Questions about other countries than US

[elrohwen]

Date: 1/27/2010 4:15:05 PM
Author: Porridge
Nope, prawns and shrimp are similar, but not the exact same thing.

Same in the US. I''m assuming you call the big ugly ones prawns like we do? I don''t know how else to differentiate them from shrimp except they''re bigger and much uglier (usually eyes and feelers are left on when they''re served, while shrimp tend to be served peeled with no heads attached). Still delicious though!

 

[Delster]

Date: 1/25/2010 6:58:21 PM
Author: princesss

Wait, so is 'gaol' pronounced the same way 'jail' is? I've been struggling with that for YEARS!

They're pronounced the same way but I believe in the States they're not the same thing - as in local counties have gaols, but states have jails (penitentiaries). Over here the terms are interchangeable.

Date: 1/27/2010 1:16:00 PM
Author: Porridge
These are right, except flat doesn't mean house it means apartment, and bloody hell doesn't mean whatever, it's more of an exclamation like "oh christ" or something like that. Yes they are used in everyday speak. Some more are:
footpath or pavement for sidewalk
rubbish for trash
boot for trunk
jam for jelly
jelly for jello

I'm sure there are tons more but those are some.

Handbag = purse
Purse = wallet

Knickers = panties
Pants = slacks
Runners = sneakers / trainers
Jumpers = sweaters

Maths = math
College = school

Bonnet = hood (on a car I mean, not on your head!)
Lorry = truck
Turning circle = roundabout
Traffic lights = traffic signals
Petrol = gas

Curtains = drapes
Hoover = vacuum
Baking soda = baking powder
Baking powder = baking soda
Cushions = pillows (but pillows still = pillows

)
Duvet = comforter

Scones = biscuits
Biscuits = cookies
Fizzy drinks / pop = soda

Mobile = cellphone
"Ring me" = "call me"
"Pissed off" = "pissed"

Craic (pronounced 'crack'!) = fun

Bum bag = fanny pack

And related to that, we had an explanation of the meaning of the word 'fanny' on this side of the pond in another thread on here before - it's a mildly vulgar word for an extremely intimate female body part. So you can imagine the reaction when a native over here comes across an American talking about a 'fanny pack' for the first time!!!

By the same token, 'randy' means 'horny'. The fact that Randy is a perfectly acceptable first name in the States is a source of much amusement on this side of the pond. Oh and don't offer to give someone a ride over here. What you want to offer is a 'lift'. If you offer a ride you're offering rather a lot more than just a trip in a car...

Oh and when Americans say "I could care less" they actually mean they couldn't care less - very confusing when you first hear that one!

I'm sure there's more!!!

ETA - shrimp and prawns look the same to me but apparently shrimp are freshwater and prawns are marine, I had to look that up! We call the really big prawns either tiger prawns or Dublin Bay prawns

 

[Haven]

This is a very interesting thread!

A very close family friend of ours is British, and I love the way she says "tuck in" instead of "dig in" when she serves dinner. It sounds so much nicer to tuck than to dig.

 

[yssie]

Date: 1/27/2010 4:48:34 PM
Author: Delster

Date: 1/25/2010 6:58:21 PM
Author: princesss

Wait, so is 'gaol' pronounced the same way 'jail' is? I've been struggling with that for YEARS!

They're pronounced the same way but I believe in the States they're not the same thing - as in local counties have gaols, but states have jails (penitentiaries). Over here the terms are interchangeable.

Date: 1/27/2010 1:16:00 PM
Author: Porridge
These are right, except flat doesn't mean house it means apartment, and bloody hell doesn't mean whatever, it's more of an exclamation like 'oh christ' or something like that. Yes they are used in everyday speak. Some more are:
footpath or pavement for sidewalk
rubbish for trash
boot for trunk
jam for jelly
jelly for jello

I'm sure there are tons more but those are some.

Handbag = purse
Purse = wallet

Knickers = panties
Pants = slacks
Runners = sneakers / trainers
Jumpers = sweaters

Maths = math
College = school

Bonnet = hood (on a car I mean, not on your head!)
Lorry = truck
Turning circle = roundabout
Traffic lights = traffic signals
Petrol = gas

Curtains = drapes
Hoover = vacuum
Baking soda = baking powder
Baking powder = baking soda
Cushions = pillows (but pillows still = pillows

)
Duvet = comforter

Scones = biscuits
Biscuits = cookies
Fizzy drinks / pop = soda

Mobile = cellphone
'Ring me' = 'call me'
'Pissed off' = 'pissed'

Craic (pronounced 'crack'!) = fun

Bum bag = fanny pack

And related to that, we had an explanation of the meaning of the word 'fanny' on this side of the pond in another thread on here before - it's a mildly vulgar word for an extremely intimate female body part. So you can imagine the reaction when a native over here comes across an American talking about a 'fanny pack' for the first time!!!

By the same token, 'randy' means 'horny'. The fact that Randy is a perfectly acceptable first name in the States is a source of much amusement on this side of the pond. Oh and don't offer to give someone a ride over here. What you want to offer is a 'lift'. If you offer a ride you're offering rather a lot more than just a trip in a car...

Oh and when Americans say 'I could care less' they actually mean they couldn't care less - very confusing when you first hear that one!

I'm sure there's more!!!

ETA - shrimp and prawns look the same to me but apparently shrimp are freshwater and prawns are marine, I had to look that up! We call the really big prawns either tiger prawns or Dublin Bay prawns

I'm surprised to see how British I am, despite having lived in the US for almost a decade...

I guess some people just don't adapt!

 

[princesss]

Delster - thanks.

And I want to share something our UK PSers will get a kick out of.

In the US you can get vanity plates on your car - instead of the standard license plate, you can choose personalized ones that support causes, tell people what university you went to, etc. So in South Carolina, one of the plates you can choose says, "I''d rather be shaggin!" My family and I about died laughing the first time we saw it. Apparently there''s a dance called the Charleston Shag that''s the state dance of South Carolina, but that''s definitely not what we were thinking when we saw it!

(And for anybody that doesn''t know, "shag" = doing it - y''know, IT.)

 

[Porridge]

Date: 1/27/2010 5:11:21 PM
Author: princesss
Delster - thanks.


And I want to share something our UK PSers will get a kick out of.


In the US you can get vanity plates on your car - instead of the standard license plate, you can choose personalized ones that support causes, tell people what university you went to, etc. So in South Carolina, one of the plates you can choose says, ''I''d rather be shaggin!'' My family and I about died laughing the first time we saw it. Apparently there''s a dance called the Charleston Shag that''s the state dance of South Carolina, but that''s definitely not what we were thinking when we saw it!


(And for anybody that doesn''t know, ''shag'' = doing it - y''know, IT.)

hahahahaha!! Ooh I''ve seen some of those! Some of them are gas.

There''s another one! Gas=funny.

I thought of something else - I noticed in California that you flick the light switch up to turn it on, and down to turn it off. Is that the same all over the US? It''s the opposite here.

 

[elrohwen]

Date: 1/27/2010 5:29:59 PM
Author: Porridge
I thought of something else - I noticed in California that you flick the light switch up to turn it on, and down to turn it off. Is that the same all over the US? It's the opposite here.

Yeah, pretty much the same everywhere. My current place is weird - sometimes there are two light switches for one room and they point different directions. I want them to both point down when the light is off, but one always points up and it annoys me to no end. Lol.



Delster, I've never seen someone use "gaol" in the states at all. We have jails and prisons though - a jail is more small and local, while a prison is a big state penitentiary (though they can be interchangeable sometimes).

 

[Delster]

Date: 1/27/2010 5:00:29 PM
Author: yssie
I'm surprised to see how British I am, despite having lived in the US for almost a decade...

I guess some people just don't adapt!

Ha ha, I'm not even a Brit!!!

I'll add a few Hiberno-isms:

Undies = knickers = panties
Trousers = pants = slacks
Tackies = runners = sneakers / trainers (and that one's actually unique to just one particular part of the country!)
Geansaí (pronounced 'gan-zee') = jumper = sweater
Gúna (pronounced 'goona') = dress (the word just means 'dress' but people use it to mean a dress for a special occasion, as in, not just a dress, a gúna!)

Craic (pronounced 'crack'!) = fun
Ska (pronounced 'shhhka' - it's short for 'scandal') = gossip

'Calling dibs' = 'calling shotgun' (but it's applied to everything from the front passenger seat to the last biscuit!)

Delph = fine china
Tea = supper

'Mitching' = playing truant

Film = movie
Cinema = movie theatre

A 'bowsie' is a drunkard. 'Blackguard' is also still in regular use. Another disparaging term is to call someone a 'head-the-ball'. I have no idea the origins of these!

There's a whole selection of words that mean 'cool' - you'll regularly hear 'wicked' or 'class', less frequently words like 'stellar' or 'moon'

'Ye' and 'yis' are routinely used as the plural forms of 'you'. Sometimes you'll hear 'yous' as well.

People from the South say a 'puick' to mean 'a cold'. But it's a particular kind of cold - the kind you get when you go outside wearing next to nothing at the first sign of Summer and it's actually still a bit chilly and so you get cold. It's the kind of cold only an 'iontach' (= a fool) catches!

'C'mere to me' = 'listen to this'
'I amn't' is frequently used as an abbreviation rather than 'I'm not'
'Giving out' = scolding
To 'lamp' someone = to beat someone up

And Irish people genuinely do say things like 'ach, sure' and 'I do be here every day' and 'I'm only after having the dinner' and 'to be sure' or 'sure 'tis it is'. People also say 'yerra' which means absolutely nothing, it's a pure sentence filler! They'll say 'yerra, yes' or 'yerra, no'. I've no idea what the point of it is! Oh and I have never in my life heard anyone say 'top o' the mornin' to you'

Last thing that's a bit unique to our version of English I believe is the use of repetition to change the meaning of a word...

'going out' = going to the pub
'going out out' = going to the pub and clubbing too

'a smoke' = a cigarette
'a smoke smoke' = a joint/spliff

'were you with him' = did you kiss him?
'were you with him with him' = did you sleep with him?
(kissing is also referred to as 'shifting' - I'm showing my age with that one though, the young crowd say 'snogging')

And then..... there's the ubiquitous 'feck'. That word is used liberally all over the place as a commonly accepted substitue for the other four letter word starting with an f. You even hear it on the radio quite frequently. I've never heard it outside Ireland!

OK I could list more words and prhases off all night cos I love this stuff but I'd best not, so, I'm off to bed

 

[Delster]

Date: 1/27/2010 5:49:44 PM
Author: elrohwen

Date: 1/27/2010 5:29:59 PM

Author: Porridge

I thought of something else - I noticed in California that you flick the light switch up to turn it on, and down to turn it off. Is that the same all over the US? It''s the opposite here.

Yeah, pretty much the same everywhere. My current place is weird - sometimes there are two light switches for one room and they point different directions. I want them to both point down when the light is off, but one always points up and it annoys me to no end. Lol.




Delster, I''ve never seen someone use ''gaol'' in the states at all. We have jails and prisons though - a jail is more small and local, while a prison is a big state penitentiary (though they can be interchangeable sometimes).

I think originally jail and prison were the same thing but when ''jail'' replaced ''gaol'' in standardised spelling then ''jails'' became ''prisons''? I can''t remember where I read about this, wish I could. Of course, it could well be an urban myth and I''ve completely fallen for it...

 

[Porridge]

Jaysus Delster, even I haven''t heard of half of these! It''s mental the amount of Irish slang though - there''s books of it!

 

[elrohwen]

Date: 1/27/2010 5:53:09 PM
Author: Delster
'Ye' and 'yis' are routinely used as the plural forms of 'you'. Sometimes you'll hear 'yous' as well.

Some places in the US use 'yous' - typically Brooklyn/New Jersey. Mostly Italians, but I'm assuming it was originally brought over by Scots/Irish immigrants.

And in Pittsburgh, only Pittsburgh, they say 'yins'. Haha.

The plural form of you definitely came over from the Scottish and Irish settlers. I think it's cool that it's still in use over there (it's dying out here)

 

[elrohwen]

Oh, do you guys use ''red up'' for ''clean up''? As in ''red up your room, company''s coming over''. I''ve only ever heard this in Pittsburgh until reading Jane Eyre - so clearly it was in use back in the day in the British isles somewhere. Just wondering if it''s still used in Ireland or Scotland at all.

 

[Porridge]

Date: 1/27/2010 6:18:50 PM
Author: elrohwen
Oh, do you guys use 'red up' for 'clean up'? As in 'red up your room, company's coming over'. I've only ever heard this in Pittsburgh until reading Jane Eyre - so clearly it was in use back in the day in the British isles somewhere. Just wondering if it's still used in Ireland or Scotland at all.

I've never heard it Elrohwen!

ETA that's hilarious about the light switch pointing the wrong way. We have two for the upstairs landing, one upstairs and one downstairs. When they're not both pointing the right way I have to run up and down the stairs switching them on and off until they're going the right way again! Drives me cuckoo! I'm seriously considering twisty dimmer switches for all over my future house to avoid this!

 

[elrohwen]

Date: 1/27/2010 6:20:15 PM
Author: Porridge
ETA that''s hilarious about the light switch pointing the wrong way. We have two for the upstairs landing, one upstairs and one downstairs. When they''re not both pointing the right way I have to run up and down the stairs switching them on and off until they''re going the right way again! Drives me cuckoo! I''m seriously considering twisty dimmer switches for all over my future house to avoid this!

I always yell at DH for this. For a light in our stairway, there are 3 switches. I can make the upstairs and downstairs ones both point down when it''s off, but the one on the landing must point up. I''m ok with it pointing up because I never use it or look at it, but DH will use that one sometimes which throws off the upstairs and downstairs ones. Drives me batty (I''m pretty sure DH thinks I''m batty too!) and I have to run around changing them. Haha. Glad to know I''m not the only crazy one.

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

Date: 1/27/2010 6:18:50 PM
Author: elrohwen
Oh, do you guys use ''red up'' for ''clean up''? As in ''red up your room, company''s coming over''. I''ve only ever heard this in Pittsburgh until reading Jane Eyre - so clearly it was in use back in the day in the British isles somewhere. Just wondering if it''s still used in Ireland or Scotland at all.

It''s a term that comes from the coal mining industry in Scotland. My grandad was a miner and he''d use it in context of clearing out the coal bunker for a new delivery arriving.

I''ve never heard it used in the context of clearing up in a house, because it means clearing a rockfall or other rubble underground in a coal mine. A redding is a clearing of any sort, like in a quarry, or a forest.

 

[AGBF]

Date: 1/27/2010 4:48:34 PM
Author: Delster


They're pronounced the same way but I believe in the States they're not the same thing - as in local counties have gaols, but states have jails (penitentiaries). Over here the terms are interchangeable.

Are you saying that "over there" people now use the word, "jail" as well as the word, "gaol"? I didn't know that! When I was in high school (I had a classical prep school education for my day) I was taught a sturdy regime of English literature. I learned that "gaol" meant (and was pronounced like) "jail" in British English. I never since learned, however, that "jail" was now used in British English.

PS-Elrohwen is right that no American would ever use the word "gaol". If he was speaking, no one would hear it; if he was writing, it would look bizarre to American eyes and most people wouldn't know what the word meant or how it was pronounced!

AGBF

 

[elrohwen]

Date: 1/28/2010 4:04:00 AM
Author: Mrs Mitchell

Date: 1/27/2010 6:18:50 PM
Author: elrohwen
Oh, do you guys use ''red up'' for ''clean up''? As in ''red up your room, company''s coming over''. I''ve only ever heard this in Pittsburgh until reading Jane Eyre - so clearly it was in use back in the day in the British isles somewhere. Just wondering if it''s still used in Ireland or Scotland at all.

It''s a term that comes from the coal mining industry in Scotland. My grandad was a miner and he''d use it in context of clearing out the coal bunker for a new delivery arriving.

I''ve never heard it used in the context of clearing up in a house, because it means clearing a rockfall or other rubble underground in a coal mine. A redding is a clearing of any sort, like in a quarry, or a forest.

Awesome, thanks for having a great answer to my question! Pittsburgh used to be a huge coal mining area, so it makes total sense that that particular phrase would''ve come over and then morphed into other uses. It''s kind of dying out in Pittsburgh though - definitely something you parents or grandparents might say, but not many young people use it.

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

You''re very welcome!

It''s a word I haven''t head anyone under 90 use, but I do like it.

 

[Delster]

I never heard that phrase before! I''m going to use it on FI and see if it works...

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

Um, ok. I''m sure it will be very effective in getting the debris cleared from your coal mine after blasting, or if you have a rockfall.

 

[elrohwen]

Date: 1/27/2010 10:33:47 AM
Author: noelwr
and also checks. I remember I had a check book when living in New York in the late 90s and used it to pay my bills. we haven''t used checks in Holland since the early 90s.

noelwr, I just thought of you when I had to order checks this week with my married name on them. I use maybe 10 check a year and only in situations where they won''t take credit cards (and I typically don''t have enough cash to cover). Like the yearly tax on my car, for example, I have to pay with a check through the mail. Huge pain in the butt.

So I order new checks, and they send me 5 checkbooks!! Do they seriously think anybody will ever go through 5 books worth of checks? I''m probably going to move and have to order new ones with a new address long before I even get through the first one.