Why the British are Insane

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18 May 2009, 3:19 pm

When my dad was in the Navy and stopped in England he was in a restaurant and asked for a napkin (the paper thing you wipe your hands with for the British.) and everyone laughed. Apparently it means something else entirely there. Then there's a couple that could get a British person embaraased here using their slang:

"Rubber" in British Slang= eraser/ in American slang = condom

To knock some one up: British slang = to wake them up/American slang = to make them pregnant.

ladyinred
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18 May 2009, 3:33 pm

It makes me giggle how some ignorant Americans still refer to English people like they're living in the 1800's

Uranus
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18 May 2009, 3:39 pm

OTT, this is bugging me but...

...Is it true that the water in a plug hole goes around the other way in Australia? :idea:

ladyinred
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18 May 2009, 3:41 pm

LOL!

McTell
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18 May 2009, 3:51 pm

MattShizzle wrote:

What does napkin mean in England? I only know it as the paper thing one wipes hands with.

MattShizzle wrote:

To knock some one up: British slang = to wake them up.

I've never heard of this one either.

twoshots
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18 May 2009, 3:52 pm

ladyinred wrote:

Lol, its funny, Its the British language, the American's use it. They're the crazy ones, everyone outside of America knows that.

I maintain that it's the "unholy bastard child of Frisian and French" language.

James D. Nicoll wrote:

The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.

Far as I'm concerned we's all crazy.

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ladyinred
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18 May 2009, 4:02 pm

I think Americans south of Atlanta can be excused.

MissConstrue
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18 May 2009, 4:03 pm

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ladyinred
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18 May 2009, 4:10 pm

Again, thats just a silly sterotype, the southern Americans need to use stuff like that to identify people. If you look at a lot of rednecks they have terrible teeth, thats probably one in that picture.

Hala
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18 May 2009, 4:41 pm

Why Americans are insane:

You call rubbers "erasers"
You call condoms "rubbers"
You call crisps "chips"
You call chips "fries"
You call boots "trunks"
You call bonnets "hoods"
You call petrol "gas"
You call lorries "trucks"
You call angry "mad"
You call mad "crazy"
You call draughts "checkers"
You call jumpers "sweaters"
You call trousers "pants"
You call pants "underpants"
You call tights "pantyhose"
You call queues "lines"
You call adverts "commercials"
You call sweets "candy"
You call aeroplanes "airplanes"
You call aluminium "aluminum"
You call anti-clockwise "counter-clockwise"
You call full stops "periods"
You call ladybirds "ladybugs"

Aaaand you don't commonly use 24-hour clocks

I rest my case. :lol:

Impressionist
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18 May 2009, 4:46 pm

Hala wrote:

I rest my case. :lol:

Cheers.

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Prosser
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18 May 2009, 4:54 pm

Uranus wrote:

OTT, this is bugging me but...

...Is it true that the water in a plug hole goes around the other way in Australia? :idea:

Just checked, anti-clockwise it would appear.

You know, in Australia they call sweets (... uh, I mean "candy") Lollies.
Just Thought I'd share that.

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ladyinred
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18 May 2009, 5:04 pm

Hala wrote:

I rest my case. :lol:

thank you

McTell
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18 May 2009, 5:10 pm

Prosser wrote:

Just checked, anti-clockwise it would appear.

According to this, toilets can flush in both directions regardless of hemisphere. The direction is caused by the type of toilet it seems.

I read that the belief that toilets flush in different directions is based on the Coriolis effect, which causes objects to look like they are veering to the left in the southern hemisphere and to the right in the northern hemisphere. Apparently, though, this effect is not noticeable in anything so small as a toilet bowl.

twoshots
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18 May 2009, 5:34 pm

Let's just hit some easy ones.

Hala wrote:

You call crisps "chips"

Chips were invented in the United States, by most accounts, and the American usage predates the current British one by 60 years.

Quote:

You call angry "mad"

Dates back to around 1300 AD.

Quote:

You call aluminium "aluminum"

Again, American use is older; British chose "aluminium", for the extremely well thought out reason that "it has a more classical sound".

Quote:

You call full stops "periods"

The who and the what now?

source: etymonline

Edit: damn dyslexia

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Last edited by twoshots on 18 May 2009, 6:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Prosser
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18 May 2009, 5:57 pm

McTell wrote:

Prosser wrote:

Just checked, anti-clockwise it would appear.

I was talking bout water in my basin, yo.
But yeah, I've never even noticed toilets going in any direction but downwards.

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