'sideboards' in BrE?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Mehrgan

Key Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2009
Member Type
Other
Native Language
Persian
Home Country
Iran
Current Location
Iran
Hi there,
Do British speakers use the word 'sideboards' or 'sideburns'?

May I have some collocations please, when one goes to a barber's? I need the adjectives we might use at a barber's to show how we'd like it cut.



Thanks a lot!
 

Rover_KE

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
Like most British speakers I say sideboards.

I googled English phrases at the barber's and found this for you.

Rover
 

shroob

Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
Like most British speakers I say sideboards.

I googled English phrases at the barber's and found this for you.

Rover

Really, sideboards? I've only ever used that when refering to a piece of furniture. Everyone I know says sideburns. It must be a regional thing.

I've also never heard of 'grade 1...2...3', where I come from, we say, 'Number 1....Number 2...' etc.
 

5jj

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 14, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
Czech Republic
Current Location
Czech Republic
Really, sideboards? I've only ever used that when refering to a piece of furniture.
Until I went to university, and met northerners for the first time in my life, I had heard only 'sideboards'.
 

bhaisahab

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 12, 2008
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
Ireland
It might be a generation difference, I've always known them as sideboards too.
 

5jj

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 14, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
Czech Republic
Current Location
Czech Republic
It might be a generation difference, I've always known them as sideboards too.
That's a thought. I am over 60; how about you, shroob?
 

shroob

Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
Well, I've lived in Sheffield (in the north of England for people who don't know) all my life so haven't heard anything other than 'sideburns' for the bit of hair near your ears. My parents and grandparents call them sideburns also. I'd put it down to being a north/south divide difference.

Though if you came up here and asked for your sideboards trimming, you'd be met with a few strange looks. Just as I would if I went down south and asked for my sideburns trimming....

I'm 22.
 
Last edited:

TomUK

Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2007
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
German
Home Country
Germany
Current Location
UK
As a northerner in my home country I have lived for nearly 15 years down south in England and only ever heard the expression 'sideburns'. Before reading this thread I would have considered anybody who referred to sideburns as sideboards to be two chairs short of a dining room. But it only shows that one can learn something new every day no matter how hard one tries not to. Actually, I couldn't care less whether these hairy bits are called sideburns or sideboards, and you can take this as a bold statement by a bald man.

TomUK
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
I'm a southerner born and bred and in my early 40s, and I've only ever called or heard them called sideburns. To me, sideboards are pieces of furniture.

The grades of closeness of shave are "Number 1, 2, 3..." to me too.

Phrases for the hairdressers/barbers:

Trim
Cut and blow dry
Bob
Wave
Perm
Mohican
Short back and sides
Wet cut
Dry cut
Spiral perm
Root perm
Highlights
Lowlights
Streaks
Tints
Rinse
Shampoo and set
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
It might be a generation difference, I've always known them as sideboards too.

I say sideboards- I thought sideburns was old-fashioned- Flashman had sideburns. :crazyeye:
 

SoothingDave

VIP Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2009
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
The term sideburns is a 19th-century corruption of the original burnsides, named after American Civil War general Ambrose Burnside

I've never heard the term "sideboards."
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top