Differences in culture
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So over the last few days/nights, I have been talking to a few Americans and some poms. I didnt realise just how different the phrases and sayings we all have are. For instance, one of the people I was talking to had said he had tried to call me but I didnt answer. I told him that "I was on the road at the time" as in I was driving at the time. In the most puzzled voice, he asked me why I was on the road. I thought in this age of world wide communications this would not be as big an issue
"There are three sides to every story. Yours, mine and the truth" ~ unknown "All things good to know are difficult to learn" ~ Greek Proverb "The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary" ~ Vidal Sassoon
I part time moderated in a small international chat room. The list of mutually misunderstood or unique words is pretty large. But my favorite is "shag" :laugh: . Particularly since where I lived , it's beach dancing. So asking a lady to shag is not quite the same in the UK. :doh:
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So over the last few days/nights, I have been talking to a few Americans and some poms. I didnt realise just how different the phrases and sayings we all have are. For instance, one of the people I was talking to had said he had tried to call me but I didnt answer. I told him that "I was on the road at the time" as in I was driving at the time. In the most puzzled voice, he asked me why I was on the road. I thought in this age of world wide communications this would not be as big an issue
"There are three sides to every story. Yours, mine and the truth" ~ unknown "All things good to know are difficult to learn" ~ Greek Proverb "The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary" ~ Vidal Sassoon
I part time moderated in a small international chat room. The list of mutually misunderstood or unique words is pretty large. But my favorite is "shag" :laugh: . Particularly since where I lived , it's beach dancing. So asking a lady to shag is not quite the same in the UK. :doh: ........
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leckey wrote:
they were trying to call my cat with "PUSS PUSS PUSS PUSS!"
Why is that strange? We say that in South Africa. Pussy cat, pussy, puss. My friends cat was named Puss Puss.
regards, Paul Watson Ireland & South Africa
Fernando A. Gomez F. wrote:
At least he achieved immortality for a few years.
"Pussy" has two negative meanings in the US. One is slang about the lower part of the female anatomy. You hear in in US pornos a lot. The second is calling a man a "pussy" means he's basically a girl or a weakling. If you used the term in school you would get sent to the front office.
Holidays! (June 13th) http://craptasticnation.blogspot.com/[^]
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"Pussy" has two negative meanings in the US. One is slang about the lower part of the female anatomy. You hear in in US pornos a lot. The second is calling a man a "pussy" means he's basically a girl or a weakling. If you used the term in school you would get sent to the front office.
Holidays! (June 13th) http://craptasticnation.blogspot.com/[^]
Ah sure, that has crossed over to Europe but when you are using it to talk about a cat most mature people don't have a problem. Kids snigger of course :)
regards, Paul Watson Ireland & South Africa
Fernando A. Gomez F. wrote:
At least he achieved immortality for a few years.
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Heh, yeah - there's certainly enough of that just going from state to state here... i'll not forget the look of disappointment on my wife's face the first time i told her i was making "barbecues"... and then proceeded to fill rolls with a ground hamburger mixture. :-\ BTW - i haven't encountered the non-fowl "grouse"; what's that then?
Citizen 20.1.01
'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master - that's all.'
That is NOT barbecue ... geez Did you slap some ketchup on it and call that sauce ;-) :-D I thought it was interesting when I first traveled north (in the US) and in the restaurant's the first thing all the waitresses ask was "You-all-set" (as if it was one word) ... I thought to myself all set for what? Now with the "normalization" of America (everything, everywhere is beginning to look the same) you have to ask for "sweet tea" in restaurant's in the south ... it use to be all you had to ask for was tea and people had sense enough to bring you a glass of tea flavored sugar syrup over ice. Now you have to ask for "sweet tea" and still sometimes a waitron will say "we have sugar on the table" (they just don't get that whole super saturation thing). Well tuck em in if they are hanging out and keep your head down and your tail up and never ask an American if he's packing a fag because it won't end well.
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There's a huge list of words these yanks don't know. chook ute tip lolly you name it. The other day my business partner was incredulous when I said something was 'just like a bought one'
Christian Graus Please read this if you don't understand the answer I've given you "also I don't think "TranslateOneToTwoBillion OneHundredAndFortySevenMillion FourHundredAndEightyThreeThousand SixHundredAndFortySeven()" is a very good choice for a function name" - SpacixOne ( offering help to someone who really needed it ) ( spaces added for the benefit of people running at < 1280x1024 )
Ha! Chook... wasn't he the guy in Muriel's wedding that got, er, uh, nevermind.
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That reminds me of when I was traveling through Yellowstone National Park on a photographic expedition and I met a nice older American couple. I was explaining to them that I had to "get up at a sparrows fart" to get the dawn shots that I wanted. All of a sudden their eyes glazed over (as if staring off into the distance), eyebrows furrowed in and a general blankness crept across their face, as if all the colour had been drained. Needless to say it killed the conversation, and when I left a few minutes later they were still standing there trying to figure out if I had said something meaningful, insightful or insulting.
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"Pussy" has two negative meanings in the US. One is slang about the lower part of the female anatomy. You hear in in US pornos a lot. The second is calling a man a "pussy" means he's basically a girl or a weakling. If you used the term in school you would get sent to the front office.
Holidays! (June 13th) http://craptasticnation.blogspot.com/[^]
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One that bugs me is the US's "I could care less", which makes no sense against the UK's "I couldn't care less". The UK one means that you already care so little that you couldn't care any less, whereas the US one...doesn't (taken literally anyway).
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That is NOT barbecue ... geez Did you slap some ketchup on it and call that sauce ;-) :-D I thought it was interesting when I first traveled north (in the US) and in the restaurant's the first thing all the waitresses ask was "You-all-set" (as if it was one word) ... I thought to myself all set for what? Now with the "normalization" of America (everything, everywhere is beginning to look the same) you have to ask for "sweet tea" in restaurant's in the south ... it use to be all you had to ask for was tea and people had sense enough to bring you a glass of tea flavored sugar syrup over ice. Now you have to ask for "sweet tea" and still sometimes a waitron will say "we have sugar on the table" (they just don't get that whole super saturation thing). Well tuck em in if they are hanging out and keep your head down and your tail up and never ask an American if he's packing a fag because it won't end well.
Speaking of Sauce. In California where I grew up and worked the first part of my twenties, I could go to any fast food place (or dennys style restaurant like place) and order a burger (or chicken sandwich) with no sauce and the employees of said establishment would know that meant no ketchup, mustard, mayo, tartar sauce or anything like that. Now, I live in Arizona and nearly every time I ask for no sauce, I get a puzzled look and a typical reply of "um, so, no tomato?" or "so, plain?". I almost always have to explain exactly what it is I mean by no sauce. Another reply is "we don't put sauce on it, only mustard and ketchup". Then, my reply to their reply would be "so, what do you consider sauce" and their reply would be another puzzled look. It's been a frustrating transition. If I do get someone who seems to understand what I mean by no sauce, then my sandwich usually comes completely plain (no lettuce, tomato, pickles or anything else).
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That is NOT barbecue ... geez Did you slap some ketchup on it and call that sauce ;-) :-D I thought it was interesting when I first traveled north (in the US) and in the restaurant's the first thing all the waitresses ask was "You-all-set" (as if it was one word) ... I thought to myself all set for what? Now with the "normalization" of America (everything, everywhere is beginning to look the same) you have to ask for "sweet tea" in restaurant's in the south ... it use to be all you had to ask for was tea and people had sense enough to bring you a glass of tea flavored sugar syrup over ice. Now you have to ask for "sweet tea" and still sometimes a waitron will say "we have sugar on the table" (they just don't get that whole super saturation thing). Well tuck em in if they are hanging out and keep your head down and your tail up and never ask an American if he's packing a fag because it won't end well.
grgran wrote:
Well tuck em in if they are hanging out and keep your head down and your tail up and never ask an American if he's packing a fag because it won't end well.
DON'T SMOKE AROUND ME! ZOMFG!! A SMOKER!! A SMOKER!! DON'T YOU KNOW HOW BAD SMOKING IS ON EVERYONE AROUND - What? You're just looking for gay guys? Oh, no problem, let's go. Just don't ask them for a fag.
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Speaking of Sauce. In California where I grew up and worked the first part of my twenties, I could go to any fast food place (or dennys style restaurant like place) and order a burger (or chicken sandwich) with no sauce and the employees of said establishment would know that meant no ketchup, mustard, mayo, tartar sauce or anything like that. Now, I live in Arizona and nearly every time I ask for no sauce, I get a puzzled look and a typical reply of "um, so, no tomato?" or "so, plain?". I almost always have to explain exactly what it is I mean by no sauce. Another reply is "we don't put sauce on it, only mustard and ketchup". Then, my reply to their reply would be "so, what do you consider sauce" and their reply would be another puzzled look. It's been a frustrating transition. If I do get someone who seems to understand what I mean by no sauce, then my sandwich usually comes completely plain (no lettuce, tomato, pickles or anything else).
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Thunderbox666 wrote:
I didnt realise just how different the phrases and sayings we all have are.
Speak the British English version of this sentence in the US and you're likely to get a raised eyebrow, or worse, a smack in the mouth: "Care to grab a smoke? Oh by the way, do you have an eraser I could borrow?". :) My classmates at university got a huge kick out of the British/Indian version I spoke, soon after moving to the US in 1980. Not to mention the Indian version of "studying" (as in cramming). /ravi
My new year resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | My .NET bits | Freeware ravib(at)ravib(dot)com
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grgran wrote:
Well tuck em in if they are hanging out and keep your head down and your tail up and never ask an American if he's packing a fag because it won't end well.
DON'T SMOKE AROUND ME! ZOMFG!! A SMOKER!! A SMOKER!! DON'T YOU KNOW HOW BAD SMOKING IS ON EVERYONE AROUND - What? You're just looking for gay guys? Oh, no problem, let's go. Just don't ask them for a fag.
I'm an American and was stationed in England in the 80's so when a bloak (guy) walked up to me and asked, "got another fag mate" I freaked out and thought I was being propositioned, I said "no" as I stood there holding my pack of cigarettes, he gave me a look like, what a cheap ass.
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One that bugs me is the US's "I could care less", which makes no sense against the UK's "I couldn't care less". The UK one means that you already care so little that you couldn't care any less, whereas the US one...doesn't (taken literally anyway).
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So over the last few days/nights, I have been talking to a few Americans and some poms. I didnt realise just how different the phrases and sayings we all have are. For instance, one of the people I was talking to had said he had tried to call me but I didnt answer. I told him that "I was on the road at the time" as in I was driving at the time. In the most puzzled voice, he asked me why I was on the road. I thought in this age of world wide communications this would not be as big an issue
"There are three sides to every story. Yours, mine and the truth" ~ unknown "All things good to know are difficult to learn" ~ Greek Proverb "The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary" ~ Vidal Sassoon
I work with a lot of companies from New York area (the north) and I'm from Georgia (The South). Sometimes I and they really need a Georgia to New York Dictionary. In terms of miles we are not that far apart. Also if there are any two cities that should be sister cities it's New York and Atlanta. The only real difference between the two is when a New Yorker tell you off, you know you've been told off. I've had friends from up north leave a restaurant here in the south, talking about how nice the waiter / waitress was, did not have the heart to tell them how nasty the waiter / waitress was really being.
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I work with a lot of companies from New York area (the north) and I'm from Georgia (The South). Sometimes I and they really need a Georgia to New York Dictionary. In terms of miles we are not that far apart. Also if there are any two cities that should be sister cities it's New York and Atlanta. The only real difference between the two is when a New Yorker tell you off, you know you've been told off. I've had friends from up north leave a restaurant here in the south, talking about how nice the waiter / waitress was, did not have the heart to tell them how nasty the waiter / waitress was really being.
When I moved from central Texas to New Orleans, it took me close to 3 months before I could fully understand what everyone was talking about in the office. And that was just the accent - it took longer to understand the real meaning of the vernacular expressions like "crawfishin", "having a bird's nest on the ground", "alligators in the pee row", etc. I've never heard those expressions anywhere else. Interestingly, though, the Maracucho translation of the Louisiana word "lagnappe" is "ñapa", which is so close it makes one wonder where the common root came from. Then again, I've always wondered whether Maracaibo is the New Orleans of Venezuela or whether New Orleans is the Maracaibo of the US.
The PetroNerd
Walt Fair, Jr. Comport Computing Specializing in Technical Engineering Software
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I part time moderated in a small international chat room. The list of mutually misunderstood or unique words is pretty large. But my favorite is "shag" :laugh: . Particularly since where I lived , it's beach dancing. So asking a lady to shag is not quite the same in the UK. :doh: ........
There are similar differences in other languages, too. For example a common expression in Maracaibo is "dame la cola" meaning "give me a ride" but translated literally as "give me a tail". The first time someone told me they'd be happy to "dame la cola" I nearly freaked! Say that in Mexico or Bolivia, and you'll most likely be in for a totally different experience depending on the sexual orientation of the other person. Similarly, here instead of saying "How difficult!" the common slang is "¡Que molleja!", literally "What a chicken gizzard!" In Bolivia a gua-gua is a baby, whereas in other places it may mean a calf, and in others it means a bus. On a cultural note, it's interesting to me that in Spanish you don't "like something." Instead you say "Me gusta," literally meaning "It pleases me." The reflexive places the responsibility on the "thing" rather on the person making the statement. That actually explains a large part of the cultural differences between my wife and me. She can't understand that I choose to "like" something, but it's not her fault if something "pleases her." Interesting how language is tied to culture!
The PetroNerd
Walt Fair, Jr. Comport Computing Specializing in Technical Engineering Software
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So over the last few days/nights, I have been talking to a few Americans and some poms. I didnt realise just how different the phrases and sayings we all have are. For instance, one of the people I was talking to had said he had tried to call me but I didnt answer. I told him that "I was on the road at the time" as in I was driving at the time. In the most puzzled voice, he asked me why I was on the road. I thought in this age of world wide communications this would not be as big an issue
"There are three sides to every story. Yours, mine and the truth" ~ unknown "All things good to know are difficult to learn" ~ Greek Proverb "The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary" ~ Vidal Sassoon
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Thunderbox666 wrote:
I didnt realise just how different the phrases and sayings we all have are.
Which is something I really find fascinating. Those sayings and ways of expressing things are developed through people's history, and somehow expresses people's thoughts. A phrase that usually means something in (say) English, Spanish, German or Italian, when taking the translation literally, it might mean something entirely different, if only because of the used words and the grammatical/syntactical structure. An example that comes to my mind: English: it doesn't matter Spanish: no importa German: mache nichts Italian: non preoccuparti Semantically, they all mean the same. Literally (I think): English: it has no issue, substance Spanish: it has no importance German: I do nothing Italian: Do not worry I find it really interesting that, even when meaning the same, the use of the words differ. Even when English has roots in the German, and both Spanish and Italian have roots in the Latin, they differ. There was a philosopher, whose name I can't remember (but I'm pretty sure he was part of the Vienna Circle), that stated that thought/intelligence/reasoning equals language (as in matter equals energy), for you can't have one without the other (that is, you cannot think without using words in your mind, and you cannot have a language/speak without thought). If he's correct, then it is just a prove on how different can we be, even when two guys shared a common culture, "only" two centuries ago, as stated by your post. And which means that somehow, learning another language (or even a different "dialect" of the same language) implies learning how to think like the native speaker. Well, that's it. After all, it seems that I have no point. I just wanted to take this thing out of my chest. Or as my old Geometry teacher used to say: "interesting, perhaps, but irrelevant". :-O In the end, it doesn't matter since the world will end in 2012... ;P
Stupidity is an International Association - Enrique Jardiel Poncela Die deutsche Sprache sollte sanft und ehrfurchtsvoll zu den toten Sprachen abgelegt werden, denn nur die Toten haben die Zeit, diese Sprache zu lernen. - Mark Twain