"Pants" is British for "panties"

[Ponder_Stibbons]

@seosamh

… I’m probably blinded by the atrociousness of Dick Van Dyke.

Well, in all fairness, his “accent” in Mary Poppins is famous for being so atrocious (and certainly not supercalifrajalisticexpialidoscious)!

[Bytegeist]

@Usram

There have been plenty of threads about this in the past. I’m not griping, just saying that if you’re interested in this subject there’s plenty of Doper opinion for you to peruse.

Sorry. Sometimes I check for these things, and then sometimes (the other 99% of the time) I don’t.

Thanks to those who responded here. I’ll delve into the archive next.

[Ximenean]

@Bytegeist

Sorry. Sometimes I check for these things, and then sometimes (the other 99% of the time) I don’t.

Thanks to those who responded here. I’ll delve into the archive next.

No, I was just saying that there’s more stuff like this in the archive if you’re interested, that’s all. I don’t think you’re expected to do a search before you post in MPSIMS.

[Nawth_Chucka]

@Mangetout

Most Brits are, I think, reasonably familiar with this particular Atlantic language discrepancy and will internally translate on the fly, particularly if the speaker is known to be American.

There are a few occasions when ‘pants’ means trousers in Britain; ‘jogging pants’, for example (although they might more commonly be called ‘jogging bottoms’.

Tipsy hijack…

I had a jogging bottom for awhile, caused me no end of embarassment.
Mind you, Jeffrey (from Coupling) would LOVE to be surrounded by jogging bottoms, I’m sure!!
I like when Brits suggest getting ‘pissed’.

[Bytegeist]

@Usram

No, I was just saying that there’s more stuff like this in the archive if you’re interested, that’s all. I don’t think you’re expected to do a search before you post in MPSIMS.

Well, but you know I hate to resurrect tired old topics. People might think I’m a bore. (I suppose I might be one, but I certainly don’t want people to think that.) And this particular topic — actors who take on accents from countries other than their own, and how well or poorly they deliver the goods — seems to be pretty well covered here, now that I’ve pored through the board’s history.

Still, I have a couple leftover questions about English accents in Spinal Tap, if someone will indulge me:
[ul]
[li]In other SDMB threads, plenty of praise is heaped on Michael McKean (David) and Christopher Guest (Nigel), by name, for their knock-down persuasive accents. Harry Shearer (Derek) isn’t mentioned so much. Was his accent not so convincing then? To me he sounds like he’s going for a Beatle-ish Liverpool accent, but is that just my ear?[/li][li]Tony Hendra (Ian) is apparently from Hertfordshire, and June Chadwick (Janine) from Warwickshire. This is according to the IMDB anyway. Is that in fact how people from those places speak, or are the actors giving their characters different sorts of background?[/li][/ul]

[Little_Nemo]

plenty of praise is heaped on Michael McKean (David) and Christopher Guest (Nigel), by name, for their knock-down persuasive accents.

Guest got his English accent the old-fashioned way, by being English.

[Gunslinger]

@Arch Trout

And while we’re at it, why does America have an aversion to the letter u?
Color, honor etc.

I think it’s more of a “you guys sticking in a bunch of extra 'u’s” thing. C’mon, you somehow manage to put a whole extra syllable in “aluminum.”

My motto: Never trust someone who cannot comprehend a biscuit.
Also: WTF is up with “leftenant”?

[calm_kiwi]

@Gunslinger

My motto: Never trust someone who cannot comprehend a biscuit.

A very good motto. A biscuit is something to dunk in your tea or coffee at morning tea time. Chocolate biscuits are the best.

[brianjedi]

@calm kiwi

A very good motto. A biscuit is something to dunk in your tea or coffee at morning tea time. Chocolate biscuits are the best.

No, a biscuit is something to eat with sausage and gravy, or maybe country ham and redeye gravy. Buttermilk biscuits are the best.

[Burrido]

@Arch Trout

It’s all true.
Pants and underpants are the same thing here.

American…British
Pants…Trousers
Pantyhose…Tights

Lisa! Hello. How are you doing in England? Remember, an elevator is called a “lift”, a mile is called a “kilometer”, and botulism is called “steak and kidney pie”.

[GorillaMan]

@Burrido

a mile is called a “kilometer”

Ahem…KILOMETRE

[Rayne_Man]

@Burrido

Lisa! Hello. How are you doing in England? Remember, an elevator is called a “lift”, a mile is called a “kilometer”, and botulism is called “steak and kidney pie”.

We do not use kilometres in the UK . Distances are still measured in miles. And ( here we go again ) I suppose you are another American who has never eaten steak and kidney pie but still slags it off just because of its name.

[calm_kiwi]

Steak and kidney pud . Mmmmmmmmm.

Did anyone elses mum have one of those ceramic cows that sat in the middle of the pud to hold up the pastry and let out the steam? I miss steak and kidney pud.