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Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun!
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Subject: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: katlaughing Date: 07 Apr 99 - 04:09 PM In another thread, someone said their "Glaswegian" wasn't quite up to snuff and asked for a confirmation on a definition of gobob or some such thing (sorry I forgot, but remember the extra syllable was for emphasis).***NOI/BG*** I love to learn/pick up and use different ways of saying things, i.e. someone else's slang. I think it's fun and I've learned a lot here at the Mudcat. Usually I can guess at the meaning, but not always. And, there are many words, included in lyrics, which are regional and may not be clear in meaning to everyone who reads them, so.... I thought it would be fun, here, if everyone would post some of their favourites, from their regions/songs, for us all to learn/laugh at and, maybe even adopt! PLUS IT COULD ALSO BE EDUCATIONAL thus fulfiling a role of this wonderful site. (We all want to know what we are singing, right?) Anyway, one I know which really isn't all that colourful or unknown here in the West is "crick", which is not a pain in the neck, but a small stream of water. if you are a native, esp. of Western Colorado, you will NOT pronounce is as written, i.e. "creek"! It is "crick". Another one I noticed when living back East: out here for a neice's wedding, my son's girlfriend from New Hampshire was telling a joke and kept talking about someone looking for "root" such and such. Finally, one of my Colorado friends looked at me and asked me what kind of plant she was talking about! Out here, we say "rowt". Those are not exactly the types of things I was thinking about tat I've seen in the threads, but maybe they will get you all to thinking and remembering and posting, eh?! Can anyone tell me what got the expression "spot on" started? Thanks, katlaughing |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Bert Date: 07 Apr 99 - 04:46 PM Kat, I assume that 'spot on' derives from the science of mensuration. There, that should get you some responses. Who's going to be first with the jokes? Art or Catspaw? Bert. |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: dwditty Date: 07 Apr 99 - 05:05 PM To get (understand) something - "It just grafted to my head." To not get something - "It just complexifies my mind." |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: katlaughing Date: 07 Apr 99 - 05:05 PM Oh, BERT!! It's "moontime"! And, I had speculated that it meant someone's dawg named "Spot" was in love with your leg! A command or warning, ya know, "Spot! On!" My second guess would've been from having the spotlight of a bobby on you or center stage light. There, now I've cleaned it up a bit! Too right! katl |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: katlaughing Date: 07 Apr 99 - 05:06 PM dwditty: out here a "possible, fer sure, maybe" is a done deal! |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Bert Date: 07 Apr 99 - 05:09 PM NO Kat, You're BAD!! I said mensuration NOT menstruation. |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Bert Date: 07 Apr 99 - 05:11 PM here's some |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: katlaughing Date: 07 Apr 99 - 06:26 PM Bert: MOI??? A BAD KAT???? Watch me flounce off with my tail held high!****SMILE**** Hey, ya' can't blame a gyrl for assuming typos in this place! And, I love the site you linked in. Thanks! Now, was that gobbo, gobbom, cobbom...conbom...no...conDom! Yea, that's IT! call 'Spaw and tell him I've GOT IT! CONDOM!!!! How 'bout some of the references in songs which may not be readily apparent? Anybody? |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Banjer Date: 07 Apr 99 - 06:41 PM Spot on to me meant "to the point", hit the nail smack on the head, so to speak. |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: catspaw49 Date: 07 Apr 99 - 07:14 PM BERT>>BERT>>BERT>>>>> I LOVE YOU MAN !!!!! I've been fascinated with Cockney R.S. for years and it's very tough to find out anything about it here. Truly many thanks ... already on my favorites. I have a feeling this thread may go to many parts, like 2,3,4. Lots to be said I'm sure fromall corners of the world. I think a lot of words in songs will come up, but let me say one, more about the writer than the word. Paul Simon is a true wordsmith and I always enjoy his work. He is also the only guy I know that will put "crapped out" in a BALLAD/LAMENT type song lyric. Makes his work very identifiable. Duty calls...gotta' go ...See you all later!!! catspaw |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Roger in Baltimore Date: 07 Apr 99 - 07:38 PM African-American slang often creeps into general usage. One that is moving into such use is "twenty-four seven" as in "I used to be able to do it twenty-four seven". It is just shorthand for "twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week", that is, all of the time. This phrase was unknown to me outside of the African-American culture ten years ago. Now it shows up in newspaper and magazine articles. Roger in Baltimore |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Barbara Date: 07 Apr 99 - 07:49 PM Things that fail to work: go belly up; go gunnysack. |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Pete M Date: 07 Apr 99 - 10:33 PM Go to custard = go pear shaped = non operational An old one that some youngsters don't seem to know: SNAFU = Situation normal, all fucked up. A specifically NZ insult: JAFA pronounced jaffa, = Just another fucking Aucklander (the rest of the country really loves Auckalnders) Roger the expression 24 x 7 operation has been around in the computer industry for some time, I can't say for sure that thats where it originated but it seems likely. By the way Kat how in your neck of the woods would you pronounce: "by taking the wrong route, the unit was routed."? Pete M |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Lion Date: 07 Apr 99 - 10:41 PM At the start of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" by George Harrison, you'll hear him say "hey up". Northern England style "let's go". |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: katlaughing Date: 07 Apr 99 - 11:19 PM Roger in B: My daughter heard the 24-7 thing when she went out on an internship with the local sheriff's dept. Don't know where they got it from. Pete M: Since I spent 10 yrs in New England my pronunciations are what you might call SNAFU'ed! I, personally would say, "By taking the wrong root, the unit was rowted" BUT, more likely, I'd say it took the wrong root and got all fucked up! Now, an old timer here whose never lived elsewhere would say "rowt" for both words. Seriously "rout" is not a very commonly used word in these parts, so it's doubtful they'd have a problem deciding how to pronounce each. Good example though! Poor Aucklanders!HeHeHe 'Spaw, glad you like the thread. kat |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Helen Date: 07 Apr 99 - 11:27 PM Pete, One of my favourite expressions (I used to work in a bureaucracy for a long time) is WOFTAM, pronounced "woff'-tam". I believe it is an army term. It stands for waste of fucking time and money, and it is often applied to some new work programme which "everyone believes was working okay before, so why do we need a new programme?" or it is applied to people or equipment who don't work very well. I'm sure the Oz-Cateers will come up with a huge selection of words for this thread. Oz-tralian language is built heavily on a foundation of picturesque language. I'll have to think about my favourites and get back to you. Helen Oh, just remembered one of my favourite old sayings: "as scarce as rocking horse shit". I think it explains itself, don't you? |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Peter Fisher Date: 07 Apr 99 - 11:28 PM I grew up on the East coast, where route 10 and root beer and root for the home team all sounded the same, and rhymed with roof, so I've had a hard time living half way between there and Colorado, and hearing about routes that sometimes rhyme with shouts and sometimes not, and tree roots that rhyme with puts, while still rooting for the home team (rhymes with shooting), and reshingling my roof (rhymes with Woof!). So I'm wondering where exactly is the great divide between the ooohs, the ows, and oofs? |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Elizabeth (inactive) Date: 07 Apr 99 - 11:38 PM In Tamania, a creek is also a "crick" to the oldtimers. I hadn't heard that particular expression before moving here from Queensland. Another Tasmanian gem is to call anyone who is a bit eccentric, odd, different, quaint etc. a "rum 'un". Again, an expression not widely used in the rest of Australia. One of my personal favourites is "to get up at sparrow fart" meaning very early in the morning!! Thankgoodness it's only sparrows and not something a lot bigger!! |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: katlaughing Date: 07 Apr 99 - 11:46 PM Peter Fisher: You had me rolling (rhymes with row, row, row your boat) in the aisles!!! WELL PUT!! Elizabeth: does a sparrow's fart chang with this accursed daylight savings time? ARrrggghhhh! ***big grin*** Helen: you can be sure that WOFTAM will soon be a well-known Rocky Mountain term, as I will spread better than rocking horse shit! Keep 'em coming, phoaks, this is great! katlaughing |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: BK Date: 08 Apr 99 - 12:03 AM I grew up in "PA Dutch" country; the one that I always remember is their verb to "rid" - it means clean up, usually in the context of the kitchen or dining room table - to "rid the table." They also say things like "wonderful good." The Cockney link wouldn't work for me; I only remember their saying for hat was "tit fer," (from the expression "tit for tat" -the "tat" rhymes w/hat, see the logic?). It was used a lot by non-Cocknies in the part of England where I was staying (Kent); I tend to still use often myself; it's sort of colorful - all their slang seemed colorful to exotic to me. Not to be outdone, in the Navy we had many unique sayings; for example, a small coffee or snack shop is a "gee dunk," who knows why?? (sometimes spelled "gee donk") When I was in tech school ("class A school") being put "on the tree" meant being forced to spend extra hours studying in the classroom at night. Then there are the sayings like "when Christ was a seaman deuce" meaning a very long time ago; a "seaman deuce" was the first rank after boot camp. "Ropeyarn," if I remember correctly, was time off for personal business, reportedly derived from time to tar & braid the pigtails of sailors of old (from the days of "wooden ships & iron men"). In the Army we called a new 2nd Lt a "butter bars" (gold colored bar for the rank insignia), a Captain had "railroad tracks" (2 paralell silver bars) for the rank insignia. In india the common slang for a proprietor of an establishment, perhaps as small as a single pedal-driven ricksha, was "wallah," pronounced wall-uh, usually combined with another explanatory word, like "ricksha wallah," or "shop wallah." Often a person might be addressed as "babu," not particularily derogatory, though several people I knew - Old India Hands - insisted it was derived from some Englishmen derisively referring to Indians as "babboons." Several years ago we bought onr of those massive old-time near-encyclopedic dictionaries from a flea market in San Antonio. We have on it's own lighted stand, it is one of our prized possessions. It's surprising how many colloquialisms are in it. Also great for looking up interesting words or usages in songs, like "baize" (gaming table cover) & "morroco" (in context meant a certain color cloth) from Stan Roger's "Sailor's Rest." Cheers, BK |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: harpgirl Date: 08 Apr 99 - 12:08 AM in the piney woods down here ( relatives of the georgia penal colony recruits) they say "he showed his ass" when someone gets mad or acts rude...Of course the first time I heard it I said " you mean he pulled down his pants???" harpgirl |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Mark Roffe Date: 08 Apr 99 - 12:37 AM West Indians say "Tief a tief make god laugh" which gets shortened to just "tief a tief" ...it means it's cosmically funny to steal from a thief. Mark |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: bassen Date: 08 Apr 99 - 03:19 AM Anyone ever heard anyone sing "get your kicks on rowt 66"? *grin* There aren't that many colloquialisms around here in Norway that would make much sense to the great majority of you all in the 'cat, so I guess I should just be lurking on this one. . HOWEVER:English-speaking people in Norway tend to get their mother tongue infected/corrupted by the norwegian they hear and speak every day, so if you visit a friend or relative in Norway and he asks you to "screw up" the stereo, he's not asking you to mess up his electronics, he simply wants you to turn up the volume. We call it norwenglish, broken mouth or mind rot depending on how fed up you are with scandinavian living. bassen |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Steve Parkes Date: 08 Apr 99 - 03:44 AM Here's my two penn'orth: wallah and babu are both Indian (from India, not Native American!) words, althiugh I can never remember which language. Wallah is an agent suffix, as in char-wallah, punkah-wallah. Babu means clerk, I think (lots of those in the Indian Civil Service in the old days). Penn'orth? Pennyworth; c.f. ha'porth, halfpennyworth. There's plenty to chew on at this site. |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: AndyG Date: 08 Apr 99 - 05:05 AM Look here for my home county. I find that most people know SNAFU (see above) but not TARFU (things are really) or FUBAR (beyond all recognition).
AndyG |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Banjer Date: 08 Apr 99 - 06:30 AM I'm surprised we haven't yet been treated to my old favorite, DILLIGAF?, the angram of Do I Look Like I Give A Fuck? A term used to indicate a gross lack of interest. Thinking on this subject I can think of many things that we say in this part of the country that we take for granted as everyday speech that would be looked upon as quaint in other areas. "More than you can shake a stick at", "Useless as teats on a boar", "Carrying coals to Newcastle", are some of the ones I've heard recently and use myself sometimes. I'll have to find my book, "You All Spoken Here", a collection of Southern phrases and usage. That will be a motherload of information. |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Banjer Date: 08 Apr 99 - 06:32 AM I distincly remember putting </b> after that last F. Huh.. Nope, Banjer, you put <b/>. |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Steve Parkes Date: 08 Apr 99 - 07:50 AM There's a wonderful book called "Mrs Byrne's dictionary". It's American, but available in the UK. Any word that's in any way weird, unusual or just plain entertaining is in it. Example - Rectalgia. A pain in the ass. I't's the only dictionary I've been able to sit down with and read. It has the entire "SNAFU" canon; FUMTU (more than usual), JANFU (joint Army and Navy), etc. Steve |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: AlistairUK Date: 08 Apr 99 - 08:10 AM As I was walking down the frog and toad, I decided that I was thirsty. So I got in me jam jar and went home. Walked up the apples and pears, had a dig in the grave and put on me whistle and flute. I told the ol' trouble and strife that I was garn darn the battle cruiser with a few of me chinas. In the Old Nags Head I nearly had a barney wiv a ginger beer, you know, Old Tony him who's an iron hoof. I got totally brahms and list, not to mention borrassic. hehehe sort that one out. |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: AndyG Date: 08 Apr 99 - 08:33 AM As I was walking down the highway, I decided that I was thirsty. So I got in my motor car and went home. Walked up the stairs, had a shave and put on my suit. I told my wife that I was going to the public house with a few of my friends. In the Old Nags Head I nearly had a altercation with a homosexual, you know, Old Tony who's gay. I got totally drunk, not to mention out of funds.
HTH
AndyG |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: AlistairUK Date: 08 Apr 99 - 08:55 AM Well done Andy and your prize is...a weekend with Monica and a box of Havanas. |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Barbara Date: 08 Apr 99 - 09:05 AM frog and toad = road jam jar = car apples and pears = stairs dig in the grave = shave whistle and flute = suit trouble and strife = wife battle cruiser = boozer chinas = (china plate = mate?) barney = ? ginger beer = queer iron hoof = poof brahms and list - pissed borrassic = ?
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Bert Date: 08 Apr 99 - 09:10 AM When I was a boilermaker something could either be 'spot on' or maybe it would be off 'a gnat's cock' Andy G. You will see FUBAR on Unix machines often as file (or variable) names, when it is split in two, so you will see files names 'foo' and 'bar'. Of course now that computers are the 'in thing' instead of saying 'from A to Z' we should perhaps say 'from bang to tilda' Bert. |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Bert Date: 08 Apr 99 - 09:17 AM This thread is addictive. Just heard a colleage here sneeze a few times. It would not be appropriate here for me to say to him "Die you bastard" as I would have done when I worked "on my tools" Bert. |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: AndyG Date: 08 Apr 99 - 09:17 AM barney == fight or arguement (don't know if it's rhyming slang) borrassic = borasic lint = skint = no money Alistair: AndyG |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: AlistairUK Date: 08 Apr 99 - 09:19 AM Barney= fight
Borassic= (Borrassic lint)=skint= without funds
often I would bunk of school= play hookey I think it's known as in the states
there is also Barnet Fair= Hair I used to give my adult student a class on cuss words and they used to think it was great, this was an extention of slang and colloquialisms lessons that I was giving to advanced students. |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: catspaw49 Date: 08 Apr 99 - 09:58 AM To follow up a bit on Peter's question about dividing lines........I've thought that we need to re-State the US based on similarities and regions more than the state lines we now have. Florida gets chopped up about 4 ways with some of it going to Georgia and Alabama. We need a long thin state running 30 miles or so inland from Virginia Beach to Jacksonville; I mean what the hell does Charleston and Hilton Head have to do with the rest of South Carolina? I grew up in SE Ohio where the association with West PA is much stronger than the rest of the state in some ways. In others though we are distinctly Ahians...not a typo, that's the way the word is said here. The Ohio State Marching Band is famous for writing script Ohio on the field. One game about 25 or so years ago, the band worked it out, unknown to the director, and they spelled Ahia instead. One of those Pittsburgh words I love is JAGOV for jack-off. Somehow takes the edge off...Watch the movie "Gung-Ho" with Michael Keaton, takes place in western PA. At one point he distinctly uses jagov instead of jack-off and I still wonder if that was good script research or the fact that Keaton is a native 'Burgher. Prior to the days of PC and much before Gay became a descriptive term (BTW, there is a crafts fair in the town of Gay, Georgia--the Gay Crafts Fair...always takes some explaining) the word Queer was a fence straddler. Even for those not wanting to offend, homosexual is just too damn cumbersome. So queer was used by "friend and foe" alike. One night in college, a friend from Pennington Gap, Virginia used the word twice in less than a minute, but said it in two different pronounciations. I asked about it and he explained that where he was from, SW Virginia, that a homosexual was a queer...same way we all say it. But if something was a bit odd or strange it was "kwiar." Has a little "ah" sound mixed with "choir." Ran across others from that neck of the woods said the same. Another one that got me and was in common southern usage was "carry." As in, "My Daddy carried us to the game." I would have said "drove" or "took" instead. Enough for now...I'm enjoying this thread a lot. catspaw |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Doctor John Date: 08 Apr 99 - 10:00 AM how about: for the totally useless- "about as much use as a plastic dog turd" for someone with a wrecked back 'e's assled 'is back. This also refers to breaking off a gear (shift to you Americans) stick at the point of entry. Devonshire- "praper job" means its OK,and huge is not pronounced hewge but hooge, as is toosday.Women are maids regardless of age or appearance and men are byes (boys).All inanimate objects are referred to as 'ers or 'ees. Dr.John |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: AlistairUK Date: 08 Apr 99 - 10:06 AM Where i come from in the UK there is a really strange accent and words that you would think are strictly east end London are in common use there (hence my knowledge). Theis came about because of relocation of people from london after the War and the expansion outwards from the capital during the sixties. Also TV has a way of getting words out. A typical London word f'rinstance "Plonker" meaning idiot e.g. "Rodney you are a real plonker." (direct quote from the BBC Comedy 'Only Fools and Horses). Wanker has made it's way to US Shores through the medium of TV shows and Phil Collins in that Miami Vice episode ( Miami Vice sort of suited Phil Collins..bland and without much talent). |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Bert Date: 08 Apr 99 - 10:11 AM Alistair, When I was in England "a plonker" was a kiss. Bert.
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: AlistairUK Date: 08 Apr 99 - 10:25 AM Bert: never heard of that one...but it also has been used to describe a willy. |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: katlaughing Date: 08 Apr 99 - 10:46 AM I've hear a willy referred to as a "John Thomas", also. My husband from New Hampshire says "burree" (rhyl=mes with furry) when he means to put something in a hole in the ground, whereas out here we say "berry". Also, Worcester Massachusetts is properly pronounced (back there) Wooster, as in rooster, when it definitely looks like war-ses-ter! My dad has many colourful expressions. I'll try to remember some and put them in here. Just remembered, this morning he told me an old boss of his once said, "Hudson speaks two languages: English and Profanity. He's not much skilled in English, but he excells in Profanity!" Dad had just gotten done venting to me about the Mormon church, which living in Utah, he is surrounded by. NOI! I've also heard the deragatory term: "down-valley, in-bred white trash". Something can be as "worthless as tits on a boar hog" or as "cold as a well-digger's ass" and people we really value are "salt of the earth". katlaughing |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Bert Date: 08 Apr 99 - 10:46 AM Alistair, It might have been an expression local to Essex. Oh, and by the way how come I am "not" surprised that you used to "give....students a class on cuss words" Bert. |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Bert Date: 08 Apr 99 - 11:00 AM Kat, That's how Worcester in pronounced in England. I remember my wife getting upset once when I pointed out that it was "Wooster Sauce" that she was buying. Bert. |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: AlistairUK Date: 08 Apr 99 - 11:09 AM Bert: oh how people have already come to know me on here. But I believe swearing to be a completely legitimate part of language, i do remember a thread that dealt somewhere with this, but i can't be "arsed'(bothered) to look for it. When you have students that are going to live in the UK for any length of time and they will encounter these words so I always want them to be prepared. The eff-word is a particularly all embracing word that is used as a conjunction,adverb, verb, adjective, noun, phrasal verb and the list goes on. I used to work with a guy who used it in all of the above grammatical senses all of the time, became a bit embarrasing when you went in to a caff for our breakfasts. |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Cara Date: 08 Apr 99 - 11:26 AM In Ahia, we too used "crick" even though my mother hates it. "Root" and "Rowt" are interchangeable to me. It was a revelation to me that my friends from New York pronounce "Merry Mary Marry" as if the words have three separate and distinct sounds--they are all the same to me (rhyme with berry). One regional difference that I have finally overcome after 6 years here in DC is using the word "soda" instead of "pop" like we said in Ohio. I understand that in the South, the word is "Coke"--(I want a Coke. What kind of Coke do you want? A Sprite.) One that I thought was universal but apparently isn't is "catty-corner", meaning diagonally across from. My friends from the East Coast have never heard that one before. A friend of mine from Dublin describes crowded places as "black" which led to a few misunderstandings when making plans. (Let's go to blah-blah. No, it's way too black.) I was horrified until I thought to ask him what the hell he was talking about. |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: katlaughing Date: 08 Apr 99 - 12:08 PM Cara; out here it can be catty corner or kitty corner. And I know what you mean about the soda pop thing! When we moved to New England I thought a soda was a drink with ice cream in it. We always said pop. since my return to the west five years ago, though, I notice people here are starting to say soda, too. My niece when at CU in Boulder had a new roommate from Boston. She was totally floored one time when her roomy said she was going down to the "packy" to pick up a "ringer". She was going to the package/liquor store to pick up a six-pack of beer! A lot of the early pioneers in my part of Colorado were from down South, mine included, I wonder if they brought "crick" with them? katl |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Steve Parkes Date: 08 Apr 99 - 12:10 PM Phil Collins said "wanker", not "plonker": "You must take me for a right wanker!". He talked about in an interview before the episode was screened over here. He asked the production people if they knew what it meant (wank = masturbate, if you don't know), and they said, no - it's some kind of term of opprobrium in England, isn't it? I watched the series dilligently until he said it, then I stopped watching. Not used in polite circles here (not yet!). How about these: as much use as a chocolate tea pot as queer (gay, tht is) as a chocolate frog as queer as a nine-bob note (WRT the old ten-shilling [50p] note) And finally, a humorous little number using the last above: "Did you know Pavarotti, Domingo and [what's-his-name] have made a record with Julian Clary? It's called Three tenors and a nine-bob note!" Just remembered this: my mmother used to tell us of for calling the canal the "cut" (there's about 200 miles of canals where I come from). Years later, I found out it's called the cut because that's what the engineers who designed canals called them. Now I get my own back by pulling her up over "who" and "whom", and "can't hardly". Steve |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: catspaw49 Date: 08 Apr 99 - 12:24 PM Yeah, Cara's right....Crick is what we always say and pop is pop and a soda has ice cream in it doesn't it kat? But Cara, you didn't mention towns....like Lancaster...everywhere else it's generally Lang caster, but here it's Lan cuss ter, no emphasis on any one syllable.....AND CARA, I think I remember you're from Newark, aren't you? That is Nerk to a native. BTW Cara, did you know Bill and Roofus(Ruth) Isenhart? |
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Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Bert Date: 08 Apr 99 - 01:07 PM Cara, I had never heard "catty corner" until I met my second wife. She was raised in Opelousas, Louisiana. If something was askew or "cockeyed" she would refer to it as "cattywampus". I England we would have called it "a bit pissed". I suppose when a thread gets off track here we should call it "Mudcattywampus". By the way did any of you ever visit that pub in Kent, England called "The Rorty Crankle"? Generally translated as "The Happy Corner" although rorty means more than just happy. Bert. |
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