Strange American sayings from an English Perspective

humberstunner
humberstunner Posts: 38
in Chit-Chat
Two come to mind for starters:-

*kitten* hat???

Butt Hurt??

Are you guys really that fixated with your rear ends.
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Replies

  • kristy6ward
    kristy6ward Posts: 332 Member
    *kitten* Hat comes from... You've got your head shoved so far up your own *kitten*, you're wearing it as a hat. Butt hurt? I don't know, I've only ever seen it in these forums.
  • Rosannajo88
    Rosannajo88 Posts: 212 Member
    but then we Brits also seem particularly keen on our bums too!

    Bottoms up!
  • 55in13
    55in13 Posts: 1,091 Member
    Fixated with our rear ends? Nah. There are far more expressions for throwing up and masturbating (usually not at the same time :laugh: ) than just about anything else.
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
    but then we Brits also seem particularly keen on our bums too!

    Bottoms up!

    Isn't that just referring to the bottom of the glass?
  • spade117
    spade117 Posts: 2,466 Member
    There are far more expressions for throwing up and masturbating (usually not at the same time :laugh: ) than just about anything else.

    And sex.
  • Tessyloowhoo
    Tessyloowhoo Posts: 504
    FANNY

    tumblr_inline_mq314bm3gL1qz4rgp.gif
    edit:wrong gif
  • glenner
    glenner Posts: 160 Member
    A Canadian sounding in- Brits eat a chip butty- hmmm from butt? LOL. Actually I am addicted to Corrie Street and LOVE British expressions!
  • Yanicka1
    Yanicka1 Posts: 4,564 Member
    Every time I read some one having a cut and a blow, I giggle but I can't remember if it is from my English or Australian friends:laugh:
  • agggie550
    agggie550 Posts: 281 Member
    We are 'Muricans and Everyone knows... We like big butts and we can not lie, you other brothers cant deny when a girl walks in with and itty bitty waste and a round thing in your face ... You know she squats :D
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
    A Canadian sounding in- Brits eat a chip butty- hmmm from butt? LOL. Actually I am addicted to Corrie Street and LOVE British expressions!

    I never thought about that before. Turns out "butty" is from "buttered bread". Chip butty is a chip sandwich so that works I guess!
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
    Where 'Muricans and Everyone knows... We like big butts and we can not lie, you other brothers cant deny when a girl walks in with and itty bitty waste and a round thing in your face ... You know she squats :D

    Ah. Bitty. That always gets me.

    http://youtu.be/AOfI48IWESo
  • p4ulmiller
    p4ulmiller Posts: 588 Member
    "Could care less..."

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om7O0MFkmpw
  • jeffpettis
    jeffpettis Posts: 865 Member
    I think a nice rear end is worth being fixated on!!! :tongue:
  • ehorn625
    ehorn625 Posts: 144
    back atcha: Bob's your uncle!
  • humberstunner
    humberstunner Posts: 38
    Ahhh some more(not as good):-

    "You don't know squat"

    "Fanny pack" ..... that ones ssooo funny!!

    "I'm doing the math" ....it's "Maths" not "Math"

    "Vacation" .... no it's not it's a holiday!

    "He was pissed" ..... In England this would mean he was very drunk
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    No. No one seriously needs butthurt explained, do they? :noway:
    back atcha: Bob's your uncle!

    I have a British friend who's morphed that with "the world's your oyster," and somehow ended up with "...And Bob's your lobster."

    She also described an ex as a "total wanking git-faced tosser," which I found particularly poetic. Yes, Americans do have some weird phrases, but the UK has elevated it to an art form.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    douche bag, douche canoe, and a new one I read today.... douche wagon. These conjure up great mental images, and I like them. I'm not sure they'd sound right in a British accent though, so I don't say them.

    I agree, fanny pack just sounds totally wrong in British English

    Also, an *kitten* is a donkey. your rear end is your *kitten*.

    other ones that would sound silly (and *kitten* obsessed) in British English:

    smart *kitten* (this would mean your *kitten* is very well dressed, if you mean your *kitten* is clever, you'd have to call it a clever *kitten*)

    bad *kitten* (this one makes more sense)

    dumb *kitten* (this means your *kitten* can't speak... you could prove it wrong by farting. If you mean that your *kitten* is stupid, you'd have to say "thick *kitten*" - but thick in American English is apparently a euphamism for fat)


    which leads me to....... Americans calling themselves thick, because they don't want to describe themselves as fat. Thick = stupid in British English. Saying "I'm not fat, I'm thick" = saying "I'm not fat, I'm stupid"
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    oh yeah.... there's "don't get your panties in a bunch" - the British equivalent is "don't get your knickers in a twist"



    and that leads me to..... pants = underwear. this is a source of potential hilarity when Brits and Americans interact
  • bwallace2012
    bwallace2012 Posts: 37 Member
    Where 'Muricans and Everyone knows... We like big butts and we can not lie, you other brothers cant deny when a girl walks in with and itty bitty waste and a round thing in your face ... You know she squats :D

    'Muricans???? who you? Dubya?
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    No. No one seriously needs butthurt explained, do they? :noway:
    back atcha: Bob's your uncle!

    I have a British friend who's morphed that with "the world's your oyster," and somehow ended up with "...And Bob's your lobster."

    She also described an ex as a "total wanking git-faced tosser," which I found particularly poetic. Yes, Americans do have some weird phrases, but the UK has elevated it to an art form.

    I find it hilarious that the MFP automatic censor lets anyone type "total wanking git-faced tosser" LOL

    I also saw somewhere where an American had censored the expression "bloody hell!!" (said by Ron Weasley in Harry Potter) by removing the word "hell" but leaving the word "bloody" in place.... bloody used in that way is a lot ruder than hell. (But not in the same league as the word wank or its derivatives.)
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    I recall an episode of Coupling where Jeff goes on a rather long rant about bottoms. And not the bottoms of glasses.

    Seems Brits like their butts, too.
  • runningjen74
    runningjen74 Posts: 312 Member
    We Irish used to get in to trouble saying we were only here for the craic (fun), we were just having some craic, sure it's only a bit of craic. According to Wikipedia (so must be true), it is actually a word we took from the English. But it sounds very much like a narcotic, and used to get some odd looks when using the term in the US. Don't remember hearing it used in the UK.

    Do other people use the phrase the *kitten* hole of no where to describe, in somewhat derogratory terms somewhere small/out of the way/no where near anything interesting.
  • BeachIron
    BeachIron Posts: 6,490 Member
    "Could care less..."

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om7O0MFkmpw

    That's not the correct expression. It is "couldn't care less."

    As for the other American expressions, we are far more colorful in the South.

    "That dog won't hunt."

    "Sweating like a *kitten* in church."

    "Well, aren't you a pretty thing."

    "Bless your heart."
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    Every time I read some one having a cut and a blow, I giggle but I can't remember if it is from my English or Australian friends:laugh:

    As an English bird... I s****** at Cut and Blow.

    EDIT: Does sn*igger mean something different that I am unaware of?

    Edit again: Oh take the s off an it becomes offensive.... so i can type bloody git faced wanking tosser... but not sn*igger. Who knew.

    And I feel really sorry for everyone who lives in S****horpe

    ETA: for the Benefit of the non-Brits here, it's a seaside town in the North of England..... it is Scun + thorpe. Thorpe being a viking place name suffix. No idea what the etymology of Scun is.
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
    Every time I read some one having a cut and a blow, I giggle but I can't remember if it is from my English or Australian friends:laugh:

    As an English bird... I s****** at Cut and Blow.

    EDIT: Does sn*igger mean something different that I am unaware of?

    Edit again: Oh take the s off an it becomes offensive.... so i can type bloody git faced wanking tosser... but not sn*igger. Who knew.

    I giggled. :laugh:
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    I recall an episode of Coupling where Jeff goes on a rather long rant about bottoms. And not the bottoms of glasses.

    Seems Brits like their butts, too.

    So many great quotes about bottoms on that show. :love:
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    I recall an episode of Coupling where Jeff goes on a rather long rant about bottoms. And not the bottoms of glasses.

    Seems Brits like their butts, too.

    So many great quotes about bottoms on that show. :love:

    There was a whole entire British comedy series called Bottom, featuring two wanking git-faced tossers:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkIHiPHbXlo
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    I recall an episode of Coupling where Jeff goes on a rather long rant about bottoms. And not the bottoms of glasses.

    Seems Brits like their butts, too.

    So many great quotes about bottoms on that show. :love:

    One of the best shows ever written.
  • stackhead
    stackhead Posts: 121 Member
    Every time I read some one having a cut and a blow, I giggle but I can't remember if it is from my English or Australian friends:laugh:

    As an English bird... I s****** at Cut and Blow.

    EDIT: Does sn*igger mean something different that I am unaware of?

    Edit again: Oh take the s off an it becomes offensive.... so i can type bloody git faced wanking tosser... but not sn*igger. Who knew.

    And I feel really sorry for everyone who lives in S****horpe

    ETA: for the Benefit of the non-Brits here, it's a seaside town in the North of England..... it is Scun + thorpe. Thorpe being a viking place name suffix. No idea what the etymology of Scun is.

    Ah yes, poor old Scunny. Most of us in the area just call it Scummy and let that be it...

    Just for education y'know: "The town appears in the Domesday Book (1086) as Escumetorp, which is Old Norse for "Skuma's homestead"
  • V0lver
    V0lver Posts: 915 Member
    I recall an episode of Coupling where Jeff goes on a rather long rant about bottoms. And not the bottoms of glasses.

    Seems Brits like their butts, too.

    So many great quotes about bottoms on that show. :love:

    One of the best shows ever written.

    i remember that one. It was a tad bit snail paced for my taste.

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