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Virginia feels very British, wouldn't y'all agree? Practically all the names of towns/cities and counties in the eastern half of the state sound extremely British. Richmond also has the row houses, kind of like what you'll encounter in London and other UK urban areas.
Hampton Roads/Tidewater (including Williamsburg) has a historical British influence because the area was the first successful English colony in the United States during the colonial period. The city names and pronunciations of Norfolk (Nor-fick/Nor-fck/Naw-fck), Portsmouth(Port-smith), Suffolk (Suff-fick/Suff-fck), and Hampton (Hamp-ten) are from England (There are still areas in Britain with the exact same names and pronunciations). In addition, Newport News (Newpert News) may have derived its name from an old English word "news" meaning "new town". Also, the traditional Tidewater accent is considered similar to the original British accents and Scottish accents. Here are some examples:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVXxj_Mdwos (Some people commenting on the video are from Norfolk, England and report some similarities in speech with Norfolk County, England)
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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In Philadelphia people call sidewalks "pavement" (not exclusively, people also say "sidewalk"). Nowhere else in the US do people call sidewalks pavement, however, they do in Great Britain. I grew up in metro Phila., and always tell my kids, "Get on the pavement" if they are walking in the street, for example. I never knew that it was an isolated term and one used in England, until recently.
I wonder if there are other British phrases that people in the US use in only certain cities.
In Philadelphia people call sidewalks "pavement" (not exclusively, people also say "sidewalk"). Nowhere else in the US do people call sidewalks pavement, however, they do in Great Britain. I grew up in metro Phila., and always tell my kids, "Get on the pavement" if they are walking in the street, for example. I never knew that it was an isolated term and one used in England, until recently.
I wonder if there are other British phrases that people in the US use in only certain cities.
LOL - you mustn't be from New England. There are lots of British phrases that are infused in the vernacular of New England.
For example, New Englanders refer to kitchen or bathroom cabinets as "cupboards," living rooms as "parlors," purses as "pock-a-books," wallets as "billfolds," basements as "cellars," rubbers bands as "elastics," dressers as "bureaus," fire trucks as "fire engines," etc. - the list goes on and on.
I even had a English teacher in high school from somewhere in northern Connecticut town (I want to say Enfield) who referred to the bathrooms/restrooms as the "water closet," which is most definitely a British phrase.
And I've definitely heard older New Englanders over the of age 75 or so refer to sidewalks as "pavement."
If I had to guess, you'll hear people refer to sidewalks as such in older cities along the Eastern seaboard with strong English roots that haven't been as inundated with transplants, such as Baltimore, Providence and Richmond, for example.
In my experience, people from Greater NYC (i.e., NYC, Long Island, northern New Jersey and southwestern Connecticut) use a different vernacular than people from New England, Upstate New York, much of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, etc. because that area was initially settled by the Dutch.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bert_from_back_East
LOL - you mustn't be from New England. There are lots of British phrases that are infused in the vernacular of New England.
For example, New Englanders refer to kitchen or bathroom cabinets as "cupboards," living rooms as "parlors," purses as "pock-a-books," wallets as "billfolds," basements as "cellars," rubbers bands as "elastics," dressers as "bureaus," fire trucks as "fire engines," etc. - the list goes on and on.
I even had a English teacher in high school from somewhere in northern Connecticut town (I want to say Enfield) who referred to the bathrooms/restrooms as the "water closet," which is most definitely a British phrase.
And I've definitely heard older New Englanders over the of age 75 or so refer to sidewalks as "pavement."
If I had to guess, you'll hear people refer to sidewalks as such in older cities along the Eastern seaboard with strong English roots that haven't been as inundated with transplants, such as Baltimore, Providence and Richmond, for example.
In my experience, people from Greater NYC (i.e., NYC, Long Island, northern New Jersey and southwestern Connecticut) use a different vernacular than people from New England, Upstate New York, much of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, etc. because that area was initially settled by the Dutch.
No, I'm not from New England. As mentioned in my previous post, I'm from Philadelphia. I think some of those words are pretty common in other places besides New England - fire engine, bureau, cellars (think that's common in the Midwest). But not so much billfold, pock-a-book or parlor (unless one is talking about an old home). My husband is from New England and he says "rubbish" for trash, which I think is also a British term.
Anyone else have examples of British terms that are unique to their state/region of the county?
One thing which I think puts Philly ahead of Boston is the differences in the outlying areas of the city.
Boston looks very much like a British city in its core. But once you get outside of the inner core of neighborhoods, it becomes a city dominated by wood-frame triple-deckers - a housing style totally unlike anything in the U.K.
In contrast, Philadelphia continued to build rowhouses all the way through to 1960 or so. This is very like Britain, where to this day (and very unlike continental Europe) the vast majority of single-family housing is either attached or semi-attached. See here for a pretty typical example.
In Philadelphia people call sidewalks "pavement" (not exclusively, people also say "sidewalk"). Nowhere else in the US do people call sidewalks pavement, however, they do in Great Britain. I grew up in metro Phila., and always tell my kids, "Get on the pavement" if they are walking in the street, for example. I never knew that it was an isolated term and one used in England, until recently.
I wonder if there are other British phrases that people in the US use in only certain cities.
LOL - you mustn't be from New England. There are lots of British phrases that are infused in the vernacular of New England.
For example, New Englanders refer to kitchen or bathroom cabinets as "cupboards," living rooms as "parlors," purses as "pock-a-books," wallets as "billfolds," basements as "cellars," rubbers bands as "elastics," dressers as "bureaus," fire trucks as "fire engines," etc. - the list goes on and on.
I even had a English teacher in high school from somewhere in northern Connecticut town (I want to say Enfield) who referred to the bathrooms/restrooms as the "water closet," which is most definitely a British phrase.
And I've definitely heard older New Englanders over the of age 75 or so refer to sidewalks as "pavement."
If I had to guess, you'll hear people refer to sidewalks as such in older cities along the Eastern seaboard with strong English roots that haven't been as inundated with transplants, such as Baltimore, Providence and Richmond, for example.
In my experience, people from Greater NYC (i.e., NYC, Long Island, northern New Jersey and southwestern Connecticut) use a different vernacular than people from New England, Upstate New York, much of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, etc. because that area was initially settled by the Dutch.
NJ here, and same. Except I thought it was "pocketbooks" (though it is pronounced more like "pock a book"). That's what I grew up knowing them as; now I normally say "purse" or "bag" but sometimes "pocketbook" slips out. I've heard water closet occasionally but definitely not a normal thing like the others can be.
I even had a English teacher in high school from somewhere in northern Connecticut town (I want to say Enfield) who referred to the bathrooms/restrooms as the "water closet," which is most definitely a British phrase.
It's more of a western upper-middle to upper class phrase, that vernacular bridging the gap between England and the US.
Anything better than "toilet" being a step up from working class vernacular, and anything below toilet, like "throne" or other cutesie phrases, being lower than middle working class. Per Paul Fussell.
Your English teacher might have also said "lavatory" or "loo" instead of "water closet". The latter phrase almost being so formal that it loses class status as a result. One of the ironies of western class signalling being that seeming conspicuous in doing so often deducts class "points" (my word) as a result. Ie: saying "Pardon"? instead of "What"? is sub-upper class. Per Paul Fussell and other writers on the topic.
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I think some of those words are pretty common in other places besides New England - fire engine, bureau, cellars (think that's common in the Midwest). But not so much billfold, pock-a-book or parlor (unless one is talking about an old home). My husband is from New England and he says "rubbish" for trash, which I think is also a British term.
