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Usenet Posted 22 years ago
English in UK
Lost/displaced Briticisms
Thought I'd start a new thread on Briticisms which have been (mostly) displaced by Americanisms. Can you think of any more? Or point to questionable items?
Accumulator: car battery
Billion: originally 'large' (10^12), now 'small' (10^9) Fount: as typeface, now usually 'font'
Gangway: as a passage between seats in a theatre etc., now largely displaced by 'aisle'
Quitted: past of 'quit' is now usually 'quit' Sparking plug: spark plug
Wireless: radio
Accumulator: car battery
Billion: originally 'large' (10^12), now 'small' (10^9) Fount: as typeface, now usually 'font'
Gangway: as a passage between seats in a theatre etc., now largely displaced by 'aisle'
Quitted: past of 'quit' is now usually 'quit' Sparking plug: spark plug
Wireless: radio
Top answer
[nq:1]Thought I'd start a new thread on Briticisms which have been (mostly) displaced by Americanisms. Can you think of any more? Or point to questionable items?
- [nq:1]Thought I'd start a new thread on Briticisms which have been (mostly) displaced by Americanisms.
- Can you think of any more?
- Or point to questionable items?
- , now largely displaced by 'aisle' Quitted: past of 'quit' is now usually 'quit' Sparking plug: spark plug Wireless: radio[/nq] I'd like to know when you think they were lost.
- Except for billion and fount I've never used these so-called Briticisms nor heard them being used, even while living in Britain from 1971 to 1992, with the partial exception of "wireless", which I associate with people at least 30 or 40 years older than me.
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717 Answers
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[nq:1]Thought I'd start a new thread on Briticisms which have been (mostly) displaced by Americanisms. Can you think of any more? Or point to questionable items? Accumulator: car battery Billion: originally 'large' (10[/nq]^12), now 'small' (10^9)
[nq:1]Fount: as typeface, now usually 'font' Gangway: as a passage between seats in a theatre etc., now largely displaced by 'aisle' Quitted: past o
[nq:1]Fount: as typeface, now usually 'font' Gangway: as a passage between seats in a theatre etc., now largely displaced by 'aisle' Quitted: past o
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[nq:1]Thought I'd start a new thread on Briticisms which have been (mostly) displaced by Americanisms. Can you think of any more? Or point to questionable items? Accumulator: car battery Billion: originally 'large' (10[/nq]^12), now 'small' (10^9)
[nq:1]Fount: as typeface, now usually 'font' Gangway: as a passage between seats in a theatre etc., now largely displaced by 'aisle' Quitted: past o
[nq:1]Fount: as typeface, now usually 'font' Gangway: as a passage between seats in a theatre etc., now largely displaced by 'aisle' Quitted: past o
00
[nq:2]Thought I'd start a new thread on Briticisms which have ... to questionable items? Accumulator: car battery Billion: originally 'large' (10[/nq]^12), now 'small' (10^9)
[nq:2]Fount: as typeface, now usually 'font' Gangway: as a passage ... is now usually 'quit' Sparking plug: spark plug Wireless: radio[/nq]
[nq:1]I'd like to know when you think they were lost. Except for billion and
[nq:2]Fount: as typeface, now usually 'font' Gangway: as a passage ... is now usually 'quit' Sparking plug: spark plug Wireless: radio[/nq]
[nq:1]I'd like to know when you think they were lost. Except for billion and
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^12), now 'small' (10^9)
[nq:2]I'd like to know when you think they were lost. ... out of use, but not necessarily because of American influence.[/nq]
[nq:1]Why did they fall out of use, if not because of AmE influence? Several of those terms were well-established in AmE long before World War II. Mind you, I don't approve of postwar British US-ophilia.[/nq]
Words come into and fall out
[nq:2]I'd like to know when you think they were lost. ... out of use, but not necessarily because of American influence.[/nq]
[nq:1]Why did they fall out of use, if not because of AmE influence? Several of those terms were well-established in AmE long before World War II. Mind you, I don't approve of postwar British US-ophilia.[/nq]
Words come into and fall out
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[nq:1]Thought I'd start a new thread on Briticisms which have been (mostly) displaced by Americanisms. Can you think of any more? Or point to questionable items? Accumulator: car battery Billion: originally 'large' (10[/nq]^12), now 'small' (10^9)
[nq:1]Fount: as typeface, now usually 'font' Gangway: as a passage between seats in a theatre etc., now largely displaced by 'aisle' Quitted: past o
[nq:1]Fount: as typeface, now usually 'font' Gangway: as a passage between seats in a theatre etc., now largely displaced by 'aisle' Quitted: past o
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[nq:1]I think you're making assertions unsupported by research. 'accumulator', for instance, wasn't used exclusively (or, IIRC, generally) for a car battery. OED points to various uses of the term:[/nq]
(snip dictionary entry with sundry meanings of "accumulator")
[nq:1]And 'battery' for an electrical component was in use here before the USA existed.[/nq]
The battery was invented in 18
(snip dictionary entry with sundry meanings of "accumulator")
[nq:1]And 'battery' for an electrical component was in use here before the USA existed.[/nq]
The battery was invented in 18
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I'm not sure to what extent these have been displaced.
[nq:1]Accumulator: car battery[/nq]
When I was kid, accumulators were common. They weren't much like car batteries (physically - I guess they were chemically indentical). Their most common use was to power wireless sets in houses (in rural areas) that didn't have mains electricity.
[nq:1]Billion: originally 'large' (10[/nq]^12), no
[nq:1]Accumulator: car battery[/nq]
When I was kid, accumulators were common. They weren't much like car batteries (physically - I guess they were chemically indentical). Their most common use was to power wireless sets in houses (in rural areas) that didn't have mains electricity.
[nq:1]Billion: originally 'large' (10[/nq]^12), no
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[nq:2]Thought I'd start a new thread on Briticisms which have ... to questionable items? Accumulator: car battery Billion: originally 'large' (10[/nq]^12), now 'small' (10^9)
[nq:2]Fount: as typeface, now usually 'font' Gangway: as a passage ... is now usually 'quit' Sparking plug: spark plug Wireless: radio[/nq]
[nq:1]Gramophone: iPod[/nq]
Where are we on the American "fit" and the Br
[nq:2]Fount: as typeface, now usually 'font' Gangway: as a passage ... is now usually 'quit' Sparking plug: spark plug Wireless: radio[/nq]
[nq:1]Gramophone: iPod[/nq]
Where are we on the American "fit" and the Br
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[nq:2]Thought I'd start a new thread on Briticisms which have ... to questionable items? Accumulator: car battery Billion: originally 'large' (10[/nq]^12), now 'small' (10^9)
[nq:2]Fount: as typeface, now usually 'font' Gangway: as a passage ... is now usually 'quit' Sparking plug: spark plug Wireless: radio[/nq]
[nq:1]I'd like to know when you think they were lost. Except for billion and
[nq:2]Fount: as typeface, now usually 'font' Gangway: as a passage ... is now usually 'quit' Sparking plug: spark plug Wireless: radio[/nq]
[nq:1]I'd like to know when you think they were lost. Except for billion and
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[nq:1]'Gangway' is still in use in the stated sense, having been only partly displaced by 'aisle'.[/nq]
Interestingly, "gangway!" is often used as an interjection in AmE. It's meaning is equivalent to "Get out of the way!"
Don
Kansas City
Interestingly, "gangway!" is often used as an interjection in AmE. It's meaning is equivalent to "Get out of the way!"
Don
Kansas City
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