Someone tell me...off the top of your head, what are some british words people dont use over here in the states? Any words...And also I stumbled upon a post that mentioned british "curse" words....what are they? i thought they were the same as ours. Also, how are the accents different across the country?
really, well, quickly, badly, in fact anything that's an adverb. as far as swearing goes, well you start with the softer ones that basically mean idiot, like pillock, numpty, nonce, twonk, plonker, muppet, prat, etc. then you can get on to more offensive ones such as wanker, gobshite, witfuck, and my favourite, **** (which for best results should be served in an esturian or northern accent).
My personal favourite British curse word that I've seldom heard used in anything US-based is "bugger". On the topic of accents, it's a shame I don't have archive access. I once made an entire thread dedicated to teaching people how to speak Yorkshire English. I might do it again, after supper.
slag also there are variations, like fries(US) are chips(UK), chips(US) are crisps(UK), um, cant think of anymore and accents are hard to describe
UK ------> American Football -----> Soccer Lift ----------> Elevator Boot---------> Trunk (of a car) Bonnet-------> Hood (of a car) Bender-------> Homosexual (insulting, don't use) Fanny---------> c--t (considered as rude as the 4 letter word for feminine anatomy I just censored) Biscuit--------> Cookie We've got regional expressions: Porkie (London) --------> Lie Gradeley(Manchester)--> Good Dog(Newcastle)---------> Newcastle Brown Ale (a brand of beer) Other expressions that would confuse you: Chav (think Eminem), spraff (talk), grass (snitch), blagged (robbed), which are more modern slang terms. Then you've got your weird regionalisms - wivn't (won't), nowt (nothing), owt (anything), etc.
Works the other way, too: American ----> British Pants----------> Trousers (as opposed to underwear) Chips----------> Crisps (as opposed to french fries) Sanction------> To oppose (as opposed to giving assent/consent)
Dear Lord: slag (ugly slut), minger (unattractive woman), boiler (same), prat (goof), geezer (old man), gaff (apartment), flat (apartment), WC (toilet), loo (toilet), fags (cigarettes), vicar (minister of religion, Anglican), bird (woman), pint (beer), mate (friend) Expressions of surprise: Strewth! Gorblimey! Gordon Bennett! Haddaway (and shite!)
And of course if you're from the East end of Laaaaahhhnndan, whistle and flute - suit apples and pears - stairs china plate - friend (from the expression "mate") Yeah, they really do talk like that........
now to me Blagging something means getting it free or getting out of something by talking you way round it. eg. "I blagged my way backstage at the gig last night"
RE: fanny isn't offensive! it's a kiddy word, like willy Let me put it yer this way. I was in a pub in London, the Dockers Fists or some such working man's pub. A group of shaven headed youths were upset that England didn't make it to the World Cup. An American on vacation slaps one of them on the shoulder and tries to say in a laddish manner, "don't worry, we'll kick yer fanny next time". *sound of scraping chairs* A vicious beating ensued. Mind you, going into a Texan bar and telling supporters of an American football team "don't worry, we'll kick you in the [feminine groinal bits] next time" is suicidal, too.
blagged does not mean robbed. To blag is to talk your way out of something, eg out of having to do something, or out of paying for something. As far as accents go, well to start with there's the standard english spoken in london and the home counties (ie no accent). There's also the Cockney and Esturian accents (both very similar) - Cockney is from london and esturian is essex and some parts of kent, mainly. Then further west you've got the westcountry accents, starting with a slight tint in Reading, to something rather comical down in Bristol and then by the time you get to Devon and Cornwall you've got to really concentrate to understand what they're on about. Then if you head north west of london you get to the West Midlands - particularly Birmingham, home of the Brummy Accent, which as you head north and east gradually morphs into the Yorkshire and Lancashire accents (different enough to tell apart, JUST). West of Lancashire is Cheshire and Merseyside, where you get Scousers, mainly in Liverpool. Scouse is rather unique and even more comical than Bristolian. You've got to hear it to know what it's all about really. De dee do, dondy do, la - (they do though, don't they though, lad.) To the north East you've got your Geordies and Mackems (and whatever they call people from the rest of the north east) and their accent is also rather peculiar. Then you're just a skip and a jump away from Scotland. Basically there are three sorts of Scottish accent that subdivide. You've got the one they have in Ediburgh which is your typical Scottish accent that gets used to represent a scotsman in a play where they part is played by a non-scottish actor. Then you've got Glaswegian which is the serious hardcore Scottish accent. Then if you head a lot further north, the accent actually softens out again, particularly by the time you reach Aberdeen. The Welsh have a fun...ny hab...it of stop....ping in the mid....dle of words. There's quite a distinction between north welsh and south welsh accents. Mainly because in north wales there are still a lot of people for whom welsh is the first language. Then we come to Ireland. It's dead easy to tell the difference between someone from Belfast and someone from the Republic, but within the Republic there's quite a variety as well. I won't go into too much detail but it's as diverse as England when it comes to accents, provided that you can think of the Dublin accent as a starting point which is difficult because thinking from the point of view of an accent that isn't your own (even if you don't actually have an accent to begin with) is always tricky.
Ah bugger, IronGoth's posts reminded me. I found an "English to American Slang Reference Dictionary" online ages ago, but I can't remember where
Official from the website blag v. To wheedle something for free, in a context like "I managed to blag a ride to work". Perhaps if I sat for a bit longer I'd think up a better example. Hey ho. It is, I'm told, derived from the French "blague", meaning a tall story. Americans apparently use "mooch" and "moocher" in the same context.
