"British English diminutives - a new trend?" Topic

I've noticed over the past few years that diminutives would seem to have crept into informal British English, e.g. 'piccies', 'breccie' [sp.?], etc.

Is this a new trend?

Cheers!

As it was arround during my child hood. No.

No, several go back many years. Brekkie (spelling varies….) has certainly been knocking around all my life. Note that we're also *very* prone to doing it with names, probably more so than most nations.

Dom(inic….)

No, not new for some things. Biscuits have always been biccies.

But some of them are newish. "Uni" for university wasn't around until the Aussie soaps hit our shores in the late 80s. Aussies put an 'i' on the end of everything, and that one caught on over here.

The (Sun, was it?) article on Sir Paul's "secret" angioplasty referred to him as "Macca".

I used to think there was still hope for the Anglican church as a bastion against the degeneration of culture in the UK. Then I went to services with friends in Camberley and was presented with the little children singing "God is Brill".

Now I just figure you're on the same road to ruin that we are. In another generation, the feeble-minded progeny that inhabit the schools will only be able to grunt in monosyllables--the same ones they use to text on their palm implants.

Allen

Let us not omit "Chrimbo".

Allen

"Aussies put an 'i' on the end of everything"

That practice always drive me crazy. That and ending everything with an -o.

The (Sun, was it?) article on Sir Paul's "secret" angioplasty referred to him as "Macca".

He's been Macca for years, Lennon called him that in an interview

Diminutives have always been popular, particularly with the upper classes. 'Bitty' does a wonderful take of the chinless wonders' arrested development…you need to have seen Little Britain of course

At least while the 'yoof' are using diminutives they aren't using txt spk

No one says "Brill" any more. That's what we used to say in the 70s when I was a nipper.

Allen doesn't half talk some rot sometimes. As if slang is anything new. There's a word for someone who always sees any change in anything as the decline of civilisation as we know it:

John the OFM

(who could tell you, if he hadn't retired, that it is spelt "Crimbo")

Or 'Crimble.'

McCartney was known, derisively, by music critics as 'Fab Macca' back in the seventies, about the time it became clear that part of Lennon's contribution to the Beatles was throwing away two thirds of his writing partner's output.

"Oi! Gazza!"
"Dat you, Baz?"

Nuffink new here, nope.

w.

"Macca" was always used as a diminutive for any surname beginning with Mc when I was a lad in Liverpool in the 50s and 60s (there are a lot of Mc's in Liverpool)………!

Doug

Yep, every bloke I've known with a surname starting with "Mc" or "Mac" has been "macca."

Agree with all the toffs above….(:o)

"Bitty"….LOL…..yeah, but no, in WWI or summing, ther was this fella called "Kitchen" or summing, or nuffing and he did this fing, or din't neven do it…"

What the is British English? It's English, you idiots….is there such a thing as British Welsh, or British Gaelic?

i'm going to kick up a fuss and storm out in a huff….then come slouching back to Bethlehem…
Yours, From Hell,
the former chronoglide

In Glasgow, at least, going to the "Yuni" far predates Aussie soaps.

It sure as hell isn't Canadian English, American English, or Australian English, or had you forgotten that English is also spoken outside of Britain and that many non-British speakers of English do not use your silly diminutives …?

And look at this – a British linguist who has actually written the term 'British English':

link

Ooh! And a published, refereed academic article with 'British English' in its title:

link

So, chronoglide, I think that you should return to your sad little hole or hell or what have you …

Skeptic, as the originating country of the Language I think we get grandfather rights to just call it English with no further qualification. The rest of you have to qualify your differences ;)

Oh, and Plynkes – I went to Uni in the early 80's so it had definately entered common usage then, at least in Scotland and the south of England (headed up from the latter to the former).

Biccies and piccies have been around as long as I can remember, ditto sarnies (sandwiches).

In Glasgow, at least, going to the "Yuni" far predates Aussie soaps.

that going to uni in Australia, also far predates aussie soaps.

and I would like to point out that I made a vow in the 1980's never to knowingly watch any aussie soaps (and have kept my vow religiously)

I agree with 'Uni' – 'Uni' or 'Poly' were the typical terms for higher education before Neighbours hit our shores.

Diminutives go back a long way. 'Soccer' is one.

Skeptic – the English have many differences in dialect and usage from the Welsh, Scots and Irish, so "British English" is an imprecise term at best. Maybe we should call it "English English" for the sake of clarity…?

Dom (Who really was once told by an American that "you speak real good English for a foreigner….")

Americans have been trying to fix the English language for years with little success.

Calling it 'British English' is a meaningful enough difference for the rest of us.

I did not invent the term, so if you do not like it in all of your pedantry, then go become a linguist and take it up with the academic users of the term.

Whatever you may want to call the linguistic variant that spawned them, this thread was about the diminutives.

'Calling it 'British English' is a meaningful enough difference for the rest of us.'
Oh, well, as long as everyone else calls it something different i suppose we should change it to suit….doesn't matter if it's right or not, baaaaaaa

'I did not invent the term'
No, and the Nazi's didn't invent concentration camps, but copying someone elses mistake doesn't let you off the hook…."He did it first, sir……"
who's the bigger fool? the fool, or the fool who follows him…? these aren't the droids you're looking for….

Oh, well, as long as everyone else calls it something different i suppose we should change it to suit….doesn't matter if it's right or not, baaaaaaa

For non-Brits., it helps to differentiate the sorts of English that are spoken in the UK from those that are spoken elsewhere.

While an anglocentric, insular view such as your own may not perceive the need to distinguish it because it may be all that you know and are familiar with, other people in the world may feel the need to do so.

It is already accepted in some parts of academia, which makes it 'right enough' in the eyes of at least some people who ought to know what they are writing about.

That implies that there are reasonable enough grounds for disagreement concerning its (in)correctness, in the sense that it may not be either entirely correct or incorrect.

No, and the Nazi's didn't invent concentration camps, but copying someone elses mistake doesn't let you off the hook…."He did it first, sir……"
who's the bigger fool? the fool, or the fool who follows him…? these aren't the droids you're looking for….

So, you now seem to be on the verge of breaking TMP's nazi rule.

As per the above, whether or not it is a mistake is in the eyes of the beholder, be it the narrow-minded Brit. or the more globally-minded citizen of the world.

Once again, if you don't like it, then too bloody bad for you.

I must have stifled you for a good reason long ago, and shall do so once again. Have a nice, narrow-minded life …

As for 'British Gaelic' and 'British Welsh', the reason why you have probably not seen these terms is that neither language is spoken much, if at all, outside of the British Isles.

That is a very different situation from that of English.

Tell that to all the Oirish in Boston and the Welsh speakers in South America…oh, sorry, forgot you've stifled me….

And Skeptic, you really need to learn the difference between the English and Brits…not the same thing…..

@Chronoglide:

1. Those are probably small enough linguistic minorities to be insignificant by comparison with the linguistic majorities of entire countries. Thus, your example is a red herring.

2. Of course I know that there is a difference, where one is a subset of the other.

However, I was not talking about ethnicity, nor about local dialects, but about languages at the level of international comparisons from a global perspective.

In that light, the English language as spoken (even if in various dialects) in Britain is recognizably different in certain ways from the English that is spoken elsewhere in the world.

For the Nth time, English speakers in the rest of the world may perceive enough differences between the whole set of the English dialects of Britain on one hand and their own variety of English on the other to be perfectly justified in labelling the former as 'British English'.

That label may offend your insular, narrow-minded sensibilities, but just because you may not like it in your local thinking does not make it 'incorrect'.

Finally, breccie- and piccie-speak would seem to be a linguistic phenomenon that may be concentrated in Britain as a whole, and not just in England. To anybody from outside of Britain, that makes it seem British enough, rather than purely English.

A reply to an old thread:
I've always been told by Brits that have came over to US for a visit, that the use "Queens English" to refer their native tongue. Personally, I don't think it matters what people call it as long as its not derogatory and as long as everyone knows what is meant by said term.

ps. I only just found this site.

'Britich English' is a lefty term trying to be nice to Americans- you wouldn't say wet water- English is surely the ground state, to which the rest are changes- like Portugeuse and Brazilian Portugeuse.

Back on topic- teen boys putting 'o' on the end of diminutives, or only using abbreviated surnames. "Steve-o, pass to Lauro"

you wouldn't say wet water

I've seen people write exactly that – apparently it means water with a small amount of detergent in. I dont know if its Briticsh English though.