an industrial city in the English Midlands.
Is Coventry a real word?
a city in West Midlands, in central England: heavily bombed 1940; cathedral. a town in central Rhode Island.
What does the word Coventry mean?
Definition of Coventry
: a state of ostracism or exclusion sent to Coventry.
What is driveway in American English?
Definition of driveway
: a private road giving access from a public way to a building on abutting grounds.
What does it mean to send someone to Coventry?
idiom UK old-fashioned. If a group of people send someone to Coventry, they refuse to speak to that person, usually as a punishment for having done something to upset the group. Excluding.
Why do Brits say the C word?
In the UK, the c-word used as an insult just means “annoying, unpleasant person”. Its very rude, but doesn’t particularly have any gendered overtones. 90% of the time, it would be directed by a man at another man.
Why do Brits say proper?
Proper is a difficult word to define, mainly because British people use it to describe soo many different things. Doing things ‘properly’ means to do them correctly or in the right way. In the North of England, ‘proper’ can also be used for emphasis in the same way as the word ‘very’.
How did Coventry get its name?
Coventry began as a Saxon village. It was called Coffantree, which means the tree belonging to Coffa. Trees were often used as meeting places. In this case, a settlement grew up around the tree and it eventually became called Coventry.
Is chum a British word?
A chum is a friend or a pal. You and your best chums might spend the weekend camping together. The informal word chum is more common in Britain than the US, but you can still talk about your school chums or the new chum you made on a Caribbean cruise.
Where does the name Coventry originate from?
English: habitational name from the city of Coventry in the West Midlands which is probably named with the genitive case of an Old English personal name Cofa (compare Coveney ) + Old English trēow ‘tree’. This name is now common in eastern Scotland.
What is the British English for sidewalk?
pavement
Also, a US sidewalk is a British pavement, and curb is spelled kerb (curb in UK English is a verb i.e. to “curb your enthusiasm”).
What do British people call asphalt?
In British English, tarmac is used predominantly, which is a generic name, short for tar macadam. “Bitumen” is used instead of “asphalt”. The word “asphalt” is instead used to refer to asphalt concrete, a mixture of construction aggregate and asphalt itself (also called “tarmac” in common parlance).
What do they call pavement in England?
sidewalk
British vs American Vocabulary
| British English ↕ | American English ↕ |
|---|---|
| pavement | sidewalk |
| pet hate | pet peeve |
| petrol | gas, gasoline |
| Plough, the | Big Dipper, the |
Why do Brits say happy as Larry?
Larry Foley was an australian boxer who never lost a fight. His last fight was in the 1870’s, he was paid the vast sum of £1000 and won the fight – “hence as happy as Larry”.
Why do we say going for a Burton?
“Gone for a Burton” means to have gone for a Burton Ale. This was wartime R.A.F. slang, and the pilot who had supposedly gone for a beer wasn’t actually coming back. Richard Burton would have been a mere boy at the time.
Was Coventry the capital of England?
On several occasions Coventry was briefly the capital of England. In 1404, Henry IV summoned a parliament in Coventry as he needed money to fight rebellion, which wealthy cities such as Coventry lent to him, while both Henry V and VI frequently sought loans from the city to meet the expense of the war with France.
Why do Brits always say innit?
“Innit” is an abbreviation of “isn’t it” most commonly used amongst teenagers and young people. This phrase is used to confirm or agree with something that another person has just said. “It’s really cold today.” “Innit.”
How do Britains say Z?
zed
In short, the British pronounce “Z” as /zɛd/ (zed) whereas Americans pronounce it as /ziː/ (zee). Note that the same pronunciation is naturally used also in the plural: the plural of “Z”, denoted “Zs”, “Z’s” or “z’s”, is pronounced as /zɛdz/ (zedz) in the UK and /ziːz/ (zeez) in the US.
Why do Brits say Guv?
(slang) A contraction of “governor”, used to describe a person in a managerial position e.g. “Sorry mate, can’t come to the pub, my guv’nor’s got me working late tonight”. Heard mostly in London.
Why do Brits say pants?
What does “pants” mean in British slang when you aren’t talking about clothing? It means bad or rubbish. As in if you’re having a bad day you might say “Today is totally pants.”
Is Bloody a cuss word in England?
Bloody, as an adjective or adverb, is a commonly used expletive attributive in British English, Australian English, Irish English, Indian English and a number of other Commonwealth nations. It has been used as an intensive since at least the 1670s.