# Colloquialisms From Across the Water



## fureverywhere (Dec 7, 2015)

Writer Bill Bryson has often commented on how amusing certain expression come out when spoken by our neighbors in the UK. There is a site I frequent where Yanks are the minority. Sometimes I could use a glossary. Fortunate to be able to Google things in an instant. An expression that puzzled me one day..." ah the wee bairn"...turned out to be a small infant. But some of the simplest things come out so charming..."Here then, I just finished cleaning me shed and I'm knackered". Interesting question too, are there American expression that get lost in translation or tickle the funny bone?


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## Linda (Dec 7, 2015)

I've always wondered about the phrase:  "lo I swainy"  or "I swain".   I'm not sure now to spell it  I think its a southern expression.  I've never heard anyone say it in person, just books and movies.  

My English neighbor used to say "Come round for tea" which I thought was a cute way of asking someone to come over to a cup of tea.


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## jujube (Dec 7, 2015)

Having had deep South forebears, I'm _full_ of "Suthernisms":

"*Carry*" - to take someone someplace in your car.  "Ah'm waiting for mah nephew Bubba to come carry me to church.  He's right proud of that new car uh his."

"*Wear down*" - Deal with misbehaving children.  "Bubba, am Ah gone to have to wear you down with this stick or are you gone pick up them toys?"

"*Fixin' to*" - Thinking SERIOUSLY about going to do something _sometime in the near future. "I'm fixin' to (fill in the blank) as soon as Big Bubba gets back."

"*Bless his heart*" - He's dumber than a box of rocks and can't do anything right, but he's ours and we love him anyway.  "Looks like Bubba's youngest un's back livin' with 'em again, bless his heart."

"*That dawg don't hunt*!" - An unbelievable story.  "Wa'al, if you wuz well enough to stay out late last night, you are well enough to go to church this morning.  Don't tell me you are sick, Bubba; that dawg don't hunt!"

 "*Don't that beat all!*  -  Isn't that fantastic?  "You know Bubba's oldest girl Maybelline?  Well, she's getting married finally.  Don't that beat all!"_


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## Linda (Dec 7, 2015)

Jujube, I love "That dawg don't hunt!", I've never heard it before.  I can hardly wait till someone around here says something outlandish so I can use it on them!


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## fureverywhere (Dec 7, 2015)

"*That dawg don't hunt*!" - An unbelievable story.  "Wa'al, if you wuz well enough to stay out late last night, you are well enough to go to church this morning.  Don't tell me you are sick, Bubba; that dawg don't hunt!"

That's so cute, bless your heart

My Mom was from Central PA. She taught in a private school so she did away with her accent. But when she got upset or tired the expressions would slip out "Now it's time to red up this room!!!", your father is out warrrshing the car.


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## hollydolly (Dec 7, 2015)

fureverywhere said:


> Writer Bill Bryson has often commented on how amusing certain expression come out when spoken by our neighbors in the UK. There is a site I frequent where Yanks are the minority. Sometimes I could use a glossary. Fortunate to be able to Google things in an instant. An expression that puzzled me one day..." ah the wee bairn"...turned out to be a small infant. But some of the simplest things come out so charming..."Here then, I just finished cleaning me shed and I'm knackered". Interesting question too, are there American expression that get lost in translation or tickle the funny bone?



Yes but of course there are huge amounts of different accents and dialects in the UK...and many of these phrase wouldn't be understood by other people in the UK, much less anyone outside of the UK.

For example...''wee Bairn'' is the name used to describe  a small child in one county in the Very North of England...and is used almost exclusively  only  on the east coast of Scotland..

the word ''knackered'' is a generic British word meaning absolutely exhausted, and is used widely whatever dialect is spoken 

Linda....''come round (around ) for tea/coffee/drink)...is a phrase  almost everyone uses here if they're inviting you over to their home...just as a matter of interest, what would an American say if for example they were inviting a neighbour over for tea?


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## Cookie (Dec 7, 2015)

I think once we have reached a certain age and read many many books and seen so many many movies, most of us are familiar with expressions and colloquialisms from the UK and over most of the world, and if not, we can easily google and find out. 

I just watched Bridget Jones Diary a few days ago and one thing they do say a lot of in that movie is 'shag', which we don't use in North America, but I'm sure most of us know what it means lol.


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## GeorgiaXplant (Dec 7, 2015)

Knocked up. Yup. Knocked up. "What time would you like to be knocked up?" That's what the desk clerk in a hotel in London asked when I asked for a wake-up call.


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## hollydolly (Dec 7, 2015)

GeorgiaXplant said:


> Knocked up. Yup. Knocked up. "What time would you like to be knocked up?" That's what the desk clerk in a hotel in London asked when I asked for a wake-up call.




I remember you telling us that a year or 2 back georgia, and I was as stunned as you, because I have never heard anyone in my life use that as an expression to wake someone up.. ,( and I've lived all over the UK and am very au fait with just about every dialect.)....because ''knocked up'' in this country means the same as it does in the USA.. LOL...


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## Laurie (Dec 7, 2015)

The phrase "I'm knackered" is a corruption of " ....... ready for the knackers yard", which is where they took broken down horses in Victorian times.

In a more genteel era it would not be used in polite conversation, and never in mixed company!

"Across the water" depends on which side you are!

One of yours which I like is "If I had my druthers"  (For the Brits - "Given a choice)).


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## Cookie (Dec 7, 2015)

Gobsmacked --- I think this is a funny one and I've heard it used in many movies and read it in many books.


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## jujube (Dec 7, 2015)

Then there are the Pennsylvania Dutch sayings:

"You came too late, the pie is all."  (gone, eaten, finished)

"My goodness, that cheese is loud."  (stinky)

"Looks like it's going to make down wet." (rain)


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## Warrigal (Dec 7, 2015)

If you are asked to tea in Australia by Aussies it will probably mean the evening meal. 
On the other hand, if by an English family it is wise to clarify the invitation.
We once turned up to an invitation to tea with a bottle of red underarm and the expectation of a meal.

Our wonderfully adaptable hostess turned on a high tea at a moments notice when she realised our mistake.


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## Hanfonius (Dec 7, 2015)

I had a mild heart condition recently, requiring a visit to the A&E department.   Fortunately,  I was allowed to go home that evening.
The next morning,  I had a telephone call from a Case Liaison Officer,  and having established my identity,  asked,  _'How are you feeling today,  love?'_

A lot of old people here would object to be called 'love' by a stranger,  but it is widely used.   Personally,  I find it very endearing.

Friends and acquaintances regularly use words such as love,  pet,  ducky,  darlin',  petal,  dear,  and many others.   Some of them are regional,   as are the dialects.   

The trouble is trying to recall them.   They are words I use everyday,  yet they are not thought of as being unusual..

In the north of England,  you might hear,  _'Well,  I'll go to the foot of our stairs.'_  if somebody says something surprising.
 I shall have to spend some time compiling a list for our American friends out there.

_'Night night,  sleep tight.   Mind the bedbugs don't bite.'

_


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## fureverywhere (Dec 7, 2015)

"What time would you like to be knocked up?"

" OOh my gracious, whatever time is good for you Sweet Cheeks!"


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## Ameriscot (Dec 7, 2015)

Even after nearly 16 years in Scotland I'm still charmed by the language, and still occasionally learn a new phrase or word.  Many are a solid part of my vocabulary and I struggle to think what I would have said in the US!


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## fureverywhere (Dec 7, 2015)

I had a book about musician Alex Harvey. One of my favorite bands in his day. For the most part the author translated here and there. But in interviews or live you need the Glasgow glossary. Except for natives who have told me they understand every word.


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## Ameriscot (Dec 7, 2015)

fureverywhere said:


> I had a book about musician Alex Harvey. One of my favorite bands in his day. For the most part the author translated here and there. But in interviews or live you need the Glasgow glossary. Except for natives who have told me they understand every word.



Few outside of Scotland and maybe England realize that many of the words used by Scots are a different language or dialect (depending on the linguist).  One of them is called Lallans (Lowlands) and evolved from the same source as English which is why people think it's a bastardisation of English.  Ex:  hoose is house, hame is home, nae is no, aye is yes.  My husband uses these words and moreso since moving back from London.

http://www.lallans.co.uk/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lallans

I have trouble with very thick Glasgwegian accents, but then it's not the just the accent, it's the words.  Overall I'd say I understand 80-90% of what a Glasgwegian says - 100% of my in-laws who are Glasgwegian.


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## Butterfly (Dec 7, 2015)

My mother said "I'll swan" or "I swan" quite often.  It is a Southern expression, all right, used in the same way as "well I never,"  or at least that's how she used it.


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## Butterfly (Dec 7, 2015)

jujube said:


> Having had deep South forebears, I'm _full_ of "Suthernisms":
> 
> "*Carry*" - to take someone someplace in your car.  "Ah'm waiting for mah nephew Bubba to come carry me to church.  He's right proud of that new car uh his."
> 
> ...


_


Me, too, jujube.  I grew up with all those expressions. I find myself still using "fixin' to."  My folks were both raised in the South by generations of southerners and even though I mostly grew up in New Mexico, of course those expressions were part of my parents' everyday language around home.  The "wear you down" expression was "wear you out" in their vocabulary._


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## Manatee (Dec 8, 2015)

Expressions tend to rub off when you are exposed to them daily.  I was raised in a southern household in suburban NY.  My parents were from the Carolinas, one north and one south.  My father worked on an ocean liner in the 1920s sailing between NY and Southampton England.  He learned nautical expressions and passed some to me.  I absorbed more of that during the time I spent in the US Navy.  Later, I worked for an English company for 24 years and became aware that we speak different dialects of the same language.


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## fureverywhere (Dec 8, 2015)

Something I find amusing is that on the UK site..."Bloody"...in the US it would probably explain somebody with physical damage. On the UK sites it's apparently akin to the "F" bomb stateside.


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## Ameriscot (Dec 8, 2015)

fureverywhere said:


> Something I find amusing is that on the UK site..."Bloody"...in the US it would probably explain somebody with physical damage. On the UK sites it's apparently akin to the "F" bomb stateside.



Bloody is more like damn than F.  I like to say bloody hell and since it doesn't sound like real swearing to me, I sometimes get disapproving looks in the UK.


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## SifuPhil (Dec 8, 2015)

The only real experience I can claim to knowing UK dialects is from years of watching _Monty Python_.

I suspect my knowledge isn't quite comprehensive, though ...


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## Ameriscot (Dec 8, 2015)

Manatee said:


> Expressions tend to rub off when you are exposed to them daily.  I was raised in a southern household in suburban NY.  My parents were from the Carolinas, one north and one south.  My father worked on an ocean liner in the 1920s sailing between NY and Southampton England.  He learned nautical expressions and passed some to me.  I absorbed more of that during the time I spent in the US Navy.  Later, I worked for an English company for 24 years and became aware that we speak different dialects of the same language.



When I moved from Michigan to TN, I picked up 'hey' instead of 'hi'.  It just seemed friendlier to me than hi and it stuck.  Can't say it now though as nobody in Scotland would get it.

I've picked up many, many phrases and words and Lallans in Scotland as that is what I hear all the time.  Drives my sister nuts when I go back to visit.  She can't seem to understand that I'd pick these up because I'm surrounded by it.  She thinks since I lived in the US for 48 years that I should stick with American words only.  :apathy:  She assumes I use these words consciously in Scotland to be understood, but I think I have finally convinced her that the only time I have to think before I speak is in the US.  

There are some terms I simply refuse to use:  bonnet for hood of car, although I do say boot instead of trunk.  I say garij for garage, petrol for gas, just here/just next door instead of right here/right next door (it confused people), bin motor instead of garbara truck, lorry instead of truck, postie instead of mailman, phone instead of call, post instead of mail, and then there's the spellings....


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## fureverywhere (Dec 8, 2015)

The only real experience I can claim to knowing UK dialects is from years of watching _Monty Python_.

 I suspect my knowledge isn't quite comprehensive, though ... 
Priceless...
[h=1]The Dead Parrot Sketch[/h][h=2]Monty Python[/h][h=4]The Pet Shoppe[/h]A customer enters a pet shop.
Customer: 'Ello, I wish to register a complaint.
(The owner does not respond.)
C: 'Ello, Miss?
Owner: What do you mean "miss"?
C: I'm sorry, I have a cold. I wish to make a complaint!
O: We're closin' for lunch.
C: Never mind that, my lad. I wish to complain about this parrot what I purchased not half an hour ago from this very boutique.
O: Oh yes, the, uh, the Norwegian Blue...What's,uh...What's wrong with it?
C: I'll tell you what's wrong with it, my lad. 'E's dead, that's what's wrong with it!
O: No, no, 'e's uh,...he's resting.
C: Look, matey, I know a dead parrot when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now.
O: No no he's not dead, he's, he's restin'! Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue, idn'it, ay? Beautiful plumage!
C: The plumage don't enter into it. It's stone dead.
O: Nononono, no, no! 'E's resting!
C: All right then, if he's restin', I'll wake him up!
(shouting at the cage)
'Ello, Mister Polly Parrot! I've got a lovely fresh cuttle fish for you if you show...(owner hits the cage)
O: There, he moved!
C: No, he didn't, that was you hitting the cage!
O: I never!!
C: Yes, you did!
O: I never, never did anything...
C: (yelling and hitting the cage repeatedly) 'ELLO POLLY!!!!!
Testing! Testing! Testing! Testing! This is your nine o'clock alarm call!
(Takes parrot out of the cage and thumps its head on the counter. Throws it up in the air and watches it plummet to the floor.)
C: Now that's what I call a dead parrot.
O: No, no.....No, 'e's stunned!
C: STUNNED?!?
O: Yeah! You stunned him, just as he was wakin' up! Norwegian Blues stun easily, major.
C: Um...now look...now look, mate, I've definitely 'ad enough of this. That parrot is definitely deceased, and when I purchased it not 'alf an hour ago, you assured me that its total lack of movement was due to it bein' tired and shagged out following a prolonged squawk.
O: Well, he's...he's, ah...probably pining for the fjords.
C: PININ' for the FJORDS?!?!?!? What kind of talk is that?, look, why did he fall flat on his back the moment I got 'im home?
O: The Norwegian Blue prefers kippin' on it's back! Remarkable bird, id'nit, squire? Lovely plumage!
C: Look, I took the liberty of examining that parrot when I got it home, and I discovered the only reason that it had been sitting on its perch in the first place was that it had been NAILED there.
(pause)
O: Well, o'course it was nailed there! If I hadn't nailed that bird down, it would have nuzzled up to those bars, bent 'em apart with its beak, and VOOM! Feeweeweewee!
C: "VOOM"?!? Mate, this bird wouldn't "voom" if you put four million volts through it! 'E's bleedin' demised!
O: No no! 'E's pining!
C: 'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker!
'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies!
 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig!
 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!!
THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!!
(pause)
O: Well, I'd better replace it, then.
(he takes a quick peek behind the counter)
O: Sorry squire, I've had a look 'round the back of the shop, and uh, we're right out of parrots.
C: I see. I see, I get the picture.
O: I got a slug.
(pause)
C: (sweet as sugar) Pray, does it talk?
O: Nnnnot really.
C: WELL IT'S HARDLY A BLOODY REPLACEMENT, IS IT?!!???!!?
O: Look, if you go to my brother's pet shop in Bolton, he'll replace the parrot for you.
C: Bolton, eh? Very well.
The customer leaves.
The customer enters the same pet shop. The owner is putting on a false moustache.
C: This is Bolton, is it?
O: (with a fake mustache) No, it's Ipswitch.
C: (looking at the camera) That's inter-city rail for you.
The customer goes to the train station.
He addresses a man standing behind a desk marked "Complaints".
C: I wish to complain, British-Railways Person.
Attendant: I DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS JOB, YOU KNOW!!!
C: I beg your pardon...?
A: I'm a qualified brain surgeon! I only do this job because I like being my own boss!
C: Excuse me, this is irrelevant, isn't it?
A: Yeah, well it's not easy to pad these python files out to 200 lines, you know.
C: Well, I wish to complain. I got on the Bolton train and found myself deposited here in Ipswitch.
A: No, this is Bolton.
C: (to the camera) The pet shop man's brother was lying!!
A: Can't blame British Rail for that.
C: In that case, I shall return to the pet shop!
He does.
C: I understand this IS Bolton.
O: (still with the fake mustache) Yes?
C: You told me it was Ipswitch!
O: ...It was a pun.
C: (pause) A PUN?!?
O: No, no...not a pun...What's that thing that spells the same backwards as forwards?
C: (Long pause) A palindrome...?
O: Yeah, that's it!
C: It's not a palindrome! The palindrome of "Bolton" would be "Notlob"!! It don't work!!
O: Well, what do you want?
C: I'm not prepared to pursue my line of inquiry any longer as I think this is getting too silly!
Sergeant-Major: Quite agree, quite agree, too silly, far too silly...


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## Ameriscot (Dec 8, 2015)

Fur, love Monty Python.  That skit sounds like a cockney accent.


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## Linda (Dec 8, 2015)

.''come round (around ) for tea/coffee/drink)...is a phrase  almost  everyone uses here if they're inviting you over to their home...just as a  matter of interest, what would an American say if for example they were  inviting a neighbour over for tea?  Hollydolly, It would probably be "come over and have coffee" or "stop in when you can and have coffee with us", something like that.  That isn't something I ever do though, I just wave or talk to my neighbor's over the fence once or twice a year.


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## Linda (Dec 8, 2015)

GeorgiaXplant said:


> Knocked up. Yup. Knocked up. "What time would you like to be knocked up?" That's what the desk clerk in a hotel in London asked when I asked for a wake-up call.


I would have laughed my head off if a desk clerk said that to me, especially if my husband was standing there.


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## Linda (Dec 8, 2015)

Butterfly said:


> My mother said "I'll swan" or "I swan" quite often.  It is a Southern expression, all right, used in the same way as "well I never,"  or at least that's how she used it.


Thank you Butterfly, I have wondered about that for a long time.  That does make sense.


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## Hanfonius (Dec 9, 2015)

Every couple of weeks,  the dustman visits us.   He is also known as the dustbinman.
He calls to empty our dustbins,  or  'trashcans' as you lovely Americans call them.

We don't have trash here.

To trash somebody or something is to decry it,  to suggest it is a load of rubbish.

Real trashy trash is something we call crap  (well,  that's what I call it).
...   English ladies wouldn't use that word.

Excuse me,  it's time for my early morning dump.


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## SifuPhil (Dec 9, 2015)

Hanfonius said:


> Every couple of weeks,  the dustman visits us.   He is also known as the dustbinman.
> He calls to empty our dustbins,  or  'trashcans' as you lovely Americans call them.
> 
> We don't have trash here.




So ... you fill your dustbins with ...

... dust? 

Methinks that's rubbish!


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## Warrigal (Dec 9, 2015)

No Phil. It's garbage in OZspeak.. 

Once a week the garbos come around and empty our garbage bins.


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## Ameriscot (Dec 9, 2015)

Rubbish in Scotland.  And it goes in the bin.


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## SifuPhil (Dec 9, 2015)

Warrigal said:


> Once a week the *garbos* come around and empty our garbage bins.





She was wonderful in _Grand Hotel_ ...


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## SifuPhil (Dec 9, 2015)

Ameriscot said:


> Rubbish in Scotland.  And it goes in the bin.



That at least makes sense.


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## Hanfonius (Dec 9, 2015)

Another thing that gets called by different words is the lavatory...

In the UK,  it is called the toilet or the loo (from the French word l'eau meaning water).   Public loo's are referred to as WC's or water closets,  and in the military,  they are called the latrines.

Posh ladies never go to the loo - they go to 'powder their noses' in the powder rooms.
Working-class men go to the bog.

What we all do in the loo has generated a whole host of words,  but I'm not sure that your delicate ears would wish to hear them...


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## jujube (Dec 9, 2015)

I used to work in a building in downtown Orlando that used to have "THE FIRST, F.A." ("The First" being the name of a bank and the F.A. standing for Federal Association to indicate what kind of bank it is) in huge letters on the top.  

British tourists used to come downtown just to take pictures of the building.  I guess in England a common mild expletive is "my sweet Fanny Adams" or "my sweet F.A."  They always thought that was funny that we'd have that on top of a building.


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## Hanfonius (Dec 9, 2015)

Sweet Fanny Adams originated with a young girl who,  in about 1860,  was savagely murdered and chopped up into little pieces.   The police had great difficulty in identifying her,  but once known,   that's  where the expression came from.

Sweet FA does have a different meaning amongst the 'working classes'.   It suggests having nothing at all.


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## Warrigal (Dec 9, 2015)

Hanfonius said:


> Another thing that gets called by different words is the lavatory...
> 
> In the UK,  it is called the toilet or the loo (from the French word l'eau meaning water).   Public loo's are referred to as WC's or water closets,  and in the military,  they are called the latrines.
> 
> ...



Growing up in our house we didn't have a toilet or a loo. It was known as the dunny and spending time in it was referred to as sitting on the throne.


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## Susie (Dec 9, 2015)

Had great trouble understanding some expressions when we first immigrated to Australia.





First of all "dustbin" still used then, its meaning a total mystery to me.
Then the usage of the word "tea"! e.g. We're having our "tea" at 6:30 p,m. What the heck--eating "tea"? Took me a while to catch on to that one.
Then I was being addressed as "love/dearie" at the bank! Imagine some little 18-year-old calling you "love/dearie"!
And then the new way of using the word "bloody"? Finally sunk in this was a swear word!
Now, 43 years later, I don't even notice any of the above!       :nicethread:


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## Ameriscot (Dec 9, 2015)

I call the bathroom the toilet in the UK.  I always have to remember not to call it that when I visit the US.  It grosses out Americans because they don't realize it refers to the room not the toilet bowl itself.


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## fureverywhere (Dec 9, 2015)

Um, restroom usually works. If the question is posed to someone with English as a third language bathroom.


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## SifuPhil (Dec 9, 2015)

I have a question from the Python British language I watched years ago ...

Often at the beginning of a sentence a character would exclaim (in what I assume was a lampoon of Cockney) - "cor". Not sure of the spelling, but it would go like:

"Cor, that bird is a handful".
"Cor, the bonnet is all jammed up!"

And so on ... any ideas?


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## fureverywhere (Dec 9, 2015)

Think it's an Irish thang


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## SifuPhil (Dec 9, 2015)

fureverywhere said:


> Think it's an Irish thang



Really? I didn't even consider that ...


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## jujube (Dec 9, 2015)

I always found that no matter where you went in Europe, asking where the "wee-cee" was got you pointed in the right direction.  Of course, then you'd have to figure out WHICH wc you wanted.....they seemed to both have old lady attendants (or sometimes both had male attendants).  

The first time I was in London, in 1967, I couldn't figure out why I was reminded by the owner of the tiny hotel we stayed in not to forget coins for the geyser.  Ahhhh, a coin-operated hot water heater!  One cold English bath and I always made sure I had some coins.


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## Pam (Dec 10, 2015)

SifuPhil said:


> I have a question from the Python British language I watched years ago ...
> 
> Often at the beginning of a sentence a character would exclaim (in what I assume was a lampoon of Cockney) - "cor". Not sure of the spelling, but it would go like:
> 
> ...



Cor is another way of saying 'God'. It comes from the British slang expression 'cor blimey' (sometimes gorblimey) meaning God blind me.


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## SifuPhil (Dec 10, 2015)

Thank you so much, Pam.


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## Warrigal (Dec 10, 2015)

Ameriscot said:


> I call the bathroom the toilet in the UK.  I always have to remember not to call it that when I visit the US.  It grosses out Americans because they don't realize it refers to the room not the toilet bowl itself.



IMO a bathroom needs a bath in it. A toilet is an indoor loo. Outside ones are still dunnies.


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## Ameriscot (Dec 10, 2015)

Warrigal said:


> IMO a bathroom needs a bath in it. A toilet is an indoor loo. Outside ones are still dunnies.



True.  In the UK you wouldn't normally say bathroom.  I say toilet, ladies room, or sometimes the loo.  I used to always say restroom in the US but I've lost that habit and now it's one of those words that feels weird when I try to say it.  So I ask for ladies room or bathroom in the US.


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## Hanfonius (Dec 10, 2015)

SifuPhil said:


> I have a question from the Python British language I watched years ago ...
> 
> Often at the beginning of a sentence a character would exclaim (in what I assume was a lampoon of Cockney) - "cor". Not sure of the spelling, but it would go like:
> 
> ...



It's actually a derivative of the word 'God'.
For example,  if you were very surprised a few hundred years ago,  you might well say,  'God,  blind me'.
...  This became abbreviated to 'Cor blimme.'
You still hear occasionally the expression 'Gawd's strewth',  especially in London.   It was originally 'God's truth'.

Many people now use the expression 'Gordon Bennet' but I have no idea who he was.
The Cockney will say,  'Would you Adam and Eve it.'  meaning would you believe it.

English is a delicious and fruity language,  full of humour,  and tax free.

Hope you have a honkey-dory day.


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## SifuPhil (Dec 10, 2015)

Hanfonius said:


> It's actually a derivative of the word 'God'.
> For example,  if you were very surprised a few hundred years ago,  you might well say,  'God,  blind me'.
> ...  This became abbreviated to 'Cor blimme.'
> You still hear occasionally the expression 'Gawd's strewth',  especially in London.   It was originally 'God's truth'.



Thank you, Han.



> Many people now use the expression 'Gordon Bennet' but I have no idea who he was.
> The Cockney will say,  'Would you Adam and Eve it.'  meaning would you believe it.



Seems like Gordon Bennet would be a good research project for a rainy day. 



> English is a delicious and fruity language,  full of humour,  and tax free.



Fat-free also, I would assume. 

One of my favorite books, _A Clockwork Orange_, had a language that consisted of a made-up mix of Russian, Gypsy and Cockney rhyming slang, and I loved it.



> Hope you have a honkey-dory day.



Righty-o, guv'na!


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## Falcon (Dec 10, 2015)

Who cares what you call it?  Just GO!   You don't have to tell anybody.

Just excuse yourself, saying, "I'll be right back."


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## fureverywhere (Dec 10, 2015)

I have several books by Brendan O' Carroll. Most of the stories take place in Dublin and "Cor" comes up a lot. He's a gifted writer and the dialogue is so rich, if befuddling sometimes.


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## Gail.S (Jan 3, 2016)

Native Southern speaker here: My mom used "I swainy" in the same way I would use, "I swear". For instance she would say, I swainy, its hot today." It was pronounced swan-ey. Hope this helps.


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## Ameriscot (Jan 3, 2016)

Falcon said:


> Who cares what you call it?  Just GO!   You don't have to tell anybody.
> 
> Just excuse yourself, saying, "I'll be right back."



If you have to go but don't know where it is, you have to call it something.


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## Capt Lightning (Jan 4, 2016)

In N.E Scotland the local Dialect is called 'Doric'..  A typical greeting might be :
Fit Like ?  (How ae you ?)
Aye, chavin 'awa.  (Oh, still struggling on)

As an incomer to the village, I still have great trouble understanding the locals.  Here is an entertaining little sketch illustrating the dificulty in understanding the local language  (or more correctly the spellin and pronounciation.  Note the pronounciation of the village of Fanzean)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDNN6NigGNM

As someone who came from the S.W of Scotland, I grew up with other expressions like "Ca canny"  which means to proceed carefully.  This is also the name of the 15th Hole at the Turnberry golf course.  The 10th Hole is called "Dinna Fouter"  which means "Don't tinker or mess around"


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