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#1
03-05-2010, 03:21 AM
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The Inbetweeners - Some UK to Yank translations?
As I've often said everything I've learned about The King's English has been from Britcoms (Python, Fawlty, Young Ones etc.) I recently started watching The Inbetweeners on BBC America and its pretty good. I can't believe the language you can get away with in the UK for a show specifically aimed at teenagers!
Anyway, besides the accents being so thick that I sometimes have to turn on Closed Captioning I've come across some British slang that I've never heard and want to clarify if I'm right:
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#2
03-05-2010, 03:42 AM
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You are correct, although bent can also mean "corrupt" eg a bent copper. I've no idea about origins.
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#3
03-05-2010, 03:50 AM
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A ton is not 100MPH, it's an out of date unit of measure for weight. It's roughly 1000kg I think. As slang it is used to describe a large amount of something, and can be used in phrases such as 'love you tons'.
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#4
03-05-2010, 03:53 AM
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#5
03-05-2010, 03:55 AM
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You're right on most of 'em, but I've never heard 'ton' to mean 100 mph. I'd just say it was slang for 'a lot'. What was the context?
As for origins; 'bent' is obvious - the opposite of straight. This site give the origins for 'grass' meaning an informant. 'Clunge' is a slang term for the vagina, so 'clunge mag' - an explicit magazine.
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#6
03-05-2010, 04:00 AM
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#7
03-05-2010, 04:01 AM
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When it refers to velocity, a ton is indeed 100mph.
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#8
03-05-2010, 04:18 AM
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Anyway, as a southerner I can attest that a 'ton' when referring to speed does indeed mean doing a 100mph. OB
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#9
03-05-2010, 04:54 AM
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#10
03-05-2010, 05:20 AM
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OK, I can concede that I've been walking around unaware of some meaning behind it, and it's entirely possible I've never heard it used in that context, but that isn't how it is mostly used, is it? In my experience it's usually used to simply mean a lot. "I bought a ton of milk, because my kids go through cereal like nobodies business", "You'll have to do tons of work to be able to afford that!" Though most often I hear it when someone picks something very heavy. "It weighs a ton". I'm fairly certain they're not guessing a specific weight that the item might actually be.
Similar to how 'heaps' is used in Australia. Last edited by Fake Tales of San Francisco; 03-05-2010 at 05:23 AM.
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#11
03-05-2010, 05:23 AM
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Yeah, a ton means 100mph. Some folk say a ton for a hundred quid too. It's common where I am(London) and where I grew up (East Anglia).
As for grass, there's loads of claims to its origin, mostly rhyming slang. Grass in the park - nark. Grasshopper - copper. I don't know for sure although I've mostly heard it in the criminal sense, i.e. being grassed up the police, rather than to teacher or parents. I hadn't heard the word clunge before this show, not sure about that - I'm certainly not going to google it as I am at work! I assumed it was a new word as I am only 27 and if this word had been around when I was at school 10-15 years ago, it was the type of school where I would have heard it. And excellent taste by the way, OP  The Inbetweeners is some of the funniest comedy from the UK in years. I've sometimes laughed so hard at that show it's been difficult to breathe.
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#14
03-05-2010, 06:01 AM
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I must say, in fact, that it seems a bit dated to me – I sort of associate it with greasy bikers in the late fifties/early sixties. There's a definite whiff of coffee shops and transport caffs about it: a heady mix of motor oil, Brylcreem, Woodbines, espresso, bacon fat and Spam. Or that might be just me.
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#15
03-05-2010, 06:10 AM
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#16
03-05-2010, 03:38 PM
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#17
03-05-2010, 08:03 PM
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Ok, if clunge means vagina what does minge (sp) mean? Or don't I want to know...
I wouldn't say that Ton is an obsolete measurement, unless you consider the whole Imperial System obsolete. Which it kinda is, but as an arrogant American I say My car gets 40 rods to the hogshead and that's the way I likes it! Also in regards to The Inbetweeners: Sigh, the British school system always confuses the hell out of me! A levels, O levels?!? In the US its grades K thru 12, simple! So I gather from the intro that the star kid used to go to private school, but now he has to go to... What exactly? Because the school in the show doesn't look like a public school, uniforms and such!
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#18
03-05-2010, 08:14 PM
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minge is basically the same
or refers to female public hair. Last edited by Rrose Selavy; 03-05-2010 at 08:15 PM.
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#19
03-05-2010, 08:58 PM
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That's about 1/504th of a mile per gallon -- or about 10 feet (3 meters) to a gallon! What kind of a car are you driving? Even an aircraft carrier gets 4-5 times that mielage!
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#20
03-05-2010, 09:09 PM
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#21
03-05-2010, 09:16 PM
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More particularly it's a comprehensive, as in there is no selection for ability and neither a faith school (self explanatory I hope) or a school for special educational needs. The majority of kids in the UK go to that kind of school.The age grading in British schools was traditionally split between primary school ages 5 to 11 and secondary school ages 11 to 18. We said form rather than grade and the count began again when kids entered secondary school. (There was a short phase of having middle schools which I never got). So primary school had forms first through fifth and secondary first through sixth. But wait! That only adds up to eleven. That's because sixth form is divided into lower and upper sixth, there is no seventh. Oh and some schools only go up to fifth form and then the kids have the option of college (which is not the same thing as your college). And after all that I have to tell you that kids today tend to say they are in Years One to Twelve. Exams: O levels are mostly taken in fifth form (Year 10) they are subject specific (French, Biology, English Literature etc). In my day kids were put in for between eight and eleven of these. Brighter kids might take two or three a year early. The grading system has been rejigged quite a bit over the years and I'm not au fait with recent developments but essentially there are passes and fails. Job specifications may include requirements for a certain number of O levels or certain subjects ie Maths and English. A levels are, among other things, the entry requirement for university courses as well as somewhat better jobs. The courses are typically two years and the work more intensive. Sixth formers or college pupils might be put in for one to four with perhaps an extra O level or two thrown in so there's quite a narrowing of subject range. Grading is similar to O levels. Oh and "a ton" in speed terms always meant 100 mph in my southern neck of the woods, usaully heard as "doing a ton".
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#22
03-05-2010, 09:19 PM
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Anyway, they're not grades. I'm not sure why your'e comparing UK examinations to US years; no wonder your'e having trouble comparing them. They're like your SATS (I never knew what they were - not a request for elucidation, BTW!). If you're thinking they're year grades, I can't say I'm suprised as to your confusion. Our year grades are much more complicated than the US. Rather than K-12, we go 1-11. 1 being the first year at school. 11 being the last year at school. With a 1-grade-1-year ratio. Scary complicated! I can see why it's difficult! And most schools here have uniforms. Nothing to do with being private or not. Last edited by Candyman74; 03-05-2010 at 09:21 PM.
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#23
03-05-2010, 09:22 PM
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Oh, and a "ton" means £100 or 100mph. It's not desperately uncommon, but may vary in usage across the UK. The common factor is the "100" bit.
"Clunge" I've never heard. Maybe the kids use it these days. I'm 35. "Grass" is an informer; Americans would use "you dirty rat!" "Bent" is both gay and corrupt, depending on context. A ent copper is a corrupt policeman. A bent teacher is a gay teacher (although probably not gay - it's used as an insult). Last edited by Candyman74; 03-05-2010 at 09:25 PM.
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#24
03-06-2010, 05:54 AM
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I think the matter of "O-levels" needs some clarification: they are an old form of educational qualification for students of school-leaving age, replaced some years ago by GCSE. You get a separate grade for each subject that you study, with some subjects being compulsory. It used to be that there were two tiers of qualifications-- General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level (GCE O-level), graded A to E, and Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE), which was aimed at less able students (I think graded numerically, but I never took a CSE). As a rule of thumb, a C-grade O-level was considered roughly equivalent to a top grade CSE.
That system was combined some years ago into GCSE. After GCSE, students may choose to do "A-levels" (A for Advanced), which are structured in much the same way that they always have been except they're much easier these days, mutter, grumble. To get into a university you typically need three or four good A-levels in relevant subjects. Last edited by Ximenean; 03-06-2010 at 05:55 AM.
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#25
03-06-2010, 06:38 AM
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ETA although there's analogous things Last edited by Baron Greenback; 03-06-2010 at 06:41 AM.
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#27
03-06-2010, 09:39 AM
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#28
03-06-2010, 10:07 AM
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Interesting...now can someone explain "bampot"? Apparently, it's an insult of some sort.
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#29
03-06-2010, 11:16 AM
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#30
03-06-2010, 11:17 AM
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#32
03-06-2010, 11:41 AM
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#33
03-06-2010, 04:07 PM
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Thanks, WotNot...now I don't have to look so perplexed when the Scottish guy two houses down says it!
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#34
03-06-2010, 04:21 PM
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#36
03-06-2010, 05:40 PM
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Quite a few numbers - usually for money - had special words for every day use (jacks, dollar, pony, score, ton, gross). The old man's preferred word for lady parts was minge; mine is clunge. I first heard the word 'clunge' from a comedian on telly (this was about 1992) who was seeing if he could make up words that sounded dirty without actually meaning anything. He ran around the stage saying "up your clunge! up your clunge!'. It was very shocking! I believe that Jon Stewart's "rusty trombone" and "dirty sanchez" have similar etymology.
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#37
03-06-2010, 06:50 PM
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And of course, doing the ton was something special back then, not something that everyone could squeeze out of their Japanese hatchback on a slight downward slope.
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#38
03-06-2010, 09:21 PM
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#39
03-06-2010, 09:46 PM
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#40
03-06-2010, 10:13 PM
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#41
03-07-2010, 01:00 AM
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[Ronnie Corbett]
In breaking news, police report that an elephant did a ton on the M1. A police spokesman said that motorists should take drive slowly and treat it as a roundabout. [/Ronnie Corbett] Last edited by penultima thule; 03-07-2010 at 01:00 AM.
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#42
03-07-2010, 02:55 AM
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To clarify, I didn't hear 'O Level' on The Inbetweeners but on The Young Ones. I just threw it in at the end. In the intro to Inbetweeners I believe he says he's now going to a comprehensive which was a term I didn't understand.
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 ----- Actually I do understand, its just so much more confusing than K-12!A couple posts mention jobs. Do UK employers actually require specific primary school (not college) records when you apply? Because in America, other than asking if you have or don't have a High School diploma, nobody ever asks anything more about non-college education. And in The Inbetweeners, did the main kid with the glasses (haven't seen enough to remember names yet) actually have sex with that hot blond girl in a previous episode? What was the deal with that? And the Hogshead line was a Grampa Simpson quote.
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#43
03-07-2010, 03:19 AM
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#45
03-07-2010, 04:19 AM
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#46
03-07-2010, 04:35 AM
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#47
03-07-2010, 05:00 AM
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I think it's slightly misleading to say that "we usually call private schools 'public schools'". Privately-funded schools are usually called, well, private schools, or independent schools. 'Public school' is a vague term which refers to a number of old, prestigious independent schools, traditionally often boys-only boarding schools, although this is changing. As you may imagine, these schools charge very high fees and you have to be pretty well-off to send your kids to one.
To this day, many prominent people in British life are the products of 'public' schools. Tony Blair, for example, attended Fettes College in Scotland. And if you go back a few decades, half the British cabinet seemed to be ex-Etonians or Harrovians or whatever. Well, if you look at Tory cabinets, although there were always a few posh people on the Labour side too. Last edited by Ximenean; 03-07-2010 at 05:02 AM.
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#48
03-07-2010, 08:27 AM
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#50
03-07-2010, 08:57 AM
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Regarding my confusing over ton for 100 mph, I have quite often heard it used as a verb (it only just clicked the other day). I often hear "he was really tonning it down the road".
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From 11 years old to 15 years old you do secondary education (high school) which ends in your GCSE's (only the last two years is specifically geared towards the GCSE's though). You'll do up to around 8-10 GCSE's, though you can do less or more depending on how well you're doing. These count towards getting into college, which you attend at 16-17. You normally do 4 AS Levels at college, then probably drop 1 subject and focus on 3 A Levels (AS is basically 'half an A Level' an utterly pointless new certificate in my opinion). You generally need Math and English GCSE's to get into college, though they often let you sit those subjects again whilst you're there if you failed them at high school. The A levels you do at college then set you up for University. Employers will generally only look at the highest education you did. If you have A Levels then it is implied that you have GCSE's so they most likely won't want to check up on those. Last edited by Fake Tales of San Francisco; 03-07-2010 at 09:00 AM.
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