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US vs the world - Slang & Expressions


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Posted

I don't blame you. From what I have read, prions are pretty indestructable. I hadn't thought about that issue. I wonder if my cousin will serve it? Do most people eat it, or not?

 

We call waterproof boots that are soft enough to be pulled over a shoe "galoshes", I believe you call them "rubbers" - if I'm not mistaken, you call the correction tool on the back end of a pencil a "rubber" also - we call it an eraser. In America, a "rubber" is slang for a condom.

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Posted

AHH. the innuendos. love it. There was one time when out chemistry teacher was showing us how to do a titration. and he said to use the stronger hand to shake the flask. and while he was saying that, the stuff inside turned white. I WAS CRACKING UP..

Posted

lol. I'd really like to know what non-american's say when they're impersonating americans.

 

For example, when we imitate australians we say: "G'Day Mate!", and imitating british we usually mention "bloody", "queen", "crumpets", etc.

Posted

Remember Bob Hoskins from Who Framed Roger Rabbit? I didn't know his normal accent is British until I saw him do Hook (I thought he was putting it on).

 

I think it's what accent you hear them use first that gets fixed in your mind. When Jane Leeves (she played Daphne Moon in Frasier), who was raised in Sussex, did her American accent on the show it was hilarious, and as they say, spot on.

 

Do you UKers think it weird or funny when an American actor does a British accent? Who's got the best, who's got the worst?

Posted

Fanny in the uk is a reference to a females genitals. I figured out what the american understanding of the word was watching american tv shows but not before a lot amusement and confusion. What about spend a penny. I worked with a guy who moved to canada for a while, he was a mechanic and he had to relearn all the names for the parts on a car.

Posted

Our PBS started carrying "BritComs" several years. In the opening there is the voice of the lift operator describing what is on each floor - it came out garbled, but one thing sounded like "pecuniaries" what the heck are they?

 

How did the expression "Bloody" originate?

 

Speaking of innuendo - that show was full of it - especially regarding Ms.

Slocum and her pussy.

Posted

I think you probably heard 'Perfumery'.

 

I'm not sure where the expression 'bloody' originated, probably from the church's description of a bloody hell to which sinners are bound to end up. Dante's Inferno, John Milton's Paradise Lost and all that lot. We like our blasfamous curses over here.

Posted
lol. I'd really like to know what non-american's say when they're impersonating americans.

 

For example' date=' when we imitate australians we say: "G'Day Mate!", and imitating british we usually mention "bloody", "queen", "crumpets", etc.[/quote']

 

I'm sorry, but you simply can't imitate the British without using the words "indeed" and "quite". Nobody can do those like the British.

Posted

this is jolly good fun, is it not? ;)

 

I keep hearing Brits referring to "caravans" - to us that is a line of camels going across sand dunes. I think you are referring to what we call "RV"s - recreational vehicles, but maybe you are referring to "trailers" or "mobile homes" as depicted in this site:

http://www.drbukk.com/gmhom/park.html :D

Posted
I'm sorry, but you simply can't imitate the British without using the words "indeed" and "quite". Nobody can do those like the British.

Or the word 'simply', apparantly :)

 

Do you UKers think it weird or funny when an American actor does a British accent? Who's got the best, who's got the worst?

 

I think it's pretty much universally agreed in the UK that the worst attempt at a British accent was provided by Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins. I've heard one or two US actors/actresses do brilliant UK accents though.

Posted

I think it's what accent you hear them use first that gets fixed in your mind. When Jane Leeves (she played Daphne Moon in Frasier)' date=' who was raised in Sussex, did her American accent on the show it was hilarious, and as they say, spot on.

 

Do you UKers think it weird or funny when an American actor does a British accent? Who's got the best, who's got the worst?[/quote']

 

Funny thing, Jane Leeves has an awful English accent in Frasier. The producers made her adopt some sort of London/Manchester/loony accent, to make her sound more 'English'.

 

Kevin Spacey does a perfect English accent. But then, he does own the Old Vic.

Posted
Funny thing, Jane Leeves has an awful English accent in Frasier. The producers made her adopt some sort of London/Manchester/loony accent, to make her sound more 'English'.
Which is weird because her normal accent is even sexier, imo. I guess they wanted cute/loony, not sexy. Personally, I think the producers/directors made many bad choices concerning Daphne Moon, particularly about having her character take up binge eating to cover Jane Leeves' pregnancy. Clever at the time, maybe, but in hindsight some of the worst shows I've ever seen.

 

Earlier, blike asked what words or phrases might be associated with Americans when someone was attempting our accent. I'm curious also. Jane Leeves used the word "sure" a lot. Are their others?

Posted
Which is weird because her normal accent is even sexier' date=' imo. I guess they wanted cute/loony, not sexy. Personally, I think the producers/directors made many bad choices concerning Daphne Moon, particularly about having her character take up binge eating to cover Jane Leeves' pregnancy. Clever at the time, maybe, but in hindsight some of the worst shows I've ever seen.

[/quote']

 

She put on a fake Manchester accent. The stranger thing is that she was coached to do the Manchester accent by the actor who plays Frasier's Dad in the show - who is apparently from Machester. I find his American accent pretty convincing....

 

The classic way fro a Brit to clear an American cafe is to declare in a loud voice: 'I really need to smoke a fag!'.

Posted

lol. Anytime anyone says "Yeeeee-ha" it's because they're mocking old western films. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say "Yeeeeee-ha" as a serious gesture.

 

ya bloody brits. aye, crumpets, tea, and the queen!

Posted

Audrey Hepburn played Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady opposite Rex Harrison. Hepburn was a native of Brussels and moved to London after the war, so English was not her native tongue.

 

How does her Cockney accent compare to the real thing? How about her refined accent?

Posted
lol. Anytime anyone says "Yeeeee-ha" it's because they're mocking old western films. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say "Yeeeeee-ha" as a serious gesture.

 

ya bloody brits. aye' date=' crumpets, tea, and the queen![/quote']

 

Quite.

 

:P

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