Linguistics

[resonant]

I'm compiling an American-to-British phrasebook (because reasons Sherlock). You can find decent dictionaries online (nappy, lorry, etc., etc.) but I'm not so much finding speech patterns -- word choices, syntax, where an American says 'on' and a Brit says 'in,' that kind of thing.

Oddly enough, most of what I've got here (that didn't come from Arctic Monkeys songs) came to my attention because I'd be reading a story in a fandom with an American canon, and I'd hit a phrase that made me go, "This author must be British." (The drawback of this is that some of it might be Australian or something.)

Anybody want to offer input? Here's what I've got (American on the left, British on the right).

Brits use a lot of 'got,' but I can't quite formulate a rule.

to see if you had my number -----> to see if you'd got my number

(also Americans say 'gotten')

Brits don't like to let helping verbs hang out alone.

"You'd eat a horse." "I have." ---> "You'd eat a horse." "I have done."

"That joke gets old." "It must." ---> "That joke gets old." "It must do."

The two dialects handle prepositions differently.

"in the hospital" ---> "in hospital"

"lives on Baker Street" ---> "lives in Baker Street"

Different vocabulary.

"we went to college together" ---> "we went to uni together"

"toss it" or "throw it away" ---> "bin it"

There are a number of things that Brits treat as plural that Americans treat as singular.

"the band wasn't very good" ---> "the band weren't very good"

"I'm no good at math" ---> "I'm rubbish at maths"

"the jury wasn't paying attention" ---> "the jury weren't paying attention"

Comments

[hesychasm]

Hmm, my English husband says he'd say "He lives on Baker Street," just as I (an American) would.

We often have "What? What does that mean?" sidebars to our normal conversations. But one memorable occasion was when a pot started boiling over on the stove and he kept telling me to "Turn off the hob! The hob!" I knew what that meant with my normal brain, but with the food getting ruined I was too flustered to understand what he wanted me to do for a few seconds. If he'd just left me well enough alone I'd have turned the darn stove off right away. (g)

[oxoniensis]

I'll second that (as a Brit) - I live in a town, but on a street.

[eyebrowofdoom]

As an Australian I live in a street. Wonder if it's a British regionalism originally (or Irish even).

[jamjar]

I'm SE London linguistically, and it's definitely in a town, on a street for me.

[jetsilver]

Huh. That might be regionally different for Australia - I would say I live on a street. But my grandparents were British, so I think I've grown up with a fairly strong leaning toward British grammar.

[eyebrowofdoom]

Aha, so what we have worked out is that some Australians and some British people say "in a street" but we have no idea who or why. :D

[resonant]

Strange -- I could swear I've seen the "in _____ Street" construction somewhere. Maybe it's archaic?

I love the hob thing! My college roommate used to work with kids with mild autism, and once she was exclaiming to one of her charges, "Put on your gym shoes! Where are your gym shoes?" and he (who had apparently never heard them called anything but 'sneakers') said, "What are my gym shoes?"

[amireal]

I think this one is that some people are using Baker Street as a noun, or a proper noun? You can live in a Proper Noun, but the Proper Noun lives ON a street?