stut

I wouldn't say "vulgar", just "fallen out of common use". You only have to look back a few decades to see English literature written with this form.

BadgerBoi

NP, we'll agree to differ.

alanR

I'd settle for people not asking for advise and loosing things.

trooper

Never mind....

pacer142

Though many people still 'Hoover' their carpets, even if they use a Dyson machine to do so. How about in the US?

Neil

stut

I had a muckle piece for ma dinner - nae space left.

Something like that?

stifle

No

I'm thinking of the corporate usage. Such as "Can you make sure the HR piece is taken care of" when talking about a redundancy announcement, or "there's a lot of volatility in the bond space today".

stut

I must admit, I've never heard (or at least noticed) this usage. The immediate impression I get is from the rather more objectifying 70s use of 'piece' for 'attractive woman', and the sentence takes on a whole new meaning...

Still, I'd rather have a piece on square slice

yankervitch

As an American who grew up attending a British school back when Hong Kong was a colony, my favorite guide to Britishisms (from an American perspective) has long been the Economist's Style Guide.

It used to be online - however, it was recently taken down. When it comes back I recommend reading it.

ajax

I would argue that this is an example of using an adjective as a noun, as (a) it is, and (b) it is done for expediency's sake. The same applies to "Take that to Marketing," and "Run that past Compliance." Both are verbal abbreviations but still use adjectives as nouns.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am a US/UK dual-national who was raised in America but has been living in the UK for many, many years now.

IME, most British people tend to avoid the 'verbing' of nouns as they (IMHO quite rightly) think it makes them sound silly. Here in the UK, we still say "make a transition" instead of "transition", to give an example.

In the US, people say they are using 'band-aids' and 'kleenexes' (and take Tylenol) even though they are almost certainly not using the brand-name products when doing so. I'm sure this particular habit transcends all cultural bounds, however, and is not just an American or a British thing.

Jenbel

I think there is a tendancy to use brand names as verbs where the concept may be newer and there isn't really a term to describe it (so google and hoover, but not tissue or plaster or indeed fedex it (unless you really are using fedex in which case it might be acceptable instead of saying posting or couriering it).

Since we've touched on fedex, can I just point out mail is thing which is posted? Thanks.

thaidai

"Magic,tidy "and "the dogs bollocks "are expressions lost on most . I am gutted,but love the new " feral elite". Term for bankers and thier ilk

mtkeller

What on earth is wrong with the English verb "to vacuum"? I'd bet 95% of people who "hoover" don't do it with a Hoover.

Jenbel

Because vacuuming is a horrible verb to have to use? Because a vacuum cleaner is a pretty unwieldy term? It even looks an ugly word. Because people can actually spell hoover?

And of course growing up, hoover became ubiquitious because it was. The first non-hoover my mother bought was a dyson.

ajax

I have owned two Hoovers in this country. Both were pieces of absolute junk and neither lasted six months. I bought a Dyson and have never been happier.

I sincerely hope that fewer than 5% of the population uses Hoovers - otherwise an awful lot of people have been ripped off.