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American English: Difference between revisions
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(Import from TV Tropes TVT:Main.AmericanEnglish 2012-07-01, editor history TVTH:Main.AmericanEnglish, CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported license) |
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** '''Lesbian''' is used for a female homosexual.
** '''Gay''' has two distinct meanings, confusingly enough- a homosexual person of any gender, OR a homosexual man specifically. Most commonly it carries the former meaning ''unless'' it's specifically contrasted with lesbian, in which case it only refers to men. Also see [[Have a Gay Old Time]] for how gay ''used'' to be used.
** '''Queer''' basically means anything but heterosexual -- homo-, bi-, pan-, a-, whatever. It is a slur that has been ''partially'' "reclaimed." Basic rule is, [[N
* '''Fanny''' is a polite, fastidious word for your rear end. If someone's grandmother or old maiden aunt were talking to a misbehaving five-year-old, she might threaten to "spank him on his little fanny." Though you wouldn't use the term when visiting the UK as it is generally considered an offensive term for female genitalia.
** '''Fanny packs''' are equivalent to bum bags, i.e. a small sealable bag with an integrated belt worn over the top of clothes.
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** Americans also pronounce H without using an H sound. "Aytch" instead of "haytch".
** There isn't that somewhat rare letter ash ("Æ"). "E" is used instead, or in some cases type out an A followed by an E. "Æsthetic", for example, is "aesthetic" or "esthetic". To type out an "ash" requires the use of the alt codes on U.S. keyboards (alt-145 for lowercase and alt-146 for uppercase, if you were wondering). The same goes for ''ethel'' ("œ").
* '''Check''' -- the U.S. spelling of ''cheque'' -- in a restaurant refers to the bill. Hence, [[Check, Please!]]. It can also refer to an actual check, which you fill out to buy something. Thus, you can pay a check with a check.
** Although virtually no restaurant accepts checks any longer.
* '''Bills''' is the colloquial name for paper money in the US, such as "a one-dollar bill," rather than "notes," which is the technical term used in banks.
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** Hawaii and Alaska (which are non-contiguous states) and Puerto Rico (which is a non-contiguous protectorate) have interstates, so the definitions really are starting to get mixed...
*** It helps to understand that the purpose of the interstate system is to facilitate the movement of military materiel and personnel, at least on paper. That and the aforementioned states were a bit annoyed that they didn't get to share in the federal highway kitty because they weren't contiguous.
* Some legal code numbers have entered American vernacular. Most notable is "187" (pronounced "one-eight-seven," or "one-eighty-seven"), which means murder. Another is "5150," (pronounced "fifty-one-fifty,") which means to be placed in a mental hospital on an involuntary psychiatric hold, to be "sectioned." These are most commonly used in California, where they both originate, but are known throughout the US because of [[
** The TV series [[Adam-12]] also popularized "211" (two-eleven), which means a robbery, and "415" (four-fifteen), which means a public disturbance.
** A similar example is a "Section 8," US Military slang for a crazy person (referring to a discharge for mental illness). It's also an old term for federally subsidized housing.
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** "Chapter 11" (from Chapter 11 of Title 11 of the United States Code) refers to bankruptcy. Hence, people file Chapter 11 <ref> Curiously, though, Chapter 11 covers the bankruptcy of a ''business''; individuals usually choose between two methods of resolving their debts, described in Chapters 7 (total liquidation) and 13 (reorganization of debts). However, since large corporate bankruptcies often receive nationwide media attention, "Chapter 11" has become the most common term.</ref>
** "420" has become slang for Marijuana, although this number doesn't appear to be used in any jurisdiction's legal codes for marijuana crimes and its origin is [[Rule of Cautious Editing Judgement|hotly debated]].
* People of African racial decent are typically called "black" without insult. '''African-American''' is a very common and politically correct term for American blacks, to the point that Americans will occasionally slip up and use the term to refer to any black person, regardless of where they live ([[Freema Agyeman]] and [[Being Human|Lenora Crichlow]] have both been referred to as African-American, despite the obvious problems with that.) The term is generally used only in a racial sense, and it's therefore incorrect to use it for non-black people who immigrated from Africa to America. "People of color" often refers to all non-white racial groups. The terms "colored," "negro," "mulatto," and "Afro-American," are all dated and usually considered insensitive. (See also the trope on [[N
* The native cultures and races of America are most appropriately called "Native Americans." "American Indians" is also generally acceptable. "Indians" by itself is considered somewhat insensitive and also confusing, since it could also refer to ''actual'' Indians.
** It is fairly common to simply call Native Americans "Natives" while using terms like Aboriginals and Indiginous Peoples to refer to those native to other regions, the exact location is often specified directly especially when not set up by context.
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