Strange words to everyone....local to you!

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  • Ms_Natalie
    Ms_Natalie Posts: 1,030 Member
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    Ohh I know. "pants" to us in the US is what you would call "slacks", but you call underwear "pants". I always think that's funny. :smile: I mean for us, when we say pants, what must go through your minds. :smile:

    Indeedy! Yep...pants are underwear for men! lol...us women wear knickers!

    Do you remember when "fanny bags" came out in the US? Well, over here, we call them "Bumbags"! Fanny in the UK means a ladies private parts...it used to be a girls name, but that all changed a long time ago! lol :laugh:

    I use drawers for underwear, but pronounce it draaaws. I'm in Ohio and we use just the word pop for soda pop. I know when I lived in Louisianna all soda pop was called a coke.


    Pop over here is also any kind of soda and we just use coke for the coca cola variety!
  • Ms_Natalie
    Ms_Natalie Posts: 1,030 Member
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    Do you remember when "fanny bags" came out in the US? Well, over here, we call them "Bumbags"! Fanny in the UK means a ladies private parts...it used to be a girls name, but that all changed a long time ago! lol :laugh:


    When we came first came to Canada, my mum almost passed out the first time she heard someone on the telly say, "He slapped her in the fanny"!

    Hahaha :laugh:

    I can imagine :laugh: :laugh: :flowerforyou:
  • ladyofivy
    ladyofivy Posts: 648
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    Ohhh how about "sweet"?

    It's like saying something is really fantastic. "That's freakin' sweet!" Freakin' would be another word. It's the tamer version of f-ing, I suppose.

    I've heard kids, rather than saying "wicked", they say, "mad". "That's mad cool!"

    "Sick" is another one that comes to mind. I don't generally use it, but sometimes it's meant like saying something is just beyond astonishing. Men tend to use it more. Like if they describe a man who has an astonishing muscular physique, or an amazing tattoo. "Dude. That's sick."

    And, speaking of tattoos, the word for tattoo would be "ink". The verb of getting a tattoo would be "inked".

    How's that? :wink:
  • alantin
    alantin Posts: 621 Member
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    Doesn't "lush" usually refer to vegetation? As in "lush vegetation"?

    I'd love to contribute but all my local words are in a language that's not English.. :tongue:
  • Behavior_Modification
    Behavior_Modification Posts: 24,482 Member
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    Doesn't "lush" usually refer to vegetation? As in "lush vegetation"?

    I'd love to contribute but all my local words are in a language that's not English.. :tongue:

    Yes, lush describing vegetation is the correct way to use the word I think, not slang at all.
  • egbkid
    egbkid Posts: 164 Member
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    We call Post-It notes 'Stickies'.


    that is the only thing i can think of right now...i helped my sister move and start the unpacking process today, so tired. I willthink more tomorrow :- )
  • fmax46
    fmax46 Posts: 20
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    Grew up in scotland, lived in england, then moved to Canada. Some of the words that I've found confused people are:


    bunker - countertop
    messages - groceries
    plaster - band aid
    chemist - pharmacy
    boot - trunk of car

    to me lush means a drunk.
  • weaklink109
    weaklink109 Posts: 2,831 Member
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    Your reference to "boot" reminded me of another...

    In UK--"bonnet" refers to the hood of the car; In the US a "bonnet" is something that is worn on a lady's head. As in "In your Easter Bonnet...".etc.

    The meaning of words can differ within a country or a change over a generation as well. Think of....
    The change in the last 50 years over the meaning of "gay"--used to mean you were happy, as in "Don we now our Gay Apparel." Now it has a completely different meaning.

    A crib used to refer to something that a baby slept in, or a place that corn was stored. Now it is another word for where you live.
  • weaklink109
    weaklink109 Posts: 2,831 Member
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    Your reference to "boot" reminded me of another...

    In UK--"bonnet" refers to the hood of the car; In the US a "bonnet" is something that is worn on a lady's head. As in "In your Easter Bonnet...".etc.

    The meaning of words can differ within a country or a change over a generation as well. Think of....
    The change in the last 50 years over the meaning of "gay"--used to mean you were happy, as in "Don we now our Gay Apparel." Now it has a completely different meaning.

    A "crib" used to refer to something that a baby slept in, or a place that corn was stored. Now it is another word for where you live.
  • absofsteel
    absofsteel Posts: 48
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    I'm Irish so I won't even begin to start with all of the odd words and sayings that we use :tongue:

    We keep food in the kitchen 'press' where as in the UK it would be a kitchen 'cupboard' (which is being used more and more over here as well)

    I would be very used to the Welch words....I'm a 'Gavin and Stacey' fan I think its Lush !!!:wink:
    I do cringe when I hear Americans talking about someones fanny :embarassed:
  • dumb_blondes_rock
    dumb_blondes_rock Posts: 1,568 Member
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    I swear I have a language of my own because i abbreviate EVERYTHING(dont' know why me adn my friends do this) But I live in Cali, and we have some different words here.
    Stoked - excited - I was so stoked when i found out we were going to see britney spears in concert
    Gnarly - extreme- man i got a gnarly cut on my arm last week and it still hurts
    Growdy - Gross - That shirt is sooo growdy, take it off now
    Cool beans,coolio, or coolness - cool
    Toodles- goodbye
    Creeper - someone who creeps you out, or someone trying to *creep* into your pants - Omg did you see that creeper at the bar trying to make a move on me
    Late nigth creep - booty call
    cup of joe - coffee
    weave- for black people they think of fake hair being added in to the persons hair, white people call highlights a weave, cause you are weaving the comb through the hair.

    Some sayings i say are
    Silent as a bird(have no clue where that came from)
    skitters(diarrhea)
    champion(Omg I am the champion word abbreviator)
    Ultimate(Blue is the most ultimate color right now, i see everyone wearing it)
    Forshizzle,(for sure)
    Jizzam, or jam(omg this song is my JIZZ-AMMM!)
    Hizzeck(what the hizzeck is goin on, also abbreviate it to hizz)
    feezy(what the feezy happened to you last night, you never called me back)
    and i abbreviate vagina to vag all the time, and that is exactly what i call it. any other word for it grosses me out a little lol.
    I also call leftovers re-runs and thong undies butt flossers, tampons are called plugs

    I have many more, and at my salon, me and my best friend(who works with me) will be having a normal conversation and a client will bust up laughing saying how they think we are so funny cause we use weird words....but to us its like completely normal.
  • sbilyeu75
    sbilyeu75 Posts: 567 Member
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    I swear I have a language of my own because i abbreviate EVERYTHING(dont' know why me adn my friends do this) But I live in Cali, and we have some different words here.
    Stoked - excited - I was so stoked when i found out we were going to see britney spears in concert
    Gnarly - extreme- man i got a gnarly cut on my arm last week and it still hurts
    Growdy - Gross - That shirt is sooo growdy, take it off now
    Cool beans,coolio, or coolness - cool
    Toodles- goodbye
    Creeper - someone who creeps you out, or someone trying to *creep* into your pants - Omg did you see that creeper at the bar trying to make a move on me
    Late nigth creep - booty call
    cup of joe - coffee
    weave- for black people they think of fake hair being added in to the persons hair, white people call highlights a weave, cause you are weaving the comb through the hair.

    Some sayings i say are
    Silent as a bird(have no clue where that came from)
    skitters(diarrhea)
    champion(Omg I am the champion word abbreviator)
    Ultimate(Blue is the most ultimate color right now, i see everyone wearing it)
    Forshizzle,(for sure)
    Jizzam, or jam(omg this song is my JIZZ-AMMM!)
    Hizzeck(what the hizzeck is goin on, also abbreviate it to hizz)
    feezy(what the feezy happened to you last night, you never called me back)
    and i abbreviate vagina to vag all the time, and that is exactly what i call it. any other word for it grosses me out a little lol.
    I also call leftovers re-runs and thong undies butt flossers, tampons are called plugs

    I have many more, and at my salon, me and my best friend(who works with me) will be having a normal conversation and a client will bust up laughing saying how they think we are so funny cause we use weird words....but to us its like completely normal.

    I've never heard highlights being referred to as a weave.
  • dumb_blondes_rock
    dumb_blondes_rock Posts: 1,568 Member
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    oooooh yeah....at my shop we call it a one color or two or three color weave. And i grew up in a predominantly white town, with sojme mexicans too, so when i would hang around blackl people and i would say something like oh i'm getting my hair weaved with dark in it, they would always say "i thought you hair was real" and i had to explain that white people call highlights weaves haha. It's like how black people call it a perm when they straighten their hair, but white people call it a perm when you make it curly
  • jue1
    jue1 Posts: 38
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    Hi everyone, i'm in Liverpool England and we say ''Made up'' as in 'I am so made up you came' !! in other words really happy. Anyone else say this?? :happy:
  • takethepieces
    takethepieces Posts: 98
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    I love this post!

    I'm from Liverpool too, but have also lived in Wales and speak some Welsh. Lush is also used a lot in Newcastle (where I went to University). We use some odd words here in Liverpool, but I don't use slang too much.

    I watch a lot of American TV so I've understood most of the words here but do find a lot of things, like the use of 'fanny' quite amusing. Along those same lines things like 'knob' - to others it means door handle, in the UK it is often used to mean 'man parts'. My nephew watches so much American TV that he uses words like diapers, elavator and calls money dollars. My other sistser's daughter is 9 and obsessed with Hannah Montana and frequently referes to stuff as 's-weeeeeeeeet' and exclaims 'sweet nibblets!'

    When I moved to wales as a child my friends were confused by me refering to highlighters as illuminous colours because they said they were called 'flashy' colours. Pronunciation was a particular problem - my friend had her 'tuth brush' instead of 'tooth bursh'. I was also asked if I'd ever seen a tree before! One thing that amuses me about Liverpool is I often feel nostaligic when people refer to people in their family as, say, 'our sarah' .....like, 'have you seen our sarah' rather than just 'have you seen sarah' or 'my sister sarah'. I've never heard anyone else do this.
  • egbkid
    egbkid Posts: 164 Member
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    I am in New Brunswick, Canada, I noted before that we call Post-It notes 'Stickies', at least in all the offices i have worked in.

    Also we have Loonies and Twonies, which are one and two dollar coins. This is Canada wide, though.

    I hear people referring to their cigarettes as a 'Puff'.

    And our morning coffee is usually our 'Timmies' as in from Tim Hortons.

    My city has a lot of odd named areas:

    Most folks outside of Saint John would not know what you were referring to when told 'Lower West' and either 'Over East' or 'Over town'. Lower West being the residential part of the West side, and both Over East and Over town referring to the Eastern part of our city.

    Our downtown is called 'Uptown', no one really knows why, it has always been that way. Most theorize it is called Uptown because in order to get there, you have to go UP. Uptown is at the top of a hill, no matter which direction you come from.

    The stretch of Union Street from Crown St to Bayside Drive is simply called 'The Causeway'. Mostly because that is what it is. But officially on the map, it is Union Street.

    As for Lush....i always thought that it meant cheap drunk, as in someone who could easily get drunk off of only one or two drinks (like my mom, one shot of Crown Royal and she is done!)

    That is all i can think of for now...i might be back :-)
  • absofsteel
    absofsteel Posts: 48
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    A *kitten* is a cigarette here in Ireland, as in "I'm going outside for a *kitten*" and because of that sometimes a gay person can be refered to as a cigarette.
    I love the way my uk relatives refer to a family member as " our sarah" as mentioned before, I think it's sweet (as in cute)
  • sbilyeu75
    sbilyeu75 Posts: 567 Member
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    oooooh yeah....at my shop we call it a one color or two or three color weave. And i grew up in a predominantly white town, with sojme mexicans too, so when i would hang around blackl people and i would say something like oh i'm getting my hair weaved with dark in it, they would always say "i thought you hair was real" and i had to explain that white people call highlights weaves haha. It's like how black people call it a perm when they straighten their hair, but white people call it a perm when you make it curly

    I knew the perm. But the weave is definately new to me.
  • erica79
    erica79 Posts: 242 Member
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    love this post!
    my nephew just moved to MA from IA and we were talking about this yesterday. He didn't kow what a bubbler was (water fountain) and wicked as in "that's wicked awesome" is definetly a NEw England word but I heard someone from CA use it the other day. So its making its way around. It all started when my 7 year old pulled me aside and asked me what pop was. lol he had never heard it used for soda. Also the word grinder is used in New England a lot. It means submarine, sandwhich, hoagie etc. but here we just call them grinders.
  • weaklink109
    weaklink109 Posts: 2,831 Member
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    I live adjacent to Portland, Oregon. Simon Benson was a well-known citizen who paid to have water fountains installed throughout the downtown area, and "Benson Bubblers" are located throughout downtown. Also, we have "grinders" out here as well as "pop."

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