# Fun with American vs. British English **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 10, 2006, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-american-vs-british-english/368205 "2006-08-10T20:20:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-american-vs-british-english/368205/81 "2006-08-14T06:23:20Z")
[QUOTE=Dottygumdrop] Where I grew up in Australia, we call it a dagwood dog! And a saveloy is pretty much a frankfurter in Australia and NZ [/QUOTE] In NZ, a “Hot Dog” refers to what the Aussies call a Dagwood Dog and you lot in the US call a “Corn Dog”, whereas an “American Hot Dog” is the type served in a bun with cheese, onion, tomato sauce/ketchup, and mustard. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-american-vs-british-english/368205/82 "2006-08-14T06:31:27Z")
Bum=Arse (UK) Bum=Hobo (US) Bum=Scrounge (US)) ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-american-vs-british-english/368205/83 "2006-08-14T06:47:24Z")
[QUOTE=Boulter’s Canary] I didn’t know that! Something else I’ve just found out: - There are two Mildenhalls. One in Suffolk (WWII airbase) which is pronounced as it is spelt and one in Wiltshire which is pronounced ‘mine-all’. 😕 [/QUOTE] It’s the same with “Witham”. The town in Essex is pronounced “wit-ham” (or "wit-am), the river in Lincolnshire “with-am” ---
**Author:** ![Misscegnist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Misscegnist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misscegnist)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-american-vs-british-english/368205/84 "2006-08-14T07:07:38Z")
[QUOTE=Martini Enfield] In NZ, a “Hot Dog” refers to what the Aussies call a Dagwood Dog and you lot in the US call a “Corn Dog”, whereas an “American Hot Dog” is the type served in a bun with cheese, onion, tomato sauce/ketchup, and mustard. [/QUOTE] Meanwhile a “dagwood sandwich” would be a sandwich with all of the fixings that could be found in the fridge, everything from mutton to relish to cheese and lettuce, tomato or whatever… ---
**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:** [August 14, 2006, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-american-vs-british-english/368205/85 "2006-08-14T07:10:23Z")
While we’re throwing out hard-to-parse place names, I’ll contribute Wymondham (in Norfolk). Pronounced Wind’m. Also. _Water Closet_. I _think_ the ‘closet’ part of the word refers not to the room in which the sanitary equipment resides, but rather, the U-bend, containing water to ‘close off’ the soil pipe (thus preventing noxious sewer gases coming in). ---
**Author:** ![pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9e5f3/32.png) [@pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pretend_my_name_is_witty)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-american-vs-british-english/368205/86 "2006-08-14T09:54:45Z")
Although most people use it so, **Slag** isn’t a term that’s used solely for women as some posters have said. I’m reading the autobiography of Lenny _the guv’nor_ McLean. He calls men who are dishonest, particularly those that screw over friends or are money-greedy slags. Although he’s not necessarily the authority on linguistics, I wouldn’t have wanted to tell him he was wrong about it when he was still alive. I’m pretty sure the term’s used this way in lots of london-gangster films and by other similars. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-american-vs-british-english/368205/87 "2006-08-14T10:18:33Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Also. _Water Closet_. I _think_ the ‘closet’ part of the word refers not to the room in which the sanitary equipment resides, but rather, the U-bend, containing water to ‘close off’ the soil pipe (thus preventing noxious sewer gases coming in). [/QUOTE] I think you are correct, especially as you compare this with the definition of an Earth Closet :- \*A small outbuilding, room, or room-fitting used as a toilet, where dry earth is used to cover and deodorise deposits \* ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-american-vs-british-english/368205/88 "2006-08-14T10:19:33Z")
When going through customs at Gatwick, we were asked what we were going to be doing during our stay …etc. I said, " We’re here to visit. Y’know. Mooch off of friends and see the sights." It took him a second to translate “Mooch” into " Scrounge". I’ve always wondered what Mooch translated to for him, though. My personal favorites for Britishism, that I use as much as I can: Wonky (off kilter) Wanker (dick head) Chucked a wobbler ( pitched a fit, referring to a cricket term, I am guessing.) Prat Git ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-american-vs-british-english/368205/89 "2006-08-14T10:28:46Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] While we’re throwing out hard-to-parse place names, I’ll contribute Wymondham (in Norfolk). Pronounced Wind’m. [/QUOTE] One more from East Anglia: Debach (_debbitch_) > [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > It took him a second to translate “Mooch” into " Scrounge". > > I’ve always wondered what Mooch translated to for him, though. I’d have translated it as ‘meander’ or ‘wander aimlessly’. Or you can ‘mooch around at home’, which means whiling away the time doing very little. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-american-vs-british-english/368205/90 "2006-08-14T10:36:23Z")
[QUOTE=Shirley Ujest] My personal favorites for Britishism, that I use as much as I can: Wonky (off kilter) Wanker (dick head) Chucked a wobbler ( pitched a fit, referring to a cricket term, I am guessing.) Prat Git [/QUOTE] These are all used in Australian and NZ English too, although I’ve only ever heard of someone chucking or throwing a _wobbly_- which I always presumed was how someone who was having a fit would appear to the uninformed. “Pillock”, “Tosser”, and “Buggered” are other great British/Australianisms, too… ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-american-vs-british-english/368205/91 "2006-08-14T13:09:33Z")
Momentarily: NA = _In_ a moment. UK = _For_ a moment. This sometimes leads to amusing misunderstandings. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-american-vs-british-english/368205/92 "2006-08-14T13:12:22Z")
[QUOTE=Shirley Ujest] Wanker (dick head) [/QUOTE] Actually, “wank” means masturbate. A wanker is the equivalent of a tosser. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-american-vs-british-english/368205/93 "2006-08-14T13:14:36Z")
[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold] Actually, “wank” means masturbate. A wanker is the equivalent of a tosser. [/QUOTE] I’d argue “Dickhead” is an acceptable translation as well, though. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-american-vs-british-english/368205/94 "2006-08-14T13:36:51Z")
[QUOTE=Martini Enfield] I’d argue “Dickhead” is an acceptable translation as well, though. [/QUOTE] That’s only because you’re a jerk. Emphatically: 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-american-vs-british-english/368205/95 "2006-08-14T13:50:12Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] And the Brits still use “tread” as a verb. We would’ve forgotten that usage entirely by now, if not for that old rattlesnake flag from the Revolution. [/QUOTE] Speak for yourself. I still use the word tread all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-american-vs-british-english/368205/96 "2006-08-14T14:04:11Z")
[QUOTE=Martini Enfield] I’d argue “Dickhead” is an acceptable translation as well, though. [/QUOTE] True, since it’s generally used as similar to calling someone a dickhead, or asshole. But it’s like fucker; calling someone one isn’t really that much of an insult, and you don’t mean it _literally_, but it has the secondary meaning of “general bad thing” that makes it worse. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-american-vs-british-english/368205/97 "2006-08-14T14:19:34Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Mudd] That’s only because you’re a jerk. Emphatically: 😉 [/QUOTE] Au contraire… the Jerk Store called, and they’re running out of YOU! 😃 Equally emphatically: 😉 > [@Revenant Threshold](#): > > True, since it’s generally used as similar to calling someone a dickhead, or asshole. But it’s like fucker; calling someone one isn’t really that much of an insult, and you don’t mean it literally, but it has the secondary meaning of “general bad thing” that makes it worse. This is true, although being a “Wanker” does have negative connotations (ie, being unable to attract a partner, and therefore a useless loser), which “Fucker” doesn’t have (since anyone who’s fucking has obviously attracted a partner with which to engage in said act 😉 ). ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-american-vs-british-english/368205/98 "2006-08-14T14:25:56Z")
Let’s be correct about this: ‘wanker’ = ‘referee’ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-american-vs-british-english/368205/99 "2006-08-14T14:39:49Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] Let’s be correct about this: ‘wanker’ = ‘referee’ 😃 [/QUOTE] Also the rhyming slang for the word is **merchant banker** , very appropriate ! ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-american-vs-british-english/368205/100 "2006-08-14T15:26:01Z")
[QUOTE=Rayne Man] Also the rhyming slang for the word is **merchant banker** , very appropriate ! [/QUOTE] Yup, and the collective noun for bankers? A wunch. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-american-vs-british-english/368205.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-american-vs-british-english/368205.md?page=6)