Hallo,
im Amerikanische Englisch gibt es oft andere Ausdrücke oder Begrigffe als im Britischen Englisch.
Gibt es da irgendwo im Netz eine Tabelle mit ein paar Beispielen, oder hat jemand einige Beispiele zum posten zur Hand?
Gruß Finus
Hallo, Finus,
schau mal etwas weiter nach unten, da hat Uschi drei nützliche links gepostet http://www.wer-weiss-was.de/cgi-bin/forum/showarchiv…
Grüße
Eckard.
Hallo Finus,
hier ein witziger Beitrag (lang):
Gruß Mucke
The (almost) complete UK/US dictionary
**************************************
-
Buns. You know what these are. You’re probably sitting on them now.
Over here buns are either bread or cake rolls. Asking for a couple of
sticky buns in a bakery here will mean Mr Crusty the baker will give you
two cake buns with icing (frosting) on the top. If I went into a deli in
Manhattan and asked for a couple of sticky buns I’d probably get
arrested… -
Fag. A goody but an oldie. Over here a ‚fag‘ is a cigarette. So in
the song ‚It’s a long way to Tipperary‘ the line ‚As long as you have a
Lucifer to light your fag‘ is not a fundementalist Christian’s statement
that all homosexuals will burn for eternity in hell, but saying that ‚if
you always have a match to light your cigarette…‘ -
Faggots. Meat balls made from offal (chopped liver) in gravy. Also a
small bundle of logs suitable to burn on a fire. -
Pants. You call pants what we call trousers; pants are the things
that go underneath. -
Rubber. In this country a pencil eraser. Don’t be shocked if the mild
mannered new Englishman in your office asks for a pencil with a rubber
on the end. Especially when he says that he enjoys chewing it when he is
thinking. -
Shit. To us, bodily waste. To you, practically everything as far as I
could figure, good or bad (and you certainly don’t want us to touch
yours…) -
Fanny. To us the front bottom; to you the back one. In Britain, the
fanny pack is known as a bum bag for obvious reasons… -
Muffler. To us what you call a muffler is called a silencer. In the
UK a muffler is a long scarf a la Dickensian Novels. A muffler was also
a derogatory name for a certain part of the female anatomy at my school,
though this was probably unique to us. Try explaining THAT to an
upstanding American when you are standing at the petrol (gas) station in
fits of laughter… -
Pavement. Sidewalk to you. I couldn’t think of anything smutty to go
with this. -
Pissed. To you it’s quite legal to be pissed in a car in a traffic
jam. In fact, in large cities sometimes you cannot help it. For us, it
means that you have been over doing it ‚down the boozer‘ (pub) and a
kindly policeman will shortly flag you down and arrest you. -
Shag. To you a dance. To us sexual congress. In otherwords you may
have to summon up the courage to have a shag with someone, before you
might have a shag with them later on. Also a sea bird similar to a
cormorant and a type of rough tobacco. -
Fancy. To be sexually attracted to or to desire. Also a tea cake.
-
Ass. To us a quadraped of the horse family or a stupid person. The
word you guys are looking for in English english is ‚arse‘. -
Sneakers. We call these ‚trainers‘ for some reason.
-
Waistcoat. You call them vests.
-
Football. A classic example of our culture gap. To us football is
what you call soccer. To you football is what we call pointless. You
probably think the same way about cricket… -
Baseball. In England we play a game called ‚Rounders‘ which has
identical rules bar the bat being a short baton designed to be used with
only one hand. It’s only played in schools. In the US, it’s a PROPER
game… -
Some food differences
english american
courgette zucchini
mars bar milky way
milky way three musketeers
opal fruits starburst
chips french fries
crisps chips
-
‚Knock you up‘. In our country, to wake someone up in the morning so
they won’t be late. Slightly different meaning for our American Cousins… -
Pastie. A pastie is a meat and potato pastry that originates from
Cornwall, UK. In the guidebook I had for Michigan, it mentioned that
some cornish tin miners had come over and brought over the recipe with
them when they settled the Upper Peninsula. Even so, I had to taken
aside and carefully told what an American pastie was so I wouldn’t
embarrass parents in front of children at the summer camp I was working
at when I was talking about my liking for Cornish Pasties… -
Knackered. I’m not sure if you have this word in the US. When I said
I was knackered I got puzzled looks. It means you are tired. It comes
from the fact that horses are often tired when they have testes removed
(their knackers) when they are castrated. (Sorry! I guess you didn’t
want to know that…) -
Fag. (Oh no not again!) When at a public (i.e. private - confused
you will be) school in the UK, you may have to ‚fag‘ for an older boy.
This usually involves shining shoes, cleaning up and performing other
favours for this older lad. In return for fagging, the older boy looks
after your interests and makes sure that you fit into the school and
promote the school spirit (bon vivre, not necessarily the alcoholic
kind). This may also be a fag (i.e. a tiresome thing). -
Trunk. In the US what we in the UK call the boot of a car. In the
UK, the trunk is the front end of an elephant. Can be embarrassing if
you happen to be a pachyderm working as a taxi driver in NY. (Also a
large metal and wooden box much beloved of Edwardian travellers). -
Spunk. In the US it is perfectly acceptable for a boss to ask
whether you are feeling full of spunk of a morning (i.e. full of get up
and go.) This situation in the UK may only arise when a director is
quizzing a male actor in the adult entertainment business. -
Woody. In the UK, an acceptable descrption of a wine that has taken
on the flavour of the barrels it has matured in. In the US *never* go a
wine tasting and claim that this wonderful Californian Chardonnay has an
excellent ‚woody‘ flavour, unless you are the female co-star of the
aforementioned male actor and you are in the process of filming an
‚arty‘ movie. -
Hood. To our American cousins, the bit of a car that the engine sits
under or place where you might live if you are a rapper. To us Brits,
the part of a coat that is designed to cover your head when it rains.
What you call the ‚hood‘ we call the ‚bonnet‘ on a car. -
Gas. To the citizens of the United Kingdom, an instrument of
warfare, the stuff that you use to cook your dinner on or a state of
matter that is neither liquid nor solid. To you guys, what we call
petrol and the gaseous by product of bottom burps (wind). -
Pecker. To keep one’s pecker up is a state of mind in the UK, an
athletic feat in the US and a way of life for the common or garden
woodpecker. -
Toilets. Although we have a lot of colourful euphenisms for the
lavatory experience in the UK (e.g. spend a penny, watering the daisies)
we lack the prissiness of our American chums. To us a toilet is a bog, a
kharzi, a shithouse (or alternatively an outhouse in more polite
company), a gents/ladies but mostly a toilet. It is perfectly acceptable
to be in the Ritz and request to use the toilet. However, you guys seem
ashamed of the t-word. Hence you go to the John (where no-one called
John is there) and the bathroom (where there is no bath). …And a word
of warning for English chaps in the US - never admit to eating baked
beans out of the can. -
Beer. What you call beer, we call lager. What we call beer, you call
disgusting. This might be mutual. -
Hard. In the UK, you might see an unshaven tattooed uncouth man with
big muscles in a pub. If you accidentally spill his beer, he might get
upset and request you to join him outside. He might say `Come on then if
you think you’re hard enough!’ Or even ‚I’m hard, me, so you better
watch your step, mate.‘ He is not casting aspersions on your sexual
persuasion, nor does he have an erection. He is merely stating the fact
that unless you buy him another pint of lager in the very immediate
future he might beat seven shades of shit out of you. In the US, our
friend the male actor would probably say ‚I’m hard‘ while sharing a
bottle of woody flavoured chardonnay with his co-star… -
Flummoxed? Our US chums will be if you use this word. It means to be
confused. The typical reaction of the average Brit upon arriving in the
US. Then again you might be ‚hit for six‘ (i.e. upset to the point of
falling over) by it all. Which just isn’t cricket, eh chaps? -
Roundabout. Imagine you are travelling in the UK along the M3 into
Basingstoke (why I can’t imagine - it’s a God forsaken place.) You have
already worked out that a motorway is the same as a freeway and you are
feeling pretty pleased with yourself. In front of you is the biggest
rotary you have ever seen. In the UK, we call them roundabouts. To
instill a morbid fear of these things in our children we force them to
play on minature versions of them in playgrounds (wooden disk that turns
around with bars to hold onto) and make them watch endless re-runs of
the Magic Roundabout. This program was originally a french satire on
politics in the late 1960s though it looks just like a animated kiddies
show made by someone on SERIOUS acid. Sugar cube eating dogs indeed. -
Cookies. You eat these with milk and with great self control you
only eat two at a time (you don’t? naughty!). We call them biscuits. You
call biscuits those dry crackery things that might go in soup (or at
least in the part of the US I went to). -
Stuffed. To be full up after eating too many cookies. Also ‚Get
Stuffed‘ a cookery program for insomniac students and people on a low
income, where you are told how to make fancy versions of beans on toast
using everyday ingredients like baked beans, bread, butter and curry
powder. The recipies are invariably called things like
‚Currybeanytoasty-yum-yum-a-go-go‘. As well, ‚get stuffed‘ is something
you say to someone who isn’t your best mate. -
Randy. In the US a perfectly reasonable first name. Pity then, the
multitude of poor Americans given this unfortunate appellation when
they come over to old Blighty. Wherever they go, grimy street urchins
snigger, little old ladies try desperately to stifle guffaws and
ordinarily quite sensible members of society burst out in laughter. And
why? In the UK, saying ‚Hi, I’m Randy!‘ is akin to saying to our
American cousins ‚Hello friend, I’m feeling horny.‘ However, save your
pity for poor soul Randy Highman who introduced himself to my supervisor
at a conference not so long ago… -
Aluminium. Over here we say ‚al-u-min-i-um‘. You say ‚aloom-i-num‘.
Neither nation can spell the word… (Aluminiumiumium?) -
Kip. In the UK to have a sleep or a nap. A kip house is apparently a
brothel. Being young and innocent I was unaware of this… -
English Swear Words. Our chums across the Atlantic should be warned
about the following. If some English bloke comes up to you and uses one
or more of them when addressing you, please be careful. He may not be
friendly…
i) Wanker. A charming little word that implies that the addresser is
accusing the addressee of onanism. Usually accompanied by the coital
f-word and the oedipal compound-noun. The addresser may also raise his
right hand and portray a chillingly accurate portrayal of the act in
question…
ii) Bollocks. The round male dangly bits. Also, saying ‚the dog’s
bollocks‘ is akin to stating ‚this is the shit‘ in the US. Not to be
confused in agricultural circles with ‚bullocks‘ which are bull shaped
and go ‚moo!‘.
iii) Nancy boy. A male who may express either a sexual preference for
his own gender or acts in a less than masculine way.
iv) Spanner. Not only a component of every good mechanic’s toolbox
(see below) but also someone not overly blessed with intelligence or
savoir faire. A geek, nerd, dork or a dweeb in other words.
v) Tosser. See ‚w*nker‘ and then use your imagination… Also tosspot.
vi) Slag. A woman of uncertain worth and reliability. Also used in
English 1970s police shows (e.g. The Sweeney) when describing a
notorious criminal. (e.g. Dosser Jenkins? That slaaaaag!). Originally
used to describe a by-product of the (now sadly nearly defunct) coal
mining industry.
vii) Whanger. Many a Saturday night I have heard this word being
shouted by rival groups of young men at each other. The dulcet cries of
‚Oi Whanger!!‘ have disturbed the peace of many a town centre. It is a
word used to either describe a penis or an attempt by the alcoholically
challenged to say ‚w*nker‘.
viii) Plonker. Another willy euphenism. Immortalised in the TV
program ‚Only Fools and Horses‘, starring David Jason & Nicholas
Lyndhurst - ‚You plonker Rodney!‘.
ix) Naff off. Go away. As used by the Princess Royal, Princess Anne.
For a while she was known as the ‚Naff Off Princess‘ in the tabloid press.
x) Wazzock - a fool or idiot.
Strange fact: British males often use w*nker, bastard, tosser, plonker
etc. as terms of endearment.
-
Cars. In the UK, only the luxury car market have automatic
transmission - in other words the Jaguars, Rolls Royces and Bentleys of
the world. Most cars have manual transmission. This is because our roads
aren’t straight. As a consequence all learner drivers have to learn how
to drive using a car with manual gears. I was told that in the States
this is referred to as ‚learning how to drive stick.‘ In the UK, asking
your driving instructor whether he could teach you how to drive stick
may cause potential embarrassment… -
Blowjob. Blowjob, although a word in common use now in both our
countries was referred to as ‚Plating‘ before the GIs came over during
WWII. Hence the calling card of Cynthia Plaster-Caster, the woman who
made plaster casts of the erect willies of Jimi Hendrix and the Dave
Clark Five, amongst others, had ‚Your plater or mine?‘ on her calling
cards… -
Jelly & Jam. In the UK, jelly is either the stuff you US-types call
jello or a seedless preserve made from fruit, sugar and pectin. To
confuse things further, fruit preserves are generically called jam over
here too. Hence, if you were in an English restaurant enjoying a piece
of bread with peanut butter and fruit preserve on it you would be eating
‚a peanut butter and jam sandwich.‘ BTW, I used to enjoy peanut and
jelly sandwiches when I was little in the UK sense of the word…
Sloppy, but very nice. -
Stones. To you big rock things that geologists play with. To us also
a unit of weight. 1 stone is equal to 14 pounds. Also, English pints
show remarkable value for money compared to their US conterparts - 567ml
compared to 430ml. Good thing to know when ordering beer. -
Cheeky. In the UK to say someone is ‚cheeky‘ is to imply that they
are awnry or suggestively rude. Much beloved of the ‚Carry On‘ Movies
which starred Barbara Winsor and Sid James. Typical dialogue…
SJ: You don’t get many of those to the pound! (Referring to BW’s ample
cleavage)
BW: Ooohhh! Cheeky!
SJ: Phoooarrr! I wouldn’t kick her out of bed for eating crackers!
BW: Ooohhh! You are awful! (for a bit of variety…)
SJ: Loveliest pair of …eyes I ever saw!
BW: Ooohhh! Cheeky!
and so on ad nauseum…
-
Khaki. In the UK a light beige colour. In US khaki can also be green
when referring to army fatigues which are generically known as ‚khaki‘. -
Knickers. A similar problem to ‚pants‘ (cv). In the US they are
knee-length trousers like what the Brits call ‚breeches‘. In the UK,
they are the things that go underneath. Typically British men wear pants
under their trousers and women wear knickers, unless of course, you are
a Tory (Conservative) MP and then anything goes… Also NORWICH was an
acronym used by service personel during WWII for ‚(k)Nickers Off Ready
When I Come Home‘. To be on the safe side when visiting the doctors it’s
best to keep your pants/knickers on… -
Wellies. In the UK a type of waterproof rubberised boot named after
that Great Englishman, the Duke Of Wellington. You guys in the US would
call them ‚gumboots‘ or ‚galoshes‘. In the UK wellies are much beloved
of Tory MPs with large country estates and farmer-types with sheep,
particularly the ‚Hunter‘ welly with the handy straps on the side. -
Warm clothing. In the UK we wear warm woolly upper garments during
the winter which we call ‚jumpers‘. You call them ‚sweaters‘. Boring
but true. Also a long woolly dress is called a ‚jumper‘ in the US. I
suppose both nations have the joke:
What do you get if you cross a kangaroo with a sweater?
A woolly jumper.
Groan. Somebody carbon date that joke please…
-
Spanner. You see that long metal object in your tool kit that you
use to adjust bolts on your car? We call that a spanner, not a wrench. -
Slash. In the US a line denoting a separation on the written page or
on a computer, or even a rip or tear in a piece of material. In the UK
also a euphenism for a wee, a jimmy riddle or urination. Also the name
of a rather well known guitarist who was born in England and hence
should have thought a little harder before choosing his ‚nom de
rock’n’roooolll, man‘. -
Liberal. In the US someone who has enlightened and progressive views
on abortion, welfare, health care, racial and sexual issues, and
sympathsizes with the needs of those less fortunate than themselves. Or
at least that’s what they say. Republicans probably wouldn’t agree with
this statement… In the UK, someone is neither left wing nor right wing
but somewhere in between. In both countries, ‚liberal‘ can be used as an
insult and a compliment. Although most Americans liberals would probably
balk at the idea, in the UK they might be considered to be socialists.
(Shock! Horror!) -
Snogging. You know that thing you do when you are with your loved
one when you tickle each others tonsils? In the UK that’s called
snogging. Much beloved of kids at school discos inbetween swigging
illicit bottles of vodka and Special Brew beer and ‚getting on down‘ to
Take That (screaaaaammmmm!) (popular beat combo in the UK much admired
by girlies). -
Git. An undesirable and miserable person. Between ‚sod‘ and
‚bastard‘ on the ‚are you going to get your head kicked in?‘ scale. -
Jock. In the US, big guys who like sport, women and acting macho. In
the UK, a Scottish person who probably also likes sport, women and
acting macho but in a Glaswegian (i.e. from Glasgow) accent. Which is
probably more scary since a lot of people have difficultly understanding
them… -
Lemonade. In the US, non-fizzy fruit drink possibly made from lemons
that we Brits call ‚squash‘. Our ‚lemonade‘ is fizzy, akin to your pop
or soda (depending on what part of the US you are from.) I was most
disappointed when I found this out for the first time in a US cinema… -
Crossing the road. In the UK we love our cute fluffy and feathery
friends. So much in fact that we name our road crossings after them. We
have pedestrian walkways that have broad black & white stripes (like on
the cover of ‚Abbey Road‘ by the Beatles) which we call ‚Zebra
crossings‘. We also have crossings akin to yours with the ‚walk/don’t
walk‘ signs on them which have a little red man standing still and a
little green man walking. These are illuminated when you are supposed to
stay where you are or walk respectively. For some inexplicable reason
this is called a ‚pelican crossing‘. As for the little green man
flashing… -
Hotels. In the UK the floors in a hotel are numbered ground floor,
first floor, second floor etc. In otherwords the first floor is the
second floor, the second is the third and so on and so on. In the US,
you have a more sensible numbering system. A good thing to note if you
are a US bell-boy(UK)/bell-hop(US) looking for Take That’s
(screaaaaammmmm!) suite on the eighth floor in a UK hotel.
(BTW Just follow the detritus of fluffy toys and soggy knickers (cv)…) -
Waste disposal. In the UK our household waste is called ‚rubbish‘
and is taken away by the dustmen or bin men in their dustcart. In the US
you have two types of household waste - garbage and trash. Also, you see
that piece of street furniture which you are supposed to put the
packaging from your lunch? We call them bins; you call then trash cans.
I was sooo confused about this. -
Merchant Banker. On both sides of the Atlantic an honourable and
decent profession. In the UK, cockney rhyming slang for an onanist (see
‚w*nker‘). Possibly apt. -
Buying a drink. Those establishments where you buy alcohol late at
night where you are not allowed to drink it on the premises are called
Off Licences (or Offies) in the UK and Liquor Stores in the US. I’m over
21 and was repeatedly carded(US)/id’ed(UK) when I tried to buy beer
(this was before I tried American beer). I thought that a British
Passport was good enough ID for a liquor store since it got me in the
country, but no, I needed an in-state driver’s licence. Hellooo? I’m a
tourist with a British Passport and an English accent who is wearing a
t-shirt with UK tour dates on the back. Don’t you think I *might* be the
genuine article? (Sorry. The incident still annoys me.) -
Please and sorry. In the UK, no sentence is complete with either or
even both of these words. In the US, the former is said begrudgedly and
‚What’s the name of your lawyer?‘ is said instead of the latter. -
English. We speak english in the UK. So do you in the US. But yet we
don’t speak the same language… -
Women’s things. Pads = US. Towels = UK. Tampons = everywhere. Do you
have the ones with wings too? Do you have a patronising Clare
Rayner-type who does the advert? -
Crusty. In the US the state of a bread roll when it is freshly baked
and smelling yummy. In the UK, as well as this, a person of possibly no
real fixed abode who engages in an alternative lifestyle involving
travelling around the country, wearing ‚alternative‘ clothes (ex-army or
hippie gear), having a pragmatic attitude to drugs and has possibly
dubious personal hygiene. They would rather be called ‚Travellers‘ and I
admire them for their stance against ‚straight‘ society. (oooh a bit of
politics there…) -
Bum. In the UK, the definition of ‚buns‘ (cv) describes more than
adequately the biggest muscle in the body. In the US, a person whom we
would call a tramp. Also the act of being a bum. I have been reliably
informed that Take That (screaaaaammmmm!) have cute bums but only one
(the scruffy git (cv) with the dreadlocks) actually looks like one… -
North/South divide. Ask anyone from the north of England where the
North ends and the South begins, they might say ‚Worksop‘ is the
dividing line. Ask anyone from the south and they might say ‚north of
Oxfordshire‘ or even ‚north of London‘. These definitions differ by well
over 100 hundred miles! In the north the people have cloth caps,
whippets (racing dogs, not aerosol cans of whipped cream!), keep
pigeons, speak in a funny way and drink bitter in grim working mens
clubs. In the south, the people are either country yokels who speak in a
funny way, or people with loads of money who speak like the Queen or
brash Cockneys who speak in funny way while engaged in dealings of a
dubious nature and drinking lager. That is, if you believe the
stereotypes as portrayed in the media. It is all utter bollocks (cv). -
Pardon. As I said before, being sorry is all part of being English.
We apologise for things that aren’t our fault again and again and again.
I am convinced that the first word that an English baby learns to say
after ‚Mama‘ and ‚Dada‘ is ‚sorry‘. Anyway, ‚pardon me‘ is a polite way
of excusing your way through a crowd or excusing yourself or if your
bodily functions betray you in public. The US equivalent, ‚excuse me‘
only seems to be used in a sarcastic way, i.e. ‚Well excuuuuuse me!‘
while exchanging lawyers’ telephone numbers. -
Lorry. A UK truck. A word used in the tongue twister ‚Red Lorry
Yellow Lorry‘ by parents to torture their kids. Try it. You’ll hate me
for it. -
Irony. Along with sarcasm, the basis of English humour. Totally lost
on most of our American chums. Saying ‚…NOT!‘ is not sarcasm. -
Easy. When an English girl says ‚I’m easy‘ she is not saying ‚Please
sleep with me.‘ She is saying ‚I don’t mind what we do.‘ Then again in
the presence of Take That (screaaaaammmmm!) who knows? -
Bonk. In a similar vein, to bonk someone in the UK is to enjoy
sexual congress with them. It also means to hit someone, usually on the
head. The two might be related if you like that sort of thing… -
Rumpty. The latest word coined by the British Tabloid Press for fun
stuff in the dark. Obviously they got bored with bonking… Anyway, a
typical sex scandal headline in the Sun (infamous tabloid paper owned by
Rupert Murdock) would read ‚Robbie-ex-from-Take-That (screaaaaammmmm!)
caught in four in bed rumpty with Divine Brown, OJ and some ugly Tory
Minister who will shortly be resigning‘… -
Suspenders. In the UK those things that women hold their stocking up
with. You call them garters. Confusingly, when I was in Cub Scouts, the
things with the tags on them you used to hold your socks up were called
garters too. These were instruments of torture - ideal for pinging and
causing yelps of pain during prayer on church parade services. Some
children are sooo cruel. Anyway, what you call suspenders we call braces. -
Aubergine. Frankly foul purple vegetable used in moussaka. You call
them eggplants. -
Dinky. In the US something that is small or poorly made. In the UK
something small and cute. I’m not sure if you had Dinky Cars in the US,
but these toy cars are now worth a fortune over here. And I gave all
mine away too (sob!)… -
Table. Imagine you are in a boardroom. The chairperkin (note dubious
PC nomenclature) says ‚I reckon we should table the motion about the
McBigcorp account‘. If you were American you would think ‚Gee, I guess
we can forget about that for a while‘ - i.e. the motion has been
postponed. If you were English, you would think ‚Jolly good show old
bean! I fancied (cv) talking about that one!‘, i.e. the motion has been
brought up for discussion. How do people in trans-atlantic companies cope? -
Twat. In the US, calling someone a twat is unwise since you are
accusing them of resembling a part of the female anatomy. In the UK, a
mild insult meaning ‚idiot‘ much beloved of school children who might
get into trouble with naughtier words. -
Swank. In both countries to be ‚swanky‘ implies that you are showy
and vulgar, or to say that something is ‚swanky‘ could also mean that it
is posh or expensive. Comic book characters (e.g. those in UK comics The
Beano and Whizzer & Chips) are often seen going into the ‚Hotel de
Swank‘ after getting money for some good turn, where they promptly blow
it all on a plate of mashed potato with sausages sticking out of it. I
have never seen such a delicacy on offer in the hotels I have been in,
much to my disappointment. Anyway, I have also been reliably informed
that ‚Swank‘ is also the name of a US DIY magazine populated by young
women who have great difficulty keeping their clothes on or their legs
together. They also wear high heels in bed. Weird. I have a theory about
how the magazine got named. The editor was wandering around Soho, London
(the red light district) one day when he heard a Londoner shout ‚S‘ wank
innit?’ (It is a wank(cv) isn’t it). Thinking, ‚Aha - I’m au fait with
English slang: hence ‚Swank‘ would be a great name for a porno mag‘ he
toddled off back to the US and created said magazine. Unfortunately, in
this context the Londoner was probably referring to his job being
pointless… -
Potty. In both countries ‚potty‘ is that little plastic seat that
kids are forced to use when they need to expel bodily waste when they
are too big for nappies(UK) / diapers(US). Americans take the meaning of
this word into adult life unchanged. English chaps use ‚potty‘ to
describe someone who is a bit silly, doolally or, to be frank, mad.
After watching the film ‚The Madness of King George‘, I can see how the
two meanings might have a common ancestry… -
Bloody. You guys might describe an item covered in blood as
‚bloody‘. So might we. ‚Bloody‘ is also a mild English swear word which
is always used in cheesy programs made by Americans about the UK. Hardly
anyone over here uses it anymore. Similarly, the word ‚bleeding‘. We use
‚****‘ just as much as you guys, the big difference being that we can
use it on network television after 9pm in a non-gratutious way, whereas
you can only shout ‚****‘ in the privacy of your own home. So there. -
Grass. You can walk on it and you could smoke it (if it wasn’t
illegal). In the UK you can also do it as well. To grass on someone
means to tell on them, usually to an authority figure like a policeman
or a teacher. Someone who tells on a lot of people is known as a
‚supergrass‘ - most often used when describing IRA informers who do the
dirty on their Republican chums. Also ‚Supergrass‘ is the name of a pop
combo who are rather more popular over here than they are in the US.
Whether they named themselves after this definition or one more akin to
why Green Day are called ‚Green Day‘ is uncertain… -
Policemen. UK policemen are unarmed. As a consequence I feel safer
over here than I did in the US. Anyway, the following are used to
describe policemen: bobbies, peelers, filth, cops, pigs, the old Bill
(or the Bill), rozzers, coppers, a plod or perhaps ‚bastards‘ if you are
feeling lucky. I’m not sure how many of those you guys might use.
Imagine you are a tea leaf (thief) and you spot a car in good nick
(reasonable condition) so you decide to nick (steal) it. Along comes PC
(Police Constable) Plod, puts his hand on your shoulder and says ‚You’re
nicked mate!‘ even though he isn’t your friend and he probably isn’t
wielding a knife. This is your cue to say ‚It’s a fair cop! You got me
banged to rights and make no mistake. You’ll find the rest of the swag
(illgotten gains) in the sack!‘ if you are stupid or ‚I aint done
nuffink copper!‘ if you are aren’t. -
Crime and punishment. If you had ‚been a naughty boy‘ and taken to
court, you may find yourself confronted by a ‚beak‘ (a magistrate), who
might send you down for some time ‚at her Majesty’s Pleasure‘. You would
go to gaol (or jail), or ‚nick‘ as it is sometimes confusingly called. -
Banger. Three meanings in the UK: a sausage, an old car well past
it’s prime and a small firework that makes a loud noise. If you were
repulsed by the idea of eating a faggot (cv), the British banger would
really make your stomach turn since it makes even a Taco Bell meal look
like it contains high quality meat. The Tabloid press seem to think that
the European Economic Community (the UK is a rather reluctant member)
wants to ban the British Banger. WRONG! They just want to reduce the
breadcrumb, eyes and goolies (male genitals) content and put meat in
instead… -
Conk. A nose. Also conkers is a game were small children thread
horsechest nuts to lengths of string and hit the nuts together. The
first nut to break is the loser. A conker that beats many conkers is
known as a ‚bully‘, as in a ‚bully-niner‘ is a conker that has beaten
nine other conkers. It has probably been soaked in vinegar, baked in an
oven or scooped out and filled with concrete. If such a conker hit you
on the conk you would know all about it. -
Soldiers. On both sides of the Atlantic, members of the military who
run around shooting things while wearing khaki (cv). Also in the UK,
soldiers are pieces of buttered toast or bread that you dip in your soft
boiled egg at breakfast. Yum! -
Half inch. To you, half an inch or 1.27cm. To us, to borrow without
asking first. The likely activity of a Tea Leaf (cv) in otherwords. -
Cock. There are four obvious meanings that are common to both the
English and the Americans. A willy (penis), a male bird, to ready a gun
and to knock or place something off centre. In England there is a fifth.
If a person says ‚Ello cock!‘ they are greeting you as a close personal
friend. The first meaning may also apply if you are a very close
personal friend and the third may apply if the first makes it’s unwanted
presence known in an unsuitable situation… -
Squash. To you a vegetable. To us a fruit drink similar to US
lemonade. Also called ‚cordial‘, though how friendly a bottle of orange
squash can be is open to debate. -
Mug. There are many meanings to this word, e.g. a vessel to contain
your ‚cuppa‘ (cup of tea). In the UK, a mug is a fool or an idiot and to
mug up is to learn. In the US a mug is a thug or a hoodlum (sortened
version of mugger I suppose). In otherwords, you better mug up on how
not to be a mug before you are mugged by a mug. -
Drug slang. In the UK we have some great rock festivals like
Reading, Phoenix and Glastonbury (yeah!). You guys have Lollapalooza
(okay) and Woodstock (wasn’t the second one a dodo or what?). Anyway, we
have some drug slang which you might hear if you were into such things
at these events (not that I’m condoning them but…)
Vera Lynns (or Veras) - skins or tobacco papers (named after a WWII
singer.)
Mandies - Mandy Smiths (very young ex wife of ex Rolling Stone Bill
Wyman) or spliffs.
Billy Whizz - speed or amphetamine - named after a comic character who
could run very fast.
E - ecstacy or MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine). Much hilarity
ensues when a contestant on the UK quiz show ‚Blockbusters‘ asks host
Bob Holness ‚for an e‘. Ho ho.
There are many others…
-
Mean. In the UK to be mean implies you are frugal to the point of
being stingy. In the US you might be mean (i.e. aggressive) because of
that English guy’s inability to get his wallet out and buy you a beer (cv). -
Autumn. My favourite time of year when the leaves turn orange, red
and yellow. You call it ‚Fall‘. I prefer Autumn. -
Candy. We call them sweets. Unless they are American confectionary,
then we call them candy too. I have met quite a few Americans girls
called ‚Candy‘ but never ever an English one called ‚Sweets‘. -
Cutlery. The impliments you eat with. You guys also call them flatware.
-
Sucker. In both countries a fool or a silly person. Also a piece of
candy on the end of a stick that us Brits call a lollipop or a lolly. We
also call money ‚lolly‘ too to make things just that little bit more
confusing… -
Z. The twenty sixth letter of the alphabet. You call it ‚Zee‘; we
call it ‚Zed‘. A whole generation in England has had to relearn the
alphabet after hearing the ‚Alphabet song‘ on Sesame Street. Sadder
still, the song doesn’t rhyme with the English ‚Zed‘. At least the
‚Numbers song‘ works (1-2-3-4-5, 6-7-8-9-10, 11-12, do do-do do-do do-do
do etc etc…) -
Tire. When visiting the garage make sure you know the difference
between a UK tire (band of metal placed around the rim of a wheel
designed to strengthen it) and a US tire (pneumatic effort called a
‚tyre‘ in the UK). If you make a mistake it could be a very long and
bumpy ride home. -
- In the US purely the number before one hundred. In the UK a
yummy variety of ice cream consisting of a scoop of vanilla soft-scoop
ice cream in wafer cone with a chocolate flake stuck in it. The cone is
specially designed to allow the melting ice cream to flow all over your
hand before you get to eat it.
- In the US purely the number before one hundred. In the UK a
-
Centennial. Dull but apt. You call the period lasting a hundred
years a centenar
Hallo Mucke und Eckard,
Danke euch beiden für die Antworten
Gruß Finus
hilarious article!
Where did you get it from?
Siân
Where did you get it from?
Siân
Hi Siân,
a colleague at work sent it to me one day but I have not the faintest idea where he got it from. Would you like me to ask him when he shows up the next time?
Gruß Mucke
please do! owT
…
I would like to post it on my site but must respect copyright …
siân