English To English Translation Needed

Subject: English To English Translation Needed
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 09:18 AM

My current favorite comic strip is Get Fuzzy. (You can check out it out on your computer.) One of the main characters is a dumb, obnoxious cat named Bucky. Starting in today's strip, a cat has appeared at the door to Bucky's "owner's" apartment (as if anyone "owns" a cat, who speaks in semi-indicipherable Brit-speak.

I can see that I'm going to need my Catter friends to translate a lot of the dialogue into Amurican English.

Here's today's dialgoue:

"Ah, brilliant! Been having a Butcher's for your flats all day, Mate. Thought I'd cooked summat up. I'm well knackered. I can tell you! I could do with a bevvy and a kip!

Plus, some bloke diddled me brolly in the queue for the khazi in blighty.

Come again?

I know what knackered is, and a bevvy seems clear. Not sure what a kip is (a cracker or biscuit, maybe?) I know what a queue is, having stood in plenty, but have no idea why I would wait in a queue for the Khazi. And what in the world is a brolly? And where is blighty?

Help!

Amurican Jerry

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: Morticia
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 09:20 AM

Butchers = look
kip = sleep or nap
Khazi = lavatory
Brolly = umbrella
and Blighty = UK

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 09:23 AM

"Ah, brilliant! Been having a Butcher's for your flats all day, Mate. Thought I'd cooked summat up. I'm well knackered. I can tell you! I could do with a bevvy and a kip!

Plus, some bloke diddled me brolly in the queue for the khazi in
blighty.

Butcher's = butchers hook, Cockney rhyming slang for having a LOOK
Knackered = Worn out/Tired
Bevvy = beverage/drink usually alchoholic
Kip = sleep not sure of origin
Diddled = fiddled/stole
Brolly= Umbrella
Khazie, more usually Carsie = Toilet
Blighty= British soldier slang for the UK, going home is described as going back to Blighty.

Giok

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 09:25 AM

Going home from abroad that is, a wound that got a soldier evacuated back to the UK from France in the 1st WW was known as a 'Blighty wound'
G.

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: Emma B
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 09:28 AM

try this translation service

"kip" I think is possibly of Norweigen origin and was used by sailors in the English port towns - used by George Orwell

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: GUEST,Dazbo
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 09:30 AM

I'm a bit puzzled by the 'diddled' though. Usually means cheated or conned out of something. It's not some attempt at rhyming slang for urinated is it? (diddled=piddled=urinated into). Bevvy is an alocoholic drink, usually a beer (ale, lager, bitter, perhaps also cider) rather than a short.

"for your flats" is a bit confusing too. Another attempt at rhyming slang?

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 09:31 AM

I expect you knew flats that are apartments.

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: Dave Earl
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 09:41 AM

Just had a look at the strip on the net and suggest that what he is saying is "cocked something up".

Meaning he has got it wrong or made a mess of it.

Dave

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: GUEST,Dazbo
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 09:46 AM

Ah, got it now but butchers is wrong

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: Paul Burke
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 09:47 AM

It's not like any real Cockney dialect- so I expect it will turn out that the "cousin" is an impostor. Especially as 2 strips back, the letter that starts the thing off comes from Manchester.

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: Emma B
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 09:51 AM

I have been searching for your apartment all day long and thought that I must have made an error in the address LOL!

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 09:51 AM

Thanks... the responses are as entertaining as the strip. And you're right... the phrase is "cocked summat up," not cooked. I never would have figured out some of the phrases. And thanks for the translating link. It's a lot more fun though, to have my English friends explain it to me.

Jerry

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: greg stephens
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 09:56 AM

I fear, Jerry, this was not written by an actual British person. The attempts at the slang are not at all convincing, though elements of it are correct. For a start, it mixes regional elements from different parts of the country in a rather   odd way. Mind you, it may have been written by a Brit ironically parodying our own speech. Or possibly written by a Brit ironically parodying an American trying to parody Brit-speak. You just never know, do you, me old china, sithee.

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 10:01 AM

Nash, Greg: The cartoonist is definitely American. He does find a lot of humor in bringing in language and customs from other countries from time to time. Most of the time, he's poking fun at what he knows vest... us Americans.

Hey! He's a Boston Red Sox fan, had a Nomar Garciaparra bobblehead doll (until Bucky challenged the doll to a fight and broke it) and supposedly graduated from Lowe Tech if you believe his sweatshirt..

Jerry

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: Amos
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 10:02 AM

Faith, ya dinna ever! How's a bloke to tell? As the poet said, two peoples separated by a common language.

A

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: Scrump
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 10:04 AM

some bloke diddled me brolly in the queue for the khazi in
blighty

The phrase "diddled me brolly" doesn't sound authentic to me. You would either say "diddled me out of me brolly" (i.e. conned or swindled me out of it), or use a more appropriate slang verb such as "nicked", "pinched", or even "'alf-inched" (rhyming slang for "pinched").

It sounds like the sort of dialogue an American would write for a supposed Brit (reminds me of that bloody awful character in Frasier, Daphne's brother, an American playing someone supposedly from Manchester but spoke with a sort of pseudo-cockney accent) ;-)

Mind you, I don't want to start a US v Brits feud here - I'm sure there must be equally bad examples of British "American" scripts :-)

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: MMario
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 10:10 AM

it's a friggin' cat! the "local" cat in the script doesn't speak standard US; so why should the UK cat speak standard Brit?

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 10:13 AM

A cock-up is an interesting expression and not as rude as it sounds.

When correcting a mistake in an account sheet, it was customary not to erase the wrong figure, but to put a fine line through it, and write the correct figure at an angle of about 45 Deg just after the wrong one. i.e. cocked up at an angle. So the term cock-up for a mistake was born.
Giok

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: MMario
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 10:17 AM

Paul says:I expect it will turn out that the "cousin" is an impostor. Especially as 2 strips back, the letter that starts the thing off comes from Manchester

so, a cat that travels from the UK to the US can't post a letter in manchester?

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 10:24 AM

Hey, hey now... no Culture Wars here! As Mario says, it's just a cartoon cat. The American Cat and dog don't speak American either. The proper American words used by cats and dogs are Woof and Meow.

Jerry

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: Mr Happy
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 10:25 AM

........sounds like Dick van Dykespeak in Mary Poppins!

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: GUEST,Mrr
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 10:29 AM

Thanks for posting this, I had been wondering but hadn't thought to ask - turns out Blighty was the only thing I hadn't gotten, so I must read the right books...

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: GUEST,Dazbo
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 10:29 AM

so, a cat that travels from the UK to the US can't post a letter in manchester?

No, of course not but a native born and bred cat living in Manchester would NEVER speak like that. So (i) it's a london cat living in Manchester, or at the very least posting a letter there or is (ii) an imposter pretending to be from Manchester and getting the accent wrong.

I know which one I favo(u)r!

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: GUEST,Arfur Dullard
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 10:32 AM

yeah.. cockney as imagined and written by yanks..

cor blimey dude !!!

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 10:37 AM

Miserable old gits

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: mack/misophist
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 10:40 AM

The author may have leaqrned his BritSpeak from novels, like yours truly did. That would explain the random mixing and also the use of 'khazi', which seems to have been the common spelling a generation or two ago.

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: Dave Earl
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 10:45 AM

It seems to me that "Britspeak" is what non British people think it is we speak rather than the spoken language we actually use.

Dave

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: Scoville
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 10:47 AM

I love this cartoon, but I assumed he was poking fun at American misuse of UK slang (much like Australians must want to punch out every American who mentions "shrimp on the barbie" and like I used to want to slap every Northerner who marveled that I could speak standard English).


My favorite "Get Fuzzy" was the one where the guy is eating chocolate and Satchel asks for some. The guy tells him no because last time, it made the pets sick, but that they can have a "rice-based anti-plaque treat" instead. Bucky says, "Don't patronize me." Satchel says, "I'll eat it!". Ah, the difference between cats and dogs.

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: GUEST,Sir Tommy Steele
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 10:58 AM

and fack me !!!..

wot abaht Don Cheadle in "Ocean's 11" !!!!???

wot a Barclays !!!!!

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: The Walrus
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 11:20 AM

Giok,

I'd dispute your origins of 'cock up'

As I understood the origins, 'cock' was the typesetter's term for a single piece of movable type.

If one item of type was higher than the rest (either standing proud of the form or offset) it ruined the page - it was a 'cock-up'

W

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 11:30 AM

There seem to be several theories. Here's one from BBC h2g2

Although the phrase 'cock-up' might appear to have come about in a similar way to 'balls-up', its origins are actually in beer making. If the batch went bad, they turned the cock (ie tap, or faucet) up to drain the barrel. However, the word 'cock', a Middle and Old English word, is one of the many vulgarities for the penis. In London, though, Cockneys appear to have both terms in mind when they say 'Wotcher cock', which comes from the term 'cock sparrow' (pronounced 'sparrah'). It is a general term for a man, although 'cock sparrow' was usually saved for small boys. It has been used for about 300 years.

And, from Michael Quinon's excellent website, World Wide Words:

Oddly, in British English it is not these days a vulgarism, or at least only a very mild one. It comes from one of several senses of cock, to bend at an angle, as in—for example—cocking a gun or turning up the brim of one's headgear (so producing an old-time naval officer's cocked hat).

The use of cock-up to mean a blunder or error was originally British military slang dating from the 1920s. The slang sense of cock clearly had a lot to do with its adoption, but this hasn't stopped it being used in respectable publications, and modern British dictionaries mark it merely as informal or colloquial.

The longer phrase I used it in, "a cock-up on the [something] front" was coined in a BBC television comedy The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin some 20 years ago and has become a minor catchphrase. The original was "there's been a bit of a cock-up on the catering front", which was spoken by a former army officer, not over-blessed with savvy, who was totally confused by civilian life and had either forgotten to buy any food, or run out of money to do so.

[I'm indebted to Nigel Rees for confirming the provenance of this catchphrase.]

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 11:39 AM

I can hardly wait until tomorrow's strip. The visiting cat sounds just like my friend Leadfingers.. :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: JamesHenry
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 11:44 AM

In Shakesperes' day to be diddled was a reference to the sexual act. To have your brolly diddled in a queue for the khazi would seem very strange indeed.

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: Rob Henderson
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 11:48 AM

I wonder if it put its owner in a peoplery before it went on holiday to the US?

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 12:08 PM

They had to make the character speak in Mockney mate, 'cos nobody understands Mancunian!
Giok

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: MMario
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 12:09 PM

Cats don't have "owners" - they have staff.

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: Dave Earl
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 12:16 PM

By chance I found this in another Thread:-

"Two black balls one over the other is the signal for 'I am not under command' i.e. I've broken down, and of course the origin of the term 'a right balls up'. "

Talking here about nautical flag signals.

Dave

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: Bassic
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 12:19 PM

I`m afraid the link was irresistable ;-)

GUIDE CATS FOR THE BLIND
(words by Les Barker/music by Cindy Mangsen)
© 2005 Mrs. Ackroyd Music, MCPS / Compass Rose Music, BMI

The word 'futile' springs to mind;
Mission Impossible; yes, that's
The attempt to harness for mankind
The intelligence of cats.

You've made a basic error;
Now let me expound;
This master/servant thing's OK
But no, not that way round;

We don't do the faithful subject;
We don't do the daily grind;
You should never have attempted it;
Guide cats for the blind.

Give kitty so much trust
And we'll abuse the privilege;
You think you're going out?
You're opening the fridge.

You think I'm trying to help you?
I'm not serving man but mammon;
You think you've gained a faithful friend;
You've lost a plate of salmon.

I might lead you down the High Street;
I'll be back when I have dined;
We get very, very hungry being
Guide cats for the blind

It can't be very pleasant -
Of this I've little doubt -
To have your head stuck in a catdoor,
Whether facing in or out.

You could be here a day or two
One half out in the rain;
I've got to go; I've things to do;
Maybe I'll pass this way again.

A dog would go for help;
Cats are not that way inclined.
Cats have better things to do than being
Guide cats for the blind.

Of some matters I am ignorant,
But this I know for certain;
The best place for a blind man
Is not halfway up a curtain.

And why should he they have to be
Up on a roof at 4am?
It's the perfect place for me
But what's in it for him?

It was where I had to go
And he just tags along behind
I don't know why; only a fool would follow
Guide cats for the blind.

I once met a man called Pavlov;
From time to time, he rang a bell;
Simple toys make humans happy
But I have to say that, well,

I found it a disturbance, and
Poor chap, I think he knew it,
And soon he only rang his bell
When I wanted him to do it.

Did you ask for our assistance?
If you did, well we've declined;
Here we are, an oxymoron;
Guide cats for the blind.

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 12:34 PM

The term "cock up" is also recorded as in use as early as 1860's

refering to a yard arm on a ship at 45 degrees against the mast as opposed to the horizontal position it should hold. From the same degree angle as the officer's cocked hat


Rsiss

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: Dave Earl
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 12:39 PM

I thought the term for the state you describe was "cock-a-bill".

Dave

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: Les from Hull
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 12:42 PM

No that's a cockbill. Yards a cockbill was used as a sign of mourning.

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: Bill D
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 12:59 PM

ah, slang, cant and vernacular! Even the practitioners don't know exactly what they mean, or where it started...they can only get the gist of it in context....and it is useful in identifying roughly where the user comes from!-

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: GUEST, Topsie
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 01:05 PM

If 'diddle' refers to the sexual act, then many a small dog would readily diddle a brolly, or the brolly owner's leg.

The actor playing Frasier's brother is English, I'm told, but not from Manchester, coming instead from East Grinstead in Surrey, hence the fake-sounding accent.

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: GUEST, Topsie
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 01:16 PM

Not Frasier's brother, obviously - I meant sister, Daphne.

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 03:21 PM

Frasier doesn't have a sister... you mean Daphne's brother.... who was played by Anthony LaPaglia, who is Australian rather than English and even more fake than East Grinstead!

LTS

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 03:34 PM

And weirdly, for an aside, I thought that Anthony LaPaglia was such a lousy actor (even Shatner was better) and so imp[ossible to watch, that he would never act again after Frasier. Now, he now plays lead in a serious role on TV as an Investigator in Without A Trace. He's borderline passable.

Maybe if they ever re-do Star Trek, he can play Captain Kirk.

Jerry

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: GUEST,Dave
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 05:17 PM

I always wondered why Daphne was from Manchester & her loutish brother had a London accent!

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: pavane
Date: 22 Sep 06 - 04:27 AM

It has been claimed that there can be more difference in dialect between neighbouring counties in England than across the whole of the USA.

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: Brakn
Date: 22 Sep 06 - 04:30 AM

Frasier's father was born in Droylsden, Manchester, England.

Subject: RE: English To English Translation Needed
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 22 Sep 06 - 04:35 AM

Droylsden Wakes

MAN
It's Droylsden Wakes, an' we're comin' to town,
To tell you of sommat of great renown;
An' if this owd jade'll let me begin,
aw'll show you how hard an' how fast Aw can spin,
So it's three-dy-well, three-dy-well, dan dum dill doe,
So it's three-dy-well, three-dy-well, dan dum dill doe.

WOMAN
Thou brags of thysel, but Aw dunno' think it's true,
For Aw will uphold thee, thy faults aren't a few,
For when thou has done, an' spun very hard,
Of this Aw'm well sure, thy work is ill-marred.
So it's etc...

MAN
Thou saucy owd jade, thou'd best howd thy tongue,
Or else Aw'll be thumpin' thee ere it be long,
An' if 'at Aw do, thou'rt sure for to rue,
For Aw can ha' mony a one's good as you.
So it's etc...

WOMAN
What is it to me who you can have?
Aw shanno' be long ere Aw'm laid i' my grave,
An' when 'at Aw'm dead, an' ha done what I can,
You may find one 'at'll spin as hard as Aw've done.
So it's etc ...

Can't quite see the urbane and snobbish Frasier Crane as the male part in this song, but Daphne might fill the distaff quite well.
G.