UK/US Divided by a Common Tongue

AtticusFinch

I've been on a few message boards in my time and I can always be surprised by the simple event of either a British poster confusing the US audience with a phrase or a single word sometimes, and Americans peppering their sentences with equally baffling nonsense.

Off the top of my head here are a few I can think of, what contra-definition English words are you aware of between those two camps?

*kitten*
US: Male homosexual
UK: Large oniony meatball

PISSED
US: Angry
UK: Drunk (but 'Pissed Off' is the same for all of us)

PASTY
US: Nipple cover
UK: A regional meat pastry

*kitten*
US: See *kitten* above
UK: Cigarette

PANTS
US: Trousers
UK: Underwear

SHORTS
US: Underwear
UK: Short trousers

FANNY
US: Backside / buttocks
UK: Vagina

VEST
US: Waistcoat
UK: Underwear worn underneath a shirt

SPUNK
US: Spirit, get up and go
UK: Semen

BUM
US: Vagrant
UK: Backside / buttocks

TRAMP
US: Loose woman
UK: Vagrant

SUSPENDERS
US: Braces for holding up pants/trousers
UK: Garters / Straps for holding up stockings (Garter belt = Suspender belt)

COMIC IRONY
UK: A figure of speech in which the humorous intended meaning is the opposite of that expressed by the words used
US: ~ an unknown concept ~


(Ok - I made the last one up)

Get off your fanny, show me some spunk, and fill me in on any I've missed

FaithandFitness

very educational post, I was aware of most of these, but I learned a bit!

smashleymcgee

I don't actually know any, but I think this is awesome . Thanks for posting.

momma3sweetgirls

You forgot about

NAPPY...

US:Tightly coiled / curled unaltered hair
UK: Baby Diaper

DawnyB1210

Hee Hee..when I was visiting Durham, UK a couple of years ago over the New Year's holiday, we took a side trip to the isle of Lindesfarne. It was such a cold, damp day near the sea and I was so happy to get to a cozy pub with a roaring fire. I was with a group of female friends, and I turned my back to the fire and annouced, "Oh, happy fanny!" Meaning, of course, that I was finally getting my backside warm. I couldn't understand why I got all kinds of looks from the nearby patrons.

NA_Willie

Ive referred to semen as spunk before and Ive never left the US.

AtticusFinch

You forgot about

NAPPY...
US:Tightly coiled / curled unaltered hair
UK: Baby Diaper

Didn't know that one actually, so thanks

withchaco

:0 Where I come from, shorts = short trousers (knee length or shorter), and I'm in the US!?

JeninBelgium

I've been on a few message boards in my time and I can always be surprised by the simple event of either a British poster confusing the US audience with a phrase or a single word sometimes, and Americans peppering their sentences with equally baffling nonsense.

Off the top of my head here are a few I can think of, what contra-definition English words are you aware of between those two camps?

*kitten*
US: Male homosexual
UK: Large oniony meatball

PISSED
US: Angry
UK: Drunk (but 'Pissed Off' is the same for all of us)

PASTY
US: Nipple cover
UK: A regional meat pastry

*kitten*
US: See *kitten* above
UK: Cigarette

PANTS
US: Trousers
UK: Underwear

SHORTS
US: Underwear
UK: Short trousers

FANNY
US: Backside / buttocks
UK: Vagina

VEST
US: Waistcoat
UK: Underwear worn underneath a shirt

SPUNK
US: Spirit, get up and go
UK: Semen

BUM
US: Vagrant
UK: Backside / buttocks

TRAMP
US: Loose woman
UK: Vagrant

SUSPENDERS
US: Braces for holding up pants/trousers
UK: Garters / Straps for holding up stockings (Garter belt = Suspender belt)

COMIC IRONY
UK: A figure of speech in which the humorous intended meaning is the opposite of that expressed by the words used
US: ~ an unknown concept ~


(Ok - I made the last one up)

Get off your fanny, show me some spunk, and fill me in on any I've missed

Comment: In Michigan (and I suspect Northern wisconsin) Pasty = both a nipple cover and a tasty meat filled pie one could fit in their pocket (more or less)

*kitten*- also a bundle of kindling (probably source of flaming reference and also *kitten* for cigs I should think)

Spunk- can also mean semen in the US- for the get up and go, saying thta someone is spunky would be more common- either way spunk/spunky a wee bit old fashioned

*kitten*- a bad word in the US, in the UK not nice but very commonly used
Tramp- US a vagrant (a bit old fashioned but still applicable) and definitely a loose woman (somewhat outdated, not quite old fashioned- been replaced by slut/ ho'/ skank)

Nappy - ooh very good one


an aside, growing up in Michigan we had two "fanny" chocolate shops one called Fanny Mae and the other Fanny Farmer- my brother (london based) used to shock the older women at his former office by bringing back boxes of fanny farmer chocolates to London from his trips home

rosebslim

Chips

US - crisps
UK - French fries or fried chunky chipped potatoes

I also knew most of the others, but there were a couple of newish ones.

LOL - I wonder what other English speaking countries have as alternatives?!!!

pixieofdoom

Not sure if this applies to all of the US but one that caused trouble when an American friend came to dinner at my mum's house
'Quite good'

US = very good
UK = just ok, not that good really

_Aimée_

*kitten* in an american tongue makes me laugh so much, its like 'twooort'' where as here is just *kitten* as in hat. Much more aggressive sounding.

Sonofabiscuit2

Biscuit
US- doughy lump of breakfast bread
UK- I believe it's a damn cookie

michelleion

I saw a post the other day where a UK person was asking about flapjacks, and US people were replying with recipes for pancakes - ??!

ravenclawseekergirl

As a northern lass i'd like to say that you can get more than meat flavoured pasties e.g. cheese and onion.

Here's some that i have

Waffle
US: Sweet breakfasty thing served with syrup
UK: Potato food that served with gravy or tomato sauce

Caned
US: ?
UK: Very drunk (also cabbaged, trolleyed etc)

Bait/bate
US: Stuff used to attract fish to a line
(North East UK maybe just Hartepool) Food taken to work usually in heavy industry or manual labour.

Here's some British phrases that i thought you might enjoy

Canny: nice good or pleasant used mostly in Scotland and north eastern England e.g. She's a canny lass her.
Mafting: Really hot
Clarty mess: Dirty, muddy, sticky
I'm gonna start climbing the walls: Severely agitated by stress or worry
Mad as a box of frogs: Hopping mad, completly crazy.
Mahusive: gigantic

AtticusFinch

Dawny:
Hee Hee..when I was visiting Durham, UK a couple of years ago over the New Year's holiday, we took a side trip to the isle of Lindesfarne. It was such a cold, damp day near the sea and I was so happy to get to a cozy pub with a roaring fire. I was with a group of female friends, and I turned my back to the fire and annouced, "Oh, happy fanny!" Meaning, of course, that I was finally getting my backside warm. I couldn't understand why I got all kinds of looks from the nearby patrons.

That'll teach you to visit the North-East in winter, but I hope your fanny defrosted (whichever interpretation).

I once overheard an elderly American tourist in a British pub tremulously asking what '*kitten*' were doing on the menu. Perhaps he was concerned he might've strayed into a gay bar

katkins3

My husband is from London and I'm from Chicago. We had many discussions on these language differences.
:blushing: The funniest was when he asked my boss where the rubbers were. She suggested in the men's room. Confused, my husband pointed to the end of his pencil..the eraser.

ravenclawseekergirl

My husband is from London and I'm from Chicago. We had many discussions on these language differences.
:blushing: The funniest was when he asked my boss where the rubbers were. She suggested in the men's room. Confused, my husband pointed to the end of his pencil..the eraser.

This is hilarious. Yeah we call erasers rubbers and condoms Johnnies.
I might be back with a few more later.

_Aimée_

Caned! I haven't heard that in years, not since I left school!!

wsheaf82

I never really thought of "shorts" as underwear. (South Central PA)

SarahLovesCheesecake

Atts a fanny farmer aincha mate MWAH:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

:blushing:

imnotyourpal

I worked with quite a few people from Ireland who informed me that they had "great crack" the night before. Really? CRACK? Apparently it's "Craic" (?) and means "fun".

This was funny.

Although, people in New England still call their backsides their bum. I do. Even now that I'm back on the left coast.

MissO﹠A

I used to be so good at rattling off a bunch of these. Having lived both sides of the pond has impaired my language differentiation skills.

My favourites from Scotland:

greetin' - cryin'
ned - hooligan

... and my favourite saying: "Get it right (fu-ckin') up ye!"

LeeKetty1176

[


COMIC IRONY
UK: A figure of speech in which the humorous intended meaning is the opposite of that expressed by the words used
US: ~ an unknown concept ~

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Unknown

This content has been removed.

FabOma08

Lift
US:to raise up
UK: elevator

Boot:
US: type of shoe
UK: storage space of car

AtticusFinch

a *kitten* is also a bassoon... I should know, I played one! :laugh:

TRAINERS
US - people who teach you things
UK - shoes (I think)

JUMPER
US - someone that, well, jumps
UK - sweater

Really - so you have extensive experience of blowing a *kitten*? Not really one for the resume.

And Yes - Trainers are soft gym shoes, (what you may call sneakers?), often worn by people who've never been near a gym in their lives ; and a jumper is an alternative word for a sweater, although I heard once that some parts of the US call a small child's sweater a jumper also - so it could be derogatory if used towards an adult

SarahLovesCheesecake

^^ hello love of my life......

AtticusFinch

^^ hello love of my life......

Can I just say that I don't know this person, "she" is just someone who's grooming me on the internet, and is probably a hairy arsed builder from Barnsley

SarahLovesCheesecake

^^ hello love of my life......

Can I just say that I don't know this person, "she" is just someone who's grooming me on the internet, and is probably a hairy arsed builder from Barnsley

Not funny:sad:

NiallWallace

I used to be so good at rattling off a bunch of these. Having lived both sides of the pond has impaired my language differentiation skills.

My favourites from Scotland:

greetin' - cryin'
ned - hooligan

... and my favourite saying: "Get it right (fu-ckin') up ye!"

Ach, there's many more up here.

There is quite a bit of language diversity in the British Isles as well,
There are at least 3 different types of English spoken in Scotland,
Scottish Standard English is the version of English that would be taught as English but is not the same as Standard English,

Scots/Lallans/Ullans is a form of English that's very old and is now considered a separate language, spoken in the Central belt, Borders and in the case of Ullans Northern Ireland rather than Scotland but is considered closer to the language Robert Burns knew.

And Doric, and even older version of English spoken Aberdeenshire, this is due to some Sassenachs taking over estates in Aberdeenshire and converting the locals from Gaelic much earlier than anywhere else in the North.


So while in Aberdeen a friend may greet me with "Fit like loon"
A friend in the borders or central belt may say "Hous it gaun"
And a friend in fife may say "Awright yah hoor"

All of course mean "How are you".

Scotland and the north of England traded with the Germanics while Southern England traded with the French.
So we get discrepancies like Kirk and Church from German and French respectively.

But both are in Scotland at least understood.

However, it gets much worse.
*kitten* was mentioned earlier, and the current prime minister got in real trouble for using that word because it is just another way of saying the C word.

In many parts of the UK that is the worst possible word you could ever use, but in other parts no one gives a...

Particularly in Fife where it's universally used to mean person (just like yah yoor)

So when I got back from the cup final a couple of years back a mates Girlfriend had written on my face book "What did that C... have on his t-shirt" (one of the players had raised his shirt to show a message after scoring). To her that's a completely acceptable way of writing "What did David Goodwillie have written on his shirt".

While a mate also from Fife whose Wife is from an area where that word is the worlds biggest insult got an absolute bollocking for using it.


And then there is Dundonian, where the word Eh can be used to say anything you want.