 

 

Anyway, I get the distinct impression I rambled on a bit, but I got it explained in the end

 

Oh, small note, anything I say does not nesiserily(how is that word spelt?) apply to all of britain. It can be fairly safely applied to Lancashire... although I know I have picked up one or two scottish expressions (like a tendency to ask "How?" instead of "Why?". For example "How didn't you know what time it was?").

 

 

I'll stop typing now before this post gets entirely too long

 

Martin

[Daisy]

What about "buggy" for a shopping cart?

 

Thats an easy one. here we call them a shopping trolley. or just trolley. (haha, saying that outloud now it sounds very strange, but its not).

 

a buggy, some people call prams buggies (--im doubting now whether we call anything the same, or whether I'm being silly), --but the things babies/todlers are pushed around in.

 

and the back of car where you store your stuf - we call it the boot, do you call it the trunk?

 

This is getting amusing

Celia

[clumber]

Umm...Kevin...

 

What if it had just saved a drowning child or something?

 

 

How is it you think a long, thin butty could save a drowning child? I mean....how?

[AFriendlyFace]

My grandad (and a fair few other older people I know back in Lancashire) call the remote control "The Gadget".

 

 

 

"Pop" = soft drinks (generally fizzy).

 

My uncle works as a "pop-man"... basically, he has his van and he goes around houses selling them pop and sweets and crisps and stuff. The sweets tend to be cheap sweets that are either older brands or just a bit naff.

 

 

"Sweets" is what you in america insist on refering to as "candy".

 

 

"Naff" = bad, rubbish, not good.

 

 

I have just realised how many of my terms I'm having to exlain to you when I try to explain other things . This is barmy.

 

 

"Barmy" = daft, silly, strange.

I'd heard all those but "naff". Thanks for broadening my vocabulary!

 

Oh, small note, anything I say does not nesiserily(how is that word spelt?) apply to all of britain.

Necessarily

 

I'll stop typing now before this post gets entirely too long

 

Martin

Don't be barmy! We were enjoying it

 

Thats an easy one. here we call them a shopping trolley. or just trolley. (haha, saying that outloud now it sounds very strange, but its not).

 

a buggy, some people call prams buggies (--im doubting now whether we call anything the same, or whether I'm being silly), --but the things babies/todlers are pushed around in.

We usually call those strollers. I like prams, but I couldn't pull off saying it without getting some odd looks.

and the back of car where you store your stuf - we call it the boot, do you call it the trunk?

We do

 

Umm...Kevin...

 

 

 

 

How is it you think a long, thin butty could save a drowning child? I mean....how?

Well perhaps the child was going down, noticed the yummy sandwich, and swam vigorously toward the shore with renewed motivation!

 

 

-Kevin

[greenmann]

Incidentally, I think the "trunk" (for the back storage compartment of a car=automobile) in the US comes from the old practice of strapping a steamer trunk to the back of the old model A Fords and similar vehicles. Once that became common enough that the newer models were made with one integrated into the design, the name still stuck.

 

And I agree, I think most people here would understand what a "pram" is (if not a buggie, that coudl be a couple of different things), but we call them strollers (which seems more descriptive to me for what it is.)

 

Jelly is clear, jam is cloudy and preserves has lots of crushed or even whole berries, but they all work on toast or Peanut Butter and Jam sandwiches I live off the stuff, so I should know Gelatin, flavored or not, is compeltely different of cours,e though just as yummy. I like the jiggly stuff you can pick up the best.

[Menzoberranzen]

The most annoying difference I've noticed since moving to England is the different terms for what Americans call 'pants' and the Brits call trousers. I'm in the habit of saying it in the American fashion, which can be awkward since pants here is what Americans would call panties or underwear.

 

Menzo

[AFriendlyFace]

Incidentally, I think the "trunk" (for the back storage compartment of a car=automobile) in the US comes from the old practice of strapping a steamer trunk to the back of the old model A Fords and similar vehicles. Once that became common enough that the newer models were made with one integrated into the design, the name still stuck.

Wow! I didn't know that! Thanks for the info!

 

The most annoying difference I've noticed since moving to England is the different terms for what Americans call 'pants' and the Brits call trousers. I'm in the habit of saying it in the American fashion, which can be awkward since pants here is what Americans would call panties or underwear.

 

Menzo

 

I guess you've got to be careful then if you tell people you like their pants!

[Daisy]

Jelly is clear, jam is cloudy and preserves has lots of crushed or even whole berries, but they all work on toast or Peanut Butter and Jam sandwiches I live off the stuff, so I should know Gelatin, flavored or not, is compeltely different of cours,e though just as yummy. I like the jiggly stuff you can pick up the best.

 

I'm not really sure whether we are talking about the same things or not.

 

I think what we call jam is your preserve. some would use that name here as well. not sure what your jam is then. jelly i think we are talking about the same stuff. Gelatin. well. actually maybe we aren't talking about the same jelly. Gelatin does from that description sound like our jelly, and gelatin is an ingredient from animals in our jelly (why my veggie housemate won't eat the stuff - or alot of other sweets). so maybe your jelly and jam are just different varieties/recipes for preserve, but more artifical (the people who use the name presere here wouldnt use it for all the jars labelled jams, just the ones obviously with lots of fruit and preferably homemade). and its preserve because by adding lots and lots of sugar thats how they would 'keep' (preserve) fruit to stop it from going off (if you didnt know ).

 

I bet I'll only truely know if I ever visit the states someday,

Celia

Celia

Edited June 5, 2008 by Smarties