Victorian

[denis567]

Not sure which topic to post this under, but I am currently reading Bill Bryson's 'The Lost Continent'.
Several times he refers to buildings as being Victorian. This has set me wondering as to whether the term 'Victorian' is in popular usage in the US, or is it just because Bill Bryson lived for many years in England.

[Mr Veritas]

As far as I am aware the term "Victorian" is not in general use in the USA,as it would refer out own Queen Victoria,which would not mean much to Americans.
From staying in the States I seem to think they just refer to buildings 18th Century,19th Century,or Pre Civil War and so on.
Some Academics in the US MAY refer to British buildings as "Victorian" but only because (like Bill Bryson) they have been,or studied,British buildings of that period.

[VHG]

>Bill Bryson lived for many years in England.

He still does

[nohorn]

Growing up here in the U.S.A., the word "victorian" always meant to me, as something related to the late 19th Century, or early 20th Century, e.g. architecture, dress, mores, . If you referred to as Victorian, it meant you were a prud., old fashioned, etc.The Victorian architecture had a lot of Gingerbread decoration, huge old houses with front porches.