Different English Languages

Webmaster wrote:

Yanks used to be the northern Americans during the civil war, and since they won the civil war it seems especially every other English country refers to any American as 'yank', even use it as an adjective as you did. Inside the US however, I'm not sure if the word 'yank' is always 'appreciated'.

sprkymrk wrote:

All y'all ought to come to the game tonight".

So what would you say if don't want to invite eveyone: "Some of y'all ought to come" or "Some of all y'all ought to come"?

Clarification on yankees:
Yankee=someone from the north who visits the south
Dam* Yankee=someone from the north who moves to the south
G**Dam* Yankee=someone from the north who moves to the south and marries a southern girl.

I can't answer your other question, as I have only been here 2 and a half years. They don't tell us Dam* Yankees everything.

Danman32

My former supervisor, who was born and raised in small town Florida clarified for me that a yankee is someone from the north who visits or moves to the south and annoys everyone in the south to do things his/her way. A northerner on the other hand doesn't move down to annoy. He classified me as a northerner, not a yankee.

Isn't it somewhere in England that they have a phrase of "Are you taking a piss?" or "Are you having a piss?" (not sure exactly which one it is). We all know what that means in America, but for them it is the same as us saying "Are you kidding?"

I thought that was a great one!

And now, for my neck of the woods...Let's see how good you guys are: My description for the discussion is: Yunz or Yinz (depending on how you want to spell it). Where we eat Jumbo and have cricks and of course we eat Steak-Salads as much as possible!!!

Everyone know where I'm from?

Webmaster wrote:

Yanks used to be the northern Americans during the civil war, and since they won the civil war it seems especially every other English country refers to any American as 'yank', even use it as an adjective as you did. Inside the US however, I'm not sure if the word 'yank' is always 'appreciated'.
The original yanks (north american soldiers) refered to british sailors as 'limeys', is that also still used?

I like the Australian: "Good onya mate"

and the British(also OZ and NZ probably) word "bloke" for guy

strauchr wrote:

Reckon is also very common in Australia.

Also as in "I suppose'? I thought the Australian version was more like reckon! as in 'definitely!'

sprkymrk wrote:

All y'all ought to come to the game tonight".

So what would you say if don't want to invite eveyone: "Some of y'all ought to come" or "Some of all y'all ought to come"?

Yeah Good onya mate is very Aussie. Basically mean well done for those who don't know.

Reckon can be the same as I suppose. Also can be used as in "Ya Reckon?" (You think so?). But it can be used you said as in "Yeah I reckon" (Yeah definitely)

Yeah Bloke is used in Aus as well. A common use would be "He's a top bloke" (He's a good guy)

And Yank is only used affectionately so its not a derogitory term. Unless you say "Bloody yanks"

ed_the_lad wrote:

Danman32 wrote:

TheShadow wrote:

To knock someone up has drastically different meanings in the UK and the US.

Ain't that the truth. Someone I used to know told me of a story where she met someone in UK and nearly flattened him for saying that, when he really wanted to call on her for breakfast the next morning.

When she relayed the story to a British couple we met in a group, they said the term 'knock up' was not commonly used anymore.

Koalas are not bears? Gee, that ruins a subplot in the story 'Josephine the Short Neck Giraffe'.

Ah, its more of an Irish expression and its not "To knock someone up"
Whats generally said is something like " sure i'll knock up to yea later" which basicllay traslates to, i'll come knocking on your door later.

In Australia the term to "Knock her up" or "Shes got knocked up" is still used but is used by 'bogans'.

Bogans is another Aussie term which is a term meaning the dregs(could also be an Aussie word) of society or the undesirables. England use 'Chav' for that term.

EdTheLad

jpeezy55 wrote:

Isn't it somewhere in England that they have a phrase of "Are you taking a piss?" or "Are you having a piss?" (not sure exactly which one it is). We all know what that means in America, but for them it is the same as us saying "Are you kidding?"

I thought that was a great one!

And now, for my neck of the woods...Let's see how good you guys are: My description for the discussion is: Yunz or Yinz (depending on how you want to spell it). Where we eat Jumbo and have cricks and of course we eat Steak-Salads as much as possible!!!

Everyone know where I'm from?

Yep, "Are you taking the piss" and if i drink alot of beer i'll be having a piss
and after afew more beers i'll be pissed.

jpeezy55 wrote:

Isn't it somewhere in England that they have a phrase of "Are you taking a piss?" or "Are you having a piss?" (not sure exactly which one it is). We all know what that means in America, but for them it is the same as us saying "Are you kidding?"

I thought that was a great one!

And now, for my neck of the woods...Let's see how good you guys are: My description for the discussion is: Yunz or Yinz (depending on how you want to spell it). Where we eat Jumbo and have cricks and of course we eat Steak-Salads as much as possible!!!

Everyone know where I'm from?

To "take the piss" mean to make fun of or poke fun at. Satire as well. Its basically teasing someone, imitating someone in a comical way.

It can also be used to mean you slacking off or just being plain rude and lazy. For example a guy a work may be sitting there reading the paper while being on the Help Desk and not picking up the phones. That would be taking the piss, in other words laughing at the job and completely disrepecting it.

Its another of my fave sayings. Its also used in Australia.

And you have me stumped, no idea where your from.

ed_the_lad wrote:

jpeezy55 wrote:

Isn't it somewhere in England that they have a phrase of "Are you taking a piss?" or "Are you having a piss?" (not sure exactly which one it is). We all know what that means in America, but for them it is the same as us saying "Are you kidding?"

I thought that was a great one!

And now, for my neck of the woods...Let's see how good you guys are: My description for the discussion is: Yunz or Yinz (depending on how you want to spell it). Where we eat Jumbo and have cricks and of course we eat Steak-Salads as much as possible!!!

Everyone know where I'm from?

Yep, "Are you taking the piss" and if i drink alot of beer i'll be having a piss
and after afew more beers i'll be pissed.

Well you could go further and say

"You taking the piss (Making fun of me)? I'm getting pissed off (Angry). I'm gonna drink some more piss (beer) and get pissed (drunk) before I have a piss (number 1), now piss off (go away)"

So many uses for the word piss.

strauchr wrote:

And you have me stumped, no idea where your from.

I'll let it go a little bit longer, but someone has to know what part of the country I am from...As you could've guessed from my post, I am in the U.S.A. and it's in the North-East part of the country.

I was shocked myself to learn that steak-salads are not popular outside of where I live...I just assumed it was something normal, go figure!

Also, I was watching BBC the other day and "Whose line is it anyway?" was on and the one female comedian on there used the phrase of "Are you taking the piss?" and I had to explain it to my wife because I just found out what that meant, and she didn't know at all.

We also have some friends who moved from here to Alabama about 5 1/2 years ago and when they came back to visit, we noticed their accent first, they used y'all quite a bit and when the one girl was cold, she said she had "chill bumps"...where I am from it's called "goose bumps". Needless to say, we had a blast just picking on them and I'm sure they thought we sounded funny too. I've been to South Carolina before and as soon as I started talking, it was guessed exactly where I came from...Once again, I didn't think it was that noticeable, but I guess it really is to someone outside of this area.

jpeezy55 wrote:

I've been to South Carolina before and as soon as I started talking, it was guessed exactly where I came from...Once again, I didn't think it was that noticeable, but I guess it really is to someone outside of this area.

Aha! Boston

Plantwiz

Webmaster wrote:

The original yanks (north american soldiers) refered to british sailors as 'limeys', is that also still used?

?

No I don't think it is used other then as a historical reference and such. It was used as sailors were prone to scurvy due to lack Vitamin C so they British Sailors used to drink Lime juice (though I doubt they drank it like a sports drink

).

Anyway, for all the limes and citrus they'd try to consume/carry onboard they were dubbed 'limey'.

Reference: some grade school history class covering 17-1800s. Don't have an exact source just memory.

RussS

_omni_ wrote:

strauchr wrote:

Tomato Sauce - Ketchup

Huh? They're different things. What then would you call tomato sauce that comes in cans/tins (that stuff you use for cooking)?

That would be Tomato Puree - or in the condensed form Tomato Paste.

sprkymrk wrote:

jpeezy55 wrote:

I've been to South Carolina before and as soon as I started talking, it was guessed exactly where I came from...Once again, I didn't think it was that noticeable, but I guess it really is to someone outside of this area.

Aha! Boston :

Do they eat steak salad in Boston? That's not where I am from...next post I'll let all y'all know (sorry, couldn't resist!) :P

Plantwiz

Steak salad?

Unless I'm thinking of something different then Steak sliced and laid ontop of a bed of salad....I'm not too sure that limits you to the NorthEast.

It's one of my husband's favorite dishes and eats it often. He is from IL.

There are certainly various ways to prepare it, but mostly grill the steak, fix the salad, garnish with vinegrette or whatever type of dressing, soy, etc.. your heart desires.

I'm curious to know what is limited to the NE region of the states.??

Well, I've never heard of too many places that know of steak salad, but I guess I'm learning more each day...Just to let you know, I am from Western Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh area...land of the Yinz'ers. Instead of saying Y'all, we use Yinz such as "Where yinz going?" We also have cricks instead of a creek or stream. And of course our Jumbo and chip-chopped ham. Those are, of course, Bologna and Chipped Ham.

There was even an article in a National Geographic magazine that listed different dialects from around the world, and Western PA was listed as it's own area with it's own dialect...kinda cool!

jpeezy55 wrote:

We also have cricks instead of a creek or stream.

I have heard "crick" from Western Iowa, Dakotas, a lot of southern states and Minnesota. I always thought it was more of a "country" slang than a geographic dialect. I guessed Boston since you said they could tell right away from your speech where you were from. Boston has a REALLY distinct accent.

Wow, so strange to see the difference in accents and terms used in different parts of the U.S. Its the same in the UK. I can understand most people from London or south of England but in the midlands most of it goes over the top of my head. And don't start on Scottish and Irish.

In Australia, despite the huge distances between cities, we pretty much sound the same and speak th same language. There are very slight differences in accent on some words but almost impossible to pick up (unless your from Queensland, they talk so sloooooowly).

Getting on to sterostypes, how many people here (US or other) think all Aussies live in the 'outback'.

And are there any other major cities (More than 1 million population) other than Sydney, and if so how many? No cheating now, I'll remote into your firewall and block google

And if your Aussie no giving the answer away.

BTW I went to a KFC when I was in NYC and finally found out what biscuits and gravy was.

But what the hell are grits?

And another litte question, what 'Yank' has tried Vegemite here? I can't get enough of the stuff.

RussS

strauchr wrote:

But what the hell are grits?

You don't really wanna know dude

And another litte question, what 'Yank' has tried Vegemite here? I can't get enough of the stuff.

I will never refer to myself as a gawd dang yanqui ..... I am a Californio

And yes, I love the stuff.

strauchr wrote:

Getting on to sterostypes, how many people here (US or other) think all Aussies live in the 'outback'.

Don't mess with us, stauchr, we know you all live in the "outback", hunt crocodiles for fun, and wear khaki safari outfits with a big knife on your belt everywhere you go.

strauchr wrote:

And are there any other major cities (More than 1 million population) other than Sydney, and if so how many? No cheating now, I'll remote into your firewall and block google

And if your Aussie no giving the answer away.

Okay, without googling for the answer, I seem to recall about 7-9 major aussie cities, all coastal, that are the major population centers of your country. Not sure if they are all over a million, but am I close?

Thats not a knife.......... This is a knife.

Some people find it hard to believe there is anoth city than Sydney. Its like saying everyone lives in NYC and everyone else lives out in the desert.

Your close, there a few cities that hovver around the 300,000 mark. 5 are a million and over.

The majority of the population live in these coastal cities as well as a few 'regional coastal cities. The there are numerous country towns thta barely get over 5,000 population.

My city is on the other side of Australia and has 1.4 million people. Its the most isolated city in the world! To give you some perspective - there are only 2 million people in the state of Western Australia (WA get confused with Washington). And WA is roughly 1.5 times the size of Texas. So we are a very remote city, yet well connected with the rest of Australia and South East Asia and is a very modern vibrant city.

Here is a bit of info

http://www.perthtouristcentre.com.au/

Wiki has a lot of good info it too

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perth,_Western_Australia

So if your bored..... or interested.

Webmaster

I remember Perth, as well as Brisbane (Brisvegas?) and Melbourne, from watching 'My restaurant rules'. But most of what I've seen is from Rex Hunt's program

oh and way back from 'the flying doctors'. The latter pretty much was my first impression of Australia. I never assumed everyone in OZ is a bushie

though, but even the huge cities seem to be rather isolated.

The there are numerous country towns thta barely get over 5,000 population.

That includes Woop Woop right?

Of all the foreign countries, the two I would most like to visit are Australia and the UK. You are making me long for a vacation, mate!

Webmaster wrote:

I remember Perth, as well as Brisbane (Brisvegas?) and Melbourne, from watching 'My restaurant rules'. But most of what I've seen is from Rex Hunt's program oh and way back from 'the flying doctors'. The latter pretty much was my first impression of Australia. I never assumed everyone in OZ is a bushie though, but even the huge cities seem to be rather isolated.

The there are numerous country towns thta barely get over 5,000 population.

That includes Woop Woop right?

Where did you get to watch those shows?

Flying doctors perpetuated the stereotype of Aussies really. Don't get me wrong, the remote country towns exist and the 'bushies' also exist but its not all we are - if you know what I mean.

Its amazing to go driving down the outback highways and see nothing but flat bushland, then all of a sudden you arrive at a town, blink and you'll miss it. Some town are just a petrol station, 2 pubs and a post office. Not sure about the need for 2 pubs most of the time.

That includes Woop Woop wish not far from Timbuktu.

sprkymrk wrote:

Of all the foreign countries, the two I would most like to visit are Australia and the UK. You are making me long for a vacation, mate!

Yeah well I do what I can.

UK is great for history, old archictecture and London is just one huge buzz. Well Scotland is fantastic as well. So many castles.

Australia has all that (minus as much history and old architecture) plus the great weather, long sandy clean beaches, great natural surrounding.....the list goes on.

Vacation=Holiday in Australia

Webmaster

strauchr wrote:

Webmaster wrote:

I remember Perth, as well as Brisbane (Brisvegas?) and Melbourne, from watching 'My restaurant rules'. But most of what I've seen is from Rex Hunt's program oh and way back from 'the flying doctors'. The latter pretty much was my first impression of Australia. I never assumed everyone in OZ is a bushie though, but even the huge cities seem to be rather isolated.

The there are numerous country towns thta barely get over 5,000 population.

That includes Woop Woop right?

Where did you get to watch those shows?

Flying doctors perpetuated the stereotype of Aussies really. Don't get me wrong, the remote country towns exist and the 'bushies' also exist but its not all we are - if you know what I mean.

Its amazing to go driving down the outback highways and see nothing but flat bushland, then all of a sudden you arrive at a town, blink and you'll miss it. Some town are just a petrol station, 2 pubs and a post office. Not sure about the need for 2 pubs most of the time.

That includes Woop Woop wish not far from Timbuktu.

My Restaurant Rules was also broadcasted in The Netherlands and Belgium. I see it's even mentioned on wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Restaurant_Rules
I think it was a pretty good promotion for Aussie, though it's quite popular here already, lots of back packers, go for months to years with hardly any money and take all kind of jobs, which I heard is very doable. I'd love to go myself some day, but it's approx 22-24 hours flying for me...

Flying doctors is something my mom used to watch (on Dutch tele also) when I was kid. All I remember is sand, dust, sheeps, and planes. So yeah, I think it really did fed the 'stereotype'... but by now I think Sydney and its beaches is one of the first things people here associate with Australia.

Rex Hunt is on like 10 times a day on 'a' Discovery channel, well, twice probably, but it seems like a lot more. The food cooked by the chef in that show always looks so ridiculously tasty.

TheShadow

Grits = Sourthern mana from someplace other than heaven. Tastes like what ever you put on it so it is sort of like plant stem cells

Boiled grits, baked grits, fried grits, eat-um up yum. Grits are what are left after you make corn meal. finest milled stuff is corn flour, next is corn meal. What is left in the sifter is called grits. We can put a fine point on it by calling it crushed endosperm.

Restarant comment " If you did'nt want grits then why the h*ll did you order breakfast ... Durn Yankees"

Oh grits can be dried and reused so they could be used as emergency rations. Most grain based insects seem to not care for grits so there be a lesson in that.

Webmaster wrote:

My Restaurant Rules was also broadcasted in The Netherlands and Belgium. I see it's even mentioned on wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Restaurant_Rules
I think it was a pretty good promotion for Aussie, though it's quite popular here already, lots of back packers, go for months to years with hardly any money and take all kind of jobs, which I heard is very doable. I'd love to go myself some day, but it's approx 22-24 hours flying for me...

Flying doctors is something my mom used to watch (on Dutch tele also) when I was kid. All I remember is sand, dust, sheeps, and planes. So yeah, I think it really did fed the 'stereotype'... but by now I think Sydney and its beaches is one of the first things people here associate with Australia.

Rex Hunt is on like 10 times a day on 'a' Discovery channel, well, twice probably, but it seems like a lot more. The food cooked by the chef in that show always looks so ridiculously tasty.

I had no idea that show was broadcast out of Australia (My Restaurant Rules) but I have to admit I was a fan of the show. One of the better reality shows on TV.

Sydney and beaches is another stereotype however a much better and more accurate one than dust, sheep and more dust.

Modern cities, clean long beaches, a barbie in the backyard, some tinnies with ya mates and always up for a party would some us up. Of course theres the deep intellectual part of us all but I think that sums us up in general.

I won't go one about the Dutch stereotype

Lets just say the Dutch are very liberal.

Webmaster

strauchr wrote:

I won't go one about the Dutch stereotype Lets just say the Dutch are very liberal.

No, let's keep it about countries rather than 'people'

It's just one of the many stereotypes, or better 'misconceptions' (unless you're in Amsterdam, which is more for the tourists than for the Dutch).

strauchr wrote:

I had no idea that show was broadcast out of Australia (My Restaurant Rules) but I have to admit I was a fan of the show. One of the better reality shows on TV.

We usually create and export reality shows (i.e. big brother), but this one was obviously so good we needed to import it. I hope they'll do another series again some time.