Strange American sayings from an English Perspective

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  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    Aw, Lord Byron hasn't weighed in on mine. :(
  • Fullsterkur_woman
    Fullsterkur_woman Posts: 2,712 Member
    They snicker at you if you order a "Scotch" in Scotland.
    Cheeky buggers.
    WTF would you order? Just "whisky", and it's assumed? Do you have to specify single-malt? Inquiring minds want to know!!
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Where are his parents from?

    It may be said other places, but it's most prevalant up North.
    All over (Navy brats). I lived up north (mid-west) until I was 8, so maybe it's a north-east thing. I definitely grew up saying "tennies" or "tennis shoes" (all one word, like "tenissues").

    Northeast and Midwest are TOTALLY different places, culturally speaking! I grew up in the Northeast (upstate NY).
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    They snicker at you if you order a "Scotch" in Scotland.
    Cheeky buggers.

    What do they call it over there? A whiskey?
  • pauldix
    pauldix Posts: 35 Member
    I'm still getting used to 'heads up' first heard in 'The West Wing'. Have heard it used this side of the pond but, like many imported Americanisms, in a slightly self-conscious way.
  • dejamos
    dejamos Posts: 53 Member
    I hate it when

    Now that's interesting, too.

    I thought Americans say "I hate when"?
    We say both, depending on the rest of the sentence.

    Oh, ok. Examples of each, please?
    I can't really think of anything off the top of my head. But I say both in conversation.

    Oh ok, no worries.

    Here's how this American uses them:
    Someone complains about something bad that happened to them: "Oh, I hate when that happens!"

    Someone consistently does something that bothers me: "I hate it when you do that."

    Of course, that might be just me.
  • Fullsterkur_woman
    Fullsterkur_woman Posts: 2,712 Member
    I have the same issue with dinner/supper. In some places I have lived you eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. In some others you eat breakfast, dinner and supper. In others you eat breakfast, lunch and supper.

    I get confused as to what I need to call each meal in conversations sometimes.
    Don't they say breakfast, dinner and supper in your neck of the woods? When I was a kid, the older lunch ladies would refer to our lunchboxes as "dinner pails". :laugh: I kept picturing slop buckets! And I remember "supper clubs" and having "supper" at grandma's house. Of course, we probably ate really late at those times, so that definitely makes it supper. When we ate at 5-6 o'clock, we probably called that "dinner", even if we ate dinner earlier at 12-1 o'clock.
  • BeachGingerOnTheRocks
    BeachGingerOnTheRocks Posts: 3,927 Member
    They snicker at you if you order a "Scotch" in Scotland.
    Cheeky buggers.

    What do they call it over there? A whiskey?

    You order by name.

    Lagavulin, neat.

    Or Glenmorangie, pronounced correctly or they beat you with a stick.
  • Pugwash4x4
    Pugwash4x4 Posts: 24 Member
    Fannypack

    The first part has a very very different meaning in England!
  • maddogg82
    maddogg82 Posts: 159 Member
    AAaa.. "Bless your heart!" gets me everyitime... I wanna laugh everytime someone says it to me.. IN THEIR FACE.. its like JUST SAY IT YOU FAKE B**&!.. just say im being an *kitten*..

    :grumble:
  • Fullsterkur_woman
    Fullsterkur_woman Posts: 2,712 Member
    Northeast and Midwest are TOTALLY different places, culturally speaking! I grew up in the Northeast (upstate NY).
    That's gotta be it then! His grandpa's family is out of Buffalo, and it was kinda home base for a lot of years... Thank goodness I didn't pick that up the year I lived there!

    Here's one. Does anybody call that red stuff you put on pasta or the other stuff you put on french fries (or chips, if you prefer) "gravy"? I can't remember if that one came from WNY or Rhode Island...
  • Therealobi1
    Therealobi1 Posts: 3,262 Member
    Fannypack

    The first part has a very very different meaning in England!

    we used to call them bum bags when i was a teenager. not sure which one is worst.
  • Fullsterkur_woman
    Fullsterkur_woman Posts: 2,712 Member
    You order by name.

    Lagavulin, neat.

    Or Glenmorangie, pronounced correctly or they beat you with a stick.
    Oh, how I miss a good, peaty whisky. Neat, the way god intended. And I don't care what distillery.
  • tattygun
    tattygun Posts: 447 Member
    'Plead the fifth' I have had it explained to me but I always forget

    'Fanny pack'

    'Kebob'
  • parys1
    parys1 Posts: 2,072 Member
    Ok I'll concede
    on the math question, but come on they ain't sneakers they're TRAINERS

    Nope. I'm Canadian and I call them runners.:flowerforyou:

    On the EastCoast we call em "kicks"

    Heh. I think of "kicks" the same as "jollies". "More power to ya, if that's how you get your kicks." when speaking to someone about some weird habit they have.
  • Fullsterkur_woman
    Fullsterkur_woman Posts: 2,712 Member
    'Plead the fifth' I have had it explained to me but I always forget

    'Fanny pack'

    'Kebob'
    What do you call it then, if not "kebab"?
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Northeast and Midwest are TOTALLY different places, culturally speaking! I grew up in the Northeast (upstate NY).
    That's gotta be it then! His grandpa's family is out of Buffalo, and it was kinda home base for a lot of years... Thank goodness I didn't pick that up the year I lived there!

    Here's one. Does anybody call that red stuff you put on pasta or the other stuff you put on french fries (or chips, if you prefer) "gravy"? I can't remember if that one came from WNY or Rhode Island...
    My parents grew up in Buffalo and say sneakers.

    We put ketchup on our fries.
  • Kimdbro
    Kimdbro Posts: 922 Member
    I was watching House Hunters International one time, and the buyers kept saying they wanted a really big garden for their kids to play in. I was like "Why would they want their kids to play in a garden? Aren't they afraid they will mess up all their plants and flowers?" Hahaha

    LMAO!!! Saw the same episode and thought the SAME thing!!
  • cmcollins001
    cmcollins001 Posts: 3,472 Member
    When you stop calling it a "bonnet" and start calling it a "hood"...AND...when you start driving on the right side of the road, then you can start correcting us.
  • Fullsterkur_woman
    Fullsterkur_woman Posts: 2,712 Member
    We put ketchup on our fries.
    Vinegar is another popular option, or at least was when I lived there.

    "Gravy" must be those wacky Rhode Islanders, then. They also drink "coffee milk", so whaddaya gonna do...?
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    'Plead the fifth' I have had it explained to me but I always forget

    'Fanny pack'

    'Kebob'

    Plead the fifth: generally means that I choose not to say anything to incriminate myself. Refers to the 5th amendment of the constitution. It says that a defendant does not have to take the stand in a court of law in his own defense.
  • Alluminati
    Alluminati Posts: 6,208 Member
    Northeast and Midwest are TOTALLY different places, culturally speaking! I grew up in the Northeast (upstate NY).
    That's gotta be it then! His grandpa's family is out of Buffalo, and it was kinda home base for a lot of years... Thank goodness I didn't pick that up the year I lived there!

    Here's one. Does anybody call that red stuff you put on pasta or the other stuff you put on french fries (or chips, if you prefer) "gravy"? I can't remember if that one came from WNY or Rhode Island...
    LOL. I had two Italian friends who had an argument over this. The one from NJ called it gravy, the other from Virginia said calling it gravy was lame and not really Italian. It's supposed to be called sauce or marinara. I called it delicious.
  • dirty_dirty_eater
    dirty_dirty_eater Posts: 574 Member
    They snicker at you if you order a "Scotch" in Scotland.
    Cheeky buggers.
    WTF would you order? Just "whisky", and it's assumed? Do you have to specify single-malt? Inquiring minds want to know!!

    I was told to ask nicely for whiskey and if I were judged worthy, I'd be given the good stuff. If not, I'd be overcharged for the low end.
  • Liss_Bee
    Liss_Bee Posts: 187 Member
    they ain't sneakers they're TRAINERS

    I sometimes stumble when tryin gto figure out what to call those. I've lived in places where they have been called, gym Shoes, Tennis Shoes, sneakers, tennies, athletic shoes and trainers.

    I have the same issue with dinner/supper. In some places I have lived you eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. In some others you eat breakfast, dinner and supper. In others you eat breakfast, lunch and supper.

    I get confused as to what I need to call each meal in conversations sometimes.



    I call them tennis shoes... It's breakfast, lunch and dinner. But here in the wonderful Midwest, the farm folk call it supper. They also call a drive way a "Lane road" and add an r to wash. WTH is that about?
  • JoelleAnn78
    JoelleAnn78 Posts: 1,492 Member
    Forgot to add....

    "That'll go over like a fart in church..." This might be my favorite.
  • SpeSHul_SnoflEHk
    SpeSHul_SnoflEHk Posts: 6,256 Member
    'Plead the fifth' I have had it explained to me but I always forget

    'Fanny pack'

    'Kebob'
    What do you call it then, if not "kebab"?

    skewered meat and vegetables? Just guessing.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    When you stop calling it a "bonnet" and start calling it a "hood"...AND...when you start driving on the right side of the road, then you can start correcting us.

    Um, no correcting is really going on. Just lighthearted discussions. :-)
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    'Plead the fifth' I have had it explained to me but I always forget
    The Fifth Amendment is the right not to incrimiate onesself. So, in the legal sense, if you get put on the stand on court under oath to testify and what you have to say would incrimate you in a crime, you "plead the Fifth" instead of testifying.

    We use it in casual conversation mostly joking around.
  • AmyP619
    AmyP619 Posts: 1,137 Member
    Ok I'll concede
    on the math question, but come on they ain't sneakers they're TRAINERS

    Nope. I'm Canadian and I call them runners.:flowerforyou:

    On the EastCoast we call em "kicks"

    I'm in Maine. They're called sneakers. Lol
  • smesche
    smesche Posts: 234 Member
    Ok I'll concede
    on the math question, but come on they ain't sneakers they're TRAINERS

    Nope. I'm Canadian and I call them runners.:flowerforyou:

    On the EastCoast we call em "kicks"

    I'm in Maine. They're called sneakers. Lol

    Maryland here and I call them tennis shoes. I don't think I have ever called them sneakers or kicks.

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