I betaread for an American lady, and have fun converting it into Britslang.
Mom is never used in the UK. In Britain, we have a class structure, which alters what you would call your mother.
So you'll notice that Ron says "mum", whereas Draco says "mother".
Working Class/Middle Class/Upper Class. = Mum/Mummy/Mother.
Pants to a Yank is not the same to us. Pants to the brits means your underwear!!
So if someone loses their pants, to us it means no knickers on. Which is hilarious to us, as we see visions of naked bodies.
You'd have to say "Trousers", for us to understand you.
See why we're always smiling
Yes, we do ask questions at the end of our sentences. For instance, we'd say "Nice day, isn't it?". Now that's not really about the weather, it's negotiating for a conversation. If you get a one word reply, it means "push off, I don't want to talk". If someones says "Lovely day" in the middle of a thunderstorm, then they're happy to talk to you. It's a mode of opening a conversation with someone, not actually about the weather. Confusing aren't we? _________________ Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.
I suppose it all depends on where you live and what you're around a lot. New York is really neat to me,
There are a lot of countries in Europe, each one has it's own language and stuff, they all have borders and they're all different. I live in the Netherlands, but I still think that there're a lot of people here sometimes. And It's not like we travel trough all of Europe... (I usualy go on holliday outside Europe)
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but probably not so much to people who live there.
Well I think that people from the other side of the country (the West) are different form people here (east), the same for north and south.
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I would love to visit anywhere in Europe, but you live there so it's not exciting to you.
It is, I'd really love to go to Paris or Rome. Luckely we'll go to Rome next year with school...
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You see art all the time so it's not as special.
Not really, we've got musea and stuff, but I find they can be very boring, I do get a lot of art at school (Classic Roman and Greek art. (I take Latin and took Greek)
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I don't see much art, so... well I don't care that much about art.
Same here, although I like to draw (but that's not art)
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I say Hawaii and Alaska are sort of black sheep because there so different. I don't mean in a bad way. They are just so unlike the other states, and of course not even connected.
We've got twelve "states" (Friesland, Groningen, Drente, Overijsel, Gelderland, Limburg, Noord-Brabant, Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht, Zeeland and Flevoland) and we also have some small iselands that are not connected to the mainland.
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I mean Hawaii has it's own language. The other states can differ a little in dialect and terminology - like around Ohio, Pepsi is pop. In New England they usually call it soda.
The people in Limburg have an accent that not many people can understand, the people in Friesland have got their own language, and with people from certain city's you can tell where they're from.
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Just little things like that. Speaking of terminology, is there anything Americans say that stands out as so American to you?
F*ck? Otherwise, I really wouldn't know... With English I always think that they say "Bugger".
I always like the word "serendipity"...
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I've noticed English people have a lot of phrases Americans never really say. Just little things, like "knocking about" or something. I've also noticed, HP included, adding rhetorical questions to the end of sentences, like "Isn't it?" At least Hermione and Ricky Gervais do.
We learn UK-English at school... (well, that's what it's supposed to be).
And we get those questions as well... _________________ Nederlands!!
Ummh American terminology, most of the time we ad lib to guess what you're on about...
Garbage can = rubbish bin.
You say "honey". That makes our toes curl on the *cringe* factor. There some words that freak out the Global population, and IMHO "honey" is up there as a front runner.
The way you write the date. You're the only country in the world which writes it *backwards* as in month, day, year.
How come?? _________________ Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.
Ummh American terminology, most of the time we ad lib to guess what you're on about...
Garbage can = rubbish bin.
You say "honey". That makes our toes curl on the *cringe* factor. There some words that freak out the Global population, and IMHO "honey" is up there as a front runner.
The way you write the date. You're the only country in the world which writes it *backwards* as in month, day, year.
How come??
I am American and i love the way brits speak. When i was younger i use t try and imitate there accent. I called my sister a git and i got in trouble because my father thought i called her something else and when i said i called her a git he said there was no such word. _________________ Join Reality Of It All!!!
"Making out" makes me laugh. Making out what?
Oh save the best till last! Rubbers. To brits, Rubbers means an eraser, (or to older people a pair of boots).
So "pass us your rubber", is said in every school. I lent out my rubbers, and expected them returned! And had pretty ones.
Now, I expect Britslang, just made you cringe...but it is the common usage of the word in the UK!! _________________ Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.
"Making out" makes me laugh. Making out what?
Oh save the best till last! Rubbers. To brits, Rubbers means an eraser, (or to older people a pair of boots).
So "pass us your rubber", is said in every school. I lent out my rubbers, and expected them returned! And had pretty ones.
Now, I expect Britslang, just made you cringe...but it is the common usage of the word in the UK!!
LOL! i want to use the eraser at the end of my pencil.
lol
that was dity i am going to stop now. _________________ Join Reality Of It All!!!
So what words or phrases do we use, that don't make sense or are amusing ? _________________ Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.
I finally realized that this topic had gone to a second page. Phew. I thought you all were mad at me or something. Thanks for all your comments. Very good question about the date. I guess it could go either way. DD/MM/YYYY goes from specific to general which is nice. Maybe we do MM/DD/YYYY because you usually say March, 26, 2007. I don't know. I don't really have a preference, I just wish we'd all do it the same way. I don't get why everything always has to be different. I've been listening to a lot of British radio lately (Ricky Gervais which I mentioned) and it's always interesting. I had to look up what a stone was. Then of course there's the chips and the crisps and lifts and tubes. Things they say all the time which I love, havin' a laugh, knockin' about, mucking about, it's all very amusing and fun. I wish I could speak with a British accent, but no good really. Which do you think is harder to imitate? American or British?
Pussy - This is what we call our cat, as in "pussy cat", or in the fairytale, Puss in Boots. So if you have a Brit neighbour who asks if you have seen their pussy - try to keep a straight face and think back the last time you saw their cat! _________________ Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.
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