BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » Awkward words in the US

Davina · April 25, 2012 7:42 pm

I'll start this off. We've already had 'fag'.

UK 'Lush' - meaning luxuriant vegetation, growing in abundance, luxurious, opulent (adjective)
US 'Lush'- a drunkard (noun)

Anthea_MI6 · April 25, 2012 7:58 pm

UK - "biscuit" - sweet baked product with tea/coffee
US - "biscuit" - savoury delicacy served with gravy, veggies (similar to scone)

kazza474 · April 26, 2012 2:19 am

I'll be a bit different.

US : Cheerios - a breakfast cereal
AUS: Cheerios - cocktail frankfurts

You can imagine my horror being an Aussie when an American friend told me they poured milk over their cheerios; and their horror at the thought of me putting tomato sauce on mine!

US: Thongs - female underwear
AUS: Thongs - footwear (you guys may call them flip flops?)

I shocked everyone online once when I said "My thong broke just as I was getting out of the car at the shops, so I threw it away & went inside, bought another pair and popped them on at the checkouts when I paid for them.

Last edited by kazza474 (April 26, 2012 2:20 am)

hepzibah · April 26, 2012 2:59 am

Okay, this one is a bit rude, so cover your eyes if you are sensitive -

Root (stop laughing, Aussies!) -sexual intercourse, as in "I would root so-and-so"

I believe in other countries it has something to do with the part of plants that goes beneath the soil. Actually, it means that here as well, not sure how it came to have the rude meaning and it is something you would never say in front of your Nanna.

Talking of which, my Nanna's favourite swear was "Bum", which here means bottom or backside. In the US it means a homeless person. When we first started to hear it on TV shows back in the 1970s it caused quite a bit of outrage until we figured out the other meaning. The US meaning has never caught on here.

kazza474 · April 26, 2012 3:20 am

LOL! so true hep!
I play canasta online and most are Americans & they are always 'rooting for this one or that one'.
Barracking for a team is rooting for them; so the funniest question is " Who do you root for?" Funny, we couldn't post this on an Aussie forum, we'd be banned.

kazza474 · April 26, 2012 3:28 am

Oh and the other one I just thought of.

US: fanny - your backside
AUS: fanny - not a word one uses in public but it is a nickname for the 'frontside of a female person'.

Watching a TV show from America and someone says ' Put ya fanny here' meaning sit down... my eyes always boggle!

Wholocked · April 26, 2012 4:36 am

Yeah "rooting" for your sports team is a valid meaning in Aus as well but you have to be very careful how you use that. It's like "rooting" is ok but "root" is something else.

There's also a difference between what UK/US and Aussies refer to as the feather-filled top cover on a bed. Aussies call it a doona, I think the UK call it a duvet? and the US just call it a blanket? Maybe? I just remember talking to an American who had no idea what a doona was (which meant our highschool joke of writing a film script called "In Bed With My Doona" passed them by LOL)

jenosborn · April 26, 2012 5:07 am

yes, 'rooting' for a sports team is very American- there is a line in the classic baseball song 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame' that goes 'so let's root root root for the home team..'.. sounds like that wouldn't go over so well in Australia.

The feather top is called a 'duvet' or a 'comforter' (less formal word) in the U.S. I had no idea what a doona was. thanks!

Wholocked · April 26, 2012 5:13 am

Oooh so it's the Americans who call it a duvet. Okay so what do the poms call it?

jenosborn · April 26, 2012 5:46 am

Ha! (While we figure that one out, I needed to take a wikipedia moment to figure out what a 'pom' was.. Hello U.K.! )

Re: the earlier 'thong' discussion, in the U.S. this was also the common term for footwear (flip-flops)-- that
is, until the underwear thong was invented. Now, the older footwear 'thong' term has fallen by the wayside,
at least for those under 30.

Sherlock Holmes · April 26, 2012 8:39 am

We call it a duvet too!

What about 'ass', which to me, is a type of horse or donkey, but to Americans is someone's bottom!

Wholocked · April 26, 2012 9:23 am

In Aus we use ass and arse interchangeably. Mostly we say donkey for the animal

Davina · April 26, 2012 12:08 pm

This is making me laugh! I love the addition of the Australian perspective! lol
What about 'pants'? In the US it means trousers and in the UK it means underwear on your bottom. (Oh and in the UK 'fanny' has the same meaning as the Australian one!)

Davina · June 8, 2012 9:52 pm

So...recently we have had the confusion over chips and crisps. Another one to add to the list. Plus the CIA guy fell onto rubbish bins here in the UK but I suppose they are trash cans or garbage cans for North Americans.

Molly Hooper · June 8, 2012 10:04 pm

I was at my friend's (she speaks American English) I cut myself on a branch and she turns to me and says:
Hey, do ya wanna band-aid?
I just stared at her for a while, totally bewildered until she finally shook her head and said:
Plaster! I meant plaster!

m0r1arty · June 9, 2012 1:13 am

Hmmm,

I love Espaleegrish and particularity like to poke at it at any given chance.

But can we leave off the cheap forgotten abortions please?

There is crass and then there is crass.

God save the queen!

-m0r

kazza474 · June 9, 2012 1:37 am

Davina wrote:
This is making me laugh! I love the addition of the Australian perspective! lol
What about 'pants'? In the US it means trousers and in the UK it means underwear on your bottom. (Oh and in the UK 'fanny' has the same meaning as the Australian one!)

OH men in Australia call what they wear in that area boardshorts or lap laps.

)

Milkomeda · June 9, 2012 1:54 am

Molly Hooper wrote:
I was at my friend's (she speaks American English) I cut myself on a branch and she turns to me and says:
Hey, do ya wanna band-aid?
I just stared at her for a while, totally bewildered until she finally shook her head and said:
Plaster! I meant plaster!

Here, we say both, but strangely we almost never use the french word. I don't really know why...

Davina · June 9, 2012 12:22 pm

So...in North America...if you said someone was 'plastered' would it mean the same as here? That is very drunk!

m0r I am very confussled by your post. Too much bibbing? Or have I missed something entirely?

Molly Hooper · June 9, 2012 12:27 pm

What are you confused about?