Speedy's Cafe - General Chat about anything you like!

[Arcadia]

Maybe those other people think that's what they're supposed to wear to the gym? You've shown some confidence and originality by adapting your outfit to your own taste. Maybe they don't realize that's an option.

 

What I think is even worse, though, is those skin-tight shorts that bicyclers wear. In public!

 

We have policemen who wear them. On duty, I mean. I can't actually say I object, they're pretty fit guys.... But I know what you mean. Somehow the cops make them look okay, but on the whole I'm rather tired of seeing them.

 

I have a tea question. When I'm reading a fic that seems to be written by someone not British (but pretty good at disguising it), sometimes a brand of tea is mentioned, and 9 times out of 10 it seems to be PG Tips. I assumed it came up as the most popular brand on a Google search, but that doesn't seem to be the case. So why does PG Tips get singled out - is it in the background of an episode somewhere and I never noticed? Does it just sound good?

 

TBH, I've never heard of PG Tips, I guess I would just assume that's a very common brand in Britain, like Lipton is here. Or a very posh brand, if Sherlock's drinking it.

 

I've noticed a lot of the fanfics seem to copy off each other, maybe someone in the know used PG Tips, and everyone else just followed suite?

[Pseudonym]

I don't think I've ever seen a copper in bike shorts. 

 

That's the weird thing, it's not posh, just a normal every day brand. Maybe you're right it is just copying. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Must admit that I'd never heard of it either, but it certainly *sounds* British! Maybe that's why Britophile writers reference it?

 

The only British brand I can think of offhand is Twinings, but you can find that in just about any American supermarket (and who knows, likely at Walmart). So some Americans may assume it's a domestic brand. Plus it just doesn't *sound* as British!

[Pseudonym]

Funny, I think Twinings sounds quintessentially English. But then perhaps that's just because Stephen Fry was the face of the brand for a while. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

But the Twinings name doesn't sound *cute* English.

 

Not sure quite how to explain this, but there are certain English names (people's and otherwise) that sound humorously improbable to the American ear. To me, P G Tips sounds like something that might have been made up to *sound* English.

[Arcadia]

Twinings sounds veddy British to me, though. But not in the way Carol describes. I agree PG Tips sounds improbable; I would've assumed they were something you cleaned your ears with, ala Q-tips. Twinings sounds very, er, proper.
 
Now I'm wondering about the origin of the name Q-tips. This forum makes me think about strange things.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Dunno why they're called Q-Tips, but I have a story about 'em.
 
A friend of mine was on vacation in Greece.  She didn't really speak Greek, but she was managing very nicely with her little English-Greek dictionary -- until she ran out of Q-Tips.
 
She went to a drugstore and did her best with the dictionary:  Cotton swabs?  They looked at her funny.  Every other translation she could think of -- they looked at her funny.
 
Finally, in desperation, she mimed cleaning her ears.  The druggist beamed and said "Ah!  Koo Teep!"
 
*****
 
According to the manufacturer's website, "The “Q” in Q-tips® stands for quality and the word “tips” describes the cotton swab at the end of the stick."  And now you know the rest of the story!

[Pseudonym]

Koo teep!! I love it! We don't call them that here, they're just cotton buds.

The most improbable English name I can think of is BC's. :D But he's just improbable all around.

[Carol the Dabbler]

The generic term here is supposed to be cotton swabs, but most people call them Q-Tips, no matter what brand they actually are. Apparently Q-Tips themselves are now owned by Lever Brothers (or Uni-Lever), so I assume they're sold on your side of the pond as well, though perhaps under a different name.

[Carol the Dabbler]

  

On 9/23/2017 at 2:50 AM, Pseudonym said:

The most improbable English name I can think of is BC's.

 

Yeah, Cumberbatch is pretty improbable, but he'd need to have a more distinctly British first name. I mean, Benedict isn't common here, but its not unknown -- like Clive or Gareth or Nigel or Trevor.

[Pseudonym]

Those names are unknown?

[Arcadia]

Ha ha.

 

How about Basil Rathbone? Both Britishy and unusual. Although I've always thought it should be Wrathbone. Or Wraithbone.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Those names are unknown?

They're unknown to Americans in the sense that virtually nobody over here has them. Of course we've heard of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. But if you meet a Basil or a Nigel over here, they're likely to be British immigrants.

 

For example, I'm virtually certain I've never ever met a Basil or a Nigel or a Clive or a Gareth, or even heard of an American with any of those names. And the only Trevor I've ever met is British.

[Pseudonym]

God there are hundreds of Gareth's here, but I think it might be Welsh. I just got back from a ten mile hike, feet very owchie!

[Carol the Dabbler]

Soak 'em in warm Epsom-salts water and/or keep them elevated for a while so they don't swell up.

 

I think there are some Welsh first names here (Welsh surnames, certainly -- Jones is just about the most common surname in this country), but can't think of any offhand.  I think you're right about Gareth being a Welsh name, though.

 

So -- are there any American first names that sound weird to you, Pseud?

[Carol the Dabbler]

... just by coinkydink I haven't been walking much either, so we'll see.

 

And coinkydink is slang for coincidence, because I can't seem to bring myself to use proper English these days. :D

 

Do you by any chance recall the kiddy television show called "Winky Dink and You"?  Note that, according to the show's title, YOU are the co-host -- in other words, the co-Winky Dink.

 

 

 

Sorry about that....

[Arcadia]

Wow. No, I am actually a bit too young for a change, never encountered that one! We didn't even own a TV until the mid-60's, so I imagine even my older siblings weren't familiar with it. Huh.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Further down in that article it says that the show was on the air two different times, in the 50's and circa 1970, then available on DVD starting in 1990. So you're not too young, apparently just didn't happen to catch it.

[Pseudonym]

 

So -- are there any American first names that sound weird to you, Pseud?

 

Well, there are weird ones that sound made up (maybe are?) that I come across on true crime shows. I can't think of the more bizarre ones off the top of my head, I think the last one I saw was a lady called La'Tanisha. 

 

The name Bubba always amuses me, because it doesn't seem like a real name and just reminds me of Forest Gump. 

 

I find some pronunciations weird - like Colin being pronounced as colon. 

[Arcadia]

Further down in that article it says that the show was on the air two different times, in the 50's and circa 1970, then available on DVD starting in 1990. So you're not too young, apparently just didn't happen to catch it.

 

Oh, well, by the 70's I was too old. :p

 

 

 

So -- are there any American first names that sound weird to you, Pseud?

 

Well, there are weird ones that sound made up (maybe are?) that I come across on true crime shows. I can't think of the more bizarre ones off the top of my head, I think the last one I saw was a lady called La'Tanisha. 

 

The name Bubba always amuses me, because it doesn't seem like a real name and just reminds me of Forest Gump. 

 

I find some pronunciations weird - like Colin being pronounced as colon. 

 

 

Maybe if it were spelled properly ... Collin ... ;)

 

Question: are you familiar with the Donovan song "Wear Your Love Like Heaven"? In it he pronounces "alizarin crimson" as "alizarian crimson", which has always driven me crazy. Is that just a British pronunciation, like "aluminium" vs. our "aluminum"? Or did he mispronounce the word? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Pseudonym]

Huh? Colin is spelt with one L?

 

Don't know the song sorry, so maybe? I'd say it more as the former than the latter. 

[Boton]

Twinings sounds veddy British to me, though. But not in the way Carol describes. I agree PG Tips sounds improbable; I would've assumed they were something you cleaned your ears with, ala Q-tips. Twinings sounds very, er, proper.

 

Now I'm wondering about the origin of the name Q-tips. This forum makes me think about strange things.

 

We have a British import store near where I live, and one day my hubby brought home some imported Twinings for which he paid an arm and a leg.  But the difference!  The actual import Twinings vs. the Twinings that we can get in the grocery store is night and day; I wonder what they do differently?

 

Re: workout wear.  We once had a guy at our gym who wore bright silver, skin-tight tights.  He would then tuck his iPhone down the front so he could listen to his music.  Unfortunately, his pants were so tight and sheer that not only could I see everything about his anatomy, I could also see what model iPhone he had.

[Arcadia]

Huh? Colin is spelt with one L?

 

Don't know the song sorry, so maybe? I'd say it more as the former than the latter.

Oh well, forget the song ... and maybe alizarin isn't a familiar enough word to make the comparison. But it's familiar to me and his pronunciation drives me nutz, which would explain a lot since I've been hearing that song since I was a kid....

[Pseudonym]

Ahhh, so that song is to blame for everything?

 

Yea, there's a guy in one of my classes who wears skin tight leggings too, I try to avert my eyes but it's like a car crash you can't help looking. They are not silver though, so at least I'm spared that. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

"alizarin" is a word?

Pseud, "Bubba" is not a name, at least not usually. It's a standard male nickname, like Butch, Chip, Bud, etc. Bubba is more common in the south (and is also used pejoritively to designate a southerner seen as silly). I think both it and Bud come from the word brother, as pronounced by a younger sibling. Bud and Chip often refer to a man or boy whose real name is something Junior, to distinguish him from his father. Butch is apparently short for butcher -- no idea how it became popular (perhaps due to Butch Cassidy?).