Are there any Americanisms in lyrics that we can explain to you non-Americans?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by action pact, Sep 5, 2018.

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  1. Siegmund

    Siegmund Vinyl Sceptic

    Location:
    Britain, Europe
    I’ve never known anyone in britain affect an American accent, or talk with an ‘American lilt’ as someone else on here has claimed.

    A lot of young (ie, under 35) people use Australian Questioning Intonation (AQI), in which every sentence ends on an upward inflection but that is trend that, as the name suggests, didn’t originate in America. It’s basically a ‘millennial thing’ in the English-speaking world.
     
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  2. uzn007

    uzn007 Watcher of the Skis

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
    Black Friday originally referred to the stock market crash of 1869: Black Friday (Stock Market Crash)
    I don't think I ever heard it used to refer to the day after Thanksgiving until the late 80s or 90s.
     
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  3. danasgoodstuff

    danasgoodstuff Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Very good, except while 289 is indeed a common Ford engine size, 389 is not, the closest Ford sized would be 390. 389 is however a Pontiac engine size, the size that early Pontiac GTOs had. Things get confusing when different companies had engines of the same size, for instance My Studebaker has a 289 but it is completely unrelated to the Ford engine of that size, although they are both cast iron OHV V-8s. My engine weighs about 200 lbs. more than the Ford engine and is somewhat stronger mechanically. Similarly AMC made a 327 V-8 years before Chevy and Packard made a massively heavy straight 8 that was 327 cubic inches. 'Revved up like a deuce' always confused me because flathead (valve in block) Ford V-8s don't rev very high. But one with bumpy cams and otherwise tuned within an inch of it's life might need to rev relatively high to come on the cam and make any power. I honestly don't think either Bruce or Brian Wilson knew jack about cars, but that wasn't the point either.
     
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  4. Jonny W

    Jonny W Forum Resident

    Location:
    Orangeburg NY

    Interesting. For what it's worth, the song "Black Friday" by Steely Dan contains the line
    "When Black Friday comes, I'll fly down to Muswellbrook..."
     
  5. 51IS

    51IS Forum Resident

    Location:
    St. Louis MO
    A levee is more like an earthen flood protection wall. They sometimes have roads on top. They usually are only holding back water during a flood so not exactly like a dam. But kind of similar in some ways.
     
  6. Randall DeBouvre

    Randall DeBouvre forum resident

    Location:
    Illinois
    I don't how it got started, but I read lucked out that it started after world war II and became popular in the 50s.
     
  7. Donfrance

    Donfrance As honest as a politician.

    Thank you, I've been scrolling for this reply.
     
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  8. Randall DeBouvre

    Randall DeBouvre forum resident

    Location:
    Illinois
    well, one thing about could care less, it considered slangy and not proper English.
     
  9. Invisible Man

    Invisible Man Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lemon Grove
    They are two different terms unrelated in origin and meaning.
     
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  10. Randall DeBouvre

    Randall DeBouvre forum resident

    Location:
    Illinois
    Pink slip is the certificate of title. It is the legal document that establishes that you own your automobile.
     
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  11. Randall DeBouvre

    Randall DeBouvre forum resident

    Location:
    Illinois
     
  12. Randall DeBouvre

    Randall DeBouvre forum resident

    Location:
    Illinois
    assuming that we Americans don't know about cricket isn't very cricket.:D
     
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  13. Yawndave

    Yawndave Forum Resident

    Location:
    Santa Clara CA
    I'd like to know what "silver scrapes in May" are (from Astronomy by BOC). There's a meme associated with League of Legends, but the song predates the game by over 30 years.
     
  14. Randall DeBouvre

    Randall DeBouvre forum resident

    Location:
    Illinois
    we use the word beaver to describe what you british guys call a fanny. a long time ago a beaver was a man's beard.
     
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  15. FiveLeavesLeft

    FiveLeavesLeft Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Essex, UK
    Show us your Googly then...:winkgrin:
     
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  16. Randall DeBouvre

    Randall DeBouvre forum resident

    Location:
    Illinois
    the only thing that I can think of is that my mattress door is Neil's fancy way of saying my bedroom door.
     
  17. Randall DeBouvre

    Randall DeBouvre forum resident

    Location:
    Illinois
    in the old song by the beautiful sea, they mention child's and marcelling.
    marcelling -to get a wave or hair curl
    child's - a chain of restaurants that were popular in the 1920s and 1930's. they served a quick service menu.
     
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  18. Randall DeBouvre

    Randall DeBouvre forum resident

    Location:
    Illinois
    There was some drug slang in "Minnie the Moocher"
    cokey-high on cocaine
    king the gong-smoke opium
     
  19. Randall DeBouvre

    Randall DeBouvre forum resident

    Location:
    Illinois
    there is a song "murder he said" by betty hutton there is lot of 1940's slang
    murder-killer-diller, excellent
    solid-first rate
    chick-a girl
    leave him flat-drop him completely
    dig-like, appreciate
    the jumps-anxiety/nerves
    ticker-the heart
    jackson-a term of address
    shoot the snoot to me- move your nose this way so I can kiss you
    cooking with helium- succeeding , doing things well
    in the groove- in the zone
     
  20. john lennonist

    john lennonist There ONCE was a NOTE, PURE and EASY...

    Car / Hot Rod terms

    and

    Surfing terms


    Had a guy in our dorm from Wales when I was a freshman in college.

    It was fun teaching him surfing terms and have him pronouncing them :laugh:

    I then got the loopy idea to have him write a letter to his best friend back in Wales about what he was up do and lace the entire thing with American slangs -- like he "went down to the beach and the swells were rad and he was hangin' ten" and stuff like that.

    Can't remember the reply, but I'm sure it was in the neighborhood of whatever the Welsh expression was of "What the fook are ye talking about?!"


    (Hey Collin, hope all's well with you these days, wherever you are :wave: )
     
    Last edited: Oct 25, 2021
  21. eric777

    eric777 Astral Projectionist

    When Black Friday became I thing, it was a battle. Shoppers would get in fights over the dumbest things. Thousands of people would wait in line for hours just to have a chance to get some deal on an item that the store may only have a small number of. That's why they call it Black Friday. It's materialism at it's worst.

    Some believe the term started in Philadelphia sometime in the 50s or 60s describing the traffic issues the police were dealing with on the day after Thanksgiving.
     
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  22. Randall DeBouvre

    Randall DeBouvre forum resident

    Location:
    Illinois
    yeah, merriam webster online dates the origin to c.1961
    however, I don't remember it being used until the 1980's. that's when I remember things started getting intense.
     
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  23. bob_32_116

    bob_32_116 Forum Flaneur

    Location:
    Perth Australia
    Oh, we have those kind of sales too, but here they tend to be on Boxing Day - something I am strongly opposed to.

    Boxing Day, like Xmas Day, is a public holiday here. Boxing Day used to be a nice opportunity to wind down after Xmas Day, which can be a bit stressful for some people with all the organisation involved. Traditionally on Boxing Day people would go to the beach, go to the cricket, or just hang out around the house. Then the following day, it would be back to work, and the shops would have their sales.

    Then, some years ago, some bright spark in retailing decided they wanted to start their sales on Boxing Day. Astonishingly, the governments allowed them. As a result, what we get now is "We can't stay home... the shops are open!" Their mortal fear is that someone else will snap up that bargain, hence they cannot leave it until the next day for fear of missing out. Great. How to kill a public holiday. Not only that; people do not always pause to think that if the stores are open on Boxing Day and running sales, that means some poor sod has to be in there on Xmas Day setting things up in preparation.

    I never have, and never will, patronise Boxing Day sales. I have roses to smell.
     
  24. L.P.

    L.P. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austria
    Interesting! Is that the same thing (Questioning Intonation) that you often hear when someone's telling a story and does this upward inflection in every sentence as if they were constantly asking: do you know what I mean?
     
  25. JohnJ

    JohnJ Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    I think it’s died down now - but the Boxing Day Next sale was the worst example. People were queuing up at 2/3am, and the stores would open at 4:30am.

    I’ve worked in retail, and worked on Boxing Day. But that would have destroyed Christmas Day.

    Can’t we all have a break?!
     
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