UK/US Translation Thread

[Trojina]

Ah here is a term, 'op' I asked about in SR thread here http://www.onlineclarity.co.uk/friends/showthread.php?17991-afraid-and-confused&p=184249#post184249

Sooo said

OP is a slang expression for a high level street fighter, derived, I think, from a Japanese or Hispanic video game.

Sounds pretty juvi (juvenile) to me.

I didn't know that.

 

[pocossin]

. . . what do Britons think of the fact that Henry VIII is pretty much the most famous monarch?

(I mean, we also know Queen Victoria, and the Queen Elizabeths I and of course II (bless), and I guess George III because of EVENTS, but still...Henry VIII made a name for himself...)

Henry VIII is the British George Washington. He freed England from a foreign system. Much of the land in England (1/3 or more), the main source of wealth, was owned by the Church (Catholic hierarchy), was tax exempt (mortmain), and benefited the country only through schools and support of the poor, a real but insubstantial benefit considering the wealth taken in, much of which was transferred to Rome as gold and silver. I have never read a clear account of this situation and Henry VIII's resolution of this impossible imposition. Basically, Henry VIII gave the nobility the right to seize monastery holdings in their areas. The land then returned to the control of the government and contributed to the welfare of the country. Henry VIII's wives and clothes are of no more significance in understanding his importance than is George Washington's possession of slaves significant for his role in American history.

 

[blue_angel]

I thought op stood for option, like she was saying she has another option. Sometimes people will say something like I'm opting out. But after sooo enlightened all of us, as I wasn't aware of that either, I'm probably wrong. I have a feeling we may never know what she meant, doesn't seem to be coming back. Could be wrong about that too I suppose.

 

[Trojina]

More translations of slang terms. I especially like the 'chuffed to bits', we also say we are 'chuffed'


[video=youtube;wYmrg3owTRE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=wYmrg3owTRE#t=12[/video]

 

[Liselle]

House M.D.! Who does an American accent so well, I had no idea for the longest time that he was even British, ha ha.

I actually knew "chin wag," and the "chuffed to bits" one. "Something like 'happy'," I thought.

I knew none of the American ones.

(Shave your whiskers, people. BAD trend. )

 

[Trojina]

Here's one I never understood, still don't....googled it and it is as I had always assumed, that word is

'drug store'

it seems to mean what we call in the UK a 'chemists', a chemist's shop ?

A shop where you can get your medical prescriptions made up, by the chemist and also in the shop are toiletries like shampoo and shower gel....and all the things you need to keep your body sweetly desirable and so on and often other things like drinks or sweets and cosmetics and a range of medicines you can just buy off the shelf with no prescription.

Is that what a 'drug store' is ?

 

[Liselle]

Yep! Exactly. We also call them "pharmacies."

 

[Liselle]

This is interesting:

The Cambridge Online Survey of World Englishes

There are all kinds of maps and result data.

Oh, and you can register with them and take the survey. Kind of fun!

 

[pocossin]

hydro = a bathhouse, hotel, or resort catering to people taking mineral-water health cures; spa. b. an establishment furnishing hydrotherapy.

The words occurs several times in Kipling's ghost story The House Surgeon.

 

[Trojina]

who says 'hydro' ? The US ? It's not a word that is used for resort etc etc in the UK anyway. Kipling died a long time ago, the language has moved on.

 

[Trojina]

Here's one everyone knows anyway

'cute' in UK means sweet, pretty, cuddly, little, like fluffy animals or small children or little girls but it is never applied to men or mature women....

'cute' in US seems to mean attractive, desirable and so on....even in men.

 

[pocossin]

who says 'hydro' ? The US ? It's not a word that is used for resort etc etc in the UK anyway. Kipling died a long time ago, the language has moved on.

For example, The Hydro Tea Rooms and Restaurant in Buxton.
http://www.thehydro.org/

Kipling also wrote adult-level short stories that are still worth reading.

http://www.thehydro.co.uk/
The Hydro | Victorian Lakeside Hotel

http://www.hydrohotel.com/
THE HYDRO HOTEL IN EASTBOURNE

http://www.peebleshydro.co.uk/
Peebles Hydro is right in the heart of the Tweed Valley . . .

More hydros!

Hydro Hotel, Wales
Crieff Hydro, Scotland
The Hydro Hotel, Isle of Man
Seamill Hydro Hotel, Scotland

 

[Trojina]

I can tell you I have never heard anyone ever use the term 'hydro' for resort, or a 'bathhouse' whatever that is ? We have pools, leisure centres, spas. So there are some hotels and tearooms and so on using the word 'hydro'....(sounds like it's harking back to a bygone era where people took mineral water cures....er a long time ago) maybe some places use the term in their names, maybe it's trendy, but it really isn't a term of everyday speech. Having lived here for nearly 54 years I can tell you I've never heard anyone use the term except in hospitals and so on as 'hydrotherapy'.

Your role is to tell me about the US not the UK Tom otherwise it gets pretty surreal.

You thought everyone here eats mushy peas ...I don't personally know anyone who does. It may be more popular in the north..but it's hardly a mainstay.

I could do a bit of googling and tell you what folks in your place say....but I think you'll know better, since you're there.

Kipling also wrote adult-level short stories that are still worth reading

.

yes, but the language he used would not be especially indicative oh how language is used in everyday speech now

 

[Trojina]

We've had this kind of conversation before where you'd read Brits ate squirrels in some newspaper. Neither I nor anyone I know of has ever eaten squirrel...it's likely a speciality in some stupid restaurant somewhere....it's not indicative of what the vast majority do. Oh hang on maybe that wasn't you it was Tiger. Anyway it was a load of rubbish and just goes to show the media is 99.9% piffle and is not to be believed .

 

[Trojina]

Here is a work of genius that needs repeating




pocossin

pocossin

57 (double Wind)

Ninety two and full of pain
Hannah Sutton died two weeks
Before the storm of her name
Shook pine cones and hidden
birds' nests from the trees.

Life will be no longer seasoned
By her wit. One day she offered
Me a cat. "I can't," I said.
"I have bitties." Hannah smiled,
"Your bitties won't hurt my cat."

from this I learned that 'bitties' are newly hatched chicks where you come from.

 

[pocossin]

You thought everyone here eats mushy peas ...I don't personally know anyone who does. It may be more popular in the north..but it's hardly a mainstay.

Yes, I thought mushy peas with fish and chips were a mainstay of the British diet. My illusions are shattered.

 

[pocossin]

We've had this kind of conversation before where you'd read Brits ate squirrels in some newspaper. Neither I nor anyone I know of has ever eaten squirrel...it's likely a speciality in some stupid restaurant somewhere.

It was in the news because British government officials were encouraging Brits to eat squirrel as a solution to the problem of the American grey squirrel displacing the native red squirrel. Such wild foods as squirrel, rabbit, bear, and frog legs were not uncommon here during my youth.

 

[pocossin]

Here's one everyone knows anyway

'cute' in UK means sweet, pretty, cuddly, little, like fluffy animals or small children or little girls but it is never applied to men or mature women....

'cute' in US seems to mean attractive, desirable and so on....even in men.

'Cute' also has a negative connotation: "Don't be cute" = You are acting in a pretentious, offensive way. Similar to 'smart'. Smart guy: a man who acts cocky; a wise guy. Also, a young criminal. 'Cute!' is often used with sarcastic irony.

 

[Liselle]

Originally Posted by Trojina
Here's one everyone knows anyway

'cute' in UK means sweet, pretty, cuddly, little, like fluffy animals or small children or little girls but it is never applied to men or mature women....

'cute' in US seems to mean attractive, desirable and so on....even in men.

'Cute' also has a negative connotation: "Don't be cute" = You are acting in a pretentious, offensive way. Similar to 'smart'. Smart guy: a man who acts cocky; a wise guy. Also, a young criminal. 'Cute!' is often used with sarcastic irony.

You're both right . Although, Pocossin, would you agree that the negative "cute" is most often not really offensive in a rude or nasty way? I see it more as someone trying to be overly clever, or, as you say, a smart aleck or wisenheimer. There can even be an element of humor, in my experience. The person being "cute" in that way is often very well aware of it and is doing it for effect, and the person saying, "Don't be cute" often has at least a quarter of a smile on their face.

The squirrel thing - we may be into U.S. regional differences here? Where I've lived, city or country, I never heard of people eating squirrels (or bear) (or frog legs, unless maybe in some allegedly fancy French restaurant). MAYBE rabbit, if they hunted rabbits. The only wild meat I knew people to eat regularly where I've lived is deer (venison). Deer hunting was/is very popular one place I used to live.

 

[Liselle]

The only wild meat I knew people to eat regularly where I've lived is deer (venison).

OR pheasant. There was such a thing as pheasant season (I think). I think I'm just wrong about this, actually. Am forgetting all the critters people hunted where I used to live.

 

[pocossin]

would you agree that the negative "cute" is most often not really offensive in a rude or nasty way?

Not rude or nasty but realistic. It is often used by teenage girls to teenage boys whose attentions are unwelcomed and means, "Go away, leave me alone."

The squirrel thing - we may be into U.S. regional differences here? Where I've lived, city or country, I never heard of people eating squirrels (or bear) (or frog legs, unless maybe in some allegedly fancy French restaurant). MAYBE rabbit, if they hunted rabbits. The only wild meat I knew people to eat regularly where I've lived is deer (venison). Deer hunting was/is very popular one place I used to live.

A main activity of one of my grandfathers was hunting squirrel. I thought it was a trivial activity -- so much work for so little food. I even gave him a hound for hunting squirrel. I had a neighbor who excelled in cooking squirrel, rabbit, and frog legs, and a cousin who lived with us would take his harvest to her to be cooked. I do not like to hunt but was a good shot and had to hunt to protect my brother-in-law's crops while he was attempting to farm. On one occasion I counted a herd of twenty-five deer in his soybeans. I now avoid the need to hunt by renting hunting rights to the farm to a group of serious hunters. Controlling the deer population here is a moral obligation. If not controlled, they will endanger human life by causing highway accidents.

 

[Trojina]

Yes 'smart' is another word used to baffle me as a child as 'smart' here only means looking neat and well presented in appearance, well dressed and so on. Finally I figured it meant to be clever.

 

[pocossin]

Yes 'smart' is another word used to baffle me as a child as 'smart' here only means looking neat and well presented in appearance, well dressed and so on. Finally I figured it meant to be clever.

Yes. Also, here, skilled in academic subjects.

 

[Liselle]

Controlling the deer population here is a moral obligation. If not controlled, they will endanger human life by causing highway accidents.

Agreed. I live in suburbia, and it's an issue here, too. You see deer wandering around neighborhoods sometimes. They're lovely, but as you say there are downsides.

I don't think anyone knows what to do about it, though, since you can't just sanction deer hunting in residential areas. There's the occasional murmur about hiring trained sharpshooters to cull them, but I suspect there would be a lot of resistance to any kind of firearm use in suburbs.

It is often used by teenage girls to teenage boys whose attentions are unwelcomed and means, "Go away, leave me alone."

Ah. I don't pay enough attention to teenagers. Has "don't be cute" replaced "don't be fresh"?

 

[pocossin]

Ah. I don't pay enough attention to teenagers. Has "don't be cute" replaced "don't be fresh"?

Very similar.

 

[pocossin]

Agreed. I live in suburbia, and it's an issue here, too. You see deer wandering around neighborhoods sometimes. They're lovely, but as you say there are downsides.

I don't think anyone knows what to do about it, though, since you can't just sanction deer hunting in residential areas. There's the occasional murmur about hiring trained sharpshooters to cull them, but I suspect there would be a lot of resistance to any kind of firearm use in suburbs.

Bow hunters, if encouraged, would hunt in urban areas safely.

 

[Liselle]

Bow hunters, if encouraged, would hunt in urban areas safely.

That's an interesting idea. There wouldn't be ricochet danger. (I'm guessing. Not that I know anything about bow hunting.)

Trojina, does hunting occur in the UK like it does here? We've all heard about organized fox hunts conducted on horseback (if I have that right and am not dreaming things up), but do individuals just "go hunting" on foot? Do you have hunting "seasons" for various creatures?

 

[Liselle]

Oh, and

Yes 'smart' is another word used to baffle me as a child as 'smart' here only means looking neat and well presented in appearance, well dressed and so on. Finally I figured it meant to be clever.

Where you say "smart" to describe someone's appearance, we might say "sharp." Like, "You look sharp today."

 

[Trojina]

That's an interesting idea. There wouldn't be ricochet danger. (I'm guessing. Not that I know anything about bow hunting.)

Trojina, does hunting occur in the UK like it does here? We've all heard about organized fox hunts conducted on horseback (if I have that right and am not dreaming things up), but do individuals just "go hunting" on foot? Do you have hunting "seasons" for various creatures?

Fox hunting was banned here some time ago. I think there is the pheasant season....where stupid people shoot birds too stupid to move and there may be other seasons for all I know....I don't notice as I don't live in the country and when I did live in the country it wasn't something anyone in my environment/culture would ever do so I failed to notice what season they were doing it in. In England I wouldn't say it was a widespread activity and I wouldn't say it was really an approved of activity since here it would only be for sport, no real necessity for it at all. Not as far as I can see anyway...other rural types may disagree....but it never was necessary to torture foxes to death for fun, they could as easily be shot.

 

[Liselle]

Fox hunting was banned here some time ago.

Good. I didn't know that. I wonder if Yi (being full of foxes) is a happier entity now. Um...assuming it has feelings.

As I'm sure you know the US has a "gun culture" for whatever reason. I have only one friend who's an occasional hunter, but I guess I'm not really against all hunting. As Pocossin points out, it can be necessary to control populations, prevent crops from being destroyed, and so forth. But now I'm wondering how countries handle such things in the absence of much hunting?