Tuesday, December 9, 2008

British phrases which confuse Americans, #217

Norfolk, East Anglia: "Gateway to the Broads."

Really?

9 comments:

  1. "Very flat, Norfolk," a bit like the people!

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  2. The broads are flat? Don't bother to visit then Max.

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  3. 'ave ee got a light boy?.. Norfolk, flat.. don't ee believe it not for a minute.. and not just broads.. it's coastline stretches for miles and you can collect Amber washed up from the baltic shores, sunbathe in Hunstanton, visit the Queen's home from home in the country at Sandringham and marvel at the home of Norfolk Lavender.. seas of purple scenting the air with the clean fragrance of my favourite plant.

    ps - also home to Walsingham.. pilgrimages went there just as much as to Canterbury.

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  4. Since a lot of your more senior citizens were stationed in East Anglia during WWII I guess some folks back home will know all about Norfolk Broads!

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  5. @Sage - I love lavender too! I can't imagine a whole field of it. :)

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  6. @Mike. True. I've met most of them I think. At least the ones who thought American GIs with a third grade education were cool.

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  7. @Adullamite - I can't believe how you've mellowed lately. :)

    @A. - But I want to see the lavender and the Queen's getaway. Please? This place seems like a secret you've purposely kept from Americans. Too late to keep me out now! :)

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  8. Sigh...
    We britishers do know what you mean by a 'broad' in your language. We are expert at deciphering Americanspeak, due to saturation-bombing by hollywood.

    However, I am inclined to wonder at the etymology.

    Further to Mike's comment, there are still U.S. bases not too far from the Broads, Mildenhall, Lakenheath, and Alconbury, all R.A.F. bases with U.S.A.F. occupancy.

    Norfolk is flat. Oh, it has a couple of hills, but for the most part it is flat and windswept. The nearest thinh to a mountain is all of 336 ft above sea level.
    Once I cycled across miles of flatness and called in at a grocery shop, (note: 'shop' not store). The friendly lady asked where I had come from, (Cromer) "Oh! you cycled all the way up that hill!?"...
    I was bemused, thinking.. "Hill?".
    But all things are relative. Norfolk is a place where the wind provides a virtual gradient to struggle up or down.

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  9. @Sage - And yes, I got a light, Missy. :)

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