#285020 - 02/08/2006 13:54
Re: English vs American
[Re: Mataglap]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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snog = french kiss
skip = dumpster
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Bitt Faulk
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#285021 - 02/08/2006 13:58
Re: English vs American
[Re: wfaulk]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 14/01/2002
Posts: 2489
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I don't think I've used the word 'snog' after the age of 12! Its mostly kids that would use it (I think). I have no idea what I've call a french kiss nowadays :S
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#285022 - 02/08/2006 14:25
Re: English vs American
[Re: CrackersMcCheese]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 19/01/2002
Posts: 3582
Loc: Columbus, OH
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Another confusing one for Americans: trying to figure out the difference between a barrister, a solicitor or an advocate.
We just have lawyers (although attorney, counselor, or more rarely advocate are all synonyms).
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~ John
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#285024 - 02/08/2006 17:15
Re: English vs American
[Re: hybrid8]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Well, I didn't know another term beyond a desperately denotative one. Quote:
Coach: Yeah, I saw them smooching in the parking lot. I was putting up a notice there on the bulletin board.
Diane: With probing tongues?
Coach: No Diane, with a thumb tack and my thumb.
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Bitt Faulk
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#285025 - 02/08/2006 17:22
Re: English vs American
[Re: wfaulk]
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old hand
Registered: 14/04/2002
Posts: 1172
Loc: Hants, UK
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Quote:
Quote:
Coach: Yeah, I saw them smooching in the parking lot. I was putting up a notice there on the bulletin board.
Diane: With probing tongues?
Coach: No Diane, with a thumb tack and my thumb.
You have inadvertently mentioned another few differences:
notice board = bulletin board
drawing pin = thumb tack
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#285026 - 02/08/2006 17:33
Re: English vs American
[Re: g_attrill]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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How about push pin?
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Bitt Faulk
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#285027 - 02/08/2006 17:39
Re: English vs American
[Re: wfaulk]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 10/06/1999
Posts: 5914
Loc: Wivenhoe, Essex, UK
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Don't think I came across push pin until I saw it in mapping software.
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#285028 - 02/08/2006 17:52
Re: English vs American
[Re: andy]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 14/01/2002
Posts: 2489
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Taps vs faucet? Or do you US guys have taps too?
Oh.... and;
Torch = Flashlight
Rubbish = Trash (in terms of things that get thrown away)
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#285029 - 02/08/2006 18:06
Re: English vs American
[Re: CrackersMcCheese]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 25/08/2000
Posts: 2413
Loc: NH USA
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We have both taps and faucets. However, we also tap trees to get the sap out for maple syrup (the real kind).
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WWFSMD?
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#285030 - 02/08/2006 18:10
Re: English vs American
[Re: CrackersMcCheese]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Well, we have "tap water", and I've heard people refer to a "tap" as the source of water (as in "get some water from the tap"), but I've never heard anyone call a faucet a tap. A tap would be the thing from which you get beer out of the keg.
We also have spigots, but that's usually an exterior-wall-mounted faucet. Occasionally you hear "sillcock" as another name for a spigot. I believe that it's the more technically correct term.
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#285031 - 02/08/2006 18:32
Re: English vs American
[Re: wfaulk]
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enthusiast
Registered: 11/06/2003
Posts: 384
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Ha! Syncronicity: http://www.overheardintheoffice.com/archives/002582.htmlBritish employee: Well, this was supposed to be completed by now. It looks like it's gone all cock-up. American #1: What? British employee: I'm sorry, do you not have that phrase here? American #2: In America, you can't say cock like that. I shouldn't hear you say cock. American #1: We say fuck. Fucked up. British employee: Ok, how's this: Fuck off. 1 Corporate Drive Orangeburg, New York
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#285033 - 02/08/2006 23:10
Re: English vs American
[Re: furtive]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/12/2000
Posts: 2665
Loc: Manteca, California
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Sometimes words just don't register as anything but noise. I'm sure its not for the same reason but I'm finding more often, while watching Directv certain words just aren't understandable. Repeated replays don't seem to help.
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Glenn
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#285034 - 03/08/2006 02:08
Re: English vs American
[Re: Cybjorg]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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jimjams = pajamas
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Bitt Faulk
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#285035 - 03/08/2006 02:42
Re: English vs American
[Re: wfaulk]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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cheerio = ???
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Bitt Faulk
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#285036 - 03/08/2006 03:45
Re: English vs American
[Re: Cybjorg]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/07/1999
Posts: 5539
Loc: Ajijic, Mexico
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OK, I have to tell one of my favorite jokes here...
An Englishman visits his cousin in America, and among the places they go is a cannery where they are putting string beans in cans. The Englishman comments to the foreman about how impressive the whole operation is, and the foreman responds, "Well, you know how it goes -- we eat what we can, and what we can't eat, we can."
The Englishman laughs, and says he has got to remember to tell that story to the folks back home.
Sure enough, he lands back at Heathrow, and the first thing he says to the welcoming party is, [imagine this with an English accent, please!] "I heard the cleverest anecdote over in America. It seems that... umm, let me think, yes, got it! It seems they eat what they can, and what they can't eat, they put up in tins."
tanstaafl.
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"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"
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#285037 - 03/08/2006 06:37
Re: English vs American
[Re: tanstaafl.]
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addict
Registered: 23/12/2002
Posts: 652
Loc: Winston Salem, NC
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Clerks and cashiers in Britian greet customers with the phrase, "Can I help?", where in America, the phrase is, "Can I help you?"
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#285038 - 03/08/2006 13:06
Re: English vs American
[Re: Cybjorg]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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roundabout = traffic circle
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Bitt Faulk
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#285039 - 03/08/2006 13:30
Re: English vs American
[Re: wfaulk]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5680
Loc: London, UK
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Quote:
cheerio = ???
toodle-pip?
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-- roger
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#285040 - 03/08/2006 16:19
Re: English vs American
[Re: Roger]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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You have some strange ideas about what passes for American English, my friend.
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Bitt Faulk
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#285041 - 03/08/2006 16:36
Re: English vs American
[Re: wfaulk]
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old hand
Registered: 14/08/2001
Posts: 886
Loc: London, UK
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I'm sure there are about as many English people who say "cheerio" as there are Americans who say "tootle-pip"
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Mk2a RioCar 120Gb - now sold to the owner of my old car
Rio Karma - now on ebay...
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#285042 - 03/08/2006 16:42
Re: English vs American
[Re: furtive]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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I only really brought it up because I heard it while watching BBC America last night. On "As Time Goes By", which seems less than farcical about that sort of thing.
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Bitt Faulk
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#285043 - 03/08/2006 20:07
Re: English vs American
[Re: furtive]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 13/07/2000
Posts: 4172
Loc: Cambridge, England
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Quote:
I'm sure there are about as many English people who say "cheerio" as there are Americans who say "tootle-pip"
(embarrassed) I say cheerio all the time. (And that's even without my going to the US, which always makes my language veer towards the stereotypically British: I start saying things such as "right-ho, chaps".)
I'd guess the nearest US equivalent to "cheerio" is "ciao".
Peter
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#285044 - 03/08/2006 22:28
Re: English vs American
[Re: Mataglap]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 06/04/2005
Posts: 2026
Loc: Seattle transplant
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Quote:
British employee: Well, this was supposed to be completed by now. It looks like it's gone all cock-up.
American #1: What?
Hmm- I've heard 'going tits up' for something dying.
'Give it some welly' = ~ work harder at it
'taking the mickey/mic/michael/piss out of someone' = ~ to make fun of
'bodge job' = 'jerry/jury rig' or 'mickey mouse' something
'Are you winning?' = ~ Is your work going well?
Hmm- I might have to mine the Two Wheels Only that I got for the flight home for more choice Brit idioms.
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#285045 - 03/08/2006 23:52
Re: English vs American
[Re: peter]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/12/2000
Posts: 2665
Loc: Manteca, California
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Quote:
I'd guess the nearest US equivalent to "cheerio" is "ciao".
Peter
Which of course is really Italian for "See-Ya Later".
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Glenn
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#285046 - 04/08/2006 15:23
Re: English vs American
[Re: Robotic]
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enthusiast
Registered: 11/06/2003
Posts: 384
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'bodge' is a good one!
'bespoke' vs. 'custom'
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#285047 - 06/08/2006 15:54
Re: English vs American
[Re: peter]
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addict
Registered: 20/05/1999
Posts: 411
Loc: Cambridge, UK
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Quote:
Another shibboleth to do with missing words is missing prepositions in US English: I've mainly seen this in cnn.com headlines, but people do it in speech too: "Let's do this Tuesday" rather than "Let's do this on Tuesday".
I always have to read such sentences at least twice. I often seem to consider the final word to be an adverb or noun and wonder exactly how people manage to "run Tuesday" or "announce Thursday".
Mike.
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#285048 - 06/08/2006 16:03
Re: English vs American
[Re: Mataglap]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 14/01/2002
Posts: 2489
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One that really bothers me is 'semi'
In the US its pronounced sem-eye, whereas we say sem-ee. For some reason it really gets on my nerves!
And 'missile'. Any time I hear an American say it, they pronounce it as miss-ill, whereas with us, its a miss-ile.
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#285049 - 06/08/2006 16:30
Re: English vs American
[Re: wfaulk]
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addict
Registered: 20/05/1999
Posts: 411
Loc: Cambridge, UK
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Regarding toodle-pip: Quote:
I only really brought it up because I heard it while watching BBC America last night. On "As Time Goes By", which seems less than farcical about that sort of thing.
I believe that toodle-pip is related to toodle-oo which I was once told resulted from British Soldiers in the First World War being unable to say "Tout a l'heure, alors". Oh, that's another one, it's "First World War" not "World War 1".
I've been caught out by the Day of the Tentacle barf and failing to successfully order water in California too. I caused a great deal of confusion at Comdex one year asking for the number of a stand before some helpful guy shouted from the back of the queue that "stand is British for booth".
The English "fillet" is such an old word (although originally from Latin via Old French according to wikipaedia) that I suspect that the French pronunciation in American restaurants was for effect and it stuck.
Mike
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