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Lightning88
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12 May 2007, 11:13 pm

This is the thread where we see the differences in the English language between Great Britian and the United States. Feel free to add anymore meanings if you're positive of what they mean in both versions! :)


Biscuit
A- a fluffy baked good
B- a cookie


Pavement
A- concrete
B- sidewalk


Flat
A- something with no deph
B- an apartment


Fancy
A- upscale, nice and expensive
B- to have a crush on someone


Mum
A- a flower
B- mother


If you can think of anything else, please feel free to add them!



cowlypso
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12 May 2007, 11:19 pm

Chips
A- very thin, fried snacks (potato, tortilla, nacho...)
B- french fries



matt271
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12 May 2007, 11:28 pm

boot
a-car trunk
b-footware

lift
a-construction site device
b-elevator

i dunno about Brittan but here in Canada we call it pop not soda.

i started watching a couple British shows and i think im learning their slang and stuff good. i really liked that show Life on Mars. i like their voices too :D



Lightning88
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12 May 2007, 11:48 pm

matt271 wrote:
i dunno about Brittan but here in Canada we call it pop not soda.

I call it coke, but my mom calls it pop. Then again, she's originally from Wisconson and I'm originally from Texas...

matt271 wrote:
i started watching a couple British shows and i think im learning their slang and stuff good. i really liked that show Life on Mars. i like their voices too :D

Yeah, I know exactly what you're talking about! I've been watching so much Charlie and Lola that I'm beginning to pick up a British accent! Now I sometimes speak like Lola! lol



daveyw
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13 May 2007, 2:38 am

Older people tend to say "pictures" instead of "movies", although this is disappearing as few younger people say it any more. Some older people even say "filims" [sic].

Also, (this tends to be amongst posh people), mall isn't pronounced "maul" but "mal".

The closest thing to an American "biscuit" is a Yorkshire pudding. To Americans, pudding is something sweet and running, and you don't eat with your dinner.

Oh, that reminds me, "tea" can not only mean the beverage, but the evening meal.

Chips aren't french fries. They're both slivers of fried potato, but chips are shorter and fatter than french fries (also known as "shoestring fries").

Other uses of "mum": it can mean to be discreet, "Mum's the word". Also, when someone serves tea and offers to pour, they are "being mother".

Here in New Zealand there is a company that makes "elevators" named Schindler. During the 90s they would sometimes be defaced with the words "Schindler's Lift".

We tend to say soft drink or fizzy drink for "soda", not sure if the British do too.

For pavement, we tend to use footpath. Concrete is just what it's made out of.



Gilb
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13 May 2007, 2:39 am

pants
A-trousers
B-underwear

Ass
A-buttocks
B-donkey

trunk
A-car boot
B- trunk=centre of a tree, trunks="speedo" as you yanks call them



RidgeRunner
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13 May 2007, 2:40 am

Lightning88 wrote:
matt271 wrote:
i dunno about Brittan but here in Canada we call it pop not soda.

I call it coke, but my mom calls it pop. Then again, she's originally from Wisconson and I'm originally from Texas...
Eeesh, I think that's an entirely regional thing... around here, I usually hear it called "soft drinks".



Ticker
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13 May 2007, 3:06 am

Jumper-

A=an athlete
B=a dress

Trolley-

A=an electric car like they have in San Francisco
B=a push cart

Bonnet-

A= a female's hat
B= hood of a car

Bangers-

A=???
B=Sausages

Biggie-

A= Do you want to super size your fries?
B= Poop or a reference to male anatomy

Bomb-

A=explosive device
B=something very expensive

Shag-

A=a type of women's haircut or type of carpet
B=to have sex


Cobbler-

A=a baked fruit dessert
B= a bunch of rubbish!

Fanny-

A=buttocks, rear end
B=a females frontal private parts

Flutter-

A=something birds and butterflies do with their wings
B= to make a bet on the horse race

Ring-

A=a piece of jewelry or any circular object
B=to call someone on the telephone

Brits tend to call Sweets what Americans call Candy. But Sweets to an American is any sugary treat including a breakfast pastry which would be called a tart in Britain I think.



Gilb
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13 May 2007, 3:33 am

Ticker wrote:
Jumper-

A=an athlete
B=a dress


Trolley-

A=an electric car like they have in San Francisco
B=a push cart

Bonnet-
A= a female's hat
B= hood of a car

Bangers-

A=???
B=Sausages

Biggie-

A= Do you want to super size your fries?
B= Poop or a reference to male anatomy

Bomb-

A=explosive device
B=something very expensive

Shag-

A=a type of women's haircut or type of carpet
B=to have sex


Cobbler-

A=a baked fruit dessert
B= a bunch of rubbish!

Fanny-

A=buttocks, rear end
B=a females frontal private parts

Flutter-

A=something birds and butterflies do with their wings
B= to make a bet on the horse race

Ring-

A=a piece of jewelry or any circular object
B=to call someone on the telephone

Brits tend to call Sweets what Americans call Candy. But Sweets to an American is any sugary treat including a breakfast pastry which would be called a tart in Britain I think.

actually in the UK we say jumper to refer to what you yanks call a "sweater" or "jersey" jumper in the US is short for "jumper dress" which is called a "pinny" in the UK

we also use "Ring" to refer to a circular object and a piece jewelry as well as using it in the term "to call" so genrally we say
-ring so and so
-give us a ring
-give us bell
(the last 2 shouldn't be taken literally :wink: :P )



Lightning88
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13 May 2007, 3:34 am

RidgeRunner wrote:
Lightning88 wrote:
matt271 wrote:
i dunno about Brittan but here in Canada we call it pop not soda.

I call it coke, but my mom calls it pop. Then again, she's originally from Wisconson and I'm originally from Texas...
Eeesh, I think that's an entirely regional thing... around here, I usually hear it called "soft drinks".

You know, I once took a quiz of different American slang and how you'd pronounce stuff. Anyway, I don't know how I found it, but I'm hoping I can find it again soon. After all, it was a really good quiz. If I do find it, I'll be sure to post it here in Random Discussion. :)



Lightning88
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13 May 2007, 3:36 am

Gilb wrote:
actually in the UK we say jumper to refer to what you yanks call a "sweater" or "jersey" jumper in the US is short for "jumper dress" which is called a "pinny" in the UK

Here we call "jumpers" sundresses. I was actually totally confused about the term jumper until tonight! I always thought it meant like a romper or over-alls or something...



Gilb
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13 May 2007, 3:37 am

Gas
A-petrol
B-the third state of matter (though used in the us as well)



JakeG
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13 May 2007, 11:41 am

cowlypso wrote:
Chips
A- very thin, fried snacks (potato, tortilla, nacho...)
B- french fries


A lot of older British people call 'very thin fried snacks' potato chips (as opposed to just 'chips' which would mean French Fries) although most British people would call them 'crisps'



JakeG
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13 May 2007, 11:48 am

Ticker wrote:
Jumper-

A=an athlete
B=a dress


In Britain, jumper normally means 'sweatshirt'

Ticker wrote:
Bomb-

A=explosive device
B=something very expensive


Bomb usually refers to an explosive device in Britain; I have never heard of the second usage there.

Ticker wrote:
Cobbler-

A=a baked fruit dessert
B= a bunch of rubbish!


The normal meaning of cobbler in Britain is a shoe repairer. The meaning of cobblers being rubbish comes from the phrase 'that's a load of cobblers' which derives from the cockney rhyming slang - cobbler's awls = balls.



JakeG
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13 May 2007, 11:51 am

I rack

A - A middle-eastern country
B - first person conjugate of the verb 'to rack'

Antique

A - something over twenty years old
B - something over a hundred years old



cowlypso
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13 May 2007, 12:18 pm

That machine mounted on the wall from which you can get a drink
A- drinking fountain
B- bubbler