26 May 2019, 9:35 am
Speaking of slang, I find it somewhat amusing how much it can vary between different areas in the UK. In fact, I've had a few communication mishaps as a result of differences in regional slang. Certain words and phrases mean something completely different where I live now compared to where I used to live. I wish someone had warned me. 
My friends have seen social media posts from people I used to know, and sometimes I have to explain to shocked faces "Oh, no, they don't mean it that way". Or "No, that's not just nonsense, it's slang there". Although I'll admit that some of the slang is so heavy even I can't act as a translator. 
I have to stop and think when recalling stories about my past. Some of the slang used by people at the time might be misinterpreted, so it's important for me to consider that when telling it to people not from around there. Whilst this doesn't happen as often as it used to, I still have the occasional moment of accidentally using the wrong slang for the area and then suddenly realising. Usually because everyone else looks bewildered.
There are terms that mean something innocuous in certain places, and have a sexual connotation in others. Which has led to a few
" *spits out drink* "Excuse me what? 
" "... 
Oh wait, no, that's not what I meant!" conversations.
26 May 2019, 10:29 am
Lost_dragon wrote:
Speaking of slang, I find it somewhat amusing how much it can vary between different areas in the UK. In fact, I've had a few communication mishaps as a result of differences in regional slang. Certain words and phrases mean something completely different where I live now compared to where I used to live. I wish someone had warned me.
My friends have seen social media posts from people I used to know, and sometimes I have to explain to shocked faces "Oh, no, they don't mean it that way". Or "No, that's not just nonsense, it's slang there". Although I'll admit that some of the slang is so heavy even I can't act as a translator.
I have to stop and think when recalling stories about my past. Some of the slang used by people at the time might be misinterpreted, so it's important for me to consider that when telling it to people not from around there. Whilst this doesn't happen as often as it used to, I still have the occasional moment of accidentally using the wrong slang for the area and then suddenly realising. Usually because everyone else looks bewildered.
There are terms that mean something innocuous in certain places, and have a sexual connotation in others. Which has led to a few
" *spits out drink* "Excuse me what? " "... Oh wait, no, that's not what I meant!" conversations.
My friends have seen social media posts from people I used to know, and sometimes I have to explain to shocked faces "Oh, no, they don't mean it that way". Or "No, that's not just nonsense, it's slang there". Although I'll admit that some of the slang is so heavy even I can't act as a translator.
I have to stop and think when recalling stories about my past. Some of the slang used by people at the time might be misinterpreted, so it's important for me to consider that when telling it to people not from around there. Whilst this doesn't happen as often as it used to, I still have the occasional moment of accidentally using the wrong slang for the area and then suddenly realising. Usually because everyone else looks bewildered.
There are terms that mean something innocuous in certain places, and have a sexual connotation in others. Which has led to a few
" *spits out drink* "Excuse me what?
" "... Oh wait, no, that's not what I meant!" conversations.Dialects change more in England every ten miles than they do every 1000 miles in Canada/USA.
On top of that are the differences between the wider national slang in the UK and that in North America.
Brits have to be told that its okay to ask "where can I find a cigarette?" when in the USA, but not "where can I find a fag?". A "rubber" is an eraser in the UK, but could be either a pair of galoshes in the US, or a condom in the US (and the galosh meaning has pretty much died out since my childhood in the Sixties). I read somewhere that "cobbler" is slang for the "male organ" in some Brit dialects.
Spanish is similar. In Peru a "tambeau" is a "country inn", but in neighboring Ecuador it's a "house of ill repute".
26 May 2019, 10:48 am
26 May 2019, 10:54 am
26 May 2019, 10:58 am
Trogluddite wrote:
There are some words which are more offensive in the UK than the USA, too. For example, "fanny" usually means a woman's sexual orifice over here, not just any old person's rear end. "Fanny pack" sounds like a euphemism for tampons/sanitary-pads to British ears (we'd call it a "bum bag".)
On my first visit stateside , I met some relations and I was given a baby to hold as she was my 2nd cousin or summit. When she started crying , her mum said 'just pat her on her fanny' - I think my head exploded and I handed the baby back - weird Americans
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26 May 2019, 10:59 am
26 May 2019, 11:07 am
26 May 2019, 11:12 am
26 May 2019, 11:14 am
26 May 2019, 11:17 am
Teach51
Veteran
Joined: 28 Jan 2019
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,808
Location: Where angels do not fear to tread.
26 May 2019, 11:26 am
Trueno wrote:
Trogluddite wrote:
Trueno wrote:
Trog... any thoughts on where the word "goolies" comes from?
Ooh, I've not heard that one for a while: I remember it used a lot during my childhood in the Midlands, but rarely since coming up to Yorkshire a few decades ago - no idea if that's a regional difference or just the passage of time. The only etymology that I can find for it is a possible import from Hindi in the time of the Raj - Hindi "goli" = ball, bullet, pill.
Your knowledge of the etymology of the weird and wonderful is getting a bit... spooky.
Lots of other words I could ask about, but I'd probably be banned.
The hebrew word for marbles ( the game) is Gula, meaning round which is "Agol" a wheel being "Galgal". This is a similar root to the Hindi word you mentioned. Just sayin....
26 May 2019, 12:10 pm
Trueno wrote:
Your knowledge of the etymology of the weird and wonderful is getting a bit... spooky.
Special interest + Google!
Teach51 wrote:
The hebrew word for marbles ( the game) is Gula, meaning round which is "Agol" a wheel being "Galgal". This is a similar root to the Hindi word you mentioned. Just sayin....
Yes, it's certainly possible that it's come by another route - the etymology that I found was quite speculative, and I would guess based on written attestations (generally not so reliable for slang words.) There's also the Australian slang "goolie", meaning a pebble or stone, which likely derives from one of the aboriginal Australian languages.
26 May 2019, 7:52 pm
Personally, I think of the dessert when the word cobbler appears. The UK version, not the US type.
Quote:
Cobbler is a dish consisting of a fruit or savoury filling poured into a large baking dish and covered with a batter, biscuit, or dumpling (in the United Kingdom) before being baked. Some cobbler recipes, especially in the American south, resemble a thick-crusted, deep-dish pie with both a top and bottom crust. Cobbler is part of the cuisine of the United Kingdom and United States, and should not be confused with a crumble.
Either that or someone who fixes shoes. I haven't heard anyone use it in the slang sense though. There's also slang that is mainly only used by the older generations as well, so that's a factor.
Greetings vary so much. Where I used to live, it wasn't too uncommon to call someone a "cocker" which sounds bad, but it's just short for cockerel. That was used more by the older people there (particularly between older men or in reference to them) though. The greeting where I live now is "duck" instead. Why all the bird related greetings, England?
Also, interestingly I have heard the term "Chuck" less here. Not as in throw, but a friendly greeting. Apparently deriving from "Chick" according to Google. I still hear "Love" though. Personally, my least favourite greetings are "Pet" "Hon" and "Babe".
27 May 2019, 4:27 am
Lost_dragon wrote:
Personally, I think of the dessert when the word cobbler appears. The UK version, not the US type.
Either that or someone who fixes shoes. I haven't heard anyone use it in the slang sense though. There's also slang that is mainly only used by the older generations as well, so that's a factor.
Greetings vary so much. Where I used to live, it wasn't too uncommon to call someone a "cocker" which sounds bad, but it's just short for cockerel. That was used more by the older people there (particularly between older men or in reference to them) though. The greeting where I live now is "duck" instead. Why all the bird related greetings, England?
Also, interestingly I have heard the term "Chuck" less here. Not as in throw, but a friendly greeting. Apparently deriving from "Chick" according to Google. I still hear "Love" though. Personally, my least favourite greetings are "Pet" "Hon" and "Babe".
Quote:
Cobbler is a dish consisting of a fruit or savoury filling poured into a large baking dish and covered with a batter, biscuit, or dumpling (in the United Kingdom) before being baked. Some cobbler recipes, especially in the American south, resemble a thick-crusted, deep-dish pie with both a top and bottom crust. Cobbler is part of the cuisine of the United Kingdom and United States, and should not be confused with a crumble.
Either that or someone who fixes shoes. I haven't heard anyone use it in the slang sense though. There's also slang that is mainly only used by the older generations as well, so that's a factor.
Greetings vary so much. Where I used to live, it wasn't too uncommon to call someone a "cocker" which sounds bad, but it's just short for cockerel. That was used more by the older people there (particularly between older men or in reference to them) though. The greeting where I live now is "duck" instead. Why all the bird related greetings, England?
Also, interestingly I have heard the term "Chuck" less here. Not as in throw, but a friendly greeting. Apparently deriving from "Chick" according to Google. I still hear "Love" though. Personally, my least favourite greetings are "Pet" "Hon" and "Babe".
Well..thats what I was talking about.
Decades ago when I was a kid in 1969, I read an anecdote in Reader's Digest about an American couple who were living in England. And were entertaining one night. And the American wife announced that "we are having peach cobbler for dessert". And that's caused a shock among the British guests because "cobbler is British slang for the male organ" according the article.
Not that I think about peach cobbler very often, but I figured that "cobbler" must have the original meaning of "shoemaker" in both the UK and US, but that they must call the dessert something else in England, and further- that they DO have that sexual slang associated with the word, that we Americans don't have.
But apparently that aint so. And the dessert is also called "peach cobbler" there in the UK as well. So I dunno if that story was accurate, or not. Maybe announcing that "we are having peach cobbler" wouldn't be shocking to Brits after all.
27 May 2019, 7:32 am
auntblabby
Veteran
Joined: 12 Feb 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 114,586
Location: the island of defective toy santas
27 May 2019, 7:42 am
in my neck o' the woods we'd say "slummin'"
i still have a phone message pad that reads, "while you were fking off, mr/mrs. _____ called."
