Glossary of American terms not widely used in the United Kingdom and Middle English lyric: Difference between pages

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'''Middle English Lyric''' is a [[genre]] of [[English Literature]], popular in the 14th Century, that is characterized by its brevity and emotional expression. Conventionally, the lyric expresses "a moment," usually spoken or performed in the first person. Although some lyrics have narratives, the plots are usually simple to emphasize an occasional, common experience. Even though Lyrics appear individual and personal, they are not "original;" instead, lyrics express a common state of mind.

:''See also main article: [[American and British English differences]]''

*''[[list of British English words not used in American English]]''

*''[[list of words having different meanings in British and American English]]''

== Audience ==

{| width=50% border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"

Middle English Lyrics were meant to be heard, not read. Keeping in mind an [[aural]] [[audience]], the lyric is usually structured with an obvious rhyme scheme, [[refrain]], and sometimes musical effects. The rhyme scheme primarily functions as a [[mnemonic device]] for the audience. The Refrain, however, has several critical functions. The Refrain gives the lyric unity and provides commentary (this is not unlike the bob and wheel found in ''[[Sir Gawain and the Green Knight]]''). In addition to functioning thematically, the refrain encourages audience to participate in singing the lyric. Finally, Musical Effects also encourage audience participation, and they take the form of rhythms and sounds (for example, [[onomatopoeia]] is not an uncommon [[trope]] employed).

|width=50% style="background:#efefef;"|'''American'''

|style="background:#efefef;"|'''British'''

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|barnyard || farmyard

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|bill (paper money) || note

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|blinders (on a horse) || blinkers

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|broil || grill (cooking)

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|bullhorn || loudhailer / megaphone (occasionally bullhorn)

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|burglarize || burgle

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|busboy || (no equivalent) junior restaurant worker assisting waiting staff, table clearer, water pourer etc.

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|busy signal || engaged tone

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|candy || sweets

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|[[canola]] || (oilseed) rape

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|carriage (for baby) || pram

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|cart (for shopping) || (shopping) trolley

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|[[checkers]] || draughts

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|check (bank check) || cheque

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|check (meal payment) || bill

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|checking account || current account

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|cotton candy || candy floss

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|cuss || swear

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|diaper || nappy

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|diner || cafe

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|drapes || curtains

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|drug store || chemist, chemist's shop

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|dumpster || skip

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|duplex (house) || semi-detached

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|eggplant || aubergine

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|elevator || lift

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|envision || envisage

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|fall || autumn

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|fanny pack<br>''('' '''N.B.''' '': Fanny is British slang for vagina.)'' || bum bag

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|faucet || tap

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|flashlight || torch

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|gasoline || petrol

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|gotten || got

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|green thumb || green fingers

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|hog || mature pig

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|kleenex || generic term for tissue (from brand name, which is known in Britain but not used generically)

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|math || maths

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|named for || named after

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|meet with || meet (meet with is also used)

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|normalcy || normality

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|pantyhose || tights

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|parking lot || car park

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|pre-authorized payment/withdrawal || direct debit (variable amount)/standing order (fixed amount)

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|railroad || railway

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|rappel || [[abseil]] (to descend on a rope)

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|restroom || toilet(s), loo, lavatory

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|rutabaga || swede

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|scallion || spring onion

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|Scotch tape || Sellotape (brand name used generically)

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|sedan (car) || saloon (car)

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|sidewalk || pavement, footpath

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|skillet || frying pan

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|sophomore || second (particularly second-year students)

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|station wagon || estate car

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|stick-shift || manual gearbox (not often used, since it's the default. The opposite is "an automatic")

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|stroller || pushchair, buggy

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|tenderloin || fillet steak

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|theater (movie) || cinema

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|theater (stage) || theatre

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|thumb tack ||drawing pin

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|[[tic-tac-toe]] || noughts and crosses

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|traffic circle, rotary || roundabout

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|triplex (house) || no direct equivalent, more than two houses joined together "terraced" houses

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|trolley car || tram

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|truck stop || transport cafe

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|turn signal, directionals || indicators

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|two cents || fourpenn'orth/tuppenn'orth

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|underpants || pants (some regions), knickers (usually female), underpants

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|undershirt || vest, singlet

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|wall jack || electricity outlet, plug socket, phone socket, power socket, or even "plug", despite being exactly the same term as the thing that fits into it.

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|[[xerox]] || photocopy (although 'xerox' is still used by some older people)

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|yellow light || at [[traffic lights]]. In British English this is always referred to as the [[amber]] light.

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|[[ZIP code]] || postcode

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|zucchini || courgette

|}

== Authorship ==

[[Category:Lists of English words|American English words not used in British English, List of]]

Most Middle English Lyrics are anonymous. Because the lyrics reflect on a sort of "community property" of ideas, the concept of copyrighting a lyric to a particular author is usually inappropriate. Additionally, identifying authors is very difficult. Most lyrics are often un-dateable, and they appear in collections with no apparent organic unity. It is most likely many lyrics that survive today were widely recited in various forms before being written down. Evidence for this appears in [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]'s ''[[The Canterbury Tales]]''. Many of Chaucer's lines bear an uncanny resemblance to Middle English Lyrics.

[[Category:Lists of English phrases|American English words not used in British English, List of]]

[[Category:American and British English differences|American English words not used in British English, List of]]

== Survival ==

Middle English Lyrics were not meant to be read or written down. Consequently, the few that survive are probably a very small sample of lyrics. Surviving Lyrics appear in [[Miscellanies]], notably the Harley 2253 manuscript. The lyrics often appear with many other types of works, including writings in other languages.

== External Links ==

[http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/lyrics.htm Middle English Lyrics]

== Bibliography ==

Luria, Maxwell S. and Richard L. Hoffman. ''Middle English Lyrics.'' New York: Norton, 1974.<br>

<nowiki>(Large Selection of Lyrics with Selected Criticism)</nowiki>

Brown, Carleton Fairchild. ''English Lyrics of the XIIIth Century.'' Ed. Carleton Brown. Oxford: The Clarendon press, [1965, c1932].

Gray, Douglas. ''Themes and Images in the Medieval English Religious Lyric.'' London, Boston: Routledge and K. Paul, 1972.

Manning, Stephen. ''Wisdom and Number; Toward a Critical Appraisal of the Middle English Religious Lyric.'' Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1962.

Reiss, Edmund. ''The Art of the Middle English Lyric; Essays in Criticism.'' Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1972.

Speirs, John. ''Medieval English Poetry: the Non-Chaucerian Tradition.'' London: Faber and Faber, 1957.

Oliver, Raymond. ''Poems without Names; the English Lyric, 1200-1500.'' Berkeley: University of California Press, 1970.

Woolf, Rosemary. ''The English Religious Lyric in the Middle Ages.'' Oxford: Clarendon P., 1968.

[[Category:Middle English literature|Middle English Lyric]]