Hi there! I have a few questions about British language, customs, and geography for some fanfics I'm working on that I hope you can answer. Thank you in advance for any assistance
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1. It depends a lot on the character, especially how old they are, as this changed in 1991. Also where they went to school (it's different in Scotland particularly, but some areas do have a middle school/high school system, though it's rare, and posh (public) schools may possibly do different things). Anyway, up to 1991, for Primary School (ages 4-11 years), it was much less fixed and we had "1st year infants", "second year juniors" (with three years in the infants (4-7) and 4 years in the juniors (7-11). Probably someone who's known someone since primary school will simply say that, or since I was 4/7/11 whatever, rather than a year, although you might say "since infants/juniors" but less likely, I think? If they knew them even earlier, then it would be via a nursery or playgroup
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Just a sidelight on the ambiguity of 'sixth-form' covering two years.
It's a hang over from Public Schools (posh private, for American readers). Our grammar school, back in the fifties/sixties used the old Public School Terms, which assumed that you started at six and did twelve years at school. I know public schools don't actually do this now, but forms were two years. So Lower First, Upper First, Lower Second, Upper Second etc. Our school started at 11 in the Third Form, and we progressed through Lower Fourth (LIV), UIV, LV, UV where we took O-Levels at the age of 16. The Sixth form follows quite naturally, with Lower Sixth, and Upper Sixth (and Third Year Sixth, for those wanting to go to Oxbridge).
I'd say it was just coincidence that the Lower Sixth is also your sixth year in Secondary School. But probably it wouldn't have hung on generally if it had been as inaccurate as Third Form.
Kids these days seem more keen to use year 12/13; but we still have "sixth form colleges" (some schools do not have sixth forms - this mostly varies by area and type of school). NB that some areas do "middle school" which is years 5-8 (but not many any more).
How far up the nice-ness/expense scale one finds terraced houses and flats/apartments depends a lot on where you are - central city locations are more crowded than rural ones.
Thank you so much for all the information! It's kind of hard to process (especially all the school stuff). I probably should have just named the characters, to make it all easier. It's Nerys talking about Donna, so it's very much pre-1991. I guess she would say, "I've known her since secondary", or "I've known her since first year at secondary".
2. Firm of removers in their Removal van/lorry. Generally a fair sized articulated lorry and a couple of lifters to help shift and pack furniture. It's possible to hire a van oneself and do a DIY job.
3. Parts of Chiwick are pretty posh! If they have serious money, by the river. River-front housing ups the price like crazy! Nearby are Barnes, Kew [famous for the large botanical gardens] and Richmond upon Thames [housing there = $$$$!!!].
4. It's a block [if tall, a tower block] of flats. A flat = an apartment, pretty much.
5. I live in one of those! That would be a terrace. If the terrace is curved and tending to Georgian, a crescent [puts up the price!]. Sometimes four terraces are built to form a square [quite a few of those in London]. Here is part of one side of the famous Berkeley Square [https://sp.yimg.com/ib/th?id=HN.608028826883918350&pid=15.1&P=0 ].
1) You start school at age 5 in year 1, and you must stay at school until year 11 (age 16) although quite a lot of kids also do years 12 and 13. So age 12-13 is year 8.
2) A removal company and they use a removal van. We don't have 'semis', we have vans and lorries and sometimes trucks. Lorries are the big ones. Vans are smaller.
3) Chiswick itself is posh enough for your needs.
4) Yes, a flat is a single home in a building - it could be a house divided into two or three flats, or a bigger block of flats. Rose lives in a council flat.
5) A row of houses all linked together is a terrace and the houses are terrace houses. If only two houses are linked together they're semi-detached. A house on its own is detached.
From what I'm reading elsewhere, council estates are supplied by the government, and I suppose that implies the occupants are low-income? Does Clara also live in a council flat? I know that much has been made about the fact that they used the same block of flats in Cardiff for filming both Rose and Clara, but I wasn't sure if Clara was really meant to either live in council housing or actually live at the Powell Estate.
Clara definitely doesn't seem to live on the Powell estate, and probably doesn't live in council housing (although the standard really varies - the Powell state is at the lower end).
Council estates can be mixed occupancy though. I live in a council-owned block - but I own my flat within that block. My neighbours are a mixture of other owners, people renting, and council tenants. Council tenants do tend to be lower-income as that's why they need the support.
I've never been particularly clear on where Clara lives - that house in the Christmas special was definitely not a council flat!!
1. That's Year 8 in England (note that Scotland and Wales have their own systems, but since you're talking about London and Chiswick, I've assumed English school). See the nifty graphic at this website: http://www.school-in-uk.com/education.html... )
Ah, yes, I should remember that "class" has a different connotation in Britain. The family I'm envisioning isn't that high up, and that's not their way of life. They are common but well-off enough to afford a house in a nice area and live comfortably with two or three children.
A "semi" in the US is an eighteen-wheeler, a very big long truck. If you've seen any American movie in which there is a trucker, usually dressed in flannel talking on his CB radio, he's driving a semi. From what I've seen on my one visit to Britain, they'd be fine for commercial haulage, but would be very difficult to use on the narrow streets among terraces (such as in Bath, which amazed me with how cramped the whole town is).
From your description, they might be able to live in a fairly posh area of London but it probably wouldn't seem a particularly posh house to you. Try Google Map for "Netheravon Road".
These people sound just plain middle class to me. But they are not common, they are commoners. Common means 'lower class' - Rose Tyler is a bit common.
A semi in the UK is normally called an artic (short for articulated lorry) and is used entirely for commercial haulage. I can't imagine owning enough stuff to need an artic to move house.
I got a discussion on the English system before and after 1991 from a different poster, but thank you! I also got an image of a removal van, which helped a lot - they are much shorter than the trucks that moving companies in the US use, probably because of crampedness of a lot of the residential areas in Britain.
I would say, as someone who used to live in the UK and now lives in North America, it's also because Brits in general don't have as much furniture! Houses are a lot smaller. We had a pretty large house, in British terms, in England, but our furniture from there, which was all shipped over here, probably only half-filled the house we have here.
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It's a hang over from Public Schools (posh private, for American readers). Our grammar school, back in the fifties/sixties used the old Public School Terms, which assumed that you started at six and did twelve years at school. I know public schools don't actually do this now, but forms were two years. So Lower First, Upper First, Lower Second, Upper Second etc. Our school started at 11 in the Third Form, and we progressed through Lower Fourth (LIV), UIV, LV, UV where we took O-Levels at the age of 16. The Sixth form follows quite naturally, with Lower Sixth, and Upper Sixth (and Third Year Sixth, for those wanting to go to Oxbridge).
I'd say it was just coincidence that the Lower Sixth is also your sixth year in Secondary School. But probably it wouldn't have hung on generally if it had been as inaccurate as Third Form.
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How far up the nice-ness/expense scale one finds terraced houses and flats/apartments depends a lot on where you are - central city locations are more crowded than rural ones.
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2. Firm of removers in their Removal van/lorry. Generally a fair sized articulated lorry and a couple of lifters to help shift and pack furniture. It's possible to hire a van oneself and do a DIY job.
3. Parts of Chiwick are pretty posh! If they have serious money, by the river. River-front housing ups the price like crazy! Nearby are Barnes, Kew [famous for the large botanical gardens] and Richmond upon Thames [housing there = $$$$!!!].
4. It's a block [if tall, a tower block] of flats. A flat = an apartment, pretty much.
5. I live in one of those! That would be a terrace. If the terrace is curved and tending to Georgian, a crescent [puts up the price!]. Sometimes four terraces are built to form a square [quite a few of those in London]. Here is part of one side of the famous Berkeley Square [https://sp.yimg.com/ib/th?id=HN.608028826883918350&pid=15.1&P=0 ].
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Thanks!
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2) A removal company and they use a removal van. We don't have 'semis', we have vans and lorries and sometimes trucks. Lorries are the big ones. Vans are smaller.
3) Chiswick itself is posh enough for your needs.
4) Yes, a flat is a single home in a building - it could be a house divided into two or three flats, or a bigger block of flats. Rose lives in a council flat.
5) A row of houses all linked together is a terrace and the houses are terrace houses. If only two houses are linked together they're semi-detached. A house on its own is detached.
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From what I'm reading elsewhere, council estates are supplied by the government, and I suppose that implies the occupants are low-income? Does Clara also live in a council flat? I know that much has been made about the fact that they used the same block of flats in Cardiff for filming both Rose and Clara, but I wasn't sure if Clara was really meant to either live in council housing or actually live at the Powell Estate.
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I've never been particularly clear on where Clara lives - that house in the Christmas special was definitely not a council flat!!
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Ah, yes, I should remember that "class" has a different connotation in Britain. The family I'm envisioning isn't that high up, and that's not their way of life. They are common but well-off enough to afford a house in a nice area and live comfortably with two or three children.
A "semi" in the US is an eighteen-wheeler, a very big long truck. If you've seen any American movie in which there is a trucker, usually dressed in flannel talking on his CB radio, he's driving a semi. From what I've seen on my one visit to Britain, they'd be fine for commercial haulage, but would be very difficult to use on the narrow streets among terraces (such as in Bath, which amazed me with how cramped the whole town is).
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A semi in the UK is normally called an artic (short for articulated lorry) and is used entirely for commercial haulage. I can't imagine owning enough stuff to need an artic to move house.
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