"Finally, there is the verb-phrase, to carry on. In the United States it means to make a great pother; in England it means to persevere. But the record must have an end."

The most frequent use of "carry on" that I remember was in Basic Traing in the Army, when an officer was leaving room where EM were at attention.

Carry on in the sense of making a fuss, I associate with cockneys. "She was carrying on summat chronic."

I would say it meant continue rather than persevere. Hence the titles of the Carry On series of films of the 1960s and 1970s. I understand they are not well known in foreign parts, so here is IMDB's list of some of them: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060214/recommendations



Bingley

"Carry on" will *forever be associated with 1976!

http://home.midsouth.rr.com/padfoot/intro.html

rock on!! that song changed my life...