Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

[quote author=Maythe link=topic=758.msg12119#msg12119 date=1289508911]
You've got that the wrong way round... 'the dog's bollocks' means something's excellent i.e 'that gig was the dog's bollocks' Sometimes shortened to 'the DBs'. I hate that phrase. 'Bollocks' I use all the time.

I drop my tea. "Bollocks!"
David Cameron expresses concern for the poor. "Bollocks!"

So it can mean BS, or just be a simple swear word. Or you can 'bollocks it up' i.e make a mistake.
[/quote]

And don't forget the verb - to give someone a good bollocking!! (Meaning to give them a telling off, dressing down, etc.)

[thalassa]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

this is more about the differences in politics and other stuff...but I thought it was amusing

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-november-10-2010/british-news-crowndup?xrs=synd_facebook

[Maythe]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

[quote author=ThorsSon link=topic=758.msg11863#msg11863 date=1289467204]


Why is "bollocks" good, but "dog's bollocks" bad? But, if there isn't really an explanation, I can understand, since in the US, we have a similar paradox: saying "that is shit" is bad, while saying "that is the shit" is good.


[/quote]You've got that the wrong way round... 'the dog's bollocks' means something's excellent i.e 'that gig was the dog's bollocks' Sometimes shortened to 'the DBs'. I hate that phrase. 'Bollocks' I use all the time.

I drop my tea. "Bollocks!"
David Cameron expresses concern for the poor. "Bollocks!"

So it can mean BS, or just be a simple swear word. Or you can 'bollocks it up' i.e make a mistake.

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

[quote author=Sin link=topic=758.msg11904#msg11904 date=1289475434]

Oohh you don't live alllll that far away from me :P

I've noticed this since I started uni.. everyone is saying totally different words for different things according to their regional dialect.. like the other day we discussed sandwiches.. sarnies.. buttys.. baps.. whatever.. and it got really confusing.. and then this international student there just looked at us and said "I don't know what you are all saying" he looked so damn confused :P it's funny how we seem to have a need for all these different names for things :P
[/quote]

It can be very confusing indeed. One of my sons-in-law comes from outside the UK but he is now highly proficient in the use of the word 'Bollocks.'

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

[quote author=ChainLightning link=topic=758.msg11853#msg11853 date=1289465136]
What the heck is a bathroom? A restroom? A water closet? A rain locker with head? What?
[/quote]

Where I live, a bathroom is where the bath and the washbasin (and occasionally the toilet as well) are situated. A water closet is technically a tiny cubicle with just the toilet in it - that is why toilets were sometimes called the W.C.

The most popular name for the toilet in the UK is probably the loo, but there is also the bog, the oracle, and people have been known to say they are going to sit on the doughnut in Granny's Greenhouse....
[quote author=ThorsSon link=topic=758.msg11863#msg11863 date=1289467204]
something "right now," it means that they will do it immediately. Where I now live, on the southernmost tip of Texas, "right now," means "when I get around to it." When they intend "immediately," they say, "right now, right now."
[/quote]

In my part of the world we say 'I'll do it after.' After what? Good question. I think it just means 'I'll do it later. It causes a lot of confusion though. But that's Wenglish for you!



I have to say I don't know where the word 'fag' comes from for cigarettes, but it's very deeply entrenched. And of course we eat' means that something is good.
Another word for Bollocks is Cobblers, although there are never any Dog's Cobblers...

[Sin]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

[quote author=Tylluan Penry link=topic=758.msg11850#msg11850 date=1289464632]
In my part of the world (South East Wales) I think one equivalent of Holy Cow/Shit is Jeeeesus Nellie!

Something in the UK is that the dialect can vary wildly over a distance of twenty miles. Is that something that happens in the US too? Or are the distances much bigger?
Taps = faucet in US, yes?
[/quote]


Oohh you don't live alllll that far away from me :P

I've noticed this since I started uni.. everyone is saying totally different words for different things according to their regional dialect.. like the other day we discussed sandwiches.. sarnies.. buttys.. baps.. whatever.. and it got really confusing.. and then this international student there just looked at us and said "I don't know what you are all saying" he looked so damn confused :P it's funny how we seem to have a need for all these different names for things :P

[ThorsSon]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

I know that this doesn't have anything to do with the difference between US and UK English... but it does demonstrate one example of regional dialect differences within in the US.

Where I'm from, in the Panhandle of Texas, if someone tells you that they will do something "right now," it means that they will do it immediately. Where I now live, on the southernmost tip of Texas, "right now," means "when I get around to it." When they intend "immediately," they say, "right now, right now."

Needless to say, there have been many an occasion that I was frustrated by someone saying, "I will do that right now," and not moving from their spot.

Right now, means RIGHT NOW! grr.

Another one is the use of the word "barely." I don't know what it is about this part of the world, but proximity to the Rio Grande seems to change the definition of the word "barely" to "recently." If someone says "I barely arrived," they do not mean that there was some horrible accident that almost thwarted their arrival, but they mean, "I walked through the door moments ago." (This is a particular pet peeve of mine... one that I can barely tolerate.)

...

Now, on topic... I think that I might have had an epiphany a few days ago... but then, I may be way off. Does the British slang word for cigarettes, "fags" come from the original meaning of the word "fagot," being "bundle of sticks?" For some reason, upon seeing a pack of cigarettes, I thought "Oh, they look like a bundle of sticks! That must be why they call them that!"

Why is "bollocks" good, but "dog's bollocks" bad? But, if there isn't really an explanation, I can understand, since in the US, we have a similar paradox: saying "that is shit" is bad, while saying "that is the shit" is good.

... back off topic:
As far as room names, I have never been fully able to understand what the difference between a "den" and a "living room" is. The den and the living room are both rooms with comfortable places to sit and converse. In the last 50 or 60 years, one will probably have a television, while the other does not, and as such, it is the one that is used by the family, while the other is used while entertaining guests... but no one seems to agree which is the living room and which is the den... then, if you introduce family room, sitting room, parlor and such, my little brain just gets completely lost.

[ChainLightning]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

I love that! And yes, faucet = taps.

Dialects, here in the states, vary just as widely but in a much larger range, usually.

One [related] example that I've seen on the boards here is the "front room". Depending on where you're from, that room may be in the front of the house, the side, the back, upstairs or even down. And still called the "front room". To the Minnesotan in me, "you'd sit on a davenport, in the front room, with your guests," according to my grandmother. Which could mean "living room", "sitting room", reception room, among other things. The most recent additions to that "front room" list of synonyms have been [formal] dining room and 'family room'.

Which, in turn, just makes people's homes really, really confusing.

What the heck is a bathroom? A restroom? A water closet? A rain locker with head? What?

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

In my part of the world (South East Wales) I think one equivalent of Holy Cow/Shit is Jeeeesus Nellie!

Something in the UK is that the dialect can vary wildly over a distance of twenty miles. Is that something that happens in the US too? Or are the distances much bigger?

For example, when Mr Penry and I were first manacled together we came from communities about 25 miles apart. With the result that we used to misunderstand each other frequently. If I asked him 'Where is the tea towel' and he said 'In the kitchen' I thought he meant the place where the cooker and the sink live. No, he meant the back room. His equivalent of my kitchen was scullery. And if you ask someone where their cup is and they tell you it's in the bosh, you should be entitled to scream (bosh, by the way, was his word for the sink... the place with the taps....)

Taps = faucet in US, yes?

[Veronica]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

[quote author=Tylluan Penry link=topic=758.msg11725#msg11725 date=1289433335]
It's the same thing with 'bloody' a very popular UK swear word - comes originally from 'By our lady' - again basically an oath.
[/quote]

From allowing my little one to watch Harry Potter so much she now swears "bloody hell!!!" all the time. (Thanks Ron) Which isn't nearly as bad as "holy shit!" which she was saying waaaayyyyy to much. Still, it doesn't go over too well in some places. Pretty little girls using swear words is just frowned upon in Texas

I still snicker when she says it though.

We also use the term bum all the time because to me it sounds nicer than butt...

I LOVE watching BBC programs because there are so many colorful phrases that I would never have thought of using!

[Corvus]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

[quote author=B. de Corbin link=topic=758.msg11768#msg11768 date=1289439060]

Here's one for you, Tylluan:
If you come to America and you hear somebody shout "Holy Cow!" it does not indicate that he/she belongs to a particular religion. However, if somebody shouts "Holy Shit!" it does. Or maybe I have them backwards. I don't know. I went to a Catholic school and we didn't discuss religion much.
[/quote]

Many american christians (like my aunt)view shit as a swear word so if they say holy cow! They are either christian or heavily influenced by it or another abrahamic religeon. With holy shit it could be anything.....

[B. de Corbin]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

[quote author=Tylluan Penry link=topic=758.msg11725#msg11725 date=1289433335]
BTW - what do people call knickers in the US? (womens underwear...)
[/quote]

Jiggerstinkies, but that's just a family thing.

Generally, it depends on the exact breed of knickers - there's panties, g-strings, thongs, crotchless, edible... we Americans are sticklers for specifics when we're discussing women's undergarments.

Here's one for you, Tylluan:
If you come to America and you hear somebody shout "Holy Cow!" it does not indicate that he/she belongs to a particular religion. However, if somebody shouts "Holy Shit!" it does. Or maybe I have them backwards. I don't know. I went to a Catholic school and we didn't discuss religion much.

[volcaniclastic]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

[quote author=Tylluan Penry link=topic=758.msg11725#msg11725 date=1289433335]
It's a condensed version of 'God blind me' - a type of oath, basically, as in 'God blind me if I'm not telling the truth' ...only it went downhill a lot after that!

It's the same thing with 'bloody' a very popular UK swear word - comes originally from 'By our lady' - again basically an oath.

BTW - what do people call knickers in the US? (womens underwear...)
[/quote]

I never knew that about 'bloody'! Even *I* use that word (but I'm heavily influenced by British culture, having been there twice and dating an Englishman)

Knickers? We call 'em panties, or just underwear.

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

[quote author=volcaniclastic link=topic=758.msg11722#msg11722 date=1289433132]
What on earth does Cor blimey mean, Tylluan? I've had it explained several times, but I still don't get it.
[/quote]

It's a condensed version of 'God blind me' - a type of oath, basically, as in 'God blind me if I'm not telling the truth' ...only it went downhill a lot after that!

It's the same thing with 'bloody' a very popular UK swear word - comes originally from 'By our lady' - again basically an oath.

BTW - what do people call knickers in the US? (womens underwear...)

[volcaniclastic]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

[quote author=DanieMarie link=topic=758.msg11678#msg11678 date=1289426087]
LOL did I start that thread? It seems like something I'd start, or at least contribute to heavily but I can't remember.

I think I solved the "Pants vs. Trousers" debate! I was perfectly content with "We're both right, we just say it differently" and reverting to "hey unless you talk in Elizabethan dialect you don't have much of a leg to stand on!" But while in London I was told by my friend that "pants" is actually the old skool word and that it's kind of a hangover in North American dialect. So technically our version came first! Take that, English friends who claim that they "made up the language so UK English is the only correct version."
[/quote]

You are AWESOME for this!

[quote author=Medusa link=topic=758.msg11707#msg11707 date=1289432049]
Ask Dumuzi about the word 'colored'
[/quote]

I think I can answer this. We (caucasians) call them (everyone else) 'coloured' because their skin tone is darker than ours. They (Dumuzi) calls US coloured because we are blonde hair, blue eyes, green eyes, red hair, etc.

Am I right?

My question: What on earth does Cor blimey mean, Tylluan? I've had it explained several times, but I still don't get it.