A cry for help!
Mar. 9th, 2010 02:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hellzabethHey, majority of watchers!
You're American, right? /obvious
I'm doing a project at college (what, Pidge, are you actually working? Yes, yes I am) about the differences between British English and American English. I need some stereotypically American phrases and amusing miscommunications. (Unfortunately I can't use the usual "rubber vs rubber" that first came to mind.) Any random help would be appreciated.
Additionally, anyone Australian, similar to the above request?
/feels kind of stupid
/wishes she was at home instead of in this stupid class
orz
Edit: I'm not allowed to include anything naughty in my essay guys, the examiners are stuck up. :| So stuff like the difference between "wank" in American and "wank" in British are not applicable. <3You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means.
You're American, right? /obvious
I'm doing a project at college (what, Pidge, are you actually working? Yes, yes I am) about the differences between British English and American English. I need some stereotypically American phrases and amusing miscommunications. (Unfortunately I can't use the usual "rubber vs rubber" that first came to mind.) Any random help would be appreciated.
Additionally, anyone Australian, similar to the above request?
/feels kind of stupid
/wishes she was at home instead of in this stupid class
orz
Edit: I'm not allowed to include anything naughty in my essay guys, the examiners are stuck up. :| So stuff like the difference between "wank" in American and "wank" in British are not applicable. <3
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2010-03-09 02:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-09 02:51 pm (UTC)Though I did lol.no subject
Date: 2010-03-09 03:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-09 03:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-09 10:02 pm (UTC)My god that was brilliant.
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Date: 2010-03-09 07:49 pm (UTC)Also I believe homely means different things. It's a compliment over there where here it's the opposite.
Bryson also says that it sometimes seems that the two countries sometimes go out of their way to be contradictory. Where you guys have the Royal Mail that delivers the "post" not the "mail" we have the US Postal Service that delivers the "mail" not the "post."
I used to have the link to a rather lovely article about a Englishman living in New York with his American wife and having to get used to all the differences but that was about more then just the language differences and I don't have the link anymore.
Well...that was probably incredibly unhelpful. I apologize... :-/
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Date: 2010-03-09 09:57 pm (UTC)"Stuffed" in England has a different use. Usually it's in a phrase like "oh go get stuffed", which refers to getting killed and then taxidermy'd. :| So yeah. It's like "fuck off" only more graphic. Thing is, it's not used so much these days, and the American meaning of the word "stuffed" is more often used, though older people tend to frown about it.
Homely in England means you're kind of bland, don't stand up for yourself and don't have much of a social life. Applies only to women.
Oh lol, yes. My mum scolds me for saying I've got new mail, when it's post.
What that on Cracked.com? Because I read that and it was hilarious. XD
Thanks muchly!
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Date: 2010-03-09 10:07 pm (UTC)*And now I've been sucked into an article about World War II...darn you...I'm supposed to be writing Russ/Am Fluff...*
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Date: 2010-03-09 08:15 pm (UTC)... But I don't know any British slang.
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Date: 2010-03-09 10:10 pm (UTC)Bollocks you don't, you've been peeling your peepers at my old rags, aintcha? Just looking for a bouts to make this not go all arse over tits this time. Not exactly a dab hand at projects.
/show off
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Date: 2010-03-10 12:30 am (UTC)Dab in American English means to gentle pat with a cloth or napkin.
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Date: 2010-03-10 12:55 am (UTC)Yeah, means that in British English too, thanks to us stealing from you guys. Amusing fact; we understand your slang, and feel smug that you have no idea what we're talking about when we use ours.
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Date: 2010-03-10 05:14 am (UTC)Pffft LMFAO, the mental image... The more idiomatic way of translating "Bollocks you don't" is, maybe, "Bullshit you don't".
Mighty fine language we use around here.
(Psst, do you guys say "Excuse my French" if you cuss at an inappropriate time?)
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Date: 2010-03-10 08:07 am (UTC)(We say "Pardon my French", not excuse, that sounds weird. Close. XD)
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Date: 2010-03-10 09:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-11 03:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-10 01:11 am (UTC)Trans: I feel you should know that I had to smother my laugh with a pillow when I read that.
I love Cockney rhyming slang.
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Date: 2010-03-09 10:39 pm (UTC)Oh! We don't spell things with 'u's. Like labor or harbor. If they're spelled 'labour' or 'harbour' then whoever spelled 'em gets weird looks and accusations that they can't spell. So it goes.
Also, not everyone finishes their words. And in Louisiana, jeet means didja eat? So, even though I've heard this mostly in the South, the combination/unfinishing of words is pretty common.
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Date: 2010-03-09 10:57 pm (UTC)I knew that one, since my spell checker is stuck on American and I've had to teach it that realise is not spelt with a Z and that there is a U in favourite.
Oh that happens here too, but mostly Oop North. Stuff like "abisinnia", which is like a slurred together "I'll be seeing ya!", or arvo, which means afternoon
which we may or may not have stolen from the Australians idk which way round it goes.
Helpful stuff though! *notes down*
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Date: 2010-03-10 12:12 am (UTC)Wassup, 'sup yo, rockin' out, what's up in the hiz-ouse, hizzle/frizzle/nizzle/dizzle, homie, peeps, bathroom (= loo y/y?), umm...THIS IS MUCH EASIER TO SAY IN A CONVERSATION THAN TYPING IT OUT XD;
But mostly over here instead of "I'll be seeing ya!" would be "See ya later!" with an optional ",man" or ",dude" at the end.
Basically, since the majority population ain't that original, we take things from songs/movies/celebrities/YouTube/comics/commercials/everything ever. Like a boss. Sayings also vary from region to region, state to state, city to city, high school to high school. America. It are diverse.
Stuck on American...*brb laughing*
XD awesomesauce~
glad to be of help! >w<no subject
Date: 2010-03-10 01:05 am (UTC)All that fo shizzle stuff is purely for black people mocking and/or imitating that culture. White people and the like... just no. Place where I live is so predominantly white (there is ONE black family in my town, god) I never hear it. We have a lot more Asians and Indian people in England than black people.
Oh great now I crave take-away.Lol amusing thing is we copy Americans when saying goodbye, especially adding accents. Either that, or most of the people I know say things like "au revoir" or "ciao". If not just "bye". >>
I think the phenomenon of copying what you see on TV is universal, but naturally we have different programs. Monty Python is fun. EG: today. Me: *takes old sandwhich out of the fridge* ... what is this I don't even. Sister: *snatches it off me and brandishes it in my face* this. Is an Ex-sandwhich. It is passed on, it is no more, it has gone to meet it's maker. Me: you mean mum? Sister: ... stfu you ruined it.
Curse the fact that Mac products are American made, I DUNNO HOW TO FIX IT AND ALL MY TEACHERS COMPLAIN AKJDKSFD
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Date: 2010-03-10 03:19 am (UTC)Pfft, it's not common to hear 'hizzle' or anything anymore, that's so 21st century, just fun to bring up. It's funnier hearing the 40-50 year old teachers say any kind of slang, they're ridiculously awkward about it. Ah, in Texas we have every major minority ever. It's weird going up north, sans-NYC, and seeing all-white people. So strange, so very, very strange.
We do that over here, too! I hear 'adios' more, though. And 'sayonara,' but I've met people who didn't know that it was Japanese.
Eh heh, yeah, good point. Awesome that you can quote Monty Python, though.
Oh, that's funny, I own a MacBook XD here: This ought to help some. Granted, it's for Leopard and I haven't tried for myself to see if it works, but you can basically download new dictionaries for the Dictionary application and ta-da~ none of that American-English :D
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Date: 2010-03-10 04:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-10 08:15 am (UTC)I tried out "do svidanya" once. It failed. >> Nobody understands or recognises Russian.
And Blackadder. Blackadder and everything Stephen Fry has been in ever. But that might just be because I'm obsessed.
Fellow Mac user! *pets her MacBook* omg YAY! *rugby tackles you* THANK YOU THANK YOUUUUUU!
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Date: 2010-03-10 03:21 am (UTC)We were comparing the words for the different types of umbrellas that exist in each language.
Apparently Spanish has like, five words for umbrellas.
While English just tacks on what the purpose of the umbrella is.
Example:
Beach Umbrella = parasol
Umbrella = paraguas
It was very amusing to hear someone actually go "I wish we did that" for once in respect to the English language.
/random
ALSO WE DON'T TOTALLY NOT UNDERSTAND YOUR SLANG. Oooooh, double negative. Buuuuurn.
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Date: 2010-03-10 08:18 am (UTC)... parasol is a Spanish word? Really? Wow, we use it all the time over here to refer to beach umbrellas. And the ones that Victorian women would carry around to keep the sun off them.
WE DON'T LIKE YOU NOT MISUNDERSTANDING OUR COLLOQUIALISMS. >]
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Date: 2010-03-10 09:44 am (UTC)XD
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Date: 2010-03-10 04:39 am (UTC)Thanks to Eddie Izzard for this one... We call the
death starcanteen a cafeteria.The pronunciation of "z". "Zee" vs. "zed"
Our fries are your chips.
And these next ones are from google, so I have no idea how accurate they are.
Flat vs. apartments
Football vs. soccer
Calling friends "mate", which we Americans never do
Biscuit vs. cookie
Crisps vs. chips
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Date: 2010-03-10 08:21 am (UTC)All glory to Eddie Izzard. "You say "erbs" and we say "herbs"... because it's got a fucking "h" in it."
I knew all of those until we got to calling friends "mate", which now I think about it I've never heard in American TV. Huh. Though it's only chavs that call their friends "mate".
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Date: 2010-03-10 08:26 am (UTC)Eddie Izzard rules.
*Is also learning lots today* Chavs? O.o
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Date: 2010-03-10 08:57 am (UTC)Oh god how to explain one of the worst bits of English society. Think of them as trailer trash, but with less red necks (there is no sun here ever) and more hoodies and white track suits and 50 children even though they're like 10. Don't live in trailers, live in counsel houses (which are houses that the state pays for, for people with no job or issues with getting a job).
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Date: 2010-03-10 09:13 am (UTC)Anyway, chavs sound like the people here who live on welfare when they don't need to and take full advantage of it.
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Date: 2010-03-10 05:06 am (UTC)Do you guys still call the hood of a car the bonnet? And do you still call the trunk the boot?
Also, I still haven't worked this out: is "custard" for you guys what we call "flan"?
or is that pudding??Or are these two different things of similar color and texture?Maybe it's not appropriate enough, but what about "knocked up" as in an unplanned pregnancy (Or have you guys picked that one up as well?)
Gas was petrol last time I checked. Do you call a commercial on the TV an advert, or is that only written ads? Is the TV still the telly(sp?)?
I think British "public schools" are what Americans call "private schools", and our "public schools" are run by the local school district.
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Date: 2010-03-10 07:59 am (UTC)Yup yup, though I accidentally called the boot a trunk the other day and my friend hit me for it. A trunk here is a suitcase.
Custard (mmmm yummy) is a sweet yellow substance that you put on puddings. Idk what you mean by flan. Don't think we use that word.
Yay! A new example!You put custard on things like treacle tart and my god is it glorious. Has to be hot though. Cold custard congeals and personally I think it looks gross, but my dad could eat tins of it.Unfortunately inappropriate. :[ We have that one now, thanks to you guys, though the original meaning over here just meant to get beaten up. Imagine the confusion. XD
My driving instructor gives me this look whenever I say "so I put it full on the gas right?" We have petrol stations and petrol cars etc.
My god, the school naming is so confusing. We have "state schools", which are run by the government (aka the state), "public schools" that cost money to send your kids to, and "private schools" which are full of twats, usually situated in the middle of nowhere, and are often boarders.
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Date: 2010-03-11 03:31 am (UTC)I've had that, and I've had frozen custard (yummmy), but I don't think I've had straight-up custard. I've never looked for it in regular stores--though, I assume you can find it. I have seen it at World Market. My grandma mentioned wanting some last week, but I've honestly rarely heard people mention custard.
Also, our "puddings" aren't quite the same. Usually puddings here--except something traditional like bread pudding--are too soft to really "top" with custard. They're roughly the same consistency.
"so I put it full on the gas right?"
I'm sure you guys have heard it, but do you say "Pedal to the metal"?
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Date: 2010-03-10 05:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-10 08:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-10 02:21 pm (UTC)Huh, it seems to crop up in books a lot.
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Date: 2010-03-10 06:49 am (UTC)I'm no expert on different slang terms, but as an American living on the Northeast coast (in New England ohoho), I can offer some help I hope c:
I don't know if you guys say "wicked" to describe things, like an adjective, but where I live, it's THE adjective to use. I say it all the time: "Wicked good", "wicked awesome", "wicked stupid", etc.
And I dunno if it's just me, but I tend to call everyone, guy or girl, "dude" at the beginning of sentences. Like, "Dude, you have no idea how sick I am right now." People look at me funny sometimes ^^; Also, because I live in Massachusetts, a common phrase usually heard in Boston would be "Whatahya, rehtahded?" (What are you, retarded?) which is a nice little insult asking if you're stupid. I've heard English people say "Are you daft?" sometimes, so I think it has pretty much the same meaning.
Like someone else said above, different states and cities in the US have different words they use. For New Englanders, we say "you guys" when addressing a group of people while most southerners will say "y'all". New Englanders call soft drinks "soda", and everyone else in the country either says "pop" or "soda pop". What do you guys call it? :o I could go on about different words in different states, but I think I've said enough ^^ I hope this helps a little bit.
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Date: 2010-03-10 07:49 am (UTC)I CALL IT COKE.
SCREW DIFFERENT BRANDS AND FLAVORS. IT'S ALL FUCKING COKE. WE'RE SO PRO THAT WE CAN TELL WHAT KIND OF "COKE" THE OTHER PERSON WANTS WITH OUR MOTHERFUCKING MINDS.
Yeah, I'm not joking.
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Date: 2010-03-11 03:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-10 08:05 am (UTC)Ooo, "wicked" as an adjective. *notes down*
I have unfortunately been infected with the same verbal tic. D8 To the despair of those around me. And in the glorious "Nanny Nation" (it's a tabloid nickname; try not to imagine Arthur in a dress) saying "retarded" will get you some insulted looks. We still say daft and stuff like plonker, but it's kind of archaic now.
We call "pop", "fizzy drinks". Or, you know, the brand name. :| We don't ask if anyone wants pop, we ask if they want Fanta or Sprite or Coke.
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Date: 2010-03-10 09:47 am (UTC)In certain parts of the US, people call every type of soda or pop (or soft drink) "coke," the shortened form of "coca cola," even when they're requesting, say, a pepsi or sprite or something.
Which makes absolutely no effing sense. And I do it too. orz