UK sayings vs USA sayings

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Replies

  • hendongirl
    hendongirl Posts: 156 Member
    Watch the movie 51st State.... loads in there!

    Dog and bone <--phone
    Dogs bollocks <--its great
    Bollocks <--its not so great

    lol
  • JackieA47
    JackieA47 Posts: 52 Member
    UK input here! -
    My husband says "Like a rat out of an aquaduct" I think for something/one moving very fast
    He also says "As much chance of S****ing a golden egg", meaning that it's unlikely that whatever said event is will happen.
    Apologies if things are incorrectly spelt, it's been a looooong day.....
  • SquidgySquidge
    SquidgySquidge Posts: 239 Member
    I'm just gonna be annoying and throw in an Irish one here

    'Acting the maggot' - when someone is misbehaving. ''Stop acting the maggot!'

    I'm English and when I moved to Ireland this tickled me as I never though of maggots as particularly naughty :laugh:
  • Colder than a witches tit in a brass brassiere :drinker: ...
    Put your big girl panties on .... grow up !
    dont let your mouth write a check your *kitten* can't cash
  • SweetestLibby
    SweetestLibby Posts: 607 Member
    US - South "burns my biscuits!" = makes me really mad/annoyed
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    This will burn you guys, but in the UK we really can't tell the difference between an American and a Canadian accent....

    I guess it probably depends on where someone is from. There is variation of the accents within Canada and within the states that is much more noticeable than just Canada vs. U.S. Obviously people from the predominantly French speaking areas usually have a strong French accent because English is their second language. Some other parts of Canada have a stronger accent (that is even more noticeable than being from the U.K.). I live in Canada. And in the U.S. There are some areas that have strong accents: The South, Boston, New York, Minnesota are just some examples. I don't have a Boston accent anymore (that's where I grew up), but when I did everywhere I went people knew I was from Boston the moment I spoke. Boston also has some unusual words. For example we call a drinking fountain a Bubbler (although pronounce it Bubbla).

    I am from Boston too! I don't have the accent though, never did.

    Did your parent(s) have the accent. That would influence it. I did have the accent, but I lost it when I was 18, pretty quickly, and have not had the accent since. From that point on everyone always thought I was from Canada (even though I had not lived there yet).
  • carolyn0613
    carolyn0613 Posts: 162 Member
    It always makes me s****** when I hear Americans on TV saying that they are going out in their new pants. I just have an image of them swanning around in their underwear (we use pants as well as knickers to mean 'panties')
  • RoseAmongThorns91
    RoseAmongThorns91 Posts: 215 Member
    US - South "burns my biscuits!" = makes me really mad/annoyed

    Yours reminded me of another!

    "Butter my biscuits and call me Shirley!" - pretty much, "well, I'll be damned!"
  • Mimoki
    Mimoki Posts: 115 Member
    This will burn you guys, but in the UK we really can't tell the difference between an American and a Canadian accent....

    I guess it probably depends on where someone is from. There is variation of the accents within Canada and within the states that is much more noticeable than just Canada vs. U.S. Obviously people from the predominantly French speaking areas usually have a strong French accent because English is their second language. Some other parts of Canada have a stronger accent (that is even more noticeable than being from the U.K.). I live in Canada. And in the U.S. There are some areas that have strong accents: The South, Boston, New York, Minnesota are just some examples. I don't have a Boston accent anymore (that's where I grew up), but when I did everywhere I went people knew I was from Boston the moment I spoke. Boston also has some unusual words. For example we call a drinking fountain a Bubbler (although pronounce it Bubbla).

    I am from Boston too! I don't have the accent though, never did.

    Did your parent(s) have the accent. That would influence it. I did have the accent, but I lost it when I was 18, pretty quickly, and have not had the accent since. From that point on everyone always thought I was from Canada (even though I had not lived there yet).

    No, they weren't Bostonians plus I grew up in Roxbury/Southend. I'm moving back after few years oversea, mostly in Ireland.
  • Pardyqueenxoxo
    Pardyqueenxoxo Posts: 218 Member
    "as useful as a chocolate fireguard"

    "that's dodgy" - weird/ don't trust it/ not right

    Ace - If something is ace it is awesome. I used to hear it a lot in Liverpool. Kids thought all cool stuff was ace, or brill

    Arseholed - Drunk! Usually in the advanced stages of drunken stupor, someone would be considered "completely arseholed". Never me, of course!

    Barmy - If someone tells you that you're barmy they mean you have gone mad or crazy. For example you'd have to be barmy to visit England without trying black pudding

    Box your ears - Many young chaps heard their dads threaten to box their ears when I was a littlun. Generally meant a slap around the head for misbehaving. Probably illegal these days!!

    Bugger all - If something costs bugger all, it means that it costs nothing. Meaning it is cheap. If you have bugger all, it means you have nothing.

    Chin Wag - This is another word for a Chat. You can probably tell why

    Chuffed - You would be chuffed to bits if you were really pleased about something.
  • Pardyqueenxoxo
    Pardyqueenxoxo Posts: 218 Member
    Crikey - Another exclamation of surprise. Some people say "Crikey Moses"

    Donkey's years - Someone said to me the other day that they hadn't seen me for donkey's years. It means they hadn't seen me for ages

    Give us a bell - This simply means call me. You often hear people use the word "us" to mean "me


    Gobsmacked - Amazed. Your gob is your mouth and if you smack your gob, it would be out of amazement.

    Gutted - If someone is really upset by something they might say that they were gutted. Like when you are told that you have just failed your driving test!

    Luvvly-jubbly - Clearly another way of saying lovely. Made famous by the TV show Only Fools and Horses.

    On the piss - If you are out on the piss, it means you are out to get drunk, or to get pissed.

    Put a sock in it - This is one way of telling someone to shut up. Clearly the sock needs to be put in their loud mouth!

    Tickety-boo - If something is going well with no problems we would say it is tickety-boo.


    Throw a spanner in the works - This is an expression that means to wreck something
  • Pardyqueenxoxo
    Pardyqueenxoxo Posts: 218 Member
    Dog’s Bollocks – Awesome
  • DalekBrittany
    DalekBrittany Posts: 1,748 Member
    Haven't read the whole thing, so pardon any repeats. I grew up down south with a mom from Texas, who grew up in an Italian family. So here's what I heard growing up.

    "I can hear a rat piss on cotton a mile down the road." --don't bother being sneaky, 'cause I'm onto ya!
    "Just sit on your hands." --stop talking, or refrain from saying anything (because Italians can't talk without moving their hands, apparently.)
    "If Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."
    "Sweatin' like a *kitten* in church."
    "You couldn't hit the broad side of a barn."
    "Rode hard and hung up dry." --meaning exhausted
    "That makes as much sense as tits on a bull."
    "He's dumber than a turkey in a rainstorm." --people say turkeys always look up when it's raining and end up drowning...lol
    "We don't have a pot to piss in." --poor.
    "If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...it's probably a duck."
    "He didn't know whether to **** or go blind." --usually stopped there, and was assumed the other person knew the rest, which goes "so he winked his right eye and farted."
    "You can want in one hand and **** in the other...see which one fills up first."
    "I gotta piss like a racehorse."
    "Happier than a fat tick on a lazy dog."

    And finally, since I've written a book of all the gems I have heard, the creme de la creme:

    "I'm busier than a one-armed monkey with two peckers."
  • Pardyqueenxoxo
    Pardyqueenxoxo Posts: 218 Member
    Daft Cow – Idiot
  • Pardyqueenxoxo
    Pardyqueenxoxo Posts: 218 Member
    oh n last but not least......from me in the uk ....."Meat and Two Veg – Genitalia"
  • DalekBrittany
    DalekBrittany Posts: 1,748 Member
    Oh, and one more that my mom looooved to say: "What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?" which basically means, of what relevance is that.
  • wheresheidi
    wheresheidi Posts: 213
    Being from the South the number one saying is " Bless his heart" - person is beyond help basically stupid.
    then there's my Daddy's favorite - "That boy is crazier than a run over dog"
    "Haven't see you in a coons age" - long time since they've seen you
    We don't have taking the piss out of you we have "Slap the piss out of ya" which means basically that.

    Bollucks is my fav UK saying.:happy:
  • TubbsMcGee
    TubbsMcGee Posts: 1,058 Member
    I wanna see what Canadian people say....

    "f*ckig the dog" -- slacking off
  • LaLouve_RK
    LaLouve_RK Posts: 899 Member
    I wanna see what Canadian people say....

    "f*ckig the dog" -- slacking off
    See this one is use in QC "F ucker l'chien" but means also "it didnt went well"
  • sunman00
    sunman00 Posts: 872 Member
    when somebody's taking too long over a decision;

    "s**t or get off the pot"
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,228 Member
    Another saying from the deep south:

    "*kitten* fire and save damn matches" - Basically means "I'm fvcked" LOL!
  • Zalovar
    Zalovar Posts: 92 Member
    Seeing all these sayings reminded me of a couple.

    "I'm out like a one-legged kid at hopscotch" means I'm leaving - hopscotch is a kids game that requires two legs.
    "That deal is like a sore pecker, you can't beat it" My grandad used to say this all the time and made me laugh my *kitten* off everytime he did.
  • usernameMAMA
    usernameMAMA Posts: 681 Member
    USA- that makes about as much sense as a two peckered billy goat.
  • this1bigdog
    this1bigdog Posts: 350 Member
    US :"I'd take a b0ng hit from her @ss&quot;- She's hot
  • FettsLady
    FettsLady Posts: 82 Member
    When I went to England, everyone got a kick out of me saying Y'all - and guess what, 'y'all' can not be properly said with a British accent. Hilarious.
  • love love love this thread :love: :love: :love:

    thx for the laughs peeps :flowerforyou:
  • UnderCoverShyGirl
    UnderCoverShyGirl Posts: 254 Member
    Well i can't think of any funny sayings said here (US) or in the UK, but i do think UK beats the US hands down. I remember how witty their slogans were when i visited....a pub named "the slug and lettuce" or an outhouse company with the sign "We're number one for number twos!" on their truck...hilarious!
  • iamspdd
    iamspdd Posts: 134 Member
    "I have to pee like a rushing race horse." Means I have to use the bathroom really bad. Up until a few years ago I thought the phrase was, "I have to pee like a Russian race horse." It makes a lot more sense now.
  • fisher201257
    fisher201257 Posts: 2 Member
    How about "as much use as a chocolate fireguard" & her/his face looks like "he/she's been licking piss off a nettle"

    UK
  • mrsknotts
    mrsknotts Posts: 115
    One of my older co workers always said she was so busy she couldn't find her *kitten* with both hands....always made me laugh