words in england that mean something totally different in america!!
Replies
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Motorsheen wrote: ».... and memo to the Brits:
For God's sake, learn how to pronounce both: Aluminum & Vitamins
it's got to be embarrassing for all y'all.
If you would use our spelling of aluminium you guys would have no problem pronouncing it like we do.
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and whats the score with trying to cut your food up with a fork?? that baffles me - use a knife?0
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RunRutheeRun wrote: »and whats the score with trying to cut your food up with a fork?? that baffles me - use a knife?
We're lazy. Why dirty another dish if our fork will do the job?
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Restroom : toilet
don't get the 'rest' part.0 -
blueyandcrazee wrote: »Digestives are the best biscuits..theres never one at the bottom of my biscuit tin! The sugar free digestives in B&M are amazing and only 99p
Only if they're covered in chocolate
Can we all agree that "rich tea" biscuits are crap though?animatorswearbras wrote: »New Zealand we call an elevator a lift, like the Brits.
But we also use lift to mean to travel as a passenger in a car or other vehicle. It's a synonym to "ride"
"Can I get a lift to work?" "Sure, I'll pick you up"
"Do you need a ride?" "No, I'll get a lift with John"
Not sure of that usage is particular to NZ or NZ/OZ, or if it's a British thing too.
Anyone else use it???
Yeah same in Britain, getting a lift is also getting a ride too
Although 'getting a ride' can also mean something entirely different.....:):)
Hahaha!0 -
RunRutheeRun wrote: »Restroom : toilet
don't get the 'rest' part.
That was probably made up by one of those high society broads that thought saying toilet was just too disgusting for them. You know the type... the people that put emphasis on the wrong syllable of a word and keep their noses in the air.1 -
browneyedgirl749 wrote: »RunRutheeRun wrote: »and whats the score with trying to cut your food up with a fork?? that baffles me - use a knife?
We're lazy. Why dirty another dish if our fork will do the job?
Wait, what? That is bad, bad etiquette. The only things you can "cut" with a fork are omelette, quiche and cake. *shaking head in disbelief*2 -
MarcelloPasquale wrote: »browneyedgirl749 wrote: »RunRutheeRun wrote: »and whats the score with trying to cut your food up with a fork?? that baffles me - use a knife?
We're lazy. Why dirty another dish if our fork will do the job?
Wait, what? That is bad, bad etiquette. The only things you can "cut" with a fork are omelette, quiche and cake. *shaking head in disbelief*
I use my fork to cut my waffles and pancakes. Or a tender piece of meat.0 -
browneyedgirl749 wrote: »MarcelloPasquale wrote: »browneyedgirl749 wrote: »RunRutheeRun wrote: »and whats the score with trying to cut your food up with a fork?? that baffles me - use a knife?
We're lazy. Why dirty another dish if our fork will do the job?
Wait, what? That is bad, bad etiquette. The only things you can "cut" with a fork are omelette, quiche and cake. *shaking head in disbelief*
I use my fork to cut my waffles and pancakes. Or a tender piece of meat.
Waffle and pancake is acceptable, I guess. Meat? That's a no go.
OTO I heard that in the US people cut the food, then put down the knife and pass the fork to the dominant hand. Is that true?0 -
browneyedgirl749 wrote: »MarcelloPasquale wrote: »browneyedgirl749 wrote: »RunRutheeRun wrote: »and whats the score with trying to cut your food up with a fork?? that baffles me - use a knife?
We're lazy. Why dirty another dish if our fork will do the job?
Wait, what? That is bad, bad etiquette. The only things you can "cut" with a fork are omelette, quiche and cake. *shaking head in disbelief*
I use my fork to cut my waffles and pancakes. Or a tender piece of meat.
To be fair I only use a fork if I'm in an informal setting like at home and the food doesn't require a knife, most rice dishes fall into this category 0 -
MarcelloPasquale wrote: »browneyedgirl749 wrote: »MarcelloPasquale wrote: »browneyedgirl749 wrote: »RunRutheeRun wrote: »and whats the score with trying to cut your food up with a fork?? that baffles me - use a knife?
We're lazy. Why dirty another dish if our fork will do the job?
Wait, what? That is bad, bad etiquette. The only things you can "cut" with a fork are omelette, quiche and cake. *shaking head in disbelief*
I use my fork to cut my waffles and pancakes. Or a tender piece of meat.
Waffle and pancake is acceptable, I guess. Meat? That's a no go.
OTO I heard that in the US people cut the food, then put down the knife and pass the fork to the dominant hand. Is that true?
It depends on how comfortable that person is with cutting and holding a fork with either hand. I do it the way you described if I cut up all my food at one time. If I eat while I cut, I'll keep the fork in my right hand (I'm left handed) and eat what I just cut then cut my next piece.0 -
A few terms took me aback a bit. I worked for a time as a liaison with my counterparts in a British regiment while in Germany years ago (West Germany....)...and picked up some of the words. The only one that really continued to confuse, or rather startle me was "pissed". We yanks considered pissed to mean pissed off, or angry. To the Brits, it was drunk, intoxicated....Whenever asked if I was pissed, I would instinctively say that I had no reason to be pissed. lol0
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A few terms took me aback a bit. I worked for a time as a liaison with my counterparts in a British regiment while in Germany years ago (West Germany....)...and picked up some of the words. The only one that really continued to confuse, or rather startle me was "pissed". We yanks considered pissed to mean pissed off, or angry. To the Brits, it was drunk, intoxicated....Whenever asked if I was pissed, I would instinctively say that I had no reason to be pissed. lol
I've heard American's (myself included) say pissy drunk. Maybe we lost something in the translation 0 -
I worked as a barman on and off for over a decade. I remember an American couple came in and the wife asked for a Campari and soda. I poured her a measure of Campari topped up with soda water - turned out that this was definitely not what she wanted, she'd expected Sprite or 7Up (lemonade to us Brits).0
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nightengale7 wrote: »Snogging - in the States we call that making out or kissing.
Ring on the telly - in the States it's call on the phone
Digestive - cookie here in the US. I still think calling something as wonderful and delicious as a cookie a "digestive" is a travesty. That word makes me think of the actual act of digestion, which isn't appetizing at all, lol.
A digestive is a very specific biscuit made by McVities (Digestive_biscuit). Orginally when biscuits were invented they were made high in fibre to help with the gluttony of the rich, so they were actually for digestive purposes. The rest are just called biscuits.0 -
HeliumIsNoble wrote: »
That's true.major112714 wrote: »Someone told me you call cigarettes *kitten*. I just recently quit smoking. So I guess I no longer puff on *kitten*.
Before I got used to automatically recognising whether that one was being used in an American or British context, the famous Westboro Baptist Church placards always used to make me think of anti-smoking campaigns.
It also took me a few months to learn to never refer to cigarettes that way on American-dominated web forums.
And you're supposed to stick one in your gob.
To me (an American), a gob would be an icky glob full of something. Like, a gob full of styling gel.
I remember way back when I was quitting smoking, I was on a message board where there were yanks and Brits. One guy mentioned that he was tired of the look of a fa... sticking out of his gob. So we started a group, the Fa**less Gobs. It was tossed pretty quickly by the mods, LOL. We didn't mean anything judgmental, by far, it was just that we Americans thought it was so shocking-slash-funny, that particular word being used so freely (to us it would be very shocking/derogatory).0 -
stanmann571 wrote: »CoffeeAndContour wrote: »Bugger
I think the actual meaning of this is the same on both sides of the pond, it's just that Americans don't usually use it as an expletive.
I can think of another that has an extremely derogatory meaning in the U.S. but is slang in the UK for a cigarette. The original derogatory meaning was probably the same for both and referred to burning a certain segment of society during heretic burning times.
I've never heard an American use bugger, as an expletive or otherwise... unless they had had cross cultural exposure...
It's amusing that the MFP *kitten* filter doesn't pick it up...
Right. Exactly. (Although I have seen the word used descriptively if in hushed tones here for sure. It is just that, again, it is not as common ...we have other words and word combinations we would tend to use instead.)
OTOH many people do have cross-cultural exposure.
But even so, "bugger" would be the extreme rarity.
However, my point was that it actually is a word on this side of the pond which has exactly the same original (very graphic) meaning for both.
'Bugger' when used in the UK, (I say UK because I am from Scotland, not England), is quite commonly used. It's not classed as being 'extremely derogatory', far from it! In fact you tend to find that 'posh' people use the word bugger more often.
Oh and by the way, we don't drive on the 'wrong' side of the road, we drive on the left........
No, we don't consider it derogatory either (derogatory is more about insulting one particular group, and that just doesn't fit here), we consider it shocking (and it gives a visual of the act). Hence we really don't use it. I'm aware that Brits do not have the same view, which is why I brought it up. The fact that we use it and think of it so differently fits the idea of the thread. 0 -
stanmann571 wrote: »CoffeeAndContour wrote: »Bugger
I think the actual meaning of this is the same on both sides of the pond, it's just that Americans don't usually use it as an expletive.
I can think of another that has an extremely derogatory meaning in the U.S. but is slang in the UK for a cigarette. The original derogatory meaning was probably the same for both and referred to burning a certain segment of society during heretic burning times.
I've never heard an American use bugger, as an expletive or otherwise... unless they had had cross cultural exposure...
It's amusing that the MFP *kitten* filter doesn't pick it up...
Right. Exactly. (Although I have seen the word used descriptively if in hushed tones here for sure. It is just that, again, it is not as common ...we have other words and word combinations we would tend to use instead.)
OTOH many people do have cross-cultural exposure.
But even so, "bugger" would be the extreme rarity.
However, my point was that it actually is a word on this side of the pond which has exactly the same original (very graphic) meaning for both.
'Bugger' when used in the UK, (I say UK because I am from Scotland, not England), is quite commonly used. It's not classed as being 'extremely derogatory', far from it! In fact you tend to find that 'posh' people use the word bugger more often.
Oh and by the way, we don't drive on the 'wrong' side of the road, we drive on the left........
No, we don't consider it derogatory either (derogatory is more about insulting one particular group, and that just doesn't fit here), we consider it shocking (and it gives a visual of the act). Hence we really don't use it. I'm aware that Brits do not have the same view, which is why I brought it up. The fact that we use it and think of it so differently fits the idea of the thread.
Im american and I think a lot of americans get offended easily over words or stupid things compared to people in the UK. or at least thats what I have witnessed.0 -
CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »CoffeeAndContour wrote: »Bugger
I think the actual meaning of this is the same on both sides of the pond, it's just that Americans don't usually use it as an expletive.
I can think of another that has an extremely derogatory meaning in the U.S. but is slang in the UK for a cigarette. The original derogatory meaning was probably the same for both and referred to burning a certain segment of society during heretic burning times.
I've never heard an American use bugger, as an expletive or otherwise... unless they had had cross cultural exposure...
It's amusing that the MFP *kitten* filter doesn't pick it up...
Right. Exactly. (Although I have seen the word used descriptively if in hushed tones here for sure. It is just that, again, it is not as common ...we have other words and word combinations we would tend to use instead.)
OTOH many people do have cross-cultural exposure.
But even so, "bugger" would be the extreme rarity.
However, my point was that it actually is a word on this side of the pond which has exactly the same original (very graphic) meaning for both.
'Bugger' when used in the UK, (I say UK because I am from Scotland, not England), is quite commonly used. It's not classed as being 'extremely derogatory', far from it! In fact you tend to find that 'posh' people use the word bugger more often.
Oh and by the way, we don't drive on the 'wrong' side of the road, we drive on the left........
No, we don't consider it derogatory either (derogatory is more about insulting one particular group, and that just doesn't fit here), we consider it shocking (and it gives a visual of the act). Hence we really don't use it. I'm aware that Brits do not have the same view, which is why I brought it up. The fact that we use it and think of it so differently fits the idea of the thread.
Im american and I think a lot of americans get offended easily over words or stupid things compared to people in the UK. or at least thats what I have witnessed.
Yeah, good thing Brits are never offended by Yanks. LOL.
(ducking)
I kind of thought that was why you guys loved us...0 -
Yes rich tea are the worst..and does anybody remember Marie biscuits and thin arrowroot biscuits!..theyre awful..my mum always used to buy them!animatorswearbras wrote: »blueyandcrazee wrote: »Digestives are the best biscuits..theres never one at the bottom of my biscuit tin! The sugar free digestives in B&M are amazing and only 99p
Only if they're covered in chocolate Can we all agree that "rich tea" biscuits are crap though?animatorswearbras wrote: »New Zealand we call an elevator a lift, like the Brits.
But we also use lift to mean to travel as a passenger in a car or other vehicle. It's a synonym to "ride"
"Can I get a lift to work?" "Sure, I'll pick you up"
"Do you need a ride?" "No, I'll get a lift with John"
Not sure of that usage is particular to NZ or NZ/OZ, or if it's a British thing too.
Anyone else use it???
Yeah same in Britain, getting a lift is also getting a ride too
Although 'getting a ride' can also mean something entirely different.....:):)
Hahaha!
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CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »CoffeeAndContour wrote: »Bugger
I think the actual meaning of this is the same on both sides of the pond, it's just that Americans don't usually use it as an expletive.
I can think of another that has an extremely derogatory meaning in the U.S. but is slang in the UK for a cigarette. The original derogatory meaning was probably the same for both and referred to burning a certain segment of society during heretic burning times.
I've never heard an American use bugger, as an expletive or otherwise... unless they had had cross cultural exposure...
It's amusing that the MFP *kitten* filter doesn't pick it up...
Right. Exactly. (Although I have seen the word used descriptively if in hushed tones here for sure. It is just that, again, it is not as common ...we have other words and word combinations we would tend to use instead.)
OTOH many people do have cross-cultural exposure.
But even so, "bugger" would be the extreme rarity.
However, my point was that it actually is a word on this side of the pond which has exactly the same original (very graphic) meaning for both.
'Bugger' when used in the UK, (I say UK because I am from Scotland, not England), is quite commonly used. It's not classed as being 'extremely derogatory', far from it! In fact you tend to find that 'posh' people use the word bugger more often.
Oh and by the way, we don't drive on the 'wrong' side of the road, we drive on the left........
No, we don't consider it derogatory either (derogatory is more about insulting one particular group, and that just doesn't fit here), we consider it shocking (and it gives a visual of the act). Hence we really don't use it. I'm aware that Brits do not have the same view, which is why I brought it up. The fact that we use it and think of it so differently fits the idea of the thread.
Im american and I think a lot of americans get offended easily over words or stupid things compared to people in the UK. or at least thats what I have witnessed.
Yeah, good thing Brits are never offended by Yanks. LOL.
(ducking)
I kind of thought that was why you guys loved us...
lol see now yanks or yankees is a word for people from the eat coast usually those in the new england areas, I live in west virginia(Im from new england,Connecticut to be more exact) and people here are called rednecks(hick is derogatory),or southerners.0 -
CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »CoffeeAndContour wrote: »Bugger
I think the actual meaning of this is the same on both sides of the pond, it's just that Americans don't usually use it as an expletive.
I can think of another that has an extremely derogatory meaning in the U.S. but is slang in the UK for a cigarette. The original derogatory meaning was probably the same for both and referred to burning a certain segment of society during heretic burning times.
I've never heard an American use bugger, as an expletive or otherwise... unless they had had cross cultural exposure...
It's amusing that the MFP *kitten* filter doesn't pick it up...
Right. Exactly. (Although I have seen the word used descriptively if in hushed tones here for sure. It is just that, again, it is not as common ...we have other words and word combinations we would tend to use instead.)
OTOH many people do have cross-cultural exposure.
But even so, "bugger" would be the extreme rarity.
However, my point was that it actually is a word on this side of the pond which has exactly the same original (very graphic) meaning for both.
'Bugger' when used in the UK, (I say UK because I am from Scotland, not England), is quite commonly used. It's not classed as being 'extremely derogatory', far from it! In fact you tend to find that 'posh' people use the word bugger more often.
Oh and by the way, we don't drive on the 'wrong' side of the road, we drive on the left........
No, we don't consider it derogatory either (derogatory is more about insulting one particular group, and that just doesn't fit here), we consider it shocking (and it gives a visual of the act). Hence we really don't use it. I'm aware that Brits do not have the same view, which is why I brought it up. The fact that we use it and think of it so differently fits the idea of the thread.
Im american and I think a lot of americans get offended easily over words or stupid things compared to people in the UK. or at least thats what I have witnessed.
Yeah, good thing Brits are never offended by Yanks. LOL.
(ducking)
I kind of thought that was why you guys loved us...
lol see now yanks or yankees is a word for people from the eat coast usually those in the new england areas, I live in west virginia(Im from new england,Connecticut to be more exact) and people here are called rednecks(hick is derogatory),or southerners.
Yes...I'm from the northeast. However, British seem to universally call us yanks...which I don't mind at all and think is fun.
Both uses actually refer to the American Revolution (originally) so this one is an oldie but a goodie!1 -
We too have different names for people from different areas of England..londoners are cockney...liverpool are scousers(amongst other things!!) Newcastle are geordies. Birmingham are brummies etc..when I've been in america and they hear the English accent they always say 'are you from london'..not are you from England!1
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CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »CoffeeAndContour wrote: »Bugger
I think the actual meaning of this is the same on both sides of the pond, it's just that Americans don't usually use it as an expletive.
I can think of another that has an extremely derogatory meaning in the U.S. but is slang in the UK for a cigarette. The original derogatory meaning was probably the same for both and referred to burning a certain segment of society during heretic burning times.
I've never heard an American use bugger, as an expletive or otherwise... unless they had had cross cultural exposure...
It's amusing that the MFP *kitten* filter doesn't pick it up...
Right. Exactly. (Although I have seen the word used descriptively if in hushed tones here for sure. It is just that, again, it is not as common ...we have other words and word combinations we would tend to use instead.)
OTOH many people do have cross-cultural exposure.
But even so, "bugger" would be the extreme rarity.
However, my point was that it actually is a word on this side of the pond which has exactly the same original (very graphic) meaning for both.
'Bugger' when used in the UK, (I say UK because I am from Scotland, not England), is quite commonly used. It's not classed as being 'extremely derogatory', far from it! In fact you tend to find that 'posh' people use the word bugger more often.
Oh and by the way, we don't drive on the 'wrong' side of the road, we drive on the left........
No, we don't consider it derogatory either (derogatory is more about insulting one particular group, and that just doesn't fit here), we consider it shocking (and it gives a visual of the act). Hence we really don't use it. I'm aware that Brits do not have the same view, which is why I brought it up. The fact that we use it and think of it so differently fits the idea of the thread.
Im american and I think a lot of americans get offended easily over words or stupid things compared to people in the UK. or at least thats what I have witnessed.
not true.
post reported !2 -
blueyandcrazee wrote: »We too have different names for people from different areas of England..londoners are cockney...liverpool are scousers(amongst other things!!) Newcastle are geordies. Birmingham are brummies etc..when I've been in america and they hear the English accent they always say 'are you from london'..not are you from England!
I'm finding your thoughts on this thread fun and totally interesting!
Sorry to not be sarcastic there for a minute, LOL. Just wanted to let you know!0 -
Rubber
Actually had my boss from the UK as our office manager if she had a rubber he could borrow.... she lost it...
Rubber US = Condom
Rubber UK = Eraser3 -
blueyandcrazee wrote: »We too have different names for people from different areas of England..londoners are cockney...liverpool are scousers(amongst other things!!) Newcastle are geordies. Birmingham are brummies etc..when I've been in america and they hear the English accent they always say 'are you from london'..not are you from England!
I used to work with a girl from the Phillipenes whose duty it was to train the new waiters. So I ask what the new person is like and Josie said 'she's from your part of the world' ok, so she's English? Yes was the answer. So I meet the girl, she's Welsh, I go back to the Josie and say, btw, she's Welsh, not English. To which Josie told me 'it's all the same country' and I said no, it's a different country. I couldn't convince her it was a separate country - because the land is stuck together! (Even though she knew that France and Spain were both countries)
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rugratz2015 wrote: »
Yes, we'd also give people a 'lift', either in a car, or for a child we'd 'lift' them off the floor, or carry/hold them for a while.
Where in the world are you??
Birmingham England, but I now live in Ireland.0 -
Rubber
Actually had my boss from the UK as our office manager if she had a rubber he could borrow.... she lost it...
Rubber US = Condom
Rubber UK = Eraser
So THIS is why the teacher looked upset when I told him I was giving him a bunch of rubbers as an End of the Year gift.
Or maybe that was excitement?1 -
Yard. As far as I can tell, in America, it's your garden or lawn, generally small piece of land belonging to your house?
In the UK, the word yard isn't used much for land, except in compound words (backyard, scrapyard), but when it is, it is always a paved or gravelled space. Never a lawn, so you could never "mow a yard".
1
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