For example, switching out the word ‘boot’ for ‘trunk’, or ditching the word ‘rubbish’ for ‘garbage’.
This is something I’ve noticed my 6 year old does pretty regularly. We went through a stage where ‘sweets’ became ‘candy’, ‘holiday’ became ‘vacation’ and ‘courgette’ became ‘zucchini’.
That last one didn’t happen but if you’re still reading you’ve got my respect, or as the Americans might say ‘…mad props’.
I like “garbage” when insulting something, it just has a nice guttural sound.
“cockwomble” just sounds like you’re trying too hard, like a yank LARPing as a brit they read about on the internet
That’s when you pull out the British understatement and switch to ordinary nouns in a context that implies an insult (“you utter teakettle”)
Really? Is it regional maybe? Irl I’ve only ever heard it from English people who want to say something stronger than “bell end”.
Honestly, bellend is a wonderful insult in my opinion. I used to watch a lot of sovietwomble and similar youtubers in the past so that and using cunt like a more colorful version of calling someone a dick were something i heard a lot and have a lot more behind them when said. That being said, I live in the US and would have to explain Bellend which would cause it to lose the impact. And cunt is far more negatively received here so you will likely be regarded as a mysoginist and/or get clocked here.
As an American in awe of your insults, I can’t get enough of the English pronunciation of twat. It cracks like a whip. Truly spectacular stuff.
I’m hellbent on being a relic. Currently railing against the proliferation of “store”. SHOP ffs. I look forward to everyone going storing.
“Shop” seems to mean buy. “Shop affordable easter instore” = “buy cheap chocolate in our shop”.
I said “gen zed” the other day and everybody frowned and said “Don’t you mean gen zee?”. NO I FUCKING DON’T. Still fighting the good fight in pronouncing schedule with a soft sh but I think I’m in a small minority these days. I’ve given up trying to call it an aubergine emoji, we may as well accept it’s an eggplant now 🍆
You know, I don’t think I’ve ever heard an American say “Gen Z” before, and it literally never occured to me that they were pronouncing it “Gen Zee”. Obvious now you mention it, but I’ve just been assuming that every time I see it written down it’s “Gen Zed” by default.
My friends were the opposite, they accepted that Z is pronounced Zed, but they said that gen zee was different, because “it’s like ZZ Top”. I argued back that it’s not like ZZ Top, it’s just a letter assigned to a generation. They were so used to hearing it said by Americans on TikTok, they refused to even accept that a normal person would say gen zed. “It’s just gen zee though! Nobody says gen zed!”. I’m angry again thinking about it!
Expat in the US. I met a guy called “Z” the other day - I didn’t want to be a cunt and pronounce his name wrong, so I went along with it.
I do pronounce Aaron correctly and not call them “Erin” though.
I make an effort to speak British English, and not let any American into my vocabulary. Not really sure what the point is, but I’m sure I had a reason at some point.
However, I do like saying “hood” instead of “bonnet”, mainly because it’s easier to say “under the hood” than “under the bonnet” when talking tech.
Do you use hood for actual cars or is it strictly when you are talking about non-car things?
Just for non-car stuff. I *would * use hood for everything, but the people I would talk to about cars would get pissy for using the wrong car words.
I’m American but would really appreciate it if aubergine caught on here across the pond. I know it’s French (and from prior languages) but I commend the UK for sticking with it. In contrast, eggplant sounds so crude and unappetizing. If you’ve Americanized this one, please stop.
Also, we should all bring back a few Old English terms.
What I hate about “eggplant” is that none of the varieties that anybody actually eats look even remotely like an egg. It’s a massive purple banana-shape. They also don’t taste like eggs, smell like eggs, or get used like eggs.
It’d be like calling cucumbers “cheesefruit” or something. It’s just destined to baffle.
No way man, it’s a great vehicle for flavor. Soak the slices in a basil balsamic garlic marinade a for an hour then roast them in the oven, simple and delicious.