When I first got to the USA I was surprised about the different sayings that I said or my USA friends said that needed translation. When I said "Chock a Block full of Plonkers" my buddy looked at me like I just said something in Chinese Then I had to have an explaintion of what 'quarter of 2' meant.
The best one was when my son (4th grade at the time) asked his teacher for a rubber. :-6
I thought it would be interesting for people to put their sayings here and see if we know what they are talking about.
magenta flame;605828 wrote: UK USA? Nah jobs right mate, I'll just sit and watch:-2
I'm sorry - that was thoughtless of me, can I change the title to open it up so we can all share our unusual sayings sorry
I think Pinky already posted the classic "bumming a fag" in another thread and you've already alluded to the "gi'us a rubber Johnny" so I'll throw in the other classic confusion of Fanny.
I had to really think about this because it's difficult to know what others might perceive as unusual.
We have colloquialisms in my family that are normal for us but get the eyebrow from others, not really sure why. They're not that odd.
In a pig's eye....that'll never happen, no way
Let the pony ride....let that one go
Counting your change (as in "I seen that boy countin' his change")...to consider the situation carefully or to choose one's words wisely
What come down the pike (never "came," always "come")...what we're faced with next
Not sure if that's what you were going for though. As far as words go, I can't think of any that haven't been brought up before and I'm not that familiar with non-US language anyway.
How ironic that I just found this thread....I just asked Sobrano in the random thoughts thread what "bliddy" means, I've seen it said many times, wondering the difference between bliddy and bloody??
and a yapping tottie???
think my feelings just got hurt, not sure though:-3
Pinky;606324 wrote: Bloody and bliddy are the same thing, it's just some accents over here pronounce it differently! Yapping tottie...mmm...I guess that would be a talkative babe!
I was working in the Southern part of USA a few years ago and I went into a store and asked for a pop. The store attended said that I must be from Canada. I said yes. She said they call it a Soda.
A witch will get a better grip on the broom if she is without panties!
fisher;606329 wrote: I was working in the Southern part of USA a few years ago and I went into a store and asked for a pop. The store attended said that I must be from Canada. I said yes. She said they call it a Soda.
most of the US except for the south calls it 'pop' too! :-6
just for the record...if there is one, I call it soda...I am aware of people calling it pop...but ummmmm I call it soda or by the name of the drink "coke or pepsi"
WonderWendy3;606341 wrote: just for the record...if there is one, I call it soda...I am aware of people calling it pop...but ummmmm I call it soda or by the name of the drink "coke or pepsi"
a word of warning if your in the states and a girl drops her school bag dont shout out you have dropped you rubber if her eraser is on the ground i did , when someone told me why all the school kids were cracking up with laughter i went crimson
Yes, never heard Petrol until I came to the garden.
We call it gasoline (gas for short of course).
I learned recently that a "cracker" is a term for a good-looking person, whereas in the USA, to my knowledge it is something you eat topped with cheese or a slang term for a white person.
I never heard the term rubber for eraser...I would've laughed too Jimbo...sorry!!:)
I have always wondered why y'all (UK) say, going to hospital and we say going to the hospital.
There is a word that I have only heard once outside of my family. I'd tell you what it is but I have never been able to spell it. I've tried looking it up in the dictionary but I can't find it. Perhaps the other Southerners here can help. It is pronounced - ke yarn - but said quickly with the accent on yarn. It means the ick that dogs waller in. ie "I'm gonna have to bathe that dog now that he's been rollin in that there keyarn." :wah: It's an old word that's not used much anymore.
There's a great book to get for fun, it's called The Dictionary of Cliches and then there's The Dictionary of Word Origins. It's great and might help out those coming to the US. It's amazing how many came from Shakespeare
When choosing between two evils, I always like to take the one I've never tried before.
Then I had to have an explaintion of what 'quarter of 2' meant.
