tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post4194176035835295825..comments2024-03-16T00:21:43.240+00:00Comments on Separated by a Common Language: badges and buttonslynneguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-67854919382661861462021-04-08T00:33:00.412+01:002021-04-08T00:33:00.412+01:00As an Englander, I'm with the Chairwoman all t...As an Englander, I'm with the Chairwoman all the way - though I would like to add my own two cents:<br />1. a button can also be something that is there to be depressed, e.g, "I pushed the button to call the lift (elevator)"<br />2.a badge (mostly (but by far from always) round & with a safety-pin for attachment on the reverse, or more recently (& increasing in usage) a butterfly clip) can simply hold a humorous bon mot, philosophical idea, etc. & does not necessarily denote achievement or membership of something. <br />3. a pin can also be used to (e.g.) attach paper to a message board; it's a needle without an eye. <br />4. decoration can be used to describe pretty-much anything that 'improves' the aesthetics of some other object (& is highly subjective).<br />She didn't mention 'patch', which would generally be a scrap of cloth to conceal/repair a hole in material/clothing (logical extension: a patchwork quilt) - while also (as a badge) be decorative, may or may not denote affiliation, & could well be designed to provoke an emotional response. zarathustrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06082301675378551503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-81302883128246538342011-10-27T02:48:44.214+01:002011-10-27T02:48:44.214+01:00Does Blue Peter not sound a bit (you should pardon...Does Blue Peter not sound a bit (you should pardon the expression) off-color to BrE speakers?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-42539993472974143912010-02-25T22:32:45.022+00:002010-02-25T22:32:45.022+00:00Mrs R: There's no intended implication that we...Mrs R: There's no intended implication that we wrote in pencil then...it's just a turn of phrase.lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-35639237273955869972010-02-25T21:53:05.053+00:002010-02-25T21:53:05.053+00:00A pin, to me, is a specific type of badge; one tha...A pin, to me, is a specific type of badge; one that functions like an earring - a sharp, point post-hole and a sort of butterfly clip at the back. Incidentally, in France, it is called " un pins", even when there's only one of them.<br /><br />Did you really write in pencil in your social studies classes?That, to me, is a mismatch between the implied age you were to be doing social studies (11+) and giving up doing schoolwork in pencil (c 8 or 9).Mrs Redboots (Annabel Smyth)https://www.blogger.com/profile/11270027663691257254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-42301383165300436592007-07-27T16:02:00.000+01:002007-07-27T16:02:00.000+01:00Fascinating Discussion. In Girl Scouts of the USA...Fascinating Discussion. <BR/><BR/>In Girl Scouts of the USA the following hold true programmatically:<BR/> A badge is an embroidered cloth recognition earned by a girl for completing specific tasks in an area of interest. Currently the shape of the cloth indicates which level of Girl Scouting may earn it.<BR/> A patch is an embroidered or stamped cloth to commemorate an activity or event, program participation or as an identifier of membership in a local grouping. Patch may be in any shape.<BR/> A pin is a pin, it may in fact mirror a patch and is used either to identify membership, position, awards and in some instances events. Pins are often shaped.<BR/> Our ID Strips are the organization's official embroidered cloth emblems of membership. The strip set is two half-moon shaped pieces.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-64067153396278609952007-06-17T09:02:00.000+01:002007-06-17T09:02:00.000+01:00A button is something we use to fasten our clothes...A button is something we use to fasten our clothes.<BR/><BR/>A badge is something to denote that we are part of, or have achieved something. It can be of any shape or material.<BR/><BR/>A pin is something to hold things together.<BR/><BR/>A brooch is something ornamental that decorates one's lapel or dress.<BR/><BR/>A decoration is something earned by conspicuous service of some description, and normally consists of a medal and a ribbon.Chairwoman of the boredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09283126747440830086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-51840236314678232242007-06-06T10:30:00.000+01:002007-06-06T10:30:00.000+01:00Incidentally, the day before I wrote this post, I ...Incidentally, the day before I wrote this post, I didn't know what a BP badge looked like. The day after, I saw a student on campus wearing one and noticed that the Queen (or at least a collage representing the Queen) wears one (or wore one, they probably change the background pictures often) on Have I Got [Old] News for You. (Even more incidentally, Trevor MacDonald was one of the best hosts I've seen on that show--not that I've seen it a lot.)lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-60264383623063100682007-06-05T06:55:00.000+01:002007-06-05T06:55:00.000+01:00I know several people who have band-related pins/b...I know several people who have band-related pins/badges all over their purses, backpacks, or lapels. They're fairly common at the concerts I've been to - I bought a set of them at a White Stripes concert a couple years ago.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-33919112569785952762007-06-04T11:54:00.000+01:002007-06-04T11:54:00.000+01:00Pop music related badges of the sort fnarf describ...Pop music related badges of the sort fnarf describes are making a bit of a comeback. A club night I go to regularly started handing them out a couple of months ago, for instance.Ginger Yellowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06103410278129312943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-85198020424789295622007-06-04T10:08:00.000+01:002007-06-04T10:08:00.000+01:00I have a lot of small, 1" circular badges on my ba...I have a lot of small, 1" circular badges on my bag, with bands or logos or slogans on them, and although I would call them badges, when I've bought them on eBay I've noticed they're being called 'pins' or 'buttons' a lot more than they used to be - American influence, maybe?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-21006439942177278782007-06-03T16:30:00.000+01:002007-06-03T16:30:00.000+01:00As an American with a serious Anglo problem, parti...As an American with a serious Anglo problem, particularly in the area of pop music, I first learned to call pins "badges" back in the punk rock days, when I had a complete set of Buzzcocks badges (and a lot of possibly counterfeit "Seltaeb" Beatles pins (American-made). <BR/><BR/>Around that time, it was more or less obligatory to cover the lapels of your jacket, and the strap and flap of your bag, with as many pins as possible, and we quickly learned from the small-print ads in the back of <I>NME</I> and <I>Melody Maker</I> for mail-oprder concerns that they were called badges, not pins. "Badges" meant that you were hip, i.e., aware of the coolness of Britain. The ones on the counter at the record store were called pins, but we asked for them as badges (possibly with a trace of faux accent), and were understood by the clerks (probably with more than a few "twerps" muttered under their breath). I still have a ton of them.Fnarfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15022243603033471232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-27362900203882376122007-06-03T14:02:00.000+01:002007-06-03T14:02:00.000+01:00Excuse the errors in the hastily-typed comment!I a...Excuse the errors in the hastily-typed comment!<BR/><BR/>I associated <I>them</I> with Girl Scout badges, and agreed with other <I>Americans'</I> points!lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-14443920695729272722007-06-03T14:00:00.000+01:002007-06-03T14:00:00.000+01:00I think I was imagining BP badges as cloth because...I think I was imagining BP badges as cloth because I'd never seen one until I googled the image for this post and I associated it with Girl Scout badges, which are another kind of badge earned by children for deeds done. I take other American's points that (a) the BP badge could be said to be 'badge-shaped'--i.e. shield shaped, which makes it more likely to be called a <I>badge</I> than if it hadn't been so-shaped, and (b) other things that are like Girl Scout badges (but not earned for merits) are called <I>patches</I>. But I don't agree that the physical manifestation of a Girl Scout badge would usually be called a <I>patch</I>. I earned Girl Scout badges (well, the easy ones) and had to sew badges (not <I>patches</I>) onto my uniform sash.lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-51686861275064270682007-06-03T13:34:00.000+01:002007-06-03T13:34:00.000+01:00It occurs to me that 'shield-shaped' might not be ...It occurs to me that 'shield-shaped' might not be as specific as I had intended. The classic deputy star, could also be called a badge (and a shield, perhaps), but I mean the... vaguely triangular shape which curves equally to a point on the bottom and has various ornamentations on the top.jhmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15024302748759726815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-21042579798205102412007-06-03T13:28:00.000+01:002007-06-03T13:28:00.000+01:00At first blush, I'd say that I use 'badge' not as ...At first blush, I'd say that I use 'badge' not as a particular object (although the metal, shield-shaped object comes first to mind), but something that grants authority or privilege ('we don't need no steenking badges!"). The thing you described with the boy-scouts, I would call a 'patch.' Patches might be worn by badge holders, but the actual badge is the talisman, the other just frillery.jhmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15024302748759726815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-14140571840268196612007-06-03T12:20:00.000+01:002007-06-03T12:20:00.000+01:00Why does your badge illustration sport a map of Cy...Why does your badge illustration sport a map of Cyprus? Anyway, the head of a Scottish University is traditionally called The Principal - as in England, the Chancellor is just a decoration. The Scottish Principals added the title Vice-Chancellor to explain their post to Englishmen. I don't know when that was done - presumably after the number of Universities in England had overtaken the number in Scotland, or perhaps when effective rule of all Universities had passed to Whitehall.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-31205152323838653662007-06-03T06:59:00.000+01:002007-06-03T06:59:00.000+01:00I would call it a badge because it's badge-shaped....I would call it a badge because it's badge-shaped. If it were round or square or any other shape, I would call it a pin.<BR/><BR/>It makes me think of the Bark of Peter, oddly enough.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com