All Questions
Tagged with british-english history
38
questions
6
votes
2
answers
312
views
Origin of the word 'unagreed'?
What’s the origin of unagreed?
I can find the word in Collin's Dictionary, used in parliamentary publications, as well as in American news articles.
However it's lacking from Merriam-Webster and there'...
- 1,282
-4
votes
1
answer
333
views
History of "literally": Who changed the definition of "literally" to no longer mean "figuratively" in the first place? [duplicate]
According to my research, "literally" used to mean "figuratively", or at least it was used by many people to mean "figuratively" several centuries ago. Yet, although ...
- 154
47
votes
10
answers
7k
views
Around 1960 in Britain "Have you a camera?" or "Do you have a camera?"
Around 1960, when we began learning English in Japan, we were taught British English. To our great surprise, we were forced to change into American English in the next grade. Japanese English teachers ...
- 849
3
votes
2
answers
146
views
What is a yard of (pudding, ale, etc.)?
I was just reading William and Ceil Baring-Gould's sadly under-Annotated Mother Goose, in which rhyme #274 is:
Hyer iddle diddle dell,
A yard of pudding's not an ell;
Not forgotten, tweedle-dye,
A ...
- 2,734
0
votes
0
answers
38
views
No Gender Nouns [duplicate]
Why do adjectives and some nouns in English not have gender?
Is there a history beyond that?
Don't this cause some ambiguity in the language itself?
- 3
6
votes
3
answers
5k
views
Why are pubowners called landlords in the U.K.?
I just came across the fact that Brits call the owners\operators of their pubs landlords, (on the new show "The Reluctant Landlord"). Being from the USA I am only aware of the term landlord being used ...
- 124
2
votes
1
answer
770
views
From "breath of life" to “rescue breath”
While watching a YouTube video called How to Perform CPR, I was struck by the expression used by the instructor, “give one rescue breath” (1.52) and “to perform a rescue breath” (2.00).
“Rescue ...
- 91.9k
55
votes
3
answers
12k
views
How did "biscuit" come to have a distinct meaning in North American English?
The Oxford Living Dictionary makes a clear distinction between the usage of biscuit in Britain and North America:
British: A small baked unleavened cake, typically crisp, flat, and sweet.
‘a ...
- 1,163
5
votes
3
answers
6k
views
When did the British and the Americans start to pronounce "o" (as in "God") differently?
When did the British and the Americans start to pronounce "o" (as in "God") differently?
Was it due to changes in America or England?
- 1,436
2
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Orwell: "A glimmer [is] one who watches vacant motor-cars." What does this mean?
Title is a quote from Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London. In this section he goes through a bunch of London slang terms and what they mean, but I don't understand his definition. What does it ...
- 29
4
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Usage of 'last June' in newspaper archive
I found a UK newspaper article from October 1918, which made reference to 'last June'. What's the likelihood of that meaning June 1917, as opposed to June 1918?
I assume if it was 1917, they would ...
- 51
6
votes
5
answers
22k
views
What is the origin of the phrase “guts for garters”?
Where does the phrase "guts for garters" come from?
Example:
I'd better stop mucking around on the Internet or my boss'll have
my guts for garters.
Someone having your guts for garters means ...
- 173
2
votes
4
answers
20k
views
In what country did the term "railroaded" originate?
The term "railroaded" in the sense of having something forced through, either unjustly or without proper regard for those affected, clearly has it's origins in analogy to the way early railroads were ...
- 807
0
votes
1
answer
7k
views
Use of 'z' versus 's' [duplicate]
I've been brought up believing that most of the words that have suffix with '-ize' or '-ized' is the American English form and the British English forms use (most of the time) '-ise' or '-ised' as the ...
4
votes
3
answers
864
views
Swear words in common usage by educated people in 1916
What swear words might have been commonly used in conversation (and, in particular, oral argument) in and around 1916, by literate men? As sources from the time are largely written, it is difficult to ...
- 43