"When you visit Britain, you realize that although it is a normal country in many ways, some things about it are deeply odd---for instance, they drive on the left, they use the metric system, and their language, while deceptively similar to English, is often incomprehensible." ---James TarantoAs an example he uses the following headline: "US Nuke Boffins Rubbish Polygraph Testing"
To an American, this is complete gibberish. I have no idea what it means. What the hell is a Nuke Boffin? And is Rubbish the verb here? LOL
The Gunslinger
The reason GS that you cant understand the language is because it is all fucking foreign now,Africans,Pakistanis,Indians,Poles,you name it we got it.A modern tower of Babel,and its driving the indigenous folk barmy.It`s quite simply not the land I remember,it`s heart is being ripped out slowly,very sad times indeed.
ReplyDeleteIncomprehensible? Good grief!
ReplyDeleteYet...neither of you translated that headline!
ReplyDelete"Boffin" sounds like it should be a bird...like a Puffin.
And there is no verb form of "rubbish" in American English. In fact, while "rubbish" is a perfectly good American English word, almost nobody (at least on the West Coast) uses it. We would say "trash" or "garbage".
ReplyDeleteNow, you can "trash" someone or something. But you can't "garbage" or "rubbish" them.
And trash used this way does not mean to discard, ignore or throw-away, but rather to verbally savage them.
Sometimes I wonder how we communicate as well as we do. I just found out not long ago that being "pissed" means drunk to you. It means angry to us. "Taking the piss" means picking on somebody or teasing them to you. Taking a piss, means urinating to us...
And it just gets crazier!
I could not believe my eyes when I saw several Englishmen casually calling someone a "twat"! That's unthinkable in even moderately decent company here, and NEVER in the presence of a woman!. It's no different that "cunt".
Or, dear God, is that OK there, too??
I do admit to a certain partiality to "wanker", though. It just nails it for so many idiots.
I'm assuming you don't say that around your granny, either. *grin*
Sorry, GS, here's my attempt at an American translation: "American eggheads trash lie-detector tests".
ReplyDeleteBetter? :-D
Interesting to see that you'd not call someone a twat in the US. Worth remembering, should I ever visit. Oddly, calling someone a 'cunt' is far, far worse. No idea why.
And while you wouldn't call someone a wanker in front of your gran (aka granny, grandmother, nanny, or nana) you might just get away with calling someone a 'tosser', which is the same thing, but by a more acceptable name.
Be of good cheer, though, we use 'taking a piss' to mean the same as you do, though taking the piss (watch Dominion Tank Police Vol 1 and 2 for a great pun on that one) can mean either mocking or making fun of in a light-hearted, completely non-malicious way. (Takes a bit of getting used to, but worth the effort.)
Oh! And then there's 'muppet'. As in, 'you fucking muppet'. Tends to come across as a slightly lesser insult, but I like it mostly for the amusement value it provides me with.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite has always been BOLLOCKS,as in "you talk a load of bollocks"...but it can also refer to kicking a bloke in the bollocks(ballbag,testicles,giblets,family jewels).Sorry about the misunderstanding with the topic(I am working night shift this week,thats my excuse anyway),BUT,I still believe my first post,Britain has become a tower of Babel.All the best hotshot.
ReplyDeleteSo boffins are eggheads. We'd probably say "geek" today. Does that play?
ReplyDeleteThe Nuke = American must be implied by the context.
And yes, I noted the different articles "a" and "the" with regard to "piss". I realized it's not the same exact phrase...but still funny.
We also "take a leak" or "take a whizz". But generally, one doesn't "take a pee"...one just pees.
Hahahahaha...why do we "take" it anyway? More like "leave" it seems to me!
And finally, yes,"C" is worse that "T" here too. Men assume - and many women insist that "cunt" is an unspeakable word, like "nigger".
I'm personally not among them. But I don't go about using either one except in very exceptional cases where simply nothing else will do!