What is your favorite non-native language word?

[atlas2 4,329]

After I wrote that, I wondered if some careful, anal-retentive reader would comment.

 

Okay, "miles apart in meaning".

 

 

Choose another description. of me rather than anal............I drop the kids off at the pool at least twice a day!

Edited August 12, 2010 by atlas2

[กษัตริย์ 2]

Mine is the Irish word 'Banjaxed'.

 

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=banjaxed

 

Phrase would be 'suck it up', not sure on the origins other than urban dictionary saying it comes from the military but Americans often say .suck it up and deal with it', or something similar.

 

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?...&defid=2690

[MM 6,562]

I've been here long enough that I've started to incorporate UK/British slang into my vocabulary without even noticing it.

 

Other words, for which I cannot find decent Americanisms are:

 

slag, as in harshly criticize

minger, unattractive or gross -- by the way, I'd only use this in writing, because I don't know if it is pronounced with a hard or soft "g".

football, a game where people move a ball around with everything but their hands. Why isn't it called "nohands-ball"?

shag, okay, we got that from "Austin Powers", so it's now almost American too

whinging, we say "whining", but it's nice to drag out the "ng" sound to make it even more emphatic

wanker, what can I say about this? We just don't have a word for someone who masturbates excessively...well, maybe "pud puller".

 

So, if you hear me using these words, and you're from the UK, I'm just borrowing them because they are so apt for the situation.

 

As they way, "Imitation is the highest form of flattery."

[MM 6,562]

Choose another description. of me rather than anal............I drop the kids off at the pool at least twice a day!

 

 

Thanks for that little peek into your personal life.

[dontcha 53]

Common Irish colloquialisms include. ....

 

A rake = means many or a lot. . . I had a rake of pints last night.

 

A gurrier = a young hooligan or corner-boy. . . Ibiza types in Pattaya.

A knacker = a low life scumbag, a housed tinker.

 

Devil a hate = not a thing or no news. .. How are things, any old scandal? ..devil a hate(not a thing/no news).

How is she cuttin? = an Irish greeting, similar to how is it going there.

[Ergodyne 19]

I was staying with a couple a few years ago. We were doing the monthly shopping when she said she needed 'Man-hole covers' I had no idea what she was on about until she took a pack of sanitary towels off the shelf.

That was the first and only time i had heard the phrase.

[joekicker 53]

minger, unattractive or gross -- by the way, I'd only use this in writing, because I don't know if it is pronounced with a hard or soft "g".

 

Rhymes with whinger. Soft g-as-in-j.

 

If I'm not mistaken, which I frequently am, "a crock" began life as "a crock of xhit" which was way too harsh for the American broadcasters and moviemakers of the time. So after that expression became quite well known in common speech, it dropped the ending. Crock comes from "crock pot" which is still the common name without any smirking.

 

.

Edited August 12, 2010 by joekicker

[bigdelta 46]

Both used with different meaning for Brits actually.

We would never say a tyre is pressured.....but a person can be.

Just the opposite here in US.A tire is pressurized and a person is pressured.

The 1st time I heard it was while watching a PL match-the player was pressurized into making a mistake-I was howling.

Edited August 12, 2010 by LTGTR

[villayouth 37]

Rhymes with whinger. Soft g-as-in-j.

 

 

 

.

 

Utter bollox its a hard G

[Esco 19]

Utter bollox its a hard G

 

Thought so as well !

 

I love the Spanish / Italian word 'culo' especially the way Carlos Mencia uses it in this clip

 

[villayouth 37]

-jump -jump

[Esco 19]

 

Brilliant piece of stand up comedy aint it.

 

'whatever? I know what forever means Im gonna stick in your culo'

[bigdelta 46]

Culo is a word I hear every day here in south Florida.As in "bessame mi culo".

[4niceight 32]

In The Gambia, West Africa, a wheelbarrow is a "Push Push"!

[Gonzo 419]

I've been here long enough that I've started to incorporate UK/British slang into my vocabulary without even noticing it.

 

Other words, for which I cannot find decent Americanisms are:

whinging, we say "whining", but it's nice to drag out the "ng" sound to make it even more emphatic

It is spelled whingeing and not whinging. I am only trying to help you to improve your language skills.

[joekicker 53]

It is spelled whingeing and not whinging. I am only trying to help you to improve your language skills. D

 

Thank you (and also to villayouth for his correct correction). This is what I had thought for a long time, then suddenly I see it so often without an "e". I'm positive you're right.

 

.

[Al_Davis 28]

The way Brits pronounce the word "Aluminium" and how they use the word " pace" when decribing someone who runs fast.

[joekicker 53]

The way Brits pronounce the word "Aluminium"

 

Yes, it's good to see the Brits pronounce something the way's it's spelt - aluminium and also Wuhster.

 

.

[Gary 4,119]

I like whinger because it fits MANY people on this board.

 

It has a much better sound than whiner.

[MM 6,562]

It is spelled whingeing and not whinging. I am only trying to help you to improve your language skills.

 

The Oxford Dictionary says:

Whingeing can also be spelled whinging, without an e; both are correct.

 

Just trying to help expand your knowledge.

[atlas2 4,329]

Careful here or we're gonna get another spelling 'Threadf**k'

 

 

As an 'English Brit' I grew up devouring the stories of Smallville,Metropolis,Metro and Gotham Cities. A very solitary habit it led to confusion. For years I thought Batman wore an Utt a lity belt.

 

Come on how many of you thought 'misled' was pronounced 'mizzlled' ?

[Gonzo 419]

The Oxford Dictionary says:

 

 

Just trying to help expand your knowledge.

Fair enough, but whingeing is used more often. To help you understand English English better, have a gander at this website. http://www.travelfurther.net/dictionaries/

[Gary 4,119]

The Oxford Dictionary says:

 

 

Just trying to help expand your knowledge.

 

The equivalent of wanker would be a jerk-off using U.S. slang.

 

I don't often hear the word minger used but when I have it was pronounced with a soft G as like minjer. I know that is contrary to the English dictionary pronunciation because I did look it up.

[MM 6,562]

Fair enough, but whingeing is used more often. To help you understand English English better, have a gander at this website. http://www.travelfurther.net/dictionaries/

 

I wonder how you quantify "used more often"?

 

Since this is an issue of spelling and its frequency of use, a simple google search for "whingeing" yielded 143,000 results, where a search for "whinging" yielded 462,000 results.

 

Of those 143,000 results, probably 100K of them are people asking "is it whingeing or whinging"?

 

Edit in - I just had a browse through that dictionary site, and have to conclude it's not very complete. I couldn't find "indicate" as a translation for "signal" when used while driving a car.

I think "indicate" means "signal" , because one night, while arriving late in some English town and looking for our lodgings using a street map, I had to make a sudden turn to follow my irritated wife's directions, and a car came honking (or is that "hooting"?) its horn at me, while the driver leaned out the window and yelled "Indicate! Indicate!". On second thought, maybe it means "wanker".

[Gonzo 419]

I wonder how you quantify "used more often"?

 

Since this is an issue of spelling and its frequency of use, a simple google search for "whingeing" yielded 143,000 results, where a search for "whinging" yielded 462,000 results.

 

Of those 143,000 results, probably 100K of them are people asking "is it whingeing or whinging"?

 

I am surprised there are so many search results on Google about a word, which is used mainly by Aussies and they spell it whingeing. Well, most of them do. So, stop your whingeing and whining.

 

Have you ever heard about the Rechtschreibreform, which came into effect on 1. August 1998? It was then agreed by Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, the German-speaking minorities of Belgium, Romania, Italy and Hungary to use the same written German. It was a huge undertaking by the best scholars from those countries and took many years to achieve. Do you think the English-speaking countries should do the same? I would be quite happy to use humor and meter, as long as you accept whingeing and footpath.