Confused from the UK!

[Worst Case Scenario]

So the closest I’ve every been to the USA was a weekend in Disneyland…………. Paris!

Therefore my perception of you yanks is only based on your TV shows ( which we get lots off)

But there’s plenty of stuff that just doesn’t make sense to us Brits.

As mentioned in the other thread that spawned this one. Our Pants are under our trousers. And if you slap a woman on her fanny in the UK you will be arrested.

My favourite all time US movie gaff is in a Harrison Ford movie, can’t remember the title, but he’s a bit simple and has gone missing. His wife phones the police and describes him as 6ft tall and wearing Caccy pants!

I’ll translate that for you colonialists .. Pants are underwear. Kaki is pronounced  CAR-KEY in the UK . But in Welsh there is the word Cac meaning SHIT, therefore Harrison is 6ft tall and wearing shitty shorts!

So here’s the first question.. when did piss stop being a swear word? In one of the programs I was watching someone said

” You’re really pissing me off – Stop Jack BEEPing around and do some work.”

So piss is okay but ass is a no no?

[picarusslim]

and there is no Z in organisation!!

Was the movie called Frantic?

I’m from Yorkshire, UK (Scarborough) and I have a hard enough time understanding southerners let alone Americans! 😉

I’m the same, my only knowledge of America is what i’ve read and seen in movies. I’m sure it’s not actually like how it’s portrayed much the same way all English folk don’t talk like Kiera Knightly and wear bowler hats. Similary, we Yorkshire folk don’t all own whippets and slap our wives 🙂

 

[Worst Case Scenario]

But you do all wear flat caps and drink Tetleys?

I’m in darkest Somerset..  where, Where’s e to? means where is it?

And bye the way. There is a Z in recognize, and colourize and organize. Check a OED if you don’t believe me.

[picarusslim]

Meh! I stand corrected,  said the man in the orthopedic shoe.

My girlfriend is from Somerset, Bridgwater, which I believe is near Taunton.  I’m due a visit to meet the parents soon, most people usually do this before they get them pregnant!

My Dad wears a flat cap…drinks Tetleys..and says eee by gum.

[Worst Case Scenario]

At least you didn’t put an E in Bridgwater! But I’m afraid it’s the pit’s of Somerset even though the smell has gone. Ask your girlfriend about the smell!

My Favourite Bridgwater joke ( Don’t read if easily offended or your girlfriend comes from Bridgwater )

Q. How do you know when a Bridgwater girl has an orgasm?

A. She drops her chips!

Don’t worry the yanks will think we mean crisps.

[picarusslim]

Lol, i told her and and she laughed. She corrected me when I put an E in Bridgwater 🙂

She said it doesnt smell anymore…

Im a long haired dandy boy, am i going to get battered?!

[Katie]

So you call your underwear pants? Funny.

Even I am surprised at times by some of the words they are allowed to say on TV now. I have even heard them say pissed on a kids cartoon.

 

[Worst Case Scenario]

And when we go swimming we wear car boots!  ( trunks)

[Katie]

If I remember right, you have a funny name for shopping carts?

 

[Worst Case Scenario]

errrrr…….Trollies?

[Worst Case Scenario]

It’s not easy being British…….

http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/british-people-problems

[fstopper89]

Oh my god I’m so confused now! LOL!

Khaki pants are like tan denim-like material. However, khaki green, the color, is like that pea-soup/baby poop/army fatigue green color.

From my understanding, Brits say “pissed” to mean really drunk. Here it’s trashed, hammered, lit, etc. I use to be so confused when in the song Tub Thumping by Chumbawumba they said “Pissing the night away.” Here that means peeing. Aka “He pissed his pants.”

Suck and blow are opposites, yet when used derogatorily, they are synonyms. “That sucks!” or “That blows!”

A lot of TV shows allow the word “damn” or “damnit” but will bleep out “god” if it’s in front of it.

A fanny pack is a really out-of-style zip-top bag usually buckled around one’s waist. Old ladies still wear them. I think hipster teenagers are trying to bring it back though.

TV and pop culture has come up with every word beginning with “F” to signify, well, the F-word. Flippin,’ freakin’, etc.

I say “bubbler” in WI. The origination of that term was a product trademarked by the Kohler Plumbing Company (which is still in existence, in Kohler, WI) and it was a drinking fountain that sprayed directly upward and appeared to bubble out of the spout. I guess the name stuck, similar to how many people call facial tissue “Kleenex.”

[cass335]

I’m in Michigan.

Here we say “pop”  when we are refering to soda. Which my cousins from TN love to make fun of.

I have a friend who was born in England (sorry don’t know where exactly) and one day during our photography class we had to stylize and shoot food. One girl brought in a Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and my friend told us how they don’t eat that over there. We ended up having a discussion about what types of foods he eats that we think is gross. The one thing that really stood out was that he told us that they do not put syrup on waffles, instead they like ketchup.  To me that just sounds gross.

 

[JanJan]

It’s just funny in general of how people call things in different areas of the US, let alone the the UK!

Cass335, it’s funny that you mentioned the word “pop” when you’re referring to soda, because I was just thinking about that. I live in Las Vegas, NV (originally from California) and a good majority of the people here were not born and raised in Las Vegas, so I hear different US accents and what they call things. For instance, I had a former co-worker originally from the Detroit area getting angry because someone threw away her “pop cup”. In the back of my head, I was like, “What the f*ck is a pop cup?”, but then I knew she was referring to her soda cup. We worked at a hotel/casino and the deli on the first floor would offer free refills of soda if you kept your cup. Otherwise, you would have to pay $2. I hear A LOT of East Coast accents, especially Boston and New York. I really find Minnesotan accents funny as well! It’s like they were never taught vowels in school based on how they say things, in my opinion!

Whether we’re English-speaking people from the US or UK (or even other places where English is a 2nd language), at least we somewhat understand each other in these forums and all love the universal language that is called Photography, right?

 

 

[cass335]

Yea my cousins ALWAYS laugh. When they come up to visit we all get together at my Uncle’s house. When one of us asks for pop, they always like to repeat it and really draw it out  “P-ah-p”. It’s funny to hear them try and do a “northern” accent because they have such strong TN Southerner accents.  When I was younger I asked them what they call it and they said Coke or Soda. I said what if it isn’t coke. They told me that if they go through a drive-thru and ask for Coke the person would respond “What kind”.

[Author]

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