British Sayings - What do they Really Mean?

This thread is really interesting. In Australia, we seem to have some British and some American bits, but more British. Believe it or not, Australian accents also differ from region to region. It's not as obvious, though. We call it a yokka accent when it gets really drawly and rounded, and that comes mostly from Queensland, although WA folks speak slower and draw it out a bit as well. We don't actually say a yokka accent, though, we say so-and-so is a real Aussie yokka, or speaks Aussie yokka. I don't actually know if that's how it's spelt because no one ever writes it down.

The word fanny makes us gasp as well.

 I only just discovered what "How's your father" means after looking it up, and I have to say I've never heard it used to mean that! I've heard it used to mean just vaguely so-so, dubious, and possibly ill.

I adore Snatch and Lock, Stock.

It's a footpath, not a sidewalk, my car has a bonnet and a windscreen, not a hood and a windshield, we use lifts not elevators, and my apartment is technically a unit, but 10 years ago would have been called a flat.

We turn at the corner, which could mean either a curve or an intersection. We call both fries and crisps chips, which can get very confusing. I was recently told our habit of saying 'ta' instead of 'thank you' is kind of offensive. And I've also been told I make 'no' into a 3 syllable word. We also say earthing rather than grounding, although I suspect both would be accepted. And pants could mean jeans, trackie daks, underwear, or trousers or anything else you stick your 2 legs through, but underwear is "undies".

I don't think our sayings are as rude as British ones, but we do use a lot of them, I think.
 

One of the niftiest things I heard in Australian English is a roo bar, though it sounded like rue-bah. It's a kangaroo bar on the front of a vehicle. Here, it would look like a brush guard on steriods. But was for the purpose of deflecting a Kangaroo, much like a cow pitcher on the front of an old train.

I also liked the old Foster's ads. A huge rock falls on a guy and he says "ouch." The narrator says "wimp." A woman crushes a beer can on her forehead and the narrator say "a keeper". Then it's "Foster's - australian for beer."

OTOH, some of my earlier exposure to australian phrases and speach came from "Mad Max" and "Road Warrior" almost a quarter of a century ago. That was a mish-mash. You had the deep australian accent of Gosling, the motorcycle cop. The almost-british sounding Capt. "FiFi". And Max's uncle, who had a hackneyed attempt at a Texas accent.

But I digress.

Some things require a knowledge of the culture. There is a ribald joke in a Beatles song "Day in the Life." "Now, they know how many holes it takes to fill the House of Lords ...."

corvus

my car has a bonnet and a windscreen, not a hood and a windshield,

LOL......one of the funniest things I have read in a long time......

Now if anyone but a Brit or someone that resides in the UK gets this, I'll be quite surprised.

The word, in cockney slang is "Niagras" the American equivalent is ???????

(and the way they came up with this one is very interesting...)

 

Xerxes

The word, in cockney slang is "Niagras" the American equivalent is ???????

C-mon folks .... work it out.  (Cockney rhyming slang always rhymes the last word with something you shouldn't say or maybe don't *want* to say)

So your "Niagras" are your ____________ (fellas) ... (Niagara Falls = b ...s??)

We use some of them ourselves ... if you "blow somebuddy a raspberry" ... the ORIGIN in cockney rhyming slang.

Raspberry tarts = f --ts   and we've wound up calling it a 'raspberry'. 

You've heard of someone telling a porky? (porky pie = lie)

"Here, have a butchers at this" - butchers = butcher's hook, look.

Ever heard of money referred to as "bread" or "dough"?  Bread and honey, money.

Ever called anyone a "berk"?  = Berkley Hunt.....  It's not that harsh anymore though.  Everyones forgotten where it came from and it just means, well, "idiot".

Chuffy

"Here, have a butchers at this" - butchers = butcher's hook, look.

Ever heard of money referred to as "bread" or "dough"?  Bread and honey, money.

Ever called anyone a "berk"?  = Berkley Hunt.....  It's not that harsh anymore though.  Everyones forgotten where it came from and it just means, well, "idiot".

 

Sorry, had to pop off to the w.c.

I still try to figure out exactly what a barrister is. I know they are something like attorneys.

Magistrate, I think, is the same in both countries. We also have counties. In fact, the only state I know that does not have counties is Louisiana and they have parishes.

Over here, we have roads or highways that may have numbers but they also have local names. In Dallas, U.S. 75 is North Central Expressway (we sometimes call it North Central Distressway or North Central Parking Lot). The same freeway in Sherman, Tx is called Sam Rayburn Freeway. Funny thing is, it's only a fed highway from Dallas to the Oklahoma border.

But in Britain, you've got M-(some number) or A-(some number). I think the letter refers to the type of road, correct?

And what's with this driving on the other side of the road?

A barrister is an attorney who does litigation (goes to court to 'try' cases)

A solicitor is an attorney who does transactional work and non litigation stuff (real estate, estate planning, probate/guardianship, tax stuff, etc.). 

They specialize like ours do but they make a bigger difference between those who appear in court and those who don't.

Roads. M = Motorway (three lanes, sometimes four, like a highway), then there are dual carriage ways, a roads, b roads etc. So yes you are correct. Sometimes they are reffered to, usually by local people, as named roads usually in the context of "the road from (a) to (b)". Obviously the numbered roads are the long ones, streets are named etc.

As for driving on the other side I once heard that the idea was that as most people are right handed the left hand is used for gear changes, which would benefit the driver in the event of being caught in a bad situation during a gear change as their dominant hand would be on the wheel. Ive also heard that it goes back to the time before cars (horse and carriage) where horses overtook on the right and passed each other from head on with both drivers keeping the other carriage to the right. Or it could simply be to be different, keeps people talking about britain.

On the subject of the british accent you could look at how people from different areas talk, try finding the accents from Glasgow (glaswegien), Newcastle (geordie), yorkshire or the welsh valleys. you can find some which sound like a different language.

calliecritturs

we often make the comment about "British accents" or "Englsh accents" -- and frankly that's a whole lot like saying "an American accent".

Yeah, I know there are a lot and mine is, I'm sure, a mish-mash of several.

FourIsCompany

I'm sure, a mish-mash of several.

I get comments all the time

I'm from LI, New Yawk lived in central PA, upstate NY, Looavul, KY, Bloomington, IN, Annapolis MD, Charlottesville, VA, Manchester, UK, and now Raleigh, NC.  DH is Manchester, UK all his life until here so we speak the Queen's English at home.  I have people just look at me like wow I sure can't place that one

And some outrageous guesses.  Its my very own unique spin on the English/American language 

I was born in California but I have been in Texas since 1974 so I have southern accent now that even I can hear.

kwplee -- the thing that cracks ME up is living with a Brit how many words for a certain thing I have to sort thru before I arrive at the one I know my husband will understand!!  I almost ... *sigh* ... said to my husband that I had to get "bin bags" instead of "tall kitchen can bags" ... soooooooooooooooooo I said "I gotta get tall kitchen can bags today at the store".

He said "What?"

I said "Bin bags"

 my brain can't win!!

kpwlee

Its my very own unique spin on the English/American language 

I actually meant my "pretend" British accent. But I know what you mean. I've been said to have a "midwestern" accent... What's that? LOL  Only people from the South, Texas, New England, New York and "Joisey" have accents! The rest of us just talk regular.