Lost In Translation
"The screen door slams, Mary's dress waves".
It's the opening line of "Thunder Road", which may well be Bruce Springsteen's best record.
Never mind all that. What is a "screen door"?
Well, we kind of know. But not like the Americans, for whom a screen door, with its insect-discouraging mesh, is as much a part of their domestic lives as a teapot is of ours.
The Americans and the British may be, as Bernard Shaw pointed out, two nations divided by a common language; but whereas we either investigate the Americanisms in their songs further or listen past them, they run a mile when confronted by any little detail that seems in any way foreign, which may be why they have failed to take to any British pop group from The Jam onwards.
Anyway, what have been the Americanisms you have discovered in music or films and TV and either deciphered or remain puzzled by to this day?
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Jello
I was watching Friends at the weekend and Jennifer Aniston said she was going "for jello" with a man she'd met, as if it was an accepted practice, as natural as going for a coffee. Isn't jello just, well, jelly? Why on earth would you go out for jelly with someone? I must be missing something here.
Jello <> Jelly
Not that this answers your main question, but jello ain't jelly. Here's a handy guide:
US jello = UK jelly
US jelly = UK jam
No wonder they never got the jam
what's Marmalade then?
Nobody loves a smartass, but...
It's that jam with bits of orange peel in, isn't it?
Ob la di...
...ob la da........
I say lets trash this joint,
I say lets trash this joint, and all go out for a bit of marmalade.
A New York minute
I have been told what this means, but can't remember (this damnable ageing process) for sure what it is. I suspect it means a very short time.
New York Minute
Don't they say it's the time elapsed between stopping your car in traffic and the driver behind sounding his horn? i.e. no time at all.
Pea knuckle
Mentioned from time to time in passing on Hill Street Blues, apparently referring to some kind of leisure activity. Years went by before I found out it was a card game, actually written "pinochle".
Isn't that what you get when
Isn't that what you get when you take a slash at 4 in the morning?
What the hell is
Tom Petty?
Foodstuffs, cars and place names.
In another string running elsewhere on the site, somebody cited pretzels as a curiosity. And cars and place names are where the romance lies for me in songs from Chuck Berry on down. Alice's Restaurant, the podcast's theme tune, when it first came out was full of lovely little Americanisms that I don't think twice about now, including 'garbage', 'a red VW micro-bus,' 'the dump,'' a thanksgiving dinner,'' the draft' and 'the hairy eyeball.'
I would challenge the notion that the Americans have not 'taken to any Brit pop groups from the Jam onwards.' They have warmed to Radiohead. It is that ghastly patch still referred to as Britpop that they rejected. Even then, it was little to do with the obscurity of the lyrical content - no matter how parochial Damon Albarn might be, the U.S. always, even when ignored back home, adored Ray Davies. They were also fond of Andy Partridge too, and there are few more quintessentially English. I'd suggest it had more to do with the immodesty of the acts who went to the U.S. assuming they merited the same blind adoration they got back home. The Oasis, The Suede, The Robbie Williams all swaggered into a sea of consumer apathy fueled by media antipathy.
There's a line on Dylan's
There's a line on Dylan's "Brownsville Girl" where he says "Even the swap meets around here are getting pretty corrupt". I went about ten years not knowing what a "swap meet" was until I discovered it's the American equivalent of a car-boot/bring-and-buy sale.
Until....
Until I read that last comment, I honestly thought a swap meet was a swamp meet and took place in the everglades or some-such. Many thanks for clearing that one up.
Annoyingly...
... a girl from St Louis once explained all but I've since forgotten.
Grits. Hardly a word to titillate the taste buds.
Biscuits and gravy. Biscuits soaked in gravy?
Grits. Hmmmm
On a trip to the States a few years ago, I was in a 'truckstop' to have breakfast with my wife. They had grits on the menu and of course, I had to try them. They were, in a word, tasteless. I added salt, butter, pepper, ketchup, indeed anything to try and inject something to tickle the tastebuds, but nothing had any effect. I have literally no idea why anyone would want to eat them.
That's why the mere mention of them in song...
...is shorthand for "we was poor", because given any choice nobody would eat them. Hence the Little Milton song "Grits Ain"t Groceries".
aaahhh!
But what were they animal, vegetable or mineral are they the same as "chitlins" or "hollace greens" can you have with Po' sandwich or washed down with a cheeky sasparella?
Grits
is basically a very thick maize meal dough made with ground corn and water. Collard greens are sprouting greens.
Biscuits
...aren't the biscuits known in the UK of course, they are like scones but used in a savoury way (with gravy and sausage) rather than the sweet way (ie. scones and cream)
Fish & Chips
There's a great Northen Soul song Baby That's A Groove by Roy Handy which was written by George Clinton a few years before his Funkadelic days. The scenario of the song involves, to put it bluntly, picking up a girl at a club and repairing home to listen to records and then see how it goes.
The opening lines are "It's 2 o'clock in the morning and all the joints have just closed, We picked up a bag of fish and chips and headed for a place called home". Or at least that's how I heard it and I always presumed I'd heard it wrong (these aren't the sort of records that have had the benefit of a Bob Clearmountain "remix" and can be a trifle muddy) as I thought that fish and chips were a peculiarly British late night delicacy.
Blow me down if I didn't, whilst browsing through the i-tunes store, come across a (markedly inferior, if you ask me) Funkadelic re-working of the same song called Fish Chips & Sweat.
So do Americans have fish & chips? I still have no idea.
If you're interested in this little curio you can listen to the Roy Handy song here:
http://www.soulclub.org/stream/Roy_Handy_-_Baby_That's_A_Groove.ram
and sample the Funkadelic one at the i-tunes music store.
And ask for lots of vinegar, otherwise they never give you enough.
Fish and Chips
Fish and Chips -yes - I have never seen a takeaway fish and chip shop (British style)in the US or should that be fish and fries anyway???
As ever the US culture has the ability to abosorbe any other culture and reinvent - thats the point.
XTC - translations
On the excellent Xtc site http://chalkhills.org/ if you click on the lyrics to specific songs if they have a specifically British word (navvies, caravan, oxo, sally army, England's glory) they explain the meaning for non-Brit fans. Very handy.
I'm not sure if this fits the thread...
...but I've always been baffled by that line in Elvis Presley's 'Party' where he's going on about how he can 'shake a chicken in the middle of the room'. The mind boggles!!
Elvis was always doing peculiar things with critters
"Polk Salad Annie, gator's got your granny", "You ain't never caught a rabbit and you ain't no friend of mine"....
Principles/Principals
When, at 15, I heard Alice Cooper's "School's Out", I got the double-meaning in the line "Well we got no class", but the following "and we got no principles" I just heard at face value. The double-entendre of principals/principles just sailed over my head. On the other hand, if he'd sung "and we got no headmasters", it might have lost something...
It went over my head too
I didn't pick that up until now when I read your comment.
Bush League
The West Wing threw a lot of expressions and words into the mix without stoppping to explain what they were.. I think Bush League means amateur or ham-fisted but I don't know its origin (come to think of it , I don't know the origin of ham-fisted either). Of course they also talked a lot about 'going to a caucus' which is a word that everyone has suddenly started throwing around the place thanks to the wall-to-wall coverage of the US Primaries.. I heard a client talking about having to go to a caucus the other day. I think he meant a meeting... Now, that's just not on..
Springsteen has lots of them though - screen doors, kokomos, a hurst on the floor, Bar-M choppers, a rattlesnake speedway.. No idea what he's on about but it doesn't really matter does it?
Car stuff
A mechanically minded friend explained that those lines at the start of Racing In The Street mean this: 396 = the engine size in cubic inches; fuelie head = the method of introducing petrol into the engine and a Hurst on the floor = a manual gear stick as we know them in the UK.
He was less interested in Bruce than I was in finding out the meanings.
Confession
Didn't Bruce admit in an interview that the spec for the car is a complete invention and has had it pointed out numerous times by motor conscious fans that actually that spec is impossible in reality? He is so great that actually I don't care!
Sorry - had to post this!
And the award for....
...the Best Use of a Scotch Egg in a Comedy Series goes to....
And I, for one, am very glad
And I, for one, am very glad you did. Wonder if our Americans cousins go for scotch eggs?
I'm a Scot living in Houston...
....and No, the thought of a Scotch egg was met with bewilderment, as was haggis and black pudding...
I am English living in Detroit
...and strangley my local Irish bar serves Scotch Eggs - I guess there is a vaguely Celtic connection!
"Gonna drive to the Stop 'n' Shop"
Jonathan Richman's Roadrunner is one of my favourite ever songs but I have no idea what a Stop 'n' Shop is.
Clue
Look away now if you don't want to know the results, or spoil the mystery of the lyric, but the first google result for "Stop n Shop" probably answers the question.
It's one of...
...these. Big chain of convenience stores which began life in Boston, as did Jonathan.
Broiled
I never knew what "broiled" meant until a few days ago - apparently it is what we would call grilled - in the US "grilled" refers to heat from below, rather than above as we use it.
Funny how these things...
sound more exciting in America. If you mentioned a Kwik Save or Woolies in an English song it wouldn't sound particuarly thrilling.
woolies is an american shop
woolies is an american shop
Unless
.........you're Morrissey, or other conspicuously British songwriter trying to not be American. Sort of provincial and proud of it cool.
Ricky Lee Jones
On "Chuck E's In Love", Ricky Lee Jones sings, "how come he don't come PLP with me". What is PLP? Been bugging me since I first heard it. Even my American cousins could'nt tell me.
Phantom Limb Pain?
Parliamentary Labour Party?
According to the Internet, the acronym "P.L.P." in the track is a slang acronym for "Public Leaning Post", referring to people (typically friends) physically leaning against one another.
And where does this PLPing take place?
If memory serves it's down at the depot. But what sort of depot?
As the saying goes, ''If
As the saying goes, ''If your down the depot, you've got to indulge in a bit plping''.
Is it like ''plopping''?
Meter?
It's "down at the meter no more" isn't it? (scuttles off to check)
'Five and Dime', Ian Dury and the Spanish Sex Pistols
I've don't really know what a 'Five and Dime store' is? I imagine it's like what we called a 'Market Shop' round our way. Knock down prices for fall apart items. But what must they make of Ian Dury
'Bus Driver's Prayer'
'Plaistow Patricia'
or
'Billericay Dickie'
"she took me to the cleaners
and other misdemeanours
but I got right up between her
rum and her Ribena"
Finally, a more literal interpretation of this thread but worth lending an ear too. A blow for blow re-recording of the Pistols album was made by a Spanish Punk Band Los Punkrocker, it sounds like Manuel from Fawlty Towers meets Malcom McLaren
Their take on 'Pretty Vacant' from the album 'Exitos Des Sex Pistol'is here
http://www.divshare.com/download/3727960-a64
Sophomore
Is the american word that puzzles me most.
Not in a 'what does it mean' way (because I did go to the trouble of finding out what it means)
More in a 'why is that something you need a word for anyway' kind of way.
Which still bugs me.
Meanwhile...
The Germans apparently have their own word for 'the day after tomorrow'. I think we're missing out.
and Schadenfreude
they have that too...
cliche alert
you find pretentious record reviewers using it in terms of "artist is back with their difficult sophomore album" I think it's on Word's banned list.
It's often the place names that are the hardest to decipher.
The name of the bridge from which Billy Joe dropped something was pretty easy to make out, but Lowell's itinerary after Tucson always left me curious about the spellings...
And I been from Tuscon to Tucumcari, Tehachapi to Tonapah
I've been everywhere man....
gives an even greater list of the those wacky stateside place names.
The Jackie Leven version translocates the song to Germany, including the classic line, "I've ben to Baden-Baden-Baden-Baden-Baden-Baden etc etc" (OK,marginally amusing when heard once and never again).
Changing the subject somewhat, no mention of the songs in other languages like french, gaelic and bulgarian. I can happily listen to Julie Culidh, Voix bulgares, latin salsa songs and portuguese fado more than happily, without understanding a word. And some of the saddest songs (that's another thread, but indulge me) I know may be about happy occasions for all I know, the mood and melancholy of the music says quite enough : try Runrig/Pog Aon Oidhche Earraich from Amazing Things.
Other Languages
I take it you mean Julie Fowlis who recorded the album Cuilidh? Now Radio 2 Folk Singer of the Year. Time for a Word feature!
Blimey!
Missed that. 'Course I did, but thanks for keeping the thought alive.
How about a whole article about the Gaelic in popular music, perhaps with a snappier title. No doubt it will set off an argument as to whether this should only be sung by authentic gaels, and to whether gaelic speaking nova scotians count blah blah blah
Gael Force
or some other really lame headline would suffice. Heard all these Gael arguments (both sides) too many times and it applies to both Scotland and Ireland of course. Writing as an "authentic Gael", there are many who are not native speakers who have made fantastic versions of trad music. In fact one of the great trailblazers was Breton Alan Stivel in my opinion! Lots of great examples of Gaelic music reaching a "world" audience now. Runrig's thirty year history is another one that merits an article. Julie is much easier on the eye though......
Cwmru
Of course, Super Furry Animals keep the Welsh language in rock alive almost single-handed, with their entirely-Welsh "Mwng" album, and several tracks on Gruff Rhys's "Candylion".
Meic Stevens
deserves a mention here, too.
Woolworth's
Thanks for pointing it out to me that it's American. Do they call it Woolies though?
Gaterade
There's a Line in a Paul Simon song where he says "I've been living on Gaterade." It mystified me for 20 years, until they started selling it here.
If you are interested....
...Gatorade gets its name from the fact that the scientists who developed it were trying to come up with a sports drink that would aid the performance of the University of Florida American football team...the team's nickname? The Gators (as in alligators)
Remember for your next pub quiz....
Yeah, but....
in that case, who were the Lucoes?
Kokomo
Someone mentioned the mysterious 'Kokomo' earlier, a word that's always bugged me. Bruce mentions it in 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) - "And you can see 'em dressed like stars in all the cheap little seashore bars, parked making love with their babies out on the Kokomo", and the Beach Boys wrote a whole song about it. I'm guessing it's some sort of road, but beyond that I'm baffled. Any ideas?
Lowell too
Lowell sang about "Kokomo with me tonight" too. No idea what it means
Kokomo.....
....quite a good white soul group, with Grease Band offshoots Hubbard and Spenner, Mel Collins on saxes. Did the "Naughty Rhythms Tour" with Dr Feelgood and Chilli Willi, alternating who headed the bell.
(But what does it mean???)
Sorry. Not a clue.
Another Kokomo..
And in 'Light of Day' Bruce sings about being 'thrown out of work on the Kokomo'. Can it be the same Kokomo? I never imagined hat it was the same place the Beach Boys were singing about who knows?
And similarly ...
"and I busted up a chifforobe
way out by the cocomo
cooked up a mess a mulligan
and got into a fight"
Same word different spelling? Or something else entirely? And what's a 'chifforobe' - is it like a Sliderobe and comes with a full lenghth mirror? And 'mulligan' for that matter? But strangely it doesn't seem to detract from my enjoyment of the song - Tom Waits' 'Whistlin Past The Graveyard'.
For those of you not privileged to live in NI, you can perform the same exercise with many of Van Morrison's lyrics
Symposium is one one those words...
... that seems to have come across the pond from our colonial cousins - but considering it's Greek in origin, I'm surprised they popularised it before we did (almost certainly resorting to an unfair stereotype).
Don't like the word myself.
Nappy Headed?
as in Stevie Wonder singing "when I was a nappy headed boy"? He surely can't be singing about Pampers?
The Steely Dan Dictionary
This site http://www.steelydandictionary.com/ is a dictionary of those Steely Dan references which have baffled us Brits for 30-odd years. I now know what an "A-frame" is & how Doctor Wu plies his trade.
Detour leaning
On "Brass In Pocket", Chrissie Hynde sings "I've been driving, detour leaning". This must be the American equivalent of taking your car for a spin. I've yet to hear anybody else use this expression.
Detroit Leaning
is the actual lyric and I am lead to believe it's what you call the act of sticking your elbow out of the open car window whilst driving. Detroit of course being where all the cars come from :)
Americans and driving
Not sure how true this is but as I understand it Americans, when they come over here and drive, are completely baffled by roundabouts. They have no idea how they work because they simply don't have them over there. It's all t junctions, governed by lights. Apologies for tabling a breathtakingly tedious traffic management query, but is it only here that you get roundabouts?
France and Spain
France and Spain have roundabouts.
There's a scam in Spain whereby motorbikes will overtake on your left on a roundabout, then cut across you at an exit and clip your car. They'll claim it's all your fault and start demanding money. It happened to us. My brother in law was driving when we got clipped. He got out and for a minute I left him to it. When I heard his cry of "No way, no way" I got out. This kid was pointing to a smashed indicator light and dented exhaust, complete with rust where the chrome had flaked off. The problem was this was on the left side of his bike and we were able to point out the paint on his right side exhaust pipe with fresh paint from our car. He slapped his forehead in an "Oh, silly me" way, jumped on his bike and drove off.
When we got back to the UK my brother in law got told at his work this was quite a common scam against tourists.
Detroit?
You may well be right, but if that's the case Chrissie Hynde must have trouble pronouncing Detroit.
All they have to do is "deem"
I think many if not most american singers, especially of the female ilk, have problems with their "R"s. Classic exemplars would be Susannah Hoffs from the Bangles and Natalie Merchant. Once you notice they just can't say the letter, it becomes compulsively annoying. This may explain Ch(r)issie's p(r)oblem with Det(r)oit.
Billiant!
Not even the Gatest Wecord of All Time is immune ("I'll make you so powd of me..."). It's not limited to Americans, though. Quite a few Bittish shantooces have a considdable amount of tubble with it too.
The Beadles
They seem to have trouble with their T's as well. Referring to the Fab Four as The Beadles.
That's also the curse
of most female weather reporters in this country. We can expect a "liddle rain". And while on weather reporters why do all of them (male and female) have to almost always prefix day or night with old? As in it will be "a sunny old day" or a "wet old night".
More car-related confusion
I was always a bit puzzled by that Jackson 5 song that goes "stop . . . the love you save may be your own". Always seemed a bit of an odd nonsensical lyric. Then I discovered that the major road safety campaign that ran on TV commercials in America in the late '60s had the tag line "stop ... the life you save may be your own" and realised it was a play on that. Still a pretty lousy lyric though. Good road safety slogan, mind.
Funny old world,
eh, Carl.
(Mind you, what about that permagrinning weatherharpy who can't say land: Scotlind, Irelind. Garrgh!
Young people!!!)
I'm with Lucinda
She says its a Sweet Old World.
Convenience stores
the local Piggly Wiggly gets a mention in a Green on Red song.
Have you noticed too that many American place names summon up beautiful images - Golden,Co Coral gables,Fl Santa Fe Springs,CA, Valley Stream,NY - visiting these places will quickly change your perception.
Bob Geldof
Going back to screen doors Bob Geldof referenced them on one of the songs on side 2 of the first Boomtown Rats album. I guess it was probably a direct lift from Bruce but not a bad tune.
American place names always sound romantic in songs, you just don't get the same effect with Bognor, Skegness etc etc
But if you were american?
Maybe one of the reasons the Kinks and Squeeze mean more to the yanks is the referencing of the exotica that are Waterloo and Clapham?
I get the feeling this post is for comedic effect...
...but if not, 'nappy' is black slang for curly, as opposed to straight, hair. It's become shorthand for 'very black', as when last year sports commentator Don Imus caused a furore when referring to a women's basketball team as 'nappy headed ho's'.