English English and American English

[soapbox]

While there aren't a lot of differences between American English and English English, I ran across a paragraph in Sound On Sound's review of the Access Virus C that particularly reminded me that SOS is published in England:

 

Originally posted by Sound On Sound :

The Arpeggiator now has a front-panel On/Off switch (I should jolly well think so too!) and an Edit button to gain entry to its function menu, whence you can select modes, octave range, swing, hold, clock divisions, note length and preset patterns. Whilst it would have been preferable to have more of these arpeggiator functions as hardware controls, limited panel space precludes this...

I don't hear words or phrases like "jolly well," "whence," or "whilst" here in LA. This sort of thing turns a review into a travelogue for me and adds to the enjoyment of the read. I wonder what American terms bring a smile to the face of an English reader.

 

Every so often misunderstandings arise from the different forms of English that Brits and Yanks use. For instance, when I first started using Logic Audio, and I delved into the manual that was written in English English, it took me a second to realize that a "drop out" was a good thing and not a problem.

 

A friend of mine from England once told me about an amusing misunderstanding that happened when an American couple went bicycle riding with his sister. When they finished, the American woman turned to the English woman and exclaimed, "My fanny hurts!" The English woman was shocked at the frankness of the American woman. It turns out that "fanny" doesn't refer to a butt in England. Instead, it refers to a nearby part of a woman's anatomy!

 

For some reason, misunderstanding humor just cracks me up! Does anyone else have similar stories to share?

[Rod S]

Similar things happen between Brazilian Portuguese and Iberian (portugal) Portuguese. One example comes to mind:

 

A bicha in portugal is a line of people (standing in line at a grocery store, for instance)

 

A bicha in brazil is a derogatory term for a gay men. (Similar to faggot in english).

 

To a certain extent, this happens between portuguese and spanish. One interesting example (true story):

 

In brazil, when you're talking about something that happened somewhere in the middle of the month, you would say 'meados de março' - meaning middle of march.

 

Except that meados in spanish means someone who just pee'd on himself.

 

So this executive who just go transfered to work in spain, is at a business meeting and someone asks him when the project will be completed. His vague response:

'meados de janeiro' - trying to say, towards the middle of january.

 

The whole room bursts out laughing, but he doesn't know he just said something like 'the people who pee'd on themselves in january'

 

[Gus Lozada]

I dunno, DUDE !

[Dave Pierce]

Good thread.

 

When I was with a global Fortune 500 company, our Technology Ops team worked closely with a counterpart team in London. Those guys were a lot of fun, and I could tell a million stories about them.

 

The best English/American misunderstanding came on my one trip over there. A bunch of us went to lunch, and wonder of wonders the place served drinkable coffee. I had a couple of cups, and before bringing the bill the proprietress asked me if I wanted more. I refused, thinking we were on our way out, but the boys all ordered more tea, so before she could run off I said, "Oh, OK, I'll have a warmup". She looked at me like a cheap Yank, and before I could correct her she snatched away my cup, warmed up the few remaining drops in the espresso steamer, and plopped it back in front of me.

 

The London boys all looked at me like I was an idiot when I started laughing, so I had to explain what we Yanks mean when we ask for a "warmup" on coffee.

 

--Dave

[Felix_dup1]

Reminds me of the story of the British foreign exchange student who gets in trouble for asking another student for a rubber during a test. Turns out he meant an eraser.

 

Future Music is even more colorful - I particularly enjoy how they refer to a cool piece of gear as "the dog's bollocks."

[whitefang]

Originally posted by soapbox:

It turns out that "fanny" doesn't refer to a butt in England. Instead, it refers to a nearby part of a woman's anatomy!

 

For some reason, misunderstanding humor just cracks me up! Does anyone else have similar stories to share?

I wonder what THEY think of the term "bummer"!

 

My Mother was big on this topic. One of her prized possessions was a humorous book titled

"The English to American Dictionary". Wish I knew what became of it. Her interest in the whole thing started when she was a waitress. A table in her station was occupied by three English ladies on an American visit. When Ma approached the table, she made her usual inquiry of asking them, "What will you girls have?"

They got wide eyed and their jaws dropped. One immediately asked for the manager(my Uncle John) to register a complaint. Seemed that in England, at the time, the word "girls" was common slang for street prostitutes! Once it was cleared up and apologies were made, they all managed to have a good laugh at the misunderstanding. My Mother said they even left her a more than generous tip!

 

Jolly good show!

 

Whitefang

[Botch.]

Originally posted by Rod CA:

A bicha in brazil is a derogatory term for a gay men. (Similar to faggot in english).

[/QB]

Again, English english or American english? A "fag" in English can mean a cigarette, we all got quite a laugh on the construction crew I worked on years ago with a couple of Englishmen, they were always asking to "borrow a fag".

[Tusker]

Originally posted by felix:

[QB]Reminds me of the story of the British foreign exchange student who gets in trouble for asking another student for a rubber during a test. Turns out he meant an eraser.

[QB]

Interesting. I am not that person. I'm from Singapore. But this happened to me during my first Chemistry Exam in the US. It was at Welch hall at the University of Texas in the Fall of 1983. The room was large with those stretched out tables with attached chairs that swing out. So you had to whisper some distance to be heard. The look on her face was priceless. She turned gulped, looked away and pretended she hadn't heard. And I limped through the exam using the dirty rubbers at the end of my pencils. Never mind that my scantron was looking messy, I was not going to shoot the question to the person on the other side. Nor raise my hand for attention.

 

When I got back to my dorm for lunch, I did it again. I said to one of my friends "Hey Max, I think I said something wrong today. What is a rubber?" The table erupted in laughter.

 

Jerry

[Tusker]

One of my friends used to use the term "fagged out" (tired out). Until he moved here.

 

Jerry

[Felix_dup1]

this happened to me during my first Chemistry Exam in the US. It was at Welch hall at the University of Texas in the Fall of 1983.

What a coincidence. I attended UT from 1984-1988. I don't remember where I heard the story first, but it's truly a small world if the story I heard was indeed yours. Cool.

[SFOracle]

A friend of mine named Randy was touring with a band in England and he got a lot of odd looks when he introduced himself "Hi, I'm Randy ...."

 

It is the American written gramar and spelling that always gets me - I'm from Canada. Asside from things like centre versus center and colour versus color, acceptable grammer is even a bit different in the US. I was shocked to see that commoner and commonest are words that people actually use in written US grammer - in fact, the Microsoft Office spelling checker accepts both of these. In Canada, and I would assume most of the rest of the English speaking world, you would use "more common" and "most common".

[progfusion74]

When I landed up in the US from India, my "English"-flavoured English, always got lots of laughs from my labmates, especially for using words like "grand" and "keen", and for calling someone a "jolly old fellow". I think they also got a big kick when I referred to my warm clothes as my "woolens", although I still don't quite know why.

 

prog

[Pat Azzarello]

I have a good friend in England who kept asking his admin to "shag down" so and so.

 

"Shagging" in American slang is a regional (midwest/Chicago?) term meaning "go find".

 

In England it is slang for "having sex".

[Dan South]

The English take the lift; Americans take the elevator.

 

The English have lorries; Americans have trucks.

 

The English come round; Americans come around.

 

English men complain about the missus; American men complain about the wife.

 

The English fancy a drink, while Americans simply want one.

 

The English go to the loo or the toilets (plural); Americans go to the can, the john, the toilet (singular), or the restroom, a word sure to confound all but the most worldly English person.

 

The English remember things that they "learnt" in school; Americans forget most of what they "learned".

 

In England, undesirable weather conditions such as wind or rain eventually abate; in America, they simply stop.

 

English people watch the tele; Americans watch TV.

 

British television and newspapers feature ad-VER-tiss-ments, not ad-ver-TIZE-ments.

 

The British go to the cinema to see a film. Americans go to the "theater" to see a movie. "Theatre" is a venue for live performances only in Britain.

 

The English have roundabouts; Americans have "traffic circles".

 

English constables and bobbies don't carry guns; American "police officers" and cops do.

 

English drivers overtake other vehicles; Americans pass them.

 

British people hire solicitors; Americans hire attorneys.

 

English people go on holiday; Americans go on vacation.

 

The British eat chips; Americans eat fries.

 

In a British pub, you order a draught. In an American bar, you order a draft (same pronunciation).

 

The British get knackered; Americans just get really tired.

 

"Bit" is an all purpose word in England.

 

- Did you see the bit about Britney Spears on the tele?

- No, but I read the bit about Bono in the Times. He's going on tour to promote his Africa bit, you know?

 

Frustrated or angry English people "go on about" something; Americans complain.

 

When you describe an elderly person in Britain, it helps to accentuate the description with the word "wrinkly."

 

- Did you see wrinkly old Paul Newman in that film with Tom Hanks?

 

The English say "brilliant!" when Americans say "cool!"

 

The English take the coach; Americans take the bus.

[soapbox]

ROTFL!!!

 

I've gotten a lot of laughs from this thread so far!

 

What a surprisingly good response! Thanks everyone!

[Byrdman]

Originally posted by soapbox:

ROTFL!!!

 

I've gotten a lot of laughs from this thread so far!

 

What a surprisingly good response! Thanks everyone!

American English

Batter Batsman

Pitcher Bowler

Catcher Keeper

Error Lapse

Soccer Football

Football Grid Iron

Tie Draw

Game Tie

Stand Rubber Actually this does not work - Americain for rubber is series.

root barrack

 

A few more comparing American football and rugby

 

American English

Rugby Union

out of bounds in touch

touchdown try

extra point conversion

lateral pass

offsides offside

[progfusion74]

mandatory compulsory

elevator lift

sidewalk footpath

Math Maths

 

Do they call pedestrian croosings zebra crossings in the US?

[soapbox]

Originally posted by Dan South:

In a British pub, you order a draught. In an American bar, you order a draft (same pronunciation).

This gives me the opportunity to mention that "Geoff" (English) is pronounced the same way as "Jeff" (American). People in America often don't know what to make of my name. Maybe this thread will help anyone here who was confused. BTW, I am an American. It's just that my parents preferred the English spelling.

 

Even though it's been a minor inconvenience throughout my life to have to help people pronounce my name, I think that "Geoff Grace" looks better than "Jeff Grace." I like the matching Gs and the symmetry of it.

 

Okay, that's enough of that. Let's get back to the funny stuff!

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[Pat Azzarello]

American English

-------- --------

Trunk Boot

[Dave Pierce]

OK, here's some of my favorite words/phrases gleaned from my years working with the London Tech Ops team:

 

stroppy

Adjective. Inpolite, angry, irate. Usage: "I still haven't heard back from him, so I sent his boss a stroppy email".

 

pissed

Adjective. Drunk. Usage: "We went to the pub for a few pints, and got pissed in our skulls". Especially strange when you don't know that pissed doesn't have it's American meaning.

 

lovely

Adjective or interjection. Can basically mean anything from really great, to just OK, to bloody awful. It's all in the tone. Usage: "Lovely evening, just lovely." "We installed that new software, it's lovely." "Oh lovely, the WAN link's down again"

 

brilliant

See lovely

 

Well, I could go on and on with this, but that's enough for now.

 

--Dave

[Dan South]

Originally posted by progfusion74:

Do they call pedestrian croosings zebra crossings in the US?

A zebra crossing is a special crosswalk where cars must stop for pedestrians. Most British crosswalks require pedestrians to wait for the traffic. It's important to know the difference.

[Dan South]

American / English

YIELD (traffic sign) / Give Way

EXIT / WAY OUT

subway / Underground

J-walking / wild crossing

garbage (trash) / rubbish

garbage can / bin

yard / garden

yard work / gardening

detective / inspector

watch your step / mind the step

Keep America Beautiful / Keep Britain Tidy

gasoline / petrol

highway / motorway

going for a drive / motoring

[Mats Olsson.]

Origeenally posted by progfushun74:

 

Do they call pedestrian croosin's zebra crostin's in th' US?

A zebra crossin' is a special crosswalk where cars must put the mockers on for pedestrians. Most British crosswalks require pedestrians ter wait for the traffic. It's important ter know the bloomin' difference.

Ya' goats might find da damn Dialectizer brilliantly jolly! Right on! Blimey! Right on!

 

 

/Mats

[Dan South]

English / American

chap / guy

bloke / dude

poof / wuss

 

Question: What's the English equivalent for the American salutation "Sir?" You can only use that with titled gentlemen in Britain. "My good man" has a belittling sound to it.

[Byrdman]

Originally posted by Dan South:

English / American

chap / guy

bloke / dude

poof / wuss

 

Question: What's the English equivalent for the American salutation "Sir?" You can only use that with titled gentlemen in Britain. "My good man" has a belittling sound to it.

Sir still works as a form of address rather than a title. The title is always followed by a (given) name (ie, Sir Joe rather than Sir Blow). There's an old joke about Sir Percy Spender coming to the US and being called Sir Spender.

 

poof and wuss are not equivalents - at least not round here. Here wuss means a milksop. In English poof is a derogatory term for gay.

[Mats Olsson.]

And what about Australian English?

 

/Mats

[Griffinator]

Originally posted by progfusion74:

mandatory compulsory

elevator lift

sidewalk footpath

Math Maths

 

Do they call pedestrian croosings zebra crossings in the US?

No, they're just crosswalks

 

the Zebrastreissen (sp?) is strictly German...

[progfusion74]

The reason I thought they could be english is that's what we call them back home in India. But then, they are all striped lines (hence the name)

 

prog

[soapbox]

Originally posted by Mats Olsson:

And what about Australian English?

Sure, let's throw that into the mix too!

 

I liked the Spanish/Portuguese example that Rodrigo gave above as well. As long as confusion and amusement ensues, I want to read about it!

[Byrdman]

Originally posted by Byrdman:

Originally posted by Dan South:

[qb]English / American

chap / guy

bloke / dude

poof / wuss

 

poof and wuss are not equivalents - at least not round here. Here wuss means a milksop. In English poof is a derogatory term for gay.

Lets try milqtoast! Aargh - my brains past its shelf life.