# Dead giveaways in a post that a person is from country X **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 30, 2007, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534 "2007-10-30T03:49:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/41 "2007-10-30T18:08:36Z")
In America, “pissed” mean angry and “cunts” are women. In the UK, “pissed” mean drunk and “cunts” are men. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/42 "2007-10-30T18:15:40Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] Does the use of non-metric measurements mark somebody as an American? Or are they still in casual usage in other countries? [/QUOTE] We use both in Canada, especially those of us over the age of, say 40. The imperial system is still entrenched in the UK also, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/43 "2007-10-30T19:00:09Z")
[QUOTE=Oni no Maggie] Heh. I had to have a talk with a young British friend who used “twat” the way we use “twit” over here. I explained to him that it was a _lot_ harsher insult on this side of the ocean… [/QUOTE] Yes, but Americans don’t think the word fanny is vulgar. Brits use it to mean c\*nt. If someone posts about waiting on someone or standing on line, they are no doubt from NYC/NJ. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/44 "2007-10-30T19:10:48Z")
[QUOTE=Leaffan] We use both in Canada, especially those of us over the age of, say 40. The imperial system is still entrenched in the UK also, I believe. [/QUOTE] We’re in far more of a mixed-up mess than that. Some things are expressed in imperial, others metric. And it’s only the weight of people that’s in stone. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/45 "2007-10-30T19:18:42Z")
[ul] [li]“Bloody” and “bugger” are rarely used as swear words in the U.S.[/li][li]Few Americans refer to the television as “the telly.”[/li][li]I’ve never heard or seen anyone say or write “while” as “whilst” in the U.S.[/li][/ul] Any post that contains these words is likely from outside the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/46 "2007-10-30T19:20:55Z")
[QUOTE=Little Plastic Ninja] I think **Giles** was saying that “football” can mean either American football or soccer, but “soccer” always means, er, the football that isn’t American. [/QUOTE] Besides the Australian rules football and Rugby League that **Giles** already mentioned, there’s also [Gaelic football.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaelic_football) which I suspect is (at least one example of) what **saoirse** had in mind. **Sunspace** : The word for a resident of _los Estados Unidos_ is \*[estadounidense\*](http://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=estadounidense), so you were close. Among the words that generally mark a poster as British are [_Scouse_](http://members.fortunecity.com/mike_mcnally/whatisscouse.html) and [_Chav_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chav). ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/47 "2007-10-30T19:35:56Z")
[QUOTE=Dominic Mulligan] One that immediately flags a person as an American is the construction “write me”, instead of “write to me”. To my British eyes, this is quite jarring. [/QUOTE] Do you mean the words 'write me" alone? As in, “Write me!” Because 'Write to me a letter" and “Write to me off” sound wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/48 "2007-10-30T19:36:02Z")
[QUOTE=GingerOfTheNorth] Two words for you guys: renal function. [/QUOTE] Extra vitamins, minerals, and flavour! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/49 "2007-10-30T19:41:26Z")
Americans stand in line, most everyone else queues. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/50 "2007-10-30T19:56:23Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] In America, “pissed” mean angry and “cunts” are women. In the UK, “pissed” mean drunk and “cunts” are men. [/QUOTE] Cunt can also be a woman in UK/Ireland. It’s fairly universal. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/51 "2007-10-30T20:16:21Z")
[QUOTE=Eyebrows 0f Doom] I do that too. I write “theatre” when referring to a live stage performance & “theater” to mean a movie theater. I don’t know if that is common though. [/QUOTE] ‘Movie theater’ (however you spell it) would mean you’re not British - we call them cinemas. ---
**Author:** ![Arabella\_Flynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8491ac/32.png) [@Arabella\_Flynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arabella_Flynn)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/52 "2007-10-30T20:36:18Z")
If I’m already aware someone is from Europe or Asia, I can sometimes tell where by figuring out who they learned their English from. Chinese accent + British accent = Hong Kong, for instance. The English taught in Japan and (IME; it might not be universally true) former Soviet states is almost always based on American, while most of continental Europe learns British English. It works fairly well in writing as well as speaking, if I have a big enough sample. Off-line, I have a friend whose English is completely American but whose French is amusingly Italian. The dead giveaway is that anything ending in -ille gets pronounced as it would in Italian, rather than as it is in French. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/53 "2007-10-30T20:48:03Z")
If a person rips off New Zealanders, he’s probably an Aussie, and vice versa. If they care about guns/gun control, there’s a good chance they’re American (with one notable Oz exception) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/54 "2007-10-30T20:49:16Z")
[QUOTE=Desert Nomad] Americans stand in line, most everyone else queues. [/QUOTE] See post #43. New Yorkers and New Jersey people stand “on line.” ---
**Author:** ![wisernow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@wisernow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wisernow)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/55 "2007-10-30T21:11:08Z")
“Bollocks” gives away the Brit. Or is it Aussie too? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/56 "2007-10-30T21:18:33Z")
If you say you’re going to attend a “marriage” or an “engagement,” I’m betting you’re Indian. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/57 "2007-10-30T21:19:28Z")
If the OP is asking about something very specific to a country, and no country is ever mentioned, then you can bet it’s from the U.S. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/58 "2007-10-30T21:38:21Z")
[QUOTE=Leaffan] If the OP is asking about something very specific to a country, and no country is ever mentioned, then you can bet it’s from the U.S. 😉 [/QUOTE] Hah, yes. Thread titles of the ‘is XYZ legal?’ genre in particular. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/59 "2007-10-30T22:29:06Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] Cunt can also be a woman in UK/Ireland. It’s fairly universal. 😃 [/QUOTE] For some reason, “cunt” used as an insult in Australia is exclusively male, although it can also be used as a general term meaning “guys” or “people”: “Every cunt was at the beach today” but obviously this depends on the circles you mix in. The first time I saw “cunt” referring to a woman was in an American novel, and I had to go back and reread the last few pages to see who the new male character was that I’d missed. I should point out that most of the things in this thread people are saying are British can be found right across the Commonwealth. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534/60 "2007-10-30T22:49:43Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] If someone posts about waiting on someone or standing on line, they are no doubt from NYC/NJ. [/QUOTE] True for “standing on line,” I’d say, but “waiting on someone” is the standard regional variation in the part of Ohio I’m from. But this thread is about countries, isn’t it? Sorry. If a speaker or writer begins a sentence with “As well,” my first thought is: Canadian. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-giveaways-in-a-post-that-a-person-is-from-country-x/424534.md?page=4)