MovieChat Forums > About a Boy (2002) Discussion > 'Fries' ...question for Brits.

'Fries' ...question for Brits.

posted 14 years ago by northman742002
9 replies | jump to latest

when Marcus and his mom were in the restaurant with Will on their "date", Marcus orders a mushroom omelet with "fries" and a coke. I watch a lot of British TV and movies and I'm hearing what I've always understood to be strictly north American terms being used instead of their classical English counterparts in British movies. I've heard soccer instead of football, fries instead of chips, trunk instead of boot, chips instead of crisps, apartment instead of flat and I think I've even heard elevator instead of lift...all of these in British productions. I wonder if maybe its because the movies are intended for later north american release so the producers have decided to use north american words so as not to confuse the overseas audience...but i'm sure i've noticed this in productions that couldn't possibly be intended for that. Are the english picking up american slang from american movies and actually using it in everyday life? or have all these words always been used in england , just less commonly?

[–] TopGunSGA 14 years ago

Alot of Americanisms are creeping into British life. like pants instead of trousers, although this tends to be more in regards to the workout type.

The use of apartment tend to be for more up market areas as a selling point

---We will rule over all this land and we will call it... This Land.---

[–] b_imdb-199 14 years ago

The thing is American or french fries are not the exact same as British chips, fries tend to me quite thin and crunchy like the ones you get in macdonalds and chips tend to be quite chunky. Restaurants that sell the thin ones tend to call them fries

[–] germanii 13 years ago

I think we call them Steak Fries.

[–] hppg 13 years ago

I agree with the answer that says fries and chips are different, though I'm in Australia so it's also a little bit different here.

A lot of American terms have made it into non-American languages. Also sometimes they have different meanings.

I don't hear soccer for football very often in the UK at all, which movie did you hear it in? I can't remember what they said in "Bend It Like Beckham" but that had the girls going to America and was probably intended for a wide audience, if they did say soccer. Interestingly in Australia it used to be soccer (football is some weird rugby thing) but then they decided to claim back football and changed the official name.

[–] HughMungo 11 years ago

UK------------ 'MERICA

Chips-------- Steak Fries or "thick cut" fries

Fries----------- Thinly cut fries (like fast food type)

Crisps----------Chips

[–] xzavalie 11 years ago

Often when a film is made and they want it to reach an American audience they often turn the vocabulary more American to appeal.
I'm English and don't know a single person who would say 'fries' instead of chips, even ordering at McDonalds when it says fries on the menu we always ask for chips. And as a social worker I know people from all different backgrounds and I have never heard anyone say soccer, or apartment, or fries, or pants (as trousers). A lot of people say 'movie' though so we are influenced in some ways.

It was the same in the Johnny Depp version of Charlie and the chocolate factory. Very noticeably Freddie Highmore said words such as 'pants' and 'candy' in contexts in which we would never use them.

It is irritating though, as an English viewer.

[–] HughMungo 11 years ago

Thanks for sharing. Didn't know thin cut fries were generally called chips as well, but it makes sense as they're just different sizes of the same exact food.

Kind of embarrassing that they have to dumb it down for us Americans. If anything, you'd think that we should welcome new terms to expand our vocabulary and understanding of life elsewhere. Too much to ask I suppose.

[–] chainsaw_metal1 11 years ago

There was a great exchange in the last series of Torchwood where Gwen and an American FBI agent go on about the different names for products on both sides of the Atlantic. It's really funny when Gwen mentions that the lemonade has gone flat.

Exterminate!

[–] Degree7 10 years ago

I did notice a lot of Americanisms, maybe because the directors were American.

When they say "Shake your ass" Brits pronounce it arse.

And when Will us asked to "dress up as Santa", they usually say Father Christmas.

Limit of the Willing Suspension of Disbelief: directly proportional to its awesomeness.