words in england that mean something totally different in america!!

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Replies

  • curborough
    curborough Posts: 131 Member
    Diet Pepsi rules over diet coke anyday!
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    edited May 2017
    newmeadow wrote: »
    LAWoman72 wrote: »
    newmeadow wrote: »
    LAWoman72 wrote: »
    newmeadow wrote: »
    LAWoman72 wrote: »
    newmeadow wrote: »
    English belongs to the English so I'll always love them for giving us the most amazing language on this planet.

    The majesty of English vocabulary and its unrivaled lyrical qualities make the beauty potential of poetry, literature and song transcendent when expressed in full. There's a reason why English is the most spoken language on the planet. It's truly amazing and has the potential for unparalleled refinement, unlike most other languages.

    So I cringe when I hear the Brits, but the English in particular, butchering the English language. Veg, uni, mash, carer, etc. Please, please stop it. You're the true ancestral gatekeepers of your own magnificent language. Protect it and honor it or no one else will.

    (Sorry to get all serious about it. Just a peeve of mine.)



    English doesn't exclusively belong to the English and the language is constantly evolving and changing, including slang, in England as it is elsewhere. (And slang has been noted in virtually every society throughout history anywhere across the globe that has left written records.) The English can not "preserve" what changes constantly, generation by generation. NO language spoken anywhere is its own original form. Original English (so to speak, as even the word "English" is not its own original word) is unreadable to, I would bet, greater than 98% of the population - you'd have to have specifically studied it; Google to see what I mean.

    English does not "belong" to the British; it is today an extreme evolution of an original already changing language that came, more or less, from (today's) Germany and combined with other languages. It has never been stagnant or stationery. Ever. And it has never been spoken "just" in England as its own evolution and changes made their way back and influenced today's German root languages as well.

    Just my own pet peeve, as a Language Arts major. :) The "preserve dying societies" was a 19th century construct from the German-born father of anthropology, Franz Boaz, and was within a few generations realized to be a fallacy as there is no way to trace an original anything...including language.

    By the way, you use a lot of non-original, so to speak, English in your post right down to grammatical structure (for instance, adjective placement) and slang ("butchering" when used in a nonphysical context).

    English and s NOT superior, BTW, and does not have more potential for refinement than other languages; in fact, we are LESS specific and, if you will, refined in, for example, not giving genders to our adjectives, not giving different designations to extended family members based on which side of the family they came from, and gosh, many many many !any othernways. I lobe English, it is my jam, but be real.

    :)

    It does indeed belong to the English. That's why it and they are called English. We have borrowed it along with everyone else who has borrowed it. It's theirs, they initiated and developed it and that's that. The glory belongs to them. And the criticism, where it's warranted.

    No, indeed. It did not "belong" to the English from the beginning, as I have pointed out in the exchange of languages from its inception, going back (as we understand it; this is never directly linear nor universal; as I said "original" anything is a fallacy when it comes to anthropology) 1500 years+ but farther back than that in (modern-day) Germany, as well as having been "sent back," so to speak, to other nations during the very transitional early Middle Ages.

    And no, the English are not called the English because they speak anything even loosely approximating the original (as far as we can tell) language of the continental European Angles, to wit:
    15k6giym7led.jpg



    They are called "the English" because of politics and timing, just as Britain isn't called Britain because it's Italian (Britain being a Latin word delivered by the temporarily victorious Romans).

    If you want to talk about English "belonging to" the English you need to pre-date the accelerated spread of the language throughout the globe about two centuries ago. Is that the "original" English you wish to preserve? Have you read any of it?

    It is not called English because it permanently belongs to the English. Original forms of English as we understand them, in England specifically are virtually unreadable to us, to wit:

    If you want to say that belongs to the English, you will be loosely right (very loosely as it was also being spoken in a somewhat modified format in, as I pointed out, parts of Europe).

    English "belongs to" the people speaking it. NO language is an island and as I stated, every language evolves...including where it was "originally" (if you will) utilized.

    And again. If it should be "preserved," what should it be preserved "to"? How far back? If you don't like "today's" slang in Britain you'll need to do a little etymological digging to see how many centuries back it goes (you'll be surprised).

    But since you say it all belongs to the Brits anyway, then you have no cause, by your own "rules," to tell them what they can and can't keep, so the point is moot. ;)

    Of course they're called English and the language they DEVELOPED and STRUCTURED is called English because of politics. So? The borders of England were also developed and put in place by politics. Does that mean England, its official language and its native, ancestral population does not exist? Are these facts and identities imaginary and moot? No, not as far as I'm concerned.

    And if England is Italian, why isn't it a colony of Italy? Silliness.

    Why don't we go back to the Cro-Magnon era to determine the true origins of everything we call real today and dismiss the rest. Or wait, that might involve going back to uni and spending many years and a bundle of cash on a useless anthropology degree to argue semantics endlessly. Instead of talking about real things that matter to real people in keeping with basic common sense.

    Have a nice day. And winky poo emoticons to you too.

    Wow!

    Sorry that logic upsets you. I'll back away now.

    As for the rest...that was kind of an odd jumble of things I never actually said (England ISN'T Italian, you didn't understand that? Maybe re-read for clarity?), culminating with, interestingly, your making my point for me with the Cro-Magnon comment, so thank you for that, anyway.

    But I can see I have upset you, so apologies and you are free to believe what you wish, as anybody is.

    p.s. You're ranting a lot, but you still haven't said what form of English, in which local dialect/style, and which time period/how far back (???) you wish to "preserve". If you did that might help. :) It might not but you never know...perhaps clarify that? Just "don't say veg anymore" doesn't really help a lot. Thanks for any clarification you can give so we even know what you're talking about.

    Oh darling. You're uni educated in language studies. You know I could never answer your sly questions in any meaningful way with my high school diploma. Despite that, I think I'm pretty good at getting my point across and I think I've done that well, despite our disparities in social standing. Ta.

    I'm not uni educated in any language. Period. I have taken a total of one semester of college thus far and I have had to begin with the required/general ed courses. My major is Language Arts - I have always loved language - but until at least next year I will not have officially taken a single college-level course in my major. I do read a lot and have focused on language - most specifically but not exclusively English - for as long as I can remember but I am just a few hours "more educated" than you, so that's a wash. I am by no means attacking your education level, that would be impossible, we're about equal there.

    Please calm down and maybe just explain yourself better, and we can have a discussion. But if not...please don't blame others for not understanding what you're getting at. You give no particulars, just an admonition for people to do something or other you haven't actually specified. You understand that that's confusing, right?

    If you don't know what you want then we can't know what you want. :)
  • animatorswearbras
    animatorswearbras Posts: 1,001 Member
    edited May 2017
    LAWoman72 wrote: »
    You can't really borrow languages. They're not library books. More like free shareware apps for communication.

    Politically, I feel vehement statements about how other nations are only borrowing English and don't have the right to mod their forced download, so to speak, are unfortunate, given, well, the British Empire, the use of language as a colonisation tool (not just Britain- the French particularly skilled at this as well, actually) and historical efforts made to enforce English usage and eradicate other languages.

    Also politically, the UK has four countries/principalities, all of whom use English as a working language, and all of whom have variations thereof. Only one of those nations is called England, and over my dead body do the Scots and Welsh and Northern Irish get told their regional usages are invalid. It'll be enough to trigger #IndyRef2, and my nerves can't stand it. I'm already concerned what recent political events could mean for the peace process...

    Edit: Taken to its natural conclusion, who gets the deciding vote of linguistic development- Birmingham, England, York, England, an East End Londoner, or a board from the county of Essex? They will all speak quite differently, but they're all English. Who is "true" English?

    York, York is true English. ;P

    Anyways ruddy Yanks coming on 'ere telling us we' butchering are own language on't t'internet, dunno tha bloody born dutha?

    Seriously though I love the different flavours of English and you wouldn't get half the anecdotes if we were all the same, my favourite was casually asking an American for a "rubber" when I was trying to correct a pencil drawing, they'd never heard a pencil eraser called that before...

    :smiley:

    Yup! (And I'll take your word for the York thing...you're the expert...)


    I love, love, love variations in language. I love playing with language...the world is richer for all the many different ways we express ourselves, even in "our own" language, and yes...it IS ours. :) Indeed, messing around with language can mean many different things and is at its base a form of self-expression. Conformity and uniformity don't really have a place in any language I've ever heard of, because we're not robots. We're humans, and we change...every single one of us.

    Edit: Oh you edited out the right-o, lol

    I say right or "reet" (I don't know anyone who says right-o unless they're extremely posh or taking the piss)

    there's also "y'reet" - meaning "are you alright" or "hi how are you"
    or "y'reet are kid?" - meaning "are you alright, brother/sister/very close friend?" ;)
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    Diet Pepsi rules over diet coke anyday!

    Oh HELL to the no.

    I feel a new thread coming on... ;)
  • curborough
    curborough Posts: 131 Member
    So if I was to ask for a doggy bag in a restaurant in america would they know what I meant?
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
    LAWoman72 wrote: »
    Jruzer wrote: »
    One of my favorite greentexts:

    cfp1342qwmm2.jpg

    Hmm! I never make scandalized dandy 18th century faces when different cultures speak differently from the way I do.

    Maybe I'm just weird?

    Prince George is not amused.

    bucbnkgb6k1i.jpg
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    LAWoman72 wrote: »
    You can't really borrow languages. They're not library books. More like free shareware apps for communication.

    Politically, I feel vehement statements about how other nations are only borrowing English and don't have the right to mod their forced download, so to speak, are unfortunate, given, well, the British Empire, the use of language as a colonisation tool (not just Britain- the French particularly skilled at this as well, actually) and historical efforts made to enforce English usage and eradicate other languages.

    Also politically, the UK has four countries/principalities, all of whom use English as a working language, and all of whom have variations thereof. Only one of those nations is called England, and over my dead body do the Scots and Welsh and Northern Irish get told their regional usages are invalid. It'll be enough to trigger #IndyRef2, and my nerves can't stand it. I'm already concerned what recent political events could mean for the peace process...

    Edit: Taken to its natural conclusion, who gets the deciding vote of linguistic development- Birmingham, England, York, England, an East End Londoner, or a board from the county of Essex? They will all speak quite differently, but they're all English. Who is "true" English?

    York, York is true English. ;P

    Anyways ruddy Yanks coming on 'ere telling us we' butchering are own language on't t'internet, dunno tha bloody born dutha?

    Seriously though I love the different flavours of English and you wouldn't get half the anecdotes if we were all the same, my favourite was casually asking an American for a "rubber" when I was trying to correct a pencil drawing, they'd never heard a pencil eraser called that before...

    :smiley:

    Yup! (And I'll take your word for the York thing...you're the expert...)


    I love, love, love variations in language. I love playing with language...the world is richer for all the many different ways we express ourselves, even in "our own" language, and yes...it IS ours. :) Indeed, messing around with language can mean many different things and is at its base a form of self-expression. Conformity and uniformity don't really have a place in any language I've ever heard of, because we're not robots. We're humans, and we change...every single one of us.

    Edit: Oh you edited out the right-o, lol

    I say right or "reet" (I don't know anyone who says right-o unless they're extremely posh or taking the piss)

    there's also "y'reet" - meaning "are you alright" or "hi how are you"
    or "y'reet are kid?" - meaning "are you alright, brother/sister/very close friend?" ;)

    I did because I thought it just sounded so dumb of me...like a cliche of an American pretending to be a Brit.

    I like "reet" and I also love but simultaneously am mystified by "ay-up!" That thing should come with its own pronunciation key.
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    edited May 2017
    Jruzer wrote: »
    LAWoman72 wrote: »
    Jruzer wrote: »
    One of my favorite greentexts:

    cfp1342qwmm2.jpg

    Hmm! I never make scandalized dandy 18th century faces when different cultures speak differently from the way I do.

    Maybe I'm just weird?

    Prince George is not amused.

    bucbnkgb6k1i.jpg

    Oh, I thought that was just because of the hair.

    p.s. #jelousofthebling
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    LAWoman72 wrote: »
    You can't really borrow languages. They're not library books. More like free shareware apps for communication.

    Politically, I feel vehement statements about how other nations are only borrowing English and don't have the right to mod their forced download, so to speak, are unfortunate, given, well, the British Empire, the use of language as a colonisation tool (not just Britain- the French particularly skilled at this as well, actually) and historical efforts made to enforce English usage and eradicate other languages.

    Also politically, the UK has four countries/principalities, all of whom use English as a working language, and all of whom have variations thereof. Only one of those nations is called England, and over my dead body do the Scots and Welsh and Northern Irish get told their regional usages are invalid. It'll be enough to trigger #IndyRef2, and my nerves can't stand it. I'm already concerned what recent political events could mean for the peace process...

    Edit: Taken to its natural conclusion, who gets the deciding vote of linguistic development- Birmingham, England, York, England, an East End Londoner, or a board from the county of Essex? They will all speak quite differently, but they're all English. Who is "true" English?

    York, York is true English. ;P

    Anyways ruddy Yanks coming on 'ere telling us we' butchering are own language on't t'internet, dunno tha bloody born dutha?

    Seriously though I love the different flavours of English and you wouldn't get half the anecdotes if we were all the same, my favourite was casually asking an American for a "rubber" when I was trying to correct a pencil drawing, they'd never heard a pencil eraser called that before...

    :smiley:

    Yup! (And I'll take your word for the York thing...you're the expert...)


    I love, love, love variations in language. I love playing with language...the world is richer for all the many different ways we express ourselves, even in "our own" language, and yes...it IS ours. :) Indeed, messing around with language can mean many different things and is at its base a form of self-expression. Conformity and uniformity don't really have a place in any language I've ever heard of, because we're not robots. We're humans, and we change...every single one of us.

    Edit: Oh you edited out the right-o, lol

    I say right or "reet" (I don't know anyone who says right-o unless they're extremely posh or taking the piss)

    there's also "y'reet" - meaning "are you alright" or "hi how are you"
    or "y'reet are kid?" - meaning "are you alright, brother/sister/very close friend?" ;)

    Oh wait wait wait, there's another one! (In a slightly different context.) "Pissed"...doesn't it mean drunk? Here, it means seriously angry.

  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    edited May 2017
    You can't really borrow languages. They're not library books. More like free shareware apps for communication.

    Politically, I feel vehement statements about how other nations are only borrowing English and don't have the right to mod their forced download, so to speak, are unfortunate, given, well, the British Empire, the use of language as a colonisation tool (not just Britain- the French particularly skilled at this as well, actually) and historical efforts made to enforce English usage and eradicate other languages.

    Also politically, the UK has four countries/principalities, all of whom use English as a working language, and all of whom have variations thereof. Only one of those nations is called England, and over my dead body do the Scots and Welsh and Northern Irish get told their regional usages are invalid. It'll be enough to trigger #IndyRef2, and my nerves can't stand it. I'm already concerned what recent political events could mean for the peace process...

    Edit: Taken to its natural conclusion, who gets the deciding vote of linguistic development- Birmingham, England, York, England, an East End Londoner, or a board from the county of Essex? They will all speak quite differently, but they're all English. Who is "true" English?

    York, York is true English. ;P

    Anyways ruddy Yanks coming on 'ere telling us we' butchering are own language on't t'internet, dunno tha bloody born dutha?

    Seriously though I love the different flavours of English and you wouldn't get half the anecdotes if we were all the same, my favourite was casually asking an American for a "rubber" when I was trying to correct a pencil drawing, they'd never heard a pencil eraser called that before...

    Oh, wait...actually... ^ It was a Brit who wagged her finger at Brits not speaking the correct English. ;) (I think...based on "uni.")

    We Yanks are guilty of a lot of things but this particular thing isn't one of them. Thank God! We can't ALWAYS look like idiots. It hurts our self-esteem.

  • animatorswearbras
    animatorswearbras Posts: 1,001 Member
    LAWoman72 wrote: »
    LAWoman72 wrote: »
    You can't really borrow languages. They're not library books. More like free shareware apps for communication.

    Politically, I feel vehement statements about how other nations are only borrowing English and don't have the right to mod their forced download, so to speak, are unfortunate, given, well, the British Empire, the use of language as a colonisation tool (not just Britain- the French particularly skilled at this as well, actually) and historical efforts made to enforce English usage and eradicate other languages.

    Also politically, the UK has four countries/principalities, all of whom use English as a working language, and all of whom have variations thereof. Only one of those nations is called England, and over my dead body do the Scots and Welsh and Northern Irish get told their regional usages are invalid. It'll be enough to trigger #IndyRef2, and my nerves can't stand it. I'm already concerned what recent political events could mean for the peace process...

    Edit: Taken to its natural conclusion, who gets the deciding vote of linguistic development- Birmingham, England, York, England, an East End Londoner, or a board from the county of Essex? They will all speak quite differently, but they're all English. Who is "true" English?

    York, York is true English. ;P

    Anyways ruddy Yanks coming on 'ere telling us we' butchering are own language on't t'internet, dunno tha bloody born dutha?

    Seriously though I love the different flavours of English and you wouldn't get half the anecdotes if we were all the same, my favourite was casually asking an American for a "rubber" when I was trying to correct a pencil drawing, they'd never heard a pencil eraser called that before...

    :smiley:

    Yup! (And I'll take your word for the York thing...you're the expert...)


    I love, love, love variations in language. I love playing with language...the world is richer for all the many different ways we express ourselves, even in "our own" language, and yes...it IS ours. :) Indeed, messing around with language can mean many different things and is at its base a form of self-expression. Conformity and uniformity don't really have a place in any language I've ever heard of, because we're not robots. We're humans, and we change...every single one of us.

    Edit: Oh you edited out the right-o, lol

    I say right or "reet" (I don't know anyone who says right-o unless they're extremely posh or taking the piss)

    there's also "y'reet" - meaning "are you alright" or "hi how are you"
    or "y'reet are kid?" - meaning "are you alright, brother/sister/very close friend?" ;)

    I did because I thought it just sounded so dumb of me...like a cliche of an American pretending to be a Brit.

    I like "reet" and I also love but simultaneously am mystified by "ay-up!" That thing should come with its own pronunciation key.

    Haha I've said "ay-up" before that is EXTREMELY Yorkshire, I sometimes have to catch myself as I'm on the darkside of the Pennines nowadays (where they pronounce tongue wrong and don't batter their sausages in the chippy). ;)
  • curborough
    curborough Posts: 131 Member
    Yorkshire is a world of its own! Love u tho!
  • Motorsheen
    Motorsheen Posts: 20,508 Member
    So if I was to ask for a doggy bag in a restaurant in america would they know what I meant?

    Yes, more than likely.

    We typically say: Let's box this up to go.


    Sometimes I ask: Does your restaurant provide carry out?

    yes, yes it does.

    That's good! ...because I'm stuffed and need someone to carry me out to my car.
  • murph155
    murph155 Posts: 116 Member
    yazismail wrote: »
    Did someone write that Americans call the bonnet of a car a "hat"????

    Oh my word! It's a hood not a hat.....

    No, I said they call the hood of a car a bonnet in the UK, but here a bonnet is a hat.
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    edited May 2017
    Motorsheen wrote: »
    So if I was to ask for a doggy bag in a restaurant in america would they know what I meant?

    Yes, more than likely.

    We typically say: Let's box this up to go.


    Sometimes I ask: Does your restaurant provide carry out?

    yes, yes it does.

    That's good! ...because I'm stuffed and need someone to carry me out to my car.

    Oh oh oh!

    Takeaway.

    We call it fast food...that sort of thing. A takeaway is a message. Takeaway or take-home. "The takeaway to this thread is: there IS no such thing as proper English."
  • animatorswearbras
    animatorswearbras Posts: 1,001 Member
    edited May 2017
    LAWoman72 wrote: »
    You can't really borrow languages. They're not library books. More like free shareware apps for communication.

    Politically, I feel vehement statements about how other nations are only borrowing English and don't have the right to mod their forced download, so to speak, are unfortunate, given, well, the British Empire, the use of language as a colonisation tool (not just Britain- the French particularly skilled at this as well, actually) and historical efforts made to enforce English usage and eradicate other languages.

    Also politically, the UK has four countries/principalities, all of whom use English as a working language, and all of whom have variations thereof. Only one of those nations is called England, and over my dead body do the Scots and Welsh and Northern Irish get told their regional usages are invalid. It'll be enough to trigger #IndyRef2, and my nerves can't stand it. I'm already concerned what recent political events could mean for the peace process...

    Edit: Taken to its natural conclusion, who gets the deciding vote of linguistic development- Birmingham, England, York, England, an East End Londoner, or a board from the county of Essex? They will all speak quite differently, but they're all English. Who is "true" English?

    York, York is true English. ;P

    Anyways ruddy Yanks coming on 'ere telling us we' butchering are own language on't t'internet, dunno tha bloody born dutha?

    Seriously though I love the different flavours of English and you wouldn't get half the anecdotes if we were all the same, my favourite was casually asking an American for a "rubber" when I was trying to correct a pencil drawing, they'd never heard a pencil eraser called that before...

    Oh, wait...actually... ^ It was a Brit who wagged her finger at Brits not speaking the correct English. ;) (I think...based on "uni.")

    We Yanks are guilty of a lot of things but this particular thing isn't one of them. Thank God! We can't ALWAYS look like idiots. It hurts our self-esteem.

    Oh sorry! Bloody Brits being snobbish! :) Apologies American chums.

    (EDIT: although she said "high school diploma" and we don't have those we have GCSE's or o' levels depending on your age, she also said she didn't like us butchering the word uni and then used it herself twice lol)

    "Pissed" means drunk more than anything (also see leathered & rat-arsed), "pissed off" means angry (although this could be an adopted Americanism but I have no idea) "taking the piss" means making fun of.

    To be fair we get alot of US TV and film so we usually know what you mean and have adopted a fair few things ourselves. I've noticed Americans use Wanker more and douche and *kitten* (rather than *kitten*) gets used more over here.
  • Riffraft1960
    Riffraft1960 Posts: 1,984 Member
    I don't like to discriminate the Pepsi Company by calling everything a coke. It's a soda to me. LOL

    Why would you want flavorless carbonated water (Soda) instead of a pop (Carbonated Water with flavoring). >:)
  • planetcadillac
    planetcadillac Posts: 137 Member
    A biddy is an old person to us

    Here in NC an old biddy is an old woman especially one that is cranky or disagreeable. I have friends from Southern Africa and their English even deviates from UK standard. If you are intelligent and respectful its usually not hard to follow along.
  • SoulRadiation
    SoulRadiation Posts: 1,060 Member
    It's true...one of my friends is from the UK, and I observed him or her on my friends feed...it took me a little time to actually figure out what was being said and what is the emotion behind it....yeah, it's completely true that a different locale can affect a different language.

    It's even the same thing in the US. I'm from NC, but my wife is from Philly...they go nuts when I say certain things. I actually think I have more or less "no accent"...but it isn't true. I have an accent.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    LAWoman72 wrote: »
    Bugger :D

    I think the actual meaning of this is the same on both sides of the pond, it's just that Americans don't usually use it as an expletive.

    I can think of another that has an extremely derogatory meaning in the U.S. but is slang in the UK for a cigarette. The original derogatory meaning was probably the same for both and referred to burning a certain segment of society during heretic burning times.

    I've never heard an American use bugger, as an expletive or otherwise... unless they had had cross cultural exposure...

    It's amusing that the MFP *kitten* filter doesn't pick it up...

    my mom used to say it(bugger) and we are american,born and raised. yet her grandparents were born and raised in canada lol
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    edited May 2017
    I found this interesting: for the movie Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit, when the initial movie was shown to both British and American children, the American children were confused not only on certain specific words but on pronunciations, so an American version was released with the actors using some substitute words, speaking more slowly and trying to adopt a more broadly understandable (to non-English children) accent.

    I don't remember all the sub words but I do recall "marrow" is called "melon" in the U.S. release of the show since we Americans interpret marrow to be the stuff inside of bones. :) The two words "looked" identical when mouthed by the claymation actress.

    My kids and I love this movie...I looked it up at the time as I was curious about its production.
  • klkarlen
    klkarlen Posts: 4,366 Member
    We also call fizzy drinks..like coke..a bottle of pop. Do you say that in america?

    It depends on where you are in the US. I've heard it called soda, tonic, pop, soft drink, carbonated beverage. . . it runs the gamut.

    Same goes for terms for a grocery or shopping bag, some parts of the country, they call it a sack instead of a bag.
  • curborough
    curborough Posts: 131 Member
    I don't think there's a wrong or right here..i just find it really interesting. I love the American way, it's my favourite place in the world and the people are great (awesome!). I just love how we mean the same but how different it can seem! Definitely no right or wrong..this thread wasn't meant to be about 'proper' english
  • GiddyupTim
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
    Well, nobody here knows what a "Bluey" is here......unless they are a serious 'football' fan. They probably think you are a Chelsea supporter.
  • curborough
    curborough Posts: 131 Member
    Ipswich town forever...bluey and crazee the 2 mascots
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    klkarlen wrote: »
    We also call fizzy drinks..like coke..a bottle of pop. Do you say that in america?

    It depends on where you are in the US. I've heard it called soda, tonic, pop, soft drink, carbonated beverage. . . it runs the gamut.

    Same goes for terms for a grocery or shopping bag, some parts of the country, they call it a sack instead of a bag.

    its also called a poke in some areas,by some people. my sister worked at a gas station/diner type place*here in west Virginia),. some guy asked if she had a poke he could have, she looked at him funny and thought he was being crude, she had to ask another person there what the guy meant. we are from the east coast so never heard the poke thing
  • nightengale7
    nightengale7 Posts: 563 Member
    Snogging - in the States we call that making out or kissing.
    Ring on the telly - in the States it's call on the phone
    Digestive - cookie here in the US. I still think calling something as wonderful and delicious as a cookie a "digestive" is a travesty. That word makes me think of the actual act of digestion, which isn't appetizing at all, lol.
  • rugratz2015
    rugratz2015 Posts: 593 Member
    I was educated this week that juice means something else in England.

    What was you told it meant?..having said that half the words the kids use here nowdays us older ones don't understand!


    I was advised that juice could mean liquid fruit flavored non-caloric water additives and not just the product produced by pulping/juicing a fruit.

    That's 'squash' or 'cordial' it's not 'juice' but is a common mistake.
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
    Merkavar wrote: »
    Chips are what we call crisps. So if you go to America and ask for chips you're gonna be disappointed!

    A little off topic
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    Speaking of england, pants apparently mean underpants. which makes all the jokes on 8 out of 10 cats/UK tv make a whole lot more sense. "I was standing there in my pants" and I am thinking so what, you have trousers on, but they mean underpants/nickers/panties

    I think that person is just simple. I'm Australian and call all those things by names other than "chip"

    Nah your just americanised :tongue: you probably spell it americanized and use MM/DD/YY format
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
    I have it on good authority that this movie caused uproarious laughter in the UK when it was released. ("Shagging" is a kind of dancing particular to the Carolinas.)
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