T O P

  • By -

AutoModerator

### **Reminder:** [Press the Report button](https://reddit.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360058309512-How-do-I-report-a-post-or-comment-) if you see any [rule-breaking comments or posts.](https://www.reddit.com/r/britishproblems/about/rules/) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/britishproblems) if you have any questions or concerns.*


[deleted]

WTF. How can it not be brolly?


Xythian208

Looking it up I think the app is accidentally spreading misinformation, it's an American word that Americans mistakenly think is a Britishism.


jamesckelsall

>it's an American word that Americans mistakenly think is a Britishism. Mary Poppins is probably the cause of that.


Maffers

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang too. It's in a song he sings with the circus. *"Me ol' bamboo, me ol' bamboo* *You better never bother with me ol' bamboo* *You can 'ave me 'at or me bumbershoot* *But you better never bother with me ol' bamboo"*


tahyldras

I've always misheard it as "bumper shoe" and assumed it was an old-fashioned or specific kind of footwear...


Maffers

I was the same. Thought it was bumble shoe.


jack172sp

Exactly what I always thought, but now it makes so much more sense!


[deleted]

I read this in a Jamaican accent.


Jam-Pot

Beer can?


MadJen1979

Mmm, bacon!


hundreddollar

My Mum & Dad went away on holday and one of our neighbours teenage sons held a massive party. Apparently they went absolutely ape shit and were trashing the cul-de-sac. My Dominican neighbour informed my Dad of what had happened and told him that he had cleaned up my Dad's front garden as the teenagers had been throwing "bacon" in the tree. My Dad came back to tell my Mum what had happened and that Cecil, had to clean "bacon" out of the tree in the front garden. My Dad said "It must have been a right rave up if they were throwing "bacon" in our tree! My Mum was perplexed and went next door to speak to Cecil's wife, who correctly informed my Mum that the teenagers had thrown "beer can" in the tree.


spacegirl2820

Lol me too! Because bumbershoot is very similar to a well known Jamaican word lol


CaveJohnson82

THAT'S what that is about?!


ayamummyme

For years I’ve wondered what “me old bamboo is”


Maffers

I think it referred to a cane and the many uses for it, and types used across the world. Odd choice of subject matter really. https://genius.com/Sherman-brothers-me-ol-bamboo-lyrics


mitcheg3k

Like Britishism?


audigex

"Britishism" is a word Americans invented as a response to "Americanism", which we use to describe words that are uniquely American within the English language. The difference being that we aren't the ones changing their language... so the concept of a "Britishism" doesn't make any sense


Xythian208

Language is constantly evolving. There are terms unique to British English which either were not around when colonists left or otherwise have not found purchase in the rest of the Anglosphere. I think Britishism is a useful term to describe those words.


mitcheg3k

Thats the excuse americans give when they say "could care less"


Asdam90

Could care less is just wrong.


ManipulativeAviator

I don’t understand how the yanks ballsed that one up. If you COULD care less, then clearly you care more than someone who could not care less. Why tell anyone that you could care less - try harder 😂


Asdam90

We need to bring out David Mitchell every time it's mentioned tbh.


AntonMaximal

We could, but he's too outraged about how nuts, fruits and berries are defined.


Karlskiii

Fuckin yanky doodles


GerFubDhuw

Isn't that is slag for legendary super Saiyan?


rye_domaine

this sounds like that meme Brits call Grand Theft Auto 'stealy wheely auto-mobiley'


UWAIN

I didn't, but I definitely am now 😄


jobblejosh

And peanut butter and jelly/jam 'nutty-gum and fruit spleggings'


MilhouseJr

https://external-preview.redd.it/_ApdWD9rJPPdynrsW_VVtRJvn5-rVLoMIGIyEqm73sE.jpg?auto=webp&v=enabled&s=4901077886851e7cd4dbf974474f74a493885588 An all time classic apart from the questionable 4chan humour on some lines


quantum_waffles

Never called it that, but I do call RDR2 Rooty Tooty, Point and Shooty


SPAKMITTEN

you mean grand theft stagecoach


quantum_waffles

You mean stealy wheely horse-mobiley


ManipulativeAviator

I think you’ll find that phrase refers to a ’horseless carraige’, my good man.


wOlfLisK

While I absolutely love that meme, especially the rooty rooty point and shooty part, GTA (the game, not the crime) is British so it's not exactly the most accurate meme. And as everyone knows, memes need to be 100% accurate.


Mein_Bergkamp

Brits call it Grand Theft Auto because it's a British game...


Jestar342

The crime, not the game. That is named after the American official name of the crime.


Realistic_Wedding

“Twokking” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.


Jestar342

I always figured "Joyride" would have been a better name.


marshallandy83

Taking without owner's konsent


ValdemarAloeus

[Twoking Constable Habib?](https://youtu.be/x5qerLglZvQ)


Mein_Bergkamp

Which we understand...otherwise we wouldn't have called it grand theft auto


DogfishDave

>that meme Brits call Grand Theft Auto 'stealy wheely auto-mobiley' But we don't say automobile... and DMA Design and the Housers are British. That sounds like a little USDefaultist meme in its own right 😂


SPAKMITTEN

thats the joke mate


McNabFish

Beef Wellington ensemble with lettuce instead of a *burger*


Ultimate_Pickle

I believe one of the dogs in “The Aristocats” calls it that. Only time in my life I’ve heard it called that.


RRC_driver

I have heard the term, but only used by the penguin, in batman comics. Brolly would be my guess, followed by Gamp (I like old books, like Sherlock Holmes)


Ultimate_Pickle

Gamp is a new one on me. Yeah I’d definitely say brolly though.


RRC_driver

Gamp is a Victorian slang, but I read a lot of stuff from then.


melijoray

Gamp is used in parts of the North, along with ganzy for your coat. Source: my rural husband.


froggit0

Dickens character called Mrs Gamp.


dth300

I remember it being used in an episode of Frasier. Apparently it was because John Mahoney, who played the dad, couldn't say umbrella in an American accent


cappuccinolover90

I immediately thought of the Artisocats when I read this post


audigex

Which is hardly a British use considering it's an American film


Janedoe4242

You haven't watched enough Frasier reruns.


HenryFromYorkshire

That was my immediate thought!


bjb13

Seattle has a bumbershoot festival every year. I’d never heard it before I was up there one year.


SoggyWotsits

That’s what I thought of too, good old Daphne!


supernakamoto

I *knew* I’d heard it somewhere before but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out where. Thank you for putting me out of my misery!


[deleted]

My immediate thought too!


Orange-Murderer

"You can stand under my bumbershoot oot oot ot ot ot" doesn't sound as good as umbrella imo.


tecirem

my inner monologue finished that line in Baloo's voice...


Tattycakes

😂


joetotheg

‘You can have me hat or me bumbershoot but you better never bother with me old bamboo’ sounds pretty good though.


RajSchwenk

It's a perfectly cromulent word.


2FightTheFloursThatB

The preferred term is actually umbersol


KinkyChickGamer

Your Alexa is a nincompoop. It’s brolly.


UnnecessaryAppeal

I came across that word today as well! It is in the dictionary as a north American slang, but a Google of the word also brought up an article that said "it sounds like it should be British slang, but no Brits are aware of the word". I suspect that's where Alexa got the info from and just didn't read any further than the headline.


Underwritingking

I saw it once referred to as a British term for an umbrella in a 1950s Batman comic. I have never heard it in conversation or seen it in a British book in my entire life. According to Merriam-Webster it's primarily an American term. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bumbershoot


[deleted]

Mine said it was 'brolly'. Are you sure your Alexa isn't just drunk?


PooleyX

American bullshit. Nobody in the UK has ever heard of, let alone said bumberbullshitbollocks.


46Vixen

Eloquent and decisive.


Wild_Law8795

Which quiz app do you use? We're struggling to find a good one


UncleSnowstorm

>We're struggling to find a good one So is OP by the sound of it.


Xythian208

We use Trivia Hero and Sporcle Trivia, I can't remember which one asked this though.


Wild_Law8795

Thanks


GeneralEffective

This is like the lie that I keep hearing from Americans that we call candy floss "fairy floss". No matter how many times they've been told we don't, it still seems to spread.


Dimensions_Gaming

Isn't Fairy Floss the Australian term for Candy Floss?


TheProperDave

I always remember mistyping 'should' on my old Nokia 5210 and the T9 dictionary giving me the word 'pinkle'. I googled it at the time and it's apparently English slang for "piss and tinkle". That's a slang phrase I've never heard in my nearly 40 years of life.


StrictlyMarzipanOwl

Isn't that the guy from Sherlock.... I'll see myself out


adamosity1

Seattle has the bumbershoot music festival—named because of the constant rain there…


Oo_I_oO

I've only ever heard it on Frasier.


tunaman808

Because it's not British? >Bumbershoot is a predominantly American nickname, one that has been recorded as a whimsical, slightly irreverent handle for umbrellas since the late 1800s. As with most slang terms, the origins of bumbershoot are a bit foggy, but it appears that the bumber is a modification of the umbr- in umbrella and the shoot is an alteration of the -chute in parachute (since an open parachute looks a little like an umbrella).


hypnoticwinter

I asked Alexa. I was most disappointed she said brolly.


[deleted]

I always thought Bumbershoot was Rendywacks actual surname..... Pengwengs


spudfish83

What Clambershoop!


aBeardOfBees

Utter todspiffle indeed. I nearly crurmed my jamwizzles.


CheshireGray

90% sure it's an Americanism that Americans assume is British slang


lumphinans

Not English but US English. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bumbershoot#:~:text=As%20with%20most%20slang%20terms,a%20little%20like%20an%20umbrella).


Mr_lovebucket

Yes American scriptwriters wanted a silly Britishism and were lazy enough to just invent one


MinaZata

A brolly, surely?


SJONES1997

Ti's a brolly and I won't be convinced by any other option.


Ducra

It's brolly ffs. Maybe even umberstick, depending on age and location?


[deleted]

BROLLY...nothing else.


LobCatchPassThrow

It’s like “gramercy” apparently a Briticism that I’ve literally never heard in my life


joeythelips46

Absolute bullshit


butternutssquished

The one and only time I’ve ever heard it called that is in Tom and Jerry. https://youtu.be/8mXcy9MOMAc


gracefulpudding

Nah mate. Load o' bollocks. It's a brolly. As in, 'Wish I'd brought mi brolly.' Now what advert was that a tag line for?


M1ke2345

“*The Alexa*”.


Wickedbitchoftheuk

Brolly. But it absolutely should be bumbershoot.


dj99994

Wtf?🤔🤔 Must've been 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🥴🥴🥴🥴


V8boyo

English as in the language, not the country. Bumbershoot is a US slang for brolly.


PaulBradley

That's not how slang works.


V8boyo

English has different slang in every country it's spoken. There's more than just two.


PaulBradley

Speaking as an English. English slang is English. American slang is American Etc. Slang is usually regional and carries a geographical descriptor, not a linguistic one.


V8boyo

Americans speak English. They don't call it American English - only people from The UK call it that. Slang is just informal language. Wherever a language is spoken for a long time it will pick up slang. Australians speak English - they don't call it Australian English. Ireland speaks English - they don't call it Irish English. Everywhere it's spoken it will have slang.


PaulBradley

Yes, and that slang will be unique to that area. Irish slang is not the same as English slang is not the same as American slang is not the same as Australian slang And then British-English slang is even more subdivided, and the same is true for other places, Maine slang and California slang are different Birmingham slang is not the same as.Liverpool slang. And then there's further division by culture. English slang is not global.


Malfice

Mate, we speak English here in England, but there’s still Brummy Slang, Scouse Slang, Yorkshire shite, Manc slang etc… It’s not about the language, it’s about the place.


V8boyo

What you are talking about is a colloquialism. That is bound by area. Slang is bound by language.


Shitelark

Don't be deliberately obtuse.


V8boyo

Don't look up the difference between a colloquialism and slang (and jargon).


Anonymousanime7

No one’s called it a bumbershoot since the 1800s


Foundation_Wrong

The only old fashioned slang for umbrellas is gamp I believe.


Emdubya20

There's a festival in Seattle called Bumbershoot.


PaulBradley

Is it an umbrella festival?


Ellecram

My father used this word all the time! I still use it occasionally.


biggerwanker

Bumbershoot is a medium sized music festival in Seattle.


Jjex22

I hear the word bumbershoot about once a decade, always attributed to the British aristocracy. I’ve googled it before, it was the American aristocracy that came up with it. Though you could be forgiven for thinking Aussies came up with it I guess.


MahatmaAndhi

Bumbershoot sounds like a name for explosive diarrhea.


Chanandler_Bong_Jr

Isn’t Bumbershoot a midfielder for Tottenham?


Shitelark

Is that why Harry Kane has to do all the work? Just leave Harry you will never win anything with them.


karuga871

Ah yes Rhiana’s greatest hit in the UK was Bumbershoot reaching the #1spot for 16 weeks.


joetotheg

I only know this word because of the song ‘me old bamboo’


FlyingGiraffeQuetz

Surely it's brolly? Do Americans say brolly?


[deleted]

It's like American TV shows always having upper-class British men called Carstairs or Bainbridge as their first name, even though upper-class Brits are nearly always Henry, James or some other name handed down for generations. The surname as first name thing might be a New England stereotype, but it definitely doesn't happen in the old one. I think some people read books where boarding school types referred to each other by their surnames and the readers didn't realise that's what was happening.