Question for UK members

The Wolf · Jan 10, 2008

Do you translate automatically from American to British when a Yank says "I went to a bar to show off my new pants and suspenders." or do you get an amusing visual.
Do you think "Arsenal" when someone here mentions football or do you know right away know he means Footbal with throwing and catching by all members?
Are there ever bits that you wonder what the heck the member means?

Sincerely,
The Wolf

Lucky Strike · Jan 10, 2008

The Wolf said:
Do you translate automatically from American to British when a Yank says "I went to a bar to show off my new pants and suspenders." or do you get an amusing visual.
Do you think "Arsenal" when someone here mentions football or do you know right away know he means Footbal with throwing and catching by all members?
Are there ever bits that you wonder what the heck the member means?

Sincerely,
The Wolf

I'm not British at all, but I grew up learning Brit English, and try to stick to it, for the sake of consistency.

I get amusing visuals.

sweetfrancaise · Jan 10, 2008

Well, I'm not British either. But when I talk to one of my closest friends who lives in Scotland, sometimes it takes us a while to get on the same page. The term "fanny pack" is a canyon apart from our usage (she calls it a bum bag), but for the sake of decency I'm not going to explain it.

lol

TheKitschGoth · Jan 10, 2008

The Wolf said:
Do you translate automatically from American to British when a Yank says "I went to a bar to show off my new pants and suspenders." or do you get an amusing visual.

I know what it means, but I get an amusing visual anyway. It's worse when I talk to some of my friends who used to live in the UK, but have been in Australia and America for the past 4-5 years. I'm still used to them talking about pants as underwear, and whenever they are over here they tend to get a lot of odd looks.

The Wolf said:
Do you think "Arsenal" when someone here mentions football or do you know right away know he means Footbal with throwing and catching by all members?

I always assume you mean proper football

You know, the kind where you use your feet.. lol

Sir RBH · Jan 10, 2008

The Wolf said:
Do you translate automatically from American to British when a Yank says "I went to a bar to show off my new pants and suspenders." or do you get an amusing visual.
Do you think "Arsenal" when someone here mentions football or do you know right away know he means Footbal with throwing and catching by all members?
Are there ever bits that you wonder what the heck the member means?

Sincerely,
The Wolf

What is it that they say, "England and America are two countries divided by a common language"

I think that sums it up doesn't it?!!

Grin

RBH

Paul · Jan 10, 2008

I am 100% British , and yes there are words which have different meaning between the UK/US but it is not so hard to figure out these days as they do make a move into every day speech more and more with forums like this and Internet shopping.

There are words used in the UK which I have not a clue what they mean and have to ask for an explanation.

Most likely to be from Wales and Scotland as they have there own language and sometimes come from that.

Some words are used in very rural parts that are from the Vikings and Romans and used locally again I would have to think twice about.

One that comes to mind is Spice = Sweets to me or Candy in the US

another would be High Tea from Scotland which means a early evening meal with meat and veg in Scotland where I live it would be sandwiches, cup tea and cakes a diferent meal.

Fleur De Guerre · Jan 10, 2008

I think these days we are so surrounded by US culture/TV etc, well, especially if you are active on the internet, that I don't really think twice about the meanings of most everyday words. But you do have a lot that did confuse me when I first heard/read them, such as Jumper for pinafore dress and Spackle which we just call filler, or by the brandname Polyfilla! Those are just two that sprung to mind, but there are loads more.

Spitfire · Jan 10, 2008

Cravat and the racecourse Ascot
Just to mention one here from the Lounge.

Senator Jack · Jan 10, 2008

Years ago, I had a first-time visitor from the U.K. stay with me and we were out on a drive. He suddenly started cracking up hysterically and told me to stop the car, that we had to turn back, and then digs out his camera because he wanted to get a picture of a store we had passed. I pull into the parking lot and he jumps out still laughing. He thought it wildly amusing that in America we had something called a 'tackle shop'.

Regards,
Senator Jack

Emmababy · Jan 10, 2008

Well he might have been a bit odd

but I think I speak for a lot of people when I say the word fanny floors us quite a bit. 'quit touching my fanny!'

Otherwise, I think we automatically know you're talking about american football for the reasons Fleur stated. It fascinates me a lot though, one of my best friends is from California and I think she gets more confused with my wording than I do with hers.

TheKitschGoth · Jan 10, 2008

Emmababy said:
Well he might have been a bit odd

but I think I speak for a lot of people when I say the word fanny floors us quite a bit. 'quit touching my fanny!'
Otherwise, I think we automatically know you're talking about american football for the reasons Fleur stated. It fascinates me a lot though, one of my best friends is from California and I think she gets more confused with my wording than I do with hers.

I think the UK is more exposed to American slang than the other way round.

To be fair, I get confused by northern UK slang more than US slang.

Fleur De Guerre · Jan 10, 2008

Senator Jack said:
Years ago, I had a first-time visitor from the U.K. stay with me and we were out on a drive. He suddenly started cracking up hysterically and told me to stop the car, that we had to turn back, and then digs out his camera because he wanted to get a picture of a store we had passed. I pull into the parking lot and he jumps out still laughing. He thought it wildly amusing that in America we had something called a 'tackle shop'.

Regards,
Senator Jack

He was definitely a bit odd. There's a tackle shop in my home town!

Tango Yankee · Jan 10, 2008

Looking at it from the other direction: my four years in England sure helps when it comes to understanding phrases in songs (a couple by Elton John and Robbie Williams come to mind) and it sure helped in getting some of the sly jokes in the Harry Potter series.

I sometimes have to explain things to my wife when we're watching "As Time Goes By" or other shows from the UK.

I've found that some English phrases and terms have cropped up in my own speech patterns. For some reason no one I talk to over here knew, for example, what I was talking about when I asked where the local tip was located.

Cheers,
Tom

Smithy · Jan 10, 2008

I must admit I've had a smile when you see in the Suits section some chap talking about how he's been wearing suspenders

Being from NZ I was brought up on British English spellings (and apart from the odd Kiwi one) meanings, so some Americanisms make me cock my ears. Personally I get very annoyed when using a computer that tries to correct my spelling to American English. Nothing against American English per se but it's not how I want to spell things.

On a different note, I find it fun but a bit weird when you get Americans using very un-American phrases and words. Back home I know an American who has lived in NZ for around 3 or 4 years and he has picked up saying "mate" a lot which always sounds very, very strange and amusing.

cherrypicker · Jan 10, 2008

I am now working with an American and we also hang out sometimes after work.It's all I can do to stop myself referring to the dustbin as the garbage or trash and saying "excuse me" instead of "sorry".

dhermann1 · Jan 10, 2008

The Brits will say "leapt" where we say "leaped", and other similar "pt" verb forms. Of course there's "Lorry" vs "Truck". Lorry sounds like a girl's name, right? The Brits use the word "lot" for all sorts of purposes, as in "You lot, get out of here", or "I'll hook up this lot". And the word "Brilliant" has really gotten out of hand over there in the same way "Awesome" has gone overboard here.
We've adopted the phrase "Gone missing" in the last few years. It's short and to the point. And in Britain you park the car in a "Car Park", as opposed to a "Parking Lot". But if you tell an American "I'll see you Tuesday week", he won't know what you mean.
One of the most amusing instances of Brit vs American usage confusion I ever saw was in a German made movie about 20 plus years ago, (possibly a Fassbender movie, I don't recall). It was set in post war Germany in 1945, and very drunk American soldier is on a train, going "Bloody this" and "Bloody that." The filmmaker obviously didn't understand that "Bloody" is a purely British expletive. The derivation of that term, by the way, is "By Our Lady", which in ancient times would have been a rather powerful oath. This is why the Brits look upon it as a very seriously naughty word, while Americans find it charmingly quaint.

Lucky Strike · Jan 10, 2008

dhermann1 said:
The derivation of that term, by the way, is "By Our Lady", which in ancient times would have been a rather powerful oath. This is why the Brits look upon it as a very seriously naughty word, while Americans find it charmingly quaint.

I didn't know that. Nice one.

TheKitschGoth · Jan 10, 2008

dhermann1 said:
This is why the Brits look upon it as a very seriously naughty word, while Americans find it charmingly quaint.

Actually, everyone here seems to view it as very tame. I think it barely counts as swearing now..

Fleur De Guerre · Jan 10, 2008

Yes indeed - it's the tamest "swear word" there is, you can hear it on TV at any time of the day. My parents have always said it in front of me even as a child, and I have only heard my Dad swear "properly" once, ever, when he was truly enraged. I don't think anyone really considers it to be offensive these days.

Smithy · Jan 10, 2008

Same as NZ, you see "bloody" everywhere and hear it everywhere. Nobody bats an eyelid with the word. Same with "bugger".

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