The Accurate Reloading Forums
I love American English...
19 July 2010, 21:07
Adam.270I love American English...
This doesn't have much to do with European hunting but I'm putting off the moment when I have to return to my well-appointed workshop and build yet more .270 rounds for my Africa trip in a fortnight.
Whilst trying to avoid doing any actual work at the office today and causing all manner of internet protocol breaches by viewing pictures of dead animals on my work PC, I sniggered my way through an earnest discussion somewhere on here between several of of my colonial cousins. The subject causing much ire was that of purchasing efficient, comfortable and hard-wearing 'hunting pants'. Now I know they were speaking of pants of the trouser variety, but I couldn't help picturing them setting off together on a grizzly bear hunt, having wrestled with the difficult choice between the tanga-style 'budgie smuggler' brief in reliable old Mossy Oak, the Marine Corp Y-front in military digital DPM or the racy thong in Blaze Orange realtree camo...
Am I alone in getting enjoyment from the minor confusions caused by two cultures divided by a common language? What about fanny-packs - they sound like the sort of thing my good friend Ghubert would be embarrassed by on a return trip to Hamburg, when the depths of his suitcase are explored by a be-gloved Customs Officer but seem to be much in demand for US hunters. Likewise, are there words or phrases used casually in the Queen's English over here that cause our American friends to gasp in horror or snort in amusement?
Now I'm off outside to enjoy a restorative suck on a fag before sitting down to tackle a couple of hot meaty faggots for dinner.
19 July 2010, 21:42
Fallow BuckAdam,
A flick around Cabellas will point you in the direction of suitable undergarment in a variety of realtree patterns.
Between two of our esteemed members at last years AR bash in Suffolk I witnessed first hand the realtree underwear modelling, (not the type you would see Ms Moss parading about in...) which left me in therapy and temporary blindness for a while. As such the use of such garments is banned in any of my camps for the record!!
As for the reloading, I just finished about 300 rounds for various esteemed members of this site. Wednesday is D-Day at Bisley to check out the usefulness of it all and then perhaps we can get a day to put some trigger time in if you are about before we leave?
Note to the weary. I managed to burn the sides of my face with powder residue that ended up on my fingers. When I wiped my face in a hot office I ended up with an eczema type burn on my face. Took me a couple of days to work it out.
Rgds,
K
quote:
colonial cousins
Yes, when we threw off the Yoke of British Colonialism we pitched the useless bits & pieces of Oxford English with it as well. If you'd like them back they are at the bottom of Boston Harbor with some other "stuff" we pitched overboard, too.
Cheers,
Number 10
19 July 2010, 23:39
ddrhookSteve and I enjoy bashing each other about the differences in our not so common speech
he thinks I'm around the bend tit's up and I say he's just f%^$king crazy and has no idea how to speak english
that being said pass the marmite kind sir
19 July 2010, 23:51
Adam.270quote:
Originally posted by Gerry:
quote:
colonial cousins
Yes, when we threw off the Yoke of British Colonialism we pitched the useless bits & pieces of Oxford English with it as well. If you'd like them back they are at the bottom of Boston Harbor with some other "stuff" we pitched overboard, too.
Yes, but we had the last laugh - we've been using America to get rid of all our spare Irish people for years.
It's interesting that it all ended up in Boston Harbour - all that unwanted British irony and nuanced humour (with an 'e') leaking into the water table is obviously what made Cheers funny to an English ear.
I was on Cabelas looking for what we call a bumbag for all the gear I carry,I searched in vain,until I remembered the Yanks call them Fanny Packs,who the hell called them that!
Brings a whole new meaning to hunting in the Bush....
Americans don't ya just love em!
regards
Griff
It can be bad here too. Years ago I moved from NY to Ohio. There was a British girl and a fellow from Ohio. One said skiwiff [sp ] and one translated as cattywampus[sp] which caused blank looks on my part until someone said 'on the bias ' !
Having spent almost 11 of my 17 years in the Navy overseas, and knowing what fanny means in both kinds of English I always laugh when someone says it.
20 July 2010, 05:51
brass thiefApparently "peelers" are strippers over here.
I thought I was doing my wife a favour when I told her that I saw some (doing a speed trap)on my way home. She was not as grateful for the info as I expected, until I realised they are'nt the same thing.
20 July 2010, 10:13
BoghossianI was taught yank English at school so there was a bit of confusion when I got to Edinburgh University and casually mentioned that I had got my pants muddy to the girl across the hall...
Another source of confusion was when I asked what the 'OAP haircut' was and could I see a picture at least?
20 July 2010, 11:45
Adam.270quote:
Another source of confusion was when I asked what the 'OAP haircut' and could I see a picture at least?
That is truly brilliant - it could have been a triumphant return for the budget short back and sides with military style left to right parting combed over the bald bits (plus a nice dab of Brylcreem and something for the weekend Sir?).
20 July 2010, 11:58
shakariYou can't even safely call a Yank a Yank to their faces because a good many of 'em get quite shirty about it.
To us a Yank is someone from the USA and no offence is meant but to them it's often still all about their civil war.
And as for their spelling.... not only have they forgotten the letter U they can't even remember how to spell words like arse and some individuals are even worse. Hooker for example seems to thing that fine anglo saxon word fucking is spelt f%^$king.
All that said, some of the Yanks (and other Americans
) have brilliant sense of humours and I'm glad to say, I number a lot of them as my good friends.
Actually, on the subject of sense of humour has anyone noticed how different parts of the USA seem to have very different sense of humours? A NY one is very different from a Texas one for example.
20 July 2010, 13:04
Trapper DaveThats the great thing about English.......nobody owns it anymore and there are dozens of different ways of speaking it.
The Angles are long buried in history and under the sod in the Frisian isles and East Anglia.
I wonder if they'd be surprised to hear the way the language is spoken now?
Here's the first few lines from Beowulf. Lets see how you do looking back:
Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum,
þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon,
hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon.
Oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena þreatum,
Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened. Sir Winston Churchill
20 July 2010, 21:21
AdventuraThe thread is supposed to deal with American English but to me the Beowulf quotation has a striking resemblance to Icelandic...
20 July 2010, 21:27
GhubertIt's very similar to inebriated Herefordian.
I recognise the freedom of syntax.
It seems to be hinting at prowling beast, a reference to Leominster on a saturday night if ever there was one.
Has anyone actually tried to buy a an envelope in France by the way?
20 July 2010, 23:29
StonecreekJust think how we ignorant Americans use our own language to shortchange ourselves: We think that a pint of ale is slightly less than a half-liter (half-litre). Of course the way some of your pubs pour, it is
!
20 July 2010, 23:37
GhubertNowt wrong with a pint our kid.
The Germans get smug about their litre bierkrugs but we'd rather just have two pints.
Two 568ml pints that is.
21 July 2010, 00:16
Idaho SharpshooterJust try cars for a start.
A Bonnet is the hood to brits, whereas that is what American Women wore to cover their heads in bygone eras.
A boot is a trunk to us, boots are what you wear hunting.
Rich
DRSS
21 July 2010, 00:28
shakariquote:
Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
Just try cars for a start.
A Bonnet is the hood to brits, whereas that is what American Women wore to cover their heads in bygone eras.
A boot is a trunk to us, boots are what you wear hunting.
Rich
DRSS
To say nothing of the fact you guys put the steering wheel on the wrong bloody side!
21 July 2010, 00:36
GrenadierThe absolutely best source for British English vs American English is this website:
The Best of British: The American's Guide to Speaking British Here are some samples:
quote:
Biggie - This is unusual. A biggie is what a child calls his poo! Hence the reason Wendy's Hamburgers has never really taken off in England - who would buy "biggie fries"? Yuck - I'm sure you wouldn't buy poo fries! The other meaning of Biggie is erection. It just gets worse!
Excuse me - This is a great one! It's what kids are taught to say when they belch in public. We are also taught to say "pardon me" if we fart out loud. Unfortunately in American "excuse me" means you are encroaching in someone's personal space and you say "pardon me" when you don't hear someone properly. Imagine our surprise when we discovered that actually Americans are not belching and farting all the time.
Faff - To faff is to dither or to fanny around. If we procrastinated when getting ready for bed, as kids, our Dad use tell us we were faffing around.
How's your father? - This is a very old term for sex which plays on our apparent British sensitivity. Rather than saying the actual "sex" word you could refer to having a bit of How's your Father, instead - nudge, nudge, wink, wink. The sort of old fashioned saying dragged up by Austin Powers.
Momentarily - As you come into land at an American airport and the announcement says that you will be landing momentarily, look around to see if anyone is sniggering. That will be the Brits! I never did figure out why they say this. Momentarily to us means that something will only happen for an instant - a very short space of time. So if the plane lands momentarily will there be enough time for anyone to get off? Weird!
Morish - Also spelt "moreish", this word is used to describe desserts in my house, when a single helping is simply not enough. You need more! It applies to anything - not just desserts.
Mufti - An old army term for your "civvies". Civilian clothes that is, rather than your uniform.
.
21 July 2010, 00:49
GhubertRandy; in America in a name, in the UK a state of being.
Pissed; Pleasantly drunk in the UK, angry in the States.
21 July 2010, 00:53
Die Ou JagterThis reminds me of back in 97 we were hunting just north of Inverness. There were some of the game keepers, the cook and some other individuals in the kitchen talking and I was just setting there having a "cold one" a/k/a beer. They were commenting about the Scots talk and I just busted out laughing and they stopped to look and I said "sorry, I just can't get over this when people say we speak the same language". Nothing could be farther from the truth. Of course here in the states we have the same i e the north, south midwest and the west and of coursse Texas.
My son and I were hunting in South Western Virginia and a local guy came to camp and was talking with other locals and my son and I looked at each other at the same time and said "Did you understand a word he said". The accent in that part of the country is a cross of the old english accent and the modern southern accent.
21 July 2010, 01:02
GrenadierA time ago, we were in Scotland and stopped at a small roadside restaurant to have some sandwiches. Our waitress was a friendly Polish girl with a very heavy Polish accent. Just as we were leaving she came up to me and remarked how very nice it was to speak to people who pronounced english so well. She said that she couldn't understand half of what the Scots were saying. It really tickled me because I had spoken very little and most of her conversation was with my heavily accented Thai wife and our four year old son.
.
21 July 2010, 02:47
bumscratcherHow about "he`s gone outside to smoke a fag" caused quite a bit of excitment in a bar in florida!!!
21 July 2010, 03:06
DB BillMy freshman year at college (1960) my American History class was taught by a Welshman just off the boat.
He had a very large red beard and between the beard and his "accent" I don't think anyone understood a word for the first 2 weeks. He eventually shaved the beard and it got slightly better -- but it was a very interesting year getting the British side of American History.
I think he must have been run out of Wales because he could neither carry a tune nor keep up with the freshman girls at the Commons.
DB Bill aka Bill George
We have so many similar differences in our own nation, and then you add the linguistic differences between the England, Whales, Scotland, Ireland, United States, Canada, OZ, NZ, Southern Africa and whatever else is left is kind of wild.
As stated before, we all speak English, but not all the same English.
Western American Coloquialisms: Including the Rockies and Alaska
You bet - yes Though a lot of folks in the mid-west say "you betcha", and don't use it as the answer yes
Nope - no
Western (as in that's really Western) - wild or dangerous
Cache - French word originating with mountain men meaning place where things are kept safe. Mispronounced like Cash.
Outside- Alaskan for not in Alaska
Ice fog- ice particles creating a fog at well below freezing.
slow elk- cattle
park - area in the mountains with no trees
the park - Yellowstone, Teton, Glacier, your closest national park
cutback/cutblock- area in forest where trees are cut
creek (pronounced KRICK) small stream. Brook is never used, stream rarely is
beaverslide (huge contraption used to flip loose cut hay into a stack.
dingo- Australian cattle dog
brown bottle - Coors Original
lion- mountain lion, cougar,
raghorn - 2-3 year old bull elk with less than 5 points per side
4 point - mule deer with 4 points plus brown tines, whitetail with 4 points including brow tines on one side.
goat - pronghorn antelope anyone speaking about Mountain Goats will usually say the whole word.
21 July 2010, 09:06
GhubertThis gentleman's name can have radically differing interpretations depending on which side of the Atlantic one finds oneself on.
21 July 2010, 17:17
Adam.270Sweet mother of god - I swear that's a picture of you before the M.Jackson skin bleaching cream arrived...
The irony is, your man would have arrived at Staten Island and been americanised to Mr Fanny Tickler Jr III and no-one would have raised a bushy eyebrow - thus clearly delineating the difference between us and them.
21 July 2010, 17:35
Cane Ratquote:
Now I'm off outside to enjoy a restorative suck on a fag
You would want to re-phrase that if here in the colonies.
Steve,
You are correct. Yank is not considered to a term of endearment by many of us.
21 July 2010, 17:43
Die Ou JagterD99 the point count is interesting as in the East total points are counted i e 4X5 western count is jus 9 pointer.
One of the best I heard is in the south
Naked - with out clothes
Nekked - with out clothes and up to no good.
We also have KRICKS in Pa. unless they are fly fishermen and then they are streams.
Die Ou Jagter,
The other wierd thing is in Arizona and New Mexico. Brow tines are not counted by a lot of folks down there weather mule deer or whitetails.
Most folks in the Rockies wouldn't count the brow tine of a mule deer.
Another interesting concept, is if a bull elk has a crown and is a 5x5 with an extra crown point on each side instead of the traditional elk 6x6 point structure he is a 5x5 with extra points.
Jagter , kricks in PA ? A common term is RUN as in the local Peggy's Run here.Here in NY we also have 'kill' as in Catskill Mtns .Kill is the Dutch word for creek.
Humor ,this mornig someone mentioned the Peter Seller's movie 'Dr Strangelove'. It was shown in the east and west but many theaters in the center of the country refused to show it !! No humor in nuking !
22 July 2010, 18:23
Cranborne ChaseSome years ago my brother was on a rugby tour in Miami, on a cultural / sporting exchange trip with some college football teams. The highlights for him were all blonde, but the 7 ft tall linebacker "cousins" were perpetually amused by the same round of jokes:
Cousin: Hey guy, say "truck"
Brother: "Lorry"
Cousin: HA HA HA. OK guy, now say "cigarrette"
Brother: "fag"
Cousin: HA HA HA. OK guy, now say "pants" and tell us what's under 'em
Brother: Trousers and I have on a pair of pants beneath them.
Cousin: HA HA HA
Brother: my name is not actually Guy, you know
And so it went on. Now I'm not saying that Floridian linebackers who are touching 2.5 metres high are simple, oh no, I'm not that stupid. But I will point out that it would seem to be the case that steroids don't make you clever.
24 July 2010, 16:09
ldkierOh. it´s SOCCER in the U.S., FOOTBALL everywhere else. But, FOOTBALL everywhere else was once SOCCER once upon a time, everywhere else. Humm??
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks"
Hamlet III/ii
24 July 2010, 20:44
LapidaryMany years ago, when I was in the army artillery, my unit trained with some Brits. The British called ear plugs "ear defenders".
24 July 2010, 22:36
Pete Equote:
Originally posted by Lapidary:
Many years ago, when I was in the army artillery, my unit trained with some Brits. The British called ear plugs "ear defenders".
And the punch line???????
24 July 2010, 22:38
Ghubertquote:
Originally posted by Pete E:
quote:
Originally posted by Lapidary:
Many years ago, when I was in the army artillery, my unit trained with some Brits. The British called ear plugs "ear defenders".
And the punch line???????
That was the punch line.
See Cranbourne Chase's post above.
24 July 2010, 22:43
Pete Equote:
Originally posted by Ghubert:
That was the punch line.
See Cranbourne Chase's post above.
Bless!
24 July 2010, 23:33
ldkierCanadian English is interesting.
A friend of mine from Alberta told me of the most wonderful time he had on a cruise.
" It was so wonderful. The food was delicious, the women beautiful and I was "pissed" the whole time" "Pissed" meaning drunk. Took some time to figure that one out.
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks"
Hamlet III/ii
25 July 2010, 02:21
Fallow Buckquote:
Now I'm not saying that Floridian linebackers who are touching 2.5 metres high are simple, oh no, I'm not that stupid. But I will point out that it would seem to be the case that steroids don't make you clever.
Classic!!!
