british english | Imamother

simchat

Thu, Oct 07 2010, 12:53 pm

Tefila wrote:

Well fellow Brits how about this now acepted phrase U.S "that was so fun" AAAAAAAAAAAARG

What about: ` no fair` and `it`s much different`... I have so many more, just can`t remember right now...
DH sometimes says ` speak English!` to which I always retort: `YOU`RE the one who doesn`t speak English!` Twisted Evil

He`s learning though, and gets my drift when I tell him to: take out the rubbish, change the baby`s nappy, give her her dummy, get the buggy out of the boot, give me the trousers to wash and even put on the baby`s vest and babygro... (I still mix up my stretchies and onesies... huh?)
other times he hasn`t the foggiest what I`m on about...
Living in Canada with DH`s whole family being either American or Canadian besides little old me is good for a few laughs though, especially with the kids! LOL

auntie_em

Thu, Oct 07 2010, 2:09 pm

All right, one more. I also have a million of these stories.

Very early in our marriage, I, on occasion, wore slacks. I was getting dressed and called him to the bedroom. I wanted his opinion...
"Honey, come here and tell me if these pants look nice. Do they make my tush look big?"
He peeked around the corner, not at all sure what he was going to see.

Much hilarity ensued.

smilethere

Mon, Oct 11 2010, 5:07 am

Someone I know had his american wife tell him a few days after their wedding that his pants are dirty. He absolutely flipped, and was so so embarressed how she saw that, until he figured out what pants meant to her. Very Happy

Mama Bear

Mon, Oct 11 2010, 9:41 am

smilethere, what do you call pants in england? trousers?

Why is 'pants' in England also a synonym for 'funny'? ("oh, they're so pants!")

tweety99

Mon, Oct 11 2010, 3:40 pm

um mama bear, im as british as they come and iv never heard that expression in my life! and yes, pants are trousers.

Mama Bear

Mon, Oct 11 2010, 3:49 pm

ahhh. time for me to stop watching Big Brother UK, that's where I learned all my british slang from - and most of it is decidedly not clean. lol

shosh

Mon, Oct 11 2010, 4:18 pm

Mama Bear wrote:

smilethere, what do you call pants in england? trousers?

Why is 'pants' in England also a synonym for 'funny'? ("oh, they're so pants!")

I guess 19 years is long enough to be out of a country to lose touch with its more modern slang. I have NEVER heard that expression.

Nuts

Mon, Oct 11 2010, 7:47 pm

When you Brits point out your specific different usages of words I realize that you're supposed to sound different. Otherwise I think your written English is pretty much the same as in the US. Or is it that I read a lot of books and got acquainted with other dialects? Maybe.

smilethere

Tue, Oct 12 2010, 5:00 am

Mama Bear wrote:

smilethere, what do you call pants in england? trousers?

Yes, and underwear is called underpants, sometimes 'pants' for short.

Quote:

Why is 'pants' in England also a synonym for 'funny'? ("oh, they're so pants!")

no idea.

shosh

Tue, Oct 12 2010, 5:52 am

smilethere wrote:

Mama Bear wrote:

smilethere, what do you call pants in england? trousers?

Yes, and underwear is called underpants, sometimes 'pants' for short.

Quote:

Why is 'pants' in England also a synonym for 'funny'? ("oh, they're so pants!")

no idea.

only men's underwear is called underpants. Women's undies are called knickers.

smilethere

Tue, Oct 12 2010, 6:00 am

shosh wrote:

smilethere wrote:

Mama Bear wrote:

smilethere, what do you call pants in england? trousers?

Yes, and underwear is called underpants, sometimes 'pants' for short.

Quote:

Why is 'pants' in England also a synonym for 'funny'? ("oh, they're so pants!")

no idea.

only men's underwear is called underpants. Women's undies are called knickers.

Yes, but I related a story above of a woman telling her husband that his pants were dirty.

My (american) husband finds the word knickers hilarious (just toilet trained my son). He thinks they are a rude word and shouldn't be used around the house. I don't see why 'panties' are better?!

shanie5

Tue, Oct 12 2010, 9:50 am

shosh wrote:

Americans really don't get "knickers" at all!

Knickers are knee length pants for little boys (as opposed to capris when they are for women) in american that is.

PinkFridge

Wed, Oct 13 2010, 4:49 pm

smilethere wrote:

I love this thread!
My american (displaced) husband just loves saying 'twenty' with an English accent!

I found I could not understand american radio and got a massive headache when listening to it as they spoke so quickly and unclearly.

- one of my pet peeves = jewish books and magazine articles that have been written by English people (that I know of) using americanisms. Can't they stick up for real spelling and grammar? Very Happy

I'm trying to imagine my English (displaced) husband saying twenty. Not too different to how I say it, he just actually pronounces the T. Maybe he's been here too long...

yo'ma

Thu, Apr 25 2013, 3:47 pm

I have another british english question. How would you say doorman and janitor? My dd asked me how to say portero in english. Of course I had no idea, but my dh said it means doorman. Her teacher translated it as janitor. Did she translate it wrong or is doorman and janitor the same in british english even though to me that's weird? BTW, my dh is of course right Smile

intrigued

Thu, Apr 25 2013, 4:08 pm

yo'ma wrote:

Janitor is a care-taker. I don't know what a doorman is I would assume it is a doorman