Are these idioms understandable for non British ?

[duiter]

Dear all,

Are these idioms understandable for non British ( ordinary non English teacher American, Australian ) ?


Dunkirk spirit


on Carey Street

set the Thames on fire

Many thanks

[Barb_D]

Dear all,

Are these idioms understandable for non British ( ordinary non English teacher American, Australian ) ?


Dunkirk spirit -- I have no idea what this means.


on Carey Street -- I have no idea what this means.

set the Thames on fire -- I don't know this, but it sounds like "Paint the town red." What does it mean?

Many thanks

I read a reasonable number of British novels, and I don't know any of these.

[riquecohen]

Dear all,

Are these idioms understandable for non British ( ordinary non English teacher American, Australian ) ?


Dunkirk spirit


on Carey Street

set the Thames on fire

Many thanks

While I've never heard the latter two, I think the term "Dunkirk spirit" or the "spirit of Dunkirk" would be understandable to some older Americans.

[BobK]

'On Carey street' ("Carew"? - but with the same pronunciation) is pretty obscure, even over here; I think it's something to do with bankruptcy, but I've never used it.

'Set the Thames alight' is the version I've met. It's a bit like 'painting the town red', Barb, but more flamboyant (the idea of flames is there - that is,you needn't actually set light to anything, but you have to 'make a bit of a splash').

'Dunkirk spirit' is the only common one.

b

[Barb_D]

What does it mean?

[Johnson_F]

Battle of Dunkirk - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[duiter]

I am just wondering if these idioms are not popular even for native speaker from UK

Why does usingenglish.com put the list of these idioms in this website ?

Does it mean that learning these idioms ( Idiom Category: Place name - UsingEnglish.com ) is carrying coals to Newcastle or flogging dead horse ?

Idiom Category: Place name - UsingEnglish.com

Many thanks

[duiter]

http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/en...cal-names.html

[BobK]

Battle of Dunkirk - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The clever link, which ought to take you to the right place, doesn't. Scroll down to the Contents box and click on 6 "Dunkirk Spirit".

The term is bang up-to-date, widely used in 21st century media of all kinds.

b

[Vidor]

Dear all,

Are these idioms understandable for non British ( ordinary non English teacher American, Australian ) ?


Dunkirk spirit


on Carey Street

set the Thames on fire

Many thanks

As an American...no, no, no, and yes. I know what "Dunkirk spirit" is, but my bookshelf is filled with books about WWII. No idea of Carey Street. I know what the Thames is but don't know what the idiom means. "Many thanks", however, is very common in American speech.