US vs the world - Slang & Expressions

[coquina]

Post your favorite expressions that have caused international confusion.

 

The cousin whom I am about to visit is a clone of Hyacinthe on "Keeping Up Appearances". (and you ask why I am only staying a week).

 

One time when I had broken my hand, she sent me a note in which she told me to "Keep my pecker up." I couldn't believe what I was reading from Miss Prim and Proper, 'cause in American slang a "pecker" refers to a strictly male appendage, located below the waist. I wrote her back and said, "Sheesh Liz, I would if I had one."

 

She was quick to inform me that in England, it refers to one's chin.

 

Anybody got any others to contribute?

[Dave]

I was quite embaressed when an American person I know asked if I knew where to get good pants from.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

I think it would be nicer if you explained what it meant... I don't know all of the slang.

 

How about boot and bonnet? That confused me for a while...

[Dave]

"pants" over here means "underwear", "boxers", etc.

[coquina]

From "Are you being served?" Did you think he was refering to "Y fronts" or something worse?

 

Let's see, we wear panty hose, English women wear tights. We wear "sweaters", you call them "jumpers", here a "jumper" is a skirt with a bib and straps, under which one wears a blouse.

 

I love your expression for what we call a "speed bump" - a "sleeping policeman".

[Dave]

Oh, they've called them all sorts over here. Sleeping policemen, safety bumps (that annoys me), road trafficing measures, etc. Just as annoying

 

Other ones: what you call fries, we call chips (obvious one). Can't think of any more off the top of my head.

[coquina]

We put in "drainage tiles" to carry away excess water, you call them "weepers".

 

We turn on the outside spigot to water our yard. You turn on the hosepipe to water your garden.

 

It seems to me that you have another name for what we call "athletic shoes", "tennis shoes", or more generically, "sneakers". Nike makes 'em.

 

Oh - this one is funny! When my cousin visited she told my husband and me that she was going to make us a dinner of "beefsteak and Yorkshire Pudding".

 

To us, pudding is this gloppy stuff made from milk that comes in chocolate, vanilla, and butterscotch. We couldn't imagine why someone would serve that with beefsteak. My husband was a big fan of any kind of bread, so he quickly changed his opinion of Yorkshire Pudding. My cousin had to teach me to make it so I could fix it for him.

[bloodhound]

first of all . FAnny is very rude. and it does NOT mean womans back side.

 

Its quite funnt, when someone name is Randy

 

"Hi, I am Randy" would sound so weird.

[bloodhound]

and apparently to table something has differnt meanings in US and UK

 

the british and american generals and problems communicating during the war

 

 

FAG also means a ciggy by the way.

[Dave]

Ah yes, good old Yorkshire Pudding. I still don't know why they call it a pudding over here

[coquina]

So, I guess I better not refer to that little pouch that I wear on the backside of my waist as a "fannypack" huh? Thanks for the heads up.

 

Along those lines, one of my friends was visiting England and was expecting a visitor. The person told her he would "knock her up" at 6pm. She was absolutely floored. Here it refers to a man making a woman pregnant.

[Sayonara]

We put in "drainage tiles" to carry away excess water, you call them "weepers".

Never heard of weepers.

 

 

It seems to me that you have another name for what we call "athletic shoes", "tennis shoes", or more generically, "sneakers". Nike makes 'em.

We call them trainers (or athletic shoes, running shoes etc, if they have a specific sporting purpose).

 

 

Oh - this one is funny! When my cousin visited she told my husband and me that she was going to make us a dinner of "beefsteak and Yorkshire Pudding".

Usually a pudding is a dessert over here - sponge or gloppy stuff. Yorkshire puddings and steak and kidney puddings are so named because of the shape of the thing they are cooked in.

[Phi for All]

Not sure if this is Australian or British, but I remember a story about an American mentioning that his sister would be visiting "over there", and his foreign acquaintance saying, "Oh, I'll be sure to 'knock her up'", which means get her pregnant in the States.

 

*edit* Sorry, didn't see the last bit in post #11. Too busy laughing about the fannypack remark, I guess. Can you tell us what fanny means in the UK, without being too graphic?

[coquina]

You mean a "steak and kidney pudding" doesn't have kidney in it?

 

Here, we say we eat everything from a pig but its squeal.

Some people think "mountain oysters" are a real delicacy. Only male pigs have them, and they come in pairs.

 

What about "sweetbreads", sounds yummy, but its actually the pancreas.

[Sayonara]

You mean a "steak and kidney pudding" doesn't have kidney in it?

No, it does. It's steak, kidney, gravy - all steamed in a pudding-shaped pastry shell.

 

Sounds worse than it really is

[Dave]

I can't stand it. But then again, I don't eat beef so I wouldn't really like it anyway.

[coquina]

Do you not eat beef because of BSE or because it is high in cholesterol?

 

My husband used to want it every night - along with bread, potatoes, & real butter. His theme song was "I don't believe in cholesterol." I wonder if he believes in it now?

 

My favorite Brit joke -

 

During WWII a war-weary Yank had R&R and was on a crowded train. He walked up and down looking for a place to sit. The only possibility was one spot occupied by an elderly woman - her dog was sitting on the seat beside her. The soldier asked her if she would mind putting the dog on the floor, so he could sit. She accused him of being rude.

 

He walked up and down the train again, and eventually came back to where the woman was sitting. He said, "Madam, if you'll let me sit down, I'll hold your dog in my lap. I like dogs, I have one at home." The woman said, "You're not only rude, you're arrogant to think I would allow you to hold my dog."

 

The soldier was at the end of his rope, and he picked up the dog, threw it out the train window, and sat down.

 

A gentleman sitting across the way lowered his newspaper and looked over his glasses, saying, "You know, you Yanks do everything backwards. You eat with the wrong hand, you drive on the wrong side of the road, and you've just thrown the wrong bitch out the window!"

 

You say "perambulator" or "pram" - we say "baby carriage".

 

What do you call a coat that is impervious to water? We call it a "raincoat" - seems to me I've heard my cousin call it something else.

[coquina]

How do you clean a kidney? It seems to me it would taste like pi$$.

 

'course, who am I to talk? Some folks here eat "chitterlings" - fried pigs' intestines, and "cracklin's" fried pig fat, and "pickled pigs feet". Not me, mind you...

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Why eat another animal's poison filter?

[coquina]

The same reason we eat liver and onions, I suppose.

[YT2095]

there`s a few notable differences, FAG for instance means a cigarette here in the UK.

 

Lift and Elevator too.

 

here we take the word "Bum" to mean your posterior (rear end), in the US it means to scrounge or ask for.

 

so basicly if you`re caught bumming a fag in a lift, you`ll get strange looks from the people in the lobby!

[blike]

we also use bum to refer to homeless people.

 

"Can you bum me a dollar?"

"watch out for teh bums!"

[Fellowes]

Mhm

[Fellowes]

Do many people say 'eh' anywhere else other than Canada. Canucks are a hockey team located in wetsern Canada,,,,NOT the people in Canada.

[Dave]

Do you not eat beef because of BSE or because it is high in cholesterol?

 

Because of the BSE issue. I just don't trust British Beef anymore.