Author Topic: Australia vs American  (Read 7488 times)

Nudelkopf

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Australia vs American
« on: November 17, 2014, 11:17:01 PM »
American words vs Australian words. It's pretty fun if you're from either country, I'd guess :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWu3LhfA3fw

"Erb" is my favourite.

The Borgs

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Re: Australia vs American
« Reply #1 on: November 17, 2014, 11:39:46 PM »
Made me giggle. Reminds me about when I first moved over (England to Australia), I didn't realise there'd be language differences, more fool me.

"Going off like a frog in a sock" - I actually got that in a business email once (and I wasn't a veterinarian), it means somethings going really well.

"Pass the nico" - Apparently, nico was/is a brand of permanent marker and is used much as we use biro for the name.

I gave my grandmother in law a very funny look once. She wanted the "durex" which apparently was a sticky tape brand, but in England is a brand of condoms.



Nudelkopf

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Re: Australia vs American
« Reply #2 on: November 18, 2014, 12:02:17 AM »
They made a second video as well. Apparently in America you don't "stroke your cat", you'd "pet" it instead. I had to double check on urban dictionary to check what they were talking about :P

The Borgs

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Re: Australia vs American
« Reply #3 on: November 18, 2014, 12:32:08 AM »
They made a second video as well. Apparently in America you don't "stroke your cat", you'd "pet" it instead. I had to double check on urban dictionary to check what they were talking about :P
Ah. I'm not looking at urban dictionary, my imagination is good bad enough.


deborah

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Re: Australia vs American
« Reply #4 on: November 18, 2014, 12:42:55 AM »
Yes, someone worked for me who had just landed (from South Africa, but originally from England). One day I told him that someone else was off with a wog. The next day I told him that she was still crook. At that point he asked what I had been talking about - neither expression had been understood!

Primm

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Re: Australia vs American
« Reply #5 on: November 18, 2014, 02:22:32 AM »
A friend of mine who was a British cop had a night-time patrol with a female officer when he moved over here (Australia). They were driving round the back of a factory one night after someone called in a suspicious person wandering round there, and he asked her if they should stop the car and go for a quick root around the corner.

Apparently in the UK a root is a look. Here it means something completely different, and nearly landed him in the middle of a sexual harassment case...

The Borgs

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Re: Australia vs American
« Reply #6 on: November 18, 2014, 02:39:30 AM »


Apparently in the UK a root is a look. Here it means something completely different, and nearly landed him in the middle of a sexual harassment case...
Yeah, shortly after my arrival here I suggested to my mother in law we go for a root around the shops.... seeing her stunned expression (and being a northerner) I added "y'know... a shufty?". That didn't help.

marty998

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Re: Australia vs American
« Reply #7 on: November 18, 2014, 03:32:40 AM »


Apparently in the UK a root is a look. Here it means something completely different, and nearly landed him in the middle of a sexual harassment case...
Yeah, shortly after my arrival here I suggested to my mother in law we go for a root around the shops.... seeing her stunned expression (and being a northerner) I added "y'know... a shufty?". That didn't help.

In maths class we used to search for real and unreal roots. In the class I took there were complex roots too.

Polynomials are not usually the things normal teens get excited about.

marty998

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Re: Australia vs American
« Reply #8 on: November 18, 2014, 03:37:49 AM »
A British acquaintance tried to give me a nice toast a week or so back. He bought me a tequila shot and called me his "VERY SPECIAL" friend. 4 times he repeated it!!!

In my laughter I nearly broke the shot glass. Had to very loudly explain to him in front of everyone that he called me retarded.

Unfortunately I was quite drunk at the time, so there was a significant element of truth in the the statement.

happy

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Re: Australia vs American
« Reply #9 on: November 18, 2014, 03:57:06 AM »
Hehe, I was in UK and outside a hamburger chain was a big sign saying "B.O.G.O.F".  ??so I asked what does bogof (which I pronounced phonetically as bog off) stand for? Salesgirl went bright red and said Buy one, get one free. Bog off is apparently rude. Down under we take a bog…

Colleague offended a pom by saying she was going to  knock up a proposal (i.e. throw together some paperwork)….

Most confusing was asking directions in US "Well ma'am, to go downtown, just…" I mean what is downtown? Is there an uptown?  And being told to just "wait streetside"  - well which side of the street? or "take the bus kerbside" ….um where else would the bus be?

PeanutUtd

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Re: Australia vs American
« Reply #10 on: November 21, 2014, 06:19:51 AM »
Ok these are phrases, so cheating a bit. But my wife is from the USA and sometimes we are truly separated by a common language.

I have received many a blank look from her and my relatives. A few that spring to mind immediately.

- I/he/she spat the dummy
- Yeah nah nah yeah (and variations on the theme)
- got him in all sorts
- chuck a sickie

Am sure more will come to me.

PeanutUtd

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Re: Australia vs American
« Reply #11 on: November 21, 2014, 06:21:58 AM »
I should have added that I am Australian.

andy85

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Re: Australia vs American
« Reply #12 on: November 21, 2014, 07:38:44 AM »
my sister shared this with me yesterday and i couldn't stop saying it all day

if you (american) say "raise up lights", you have just said "razor blades" in an Australian accent.

....and now it's stuck in my head once again...my mind is still blown at how accurate it is...i like to throw on 'mate' at the end of it for authenticity.

DoubleDown

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Re: Australia vs American
« Reply #13 on: November 21, 2014, 09:57:05 AM »
They made a second video as well. Apparently in America you don't "stroke your cat", you'd "pet" it instead. I had to double check on urban dictionary to check what they were talking about :P

That's funny. As an American, "stroke your cat" definitely sounds pornographic to me!

To wit: "Choke your chicken" = male masturbation (in America)

marty998

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Re: Australia vs American
« Reply #14 on: November 21, 2014, 02:48:27 PM »
They made a second video as well. Apparently in America you don't "stroke your cat", you'd "pet" it instead. I had to double check on urban dictionary to check what they were talking about :P

That's funny. As an American, "stroke your cat" definitely sounds pornographic to me!

To wit: "Choke your chicken" = male masturbation (in America)

Thanks to a certain rugby league footballer we now refer to this as "BBQ'ing alone"

stripey

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Re: Australia vs American
« Reply #15 on: November 22, 2014, 01:49:19 AM »
Yeah-nah...

homehandymum

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Re: Australia vs American
« Reply #16 on: November 22, 2014, 02:50:05 AM »
<NZ tangent>

When a Brit here offers to 'knock you up', it means 'knock on your door and get you started with the day'.  In NZ, they're offering to impregnate you.

The other term that causes much hilarity here (NZ) is when Ozzies refer to their 'thongs'.  I once overheard a group of post-grads organising a trip to the beach.  The visiting summer student from Oz (female), trying to establish what the standard dress code was, asked "Do I wear my thongs?"  To which, the guy organising the outing went kinda red and stammered "uh... I guess?  If you want?"

disambiguation: thong (Aus) = jandal (NZ) = flip-flops (US)
                        thong (NZ) = g-string underwear

Oh, and one more!  "Randy" is not a name you should be using here, no matter how much you hate "Randalf"

</NZ tangent>
« Last Edit: November 22, 2014, 02:52:17 AM by homehandymum »

The Borgs

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Re: Australia vs American
« Reply #17 on: November 22, 2014, 03:26:44 AM »
Not a difference in vocab, but something else very Australian that took me a while to get used to, everything in Australia sounds like a question! Sentences always end on higher note, as though they're asking a question, even when they're not.

Homehandymum, I'm a former Brit and if someone offered to knock me up that'd raise my eyebrows. To me knocked up means putting a bun in the oven, not in a baking kinda way.

deborah

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Re: Australia vs American
« Reply #18 on: November 22, 2014, 03:34:59 AM »
I've certainly had co-workers from Britain offering to knock me up - maybe a certain part of Britain?

Astatine

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Re: Australia vs American
« Reply #19 on: November 22, 2014, 05:10:18 AM »
Posting to subscribe. My favourite US/Oz translation from years ago was bumbag vs fannypack. My inner teenager still sniggers at that one, years later.

The Borgs

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Re: Australia vs American
« Reply #20 on: November 22, 2014, 05:22:06 PM »
I've certainly had co-workers from Britain offering to knock me up - maybe a certain part of Britain?
Could be, because just reading that makes me giggle like a schoolgirl!

Chranstronaut

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Re: Australia vs American
« Reply #21 on: December 11, 2014, 11:09:36 AM »
The Australian work "chook" took me by surprise.  It's just slang for chicken.

I came across it multiple times when reading this blog, other Mustachians might like it: http://fixiefoo.typepad.com/fixies_shelf/riot-for-austerity/

stripey

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Re: Australia vs American
« Reply #22 on: December 11, 2014, 04:22:07 PM »
SO found out the hard way that you can't order a long black in the US (for the coffee snobs out there, yes it is slightly different to an Americano).