Ok not the most important issue of the day, but where has the term “body english” come from and what was wrong with “body language”? Are they different? Can one only be understood in english speaking countries? If you tried to use body english to manoeuvre an Italian bike would you crash?

(Noticed it being used today on this very site in the review of the highball.)

Body language and body english have quite different meanings.

Body language is your body giving information to others, be it folding your arms to imply guardedness, opening your arms for a hug etc.

Body english is a colloquial term for muscling something around to get it to do what you want. You couldn’t use body language in the context the review uses it in.

Body movement in usually unconcious attempt to influence the trajectory of a moving object,such as a ball . I looked it up,it comes from sports reporting I believe… 🙂

sports reporting I believe

American at a guess.

“English” is another term for side/sidespin in snooker/pool, if I remember correctly. Side influences the movement of the ball, hence body English is using body movement to influence the movement of something like a bike.

I guess “body movement” would mean the same but wouldn’t sound hipster enough.

EDIT – Use of the term body English has been traced to as early as 1908!

If I used body language to get my bike down a technical bit of singletrack I’d probably crash. Bikey’s nice, but it not understand the nuances.

DezB – Member

If I used body language to get my bike down a technical bit of singletrack I’d probably crash. Bikey’s nice, but it not understand the nuances.
🙂

munrobiker – Member

Body english is a colloquial term for muscling something around to get it to do what you want.

This^^^

It certainly used to be a common expression in motorcycle trials riding.