English is a foreign language

[dauber22]

THen there\'s: Onomatopoetics
In the UK it has to do with the relationships betweens words and the thing they represent, but in the US it means... well, pretty much the same thing, but I\'ve always liked the word for some reason. I have a strange affinity to it. And this appeared to be a good chance to use it Not something that just pops into conversation very often, so I try to take every opportunity that arises...:duh:

 

[supervike]

onomatopoeia

Moo, hiss, meow, buzz....

I love them too!!

but its better if you can actually pronounce the word, instead of typing it...its just plain fun to say.

onomatopoeia...wheee!

 

[vincegamer]

Gotta love any word that has 4 vowels in a row. It\'s even better than ouija

 

[sniffles]

Originally posted by vincegamer
Gotta love any word that has 4 vowels in a row. It\'s even better than ouija

Which has always been one of my favorite bizarre words since it\'s usually pronounced \"weejee\".

Other British/American translations:

You beat me to the boot/trunk one, but how about at the other end of the vehicle?
US: hood - the engine cover of a car
UK: bonnet

US: truck (specifically delivery or cargo, not pickup)
UK: lorry (what\'s a pickup truck called in the UK, anyway?)

US: flashlight
UK: torch

US: wheat bread
UK: brown bread

US: the first floor of a building is the one that is usually at ground level.
UK: the first floor is the one you reach after the first flight of stairs.

US: salad dressing
UK: salad cream (but they\'re not quite the same thing)

US: cracker - a baked good that is unleavened so it bakes crisp and flat.
UK: cracker - a device sold at Christmas time that contains a small firework \"popper\" and usually a paper hat and some sort of toy or prize, similar to the items you used to get in a box of Cracker Jack (Hmmm, maybe that was why they called it Cracker Jack?).

Can any of the Brits tell me when the expression \"that\'s pants\" started to be used? I hadn\'t heard of it until a couple of years ago. Also, is the expression \"that\'s naff\" still in use?

 

[supervike]

i think these threads are fun...

in the UK \"Bob\'s yer uncle\" meaning you are done or \'thats it\'

in the US \"Bob\'s yer uncle\" meaning that drunk guy not wearing any pants at the Christmas party is actually related to you.lol

 

[vincegamer]

Oooh, those are some good ones.

Originally posted by sniffles
but how about at the other end of the vehicle?
US: hood - the engine cover of a car
UK: bonnet

I used to drive a VW beetle. The engine is in the back and the trunk in the front. This caused me no end of trouble figuring out what to call the thingies that covered them.

US: truck (specifically delivery or cargo, not pickup)
UK: lorry (what\'s a pickup truck called in the UK, anyway?)

Took me the longest time to figure out what it meant when there was an \"articulated lorry\" on the road. Still not totally sure, but I think it\'s what we\'d call a tractor-trailer or semi.

US: flashlight
UK: torch

Another good one. A torch is a burning stick as far as I\'m concerned. Never imagined a D&D character carrying a maglight through the dungeon.

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by dauber22
THen there\'s: Onomatopoetics

No offense to our French members but best not include them in this part of the discussion! lol

Einion

 

[Dedwrekka]

Originally posted by vincegamer
What\'s with top notch, beknighted grand old actors in England doing cheesy sci-fi big budget films?
First there was Dame Judy Dench in Chronicles of Riddik.
Now Sir Derek Jacobi (always Claudius to me) in Underworld: Evolution.
This does not bode well for the Oscar crowd.

I\'ts worse than when Olivier did Clash of the Titans (though possibly not as bad as Brando in Superman)

Hey, when you want a high strung, up tight, elitest you gotta go british!

Besides, Judy dench has been labeled as the archtypical paper pushing, no nonsense boss for years (Actually for as far back as I\'ve seen movies/shows with her in it).

 

[Fizl]

Originally posted by Brimshack

Originally posted by vincegamer

Originally posted by Brimshack
Okay, so what does it mean to \"have a curry\"?

That depends:
To most it means eating a spicy Indian dish.
But if you\'re dating Tim Curry at the time, it could mean something totally different.

Okay, so that would presumably include Chicken Tandoori, but it would exclude a Thai dish like say Panaang?

Crazy Limeys! It\'s no wonder they can\'t tell soccer from football.

Curries can be found around the world matey - Thai curries, Indian curries, chinese and japanese curries (singapore noodles are curried as well) . I think it just relies on a selection of spices being used to make the flavouring/sauce (usually curry powder of some kind)

Shaz

 

[Fizl]

Originally posted by sniffles

Originally posted by vincegamer
Gotta love any word that has 4 vowels in a row. It\'s even better than ouija

Which has always been one of my favorite bizarre words since it\'s usually pronounced \"weejee\".

Other British/American translations:

You beat me to the boot/trunk one, but how about at the other end of the vehicle?
US: hood - the engine cover of a car
UK: bonnet

US: truck (specifically delivery or cargo, not pickup)
UK: lorry (what\'s a pickup truck called in the UK, anyway?)
/quote]Could be a van? Would need to see what one looks like
US: flashlight
UK: torch

US: wheat bread
UK: brown bread

US: the first floor of a building is the one that is usually at ground level.
UK: the first floor is the one you reach after the first flight of stairs.

US: salad dressing
UK: salad cream (but they\'re not quite the same thing)
[Not close - we have salad dressing as well. Salad cream is an evil yellow chemical concoction that people use to hide the taste of food
US: cracker - a baked good that is unleavened so it bakes crisp and flat. We have these too
UK: cracker - a device sold at Christmas time that contains a small firework \"popper\" and usually a paper hat and some sort of toy or prize, similar to the items you used to get in a box of Cracker Jack (Hmmm, maybe that was why they called it Cracker Jack?).

Can any of the Brits tell me when the expression \"that\'s pants\" started to be used? I hadn\'t heard of it until a couple of years ago. Also, is the expression \"that\'s naff\" still in use?

Naff is still in use - but I\'m nt going to explain what it means as it is very rude. I think alot of people don\'t realise what it really means, and use it as a fairly inoffensive swear word.

Shaz

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by supervike
in the UK \"Bob\'s yer uncle\" meaning you are done or \'thats it\'

in the US \"Bob\'s yer uncle\" meaning that drunk guy not wearing any pants at the Christmas party is actually related to you.lol

\"Bob\'s your uncle and Fannies your aunt\", basically means everythings fine and as it should be.

 

[Modderrhu]

I\'m surprised that no-one has mentioned this yet, or maybe I\'m just blind. :duh:

UK: chips
US: french fries (where the hell did that name come from anyway?)

So what are \'chips\' in Yankland? Those wafer thin things that are called \'crisps\' in the UK?

 

[sniffles]

Originally posted by Modderrhu
I\'m surprised that no-one has mentioned this yet, or maybe I\'m just blind. :duh:

UK: chips
US: french fries (where the hell did that name come from anyway?)

So what are \'chips\' in Yankland? Those wafer thin things that are called \'crisps\' in the UK?

You\'re correct. There are a lot of different stories as to why we call those \"french fries\".

More British/American English lessons:

US: sweater
UK: jumper

US: sneaker, tennis shoe
UK: trainer

US: trenchcoat
UK: mackintosh

US: rubber boots
UK: wellingtons

US: fifth wheel
UK: caravan

US: bun
UK: bap

US: jell-o
UK: jelly

US: vacuum cleaner
UK: hoover

 

[dauber22]

Originally posted by sniffles

US: jell-o
UK: jelly

EEEEEUUUUUUUUHHHHHH! Does that mean in the UK they have peanut butter and JELL-O sandwiches ??? :|~

 

[EArkham]

Semi-related: http://www.engrish.com/

Favs:

Bestest club evah
Santa loli madness

Kep

 

[sniffles]

Originally posted by dauber22

Originally posted by sniffles

US: jell-o
UK: jelly

EEEEEUUUUUUUUHHHHHH! Does that mean in the UK they have peanut butter and JELL-O sandwiches ??? :|~

I don\'t know if they even have peanut butter.

Speaking of peanut butter, imagine being in a small market in Japan, trying to find the peanut butter when you don\'t read Japanese. You\'d think it would still be easy, but they had so much stuff that looked like peanut butter!
lol

 

[EArkham]

Just look for \"pinatsu bata.\"

[edit] Oops, guess these forums don\'t like Asian characters... original post came out as gibberish.

Also avoid anything that smells like onions and fermented bean paste. <snickers>

Kep

 

[supervike]

Originally posted by Modderrhu
So what are \'chips\' in Yankland? Those wafer thin things that are called \'crisps\' in the UK?

Yup, Chips are the equivalent of crisps. I don\'t think you could even ask for Crisps and Dip over here without getting your ass kicked.

 

[Modderrhu]

The English wouldn\'t kick your arse if you asked for french fries, but you could expect to be humoured and belittled in a manner that\'ll make an arse-kicking seem quite pleasant. At the least you\'d get a sweet smile and, \"Naw, we\'ve got none of those \'ere, luv. Maybe you should try the MacDonald\'s down the high street\" - with the chip fryers clearly in sight.

Next one,
UK: tart
US: pie

UK: pie (as in a hearty steak & kidney pie)
US: ???

 

[vincegamer]

While we don\'t have steak and kidney pie, I\'ve always assumed it was like any meat pie in the USA. Pie is just something baked inside a flaky crust.


Oh, and as for trainers, we call them that in the USA too, sort of. Cross-trainers. It\'s a subclass of athletic shoes though; the generalist as opposed to specifics like running shoes, walking shoes, tennis shoes, basketball shoes, fencing shoes etc.