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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.

Took me months to work out why the turnpike pass holders went through the EZ Pass section - due to different ways we say 'Z'. :-5

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

Pheasy :-4

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.

:-6

The use of the word "freeway" instead of "highway" always gives away my place of origin. :-6

chonsigirl;605864 wrote: The use of the word "freeway" instead of "highway" always gives away my place of origin. :-6


What do you understand by "pavement"?

Susie....it's soda

AngelEyes82;605878 wrote: POP Red!! :rolleyes:



Not You too!!


:yh_rotfl

AngelEyes82;605878 wrote: POP Red!! :rolleyes:



Not You too!!


If it's pop then why does the can say soda, eh?

lol

i say holiday has across the water you say vacation:-4

Yes, there are alot of things that get posted on here and I have no idea what they mean.

LOL, especially some of Pinky's posts. I think they are expressions.

Like where we would say "oh crap" you guys say "bloody hell"

That one is easy to understand, but some I'm like.... HUH????

neffy;605899 wrote: i say holiday has across the water you say vacation:-4


I've been brainwashed by HR (Personnel to anyone normal) and I now say Annual Leave :wah:

I had to stop saying 'squash' (as in the drink) people thought is very odd.

ThePheasant;605920 wrote: I had to stop saying 'squash' (as in the drink) people thought is very odd.


squash is a drink? I thought it was a vegetable!!

NotToday;605921 wrote: squash is a drink? I thought it was a vegetable!!


maybe it's a pheasant drink?:-3

Its a general term for fruit drinks - 'can I have a glass of squash please. Don't know where it comes from tho

Oh, I thought squash, green or yellow, was a veggie! :wah:

my hubby is from Ireland and the most confusing thing for him when we were dating was the 'call' 'ring' thing. :wah:

since there call is visiting and ring is phoning

and here call is phoning

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

Parkway = Roadway

I believe this is a American Canadian thang.

Pinky;606314 wrote: It's fizzy!:p
I like em a little fizzy.

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!


Thank you Pinky!!

is Tottie a Babe or a Stunner??

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.

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"

Chuckin - very thirsty (but even Brits don't know that one)





I always have to think about pants, to us they are underwear (grundies, fuds, knickers etc) but to you they are trousers.



Purse - again for us it's what we put our money in (dosh, wonga, loot etc) but to you it's a handbag.



You say tv I say telly.



It can be confusing but it's entertaining.

using dog the way we use pig

"don't be a dog" "dog's dinner" etc.

we'd say "eating like a pig" etc.

Soft drink= soda= pop

sunny104;606365 wrote: using dog the way we use pig

"don't be a dog" "dog's dinner" etc.

we'd say "eating like a pig" etc.




how about "putting on the dog" = dressing up real fancy like

Gum Boots = Rubber Boots = Wellies

It's not soda, or pop, or even fizzy! it's coke, no matter the brand or flavor, it's coke! :wah:

Is this right?

We say Petrol and you say gasoline.

tomato: you say toe-mah-toe we say toe-may-toe :p

Sheryl;606423 wrote: It's not soda, or pop, or even fizzy! it's coke, no matter the brand or flavor, it's coke! :wah:


That's if you're from the southern US lol

:wah:

Jam, Jelly, Gel, Hair Gel....

Something About Mary

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"


It's actually GINGER.

minks;606462 wrote: Jam, Jelly, Gel, Hair Gel....



Something About Mary


:wah: :wah:





eraser and rubber





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

CrazyCruizChick;606427 wrote: Is this right?

We say Petrol and you say gasoline.


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!!:)

Sheryl;606423 wrote: It's not soda, or pop, or even fizzy! it's coke, no matter the brand or flavor, it's coke! :wah:


Absolutely! "You wanna coke?" "Yeah" "What kind?" "Dr Pepper"



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