Normal English phrase embarrassing in the US

Grumpy_Mike:

why is it embarrassing in the US

Something about masturbation.

rofl

Also, if you need to remove pencil marks on a page, don't ask for a rubber.

It is also wise to avoid saying "Don't knock me up at 6am" when in mixed company.

Pete

Grumpy_Mike:
My son, who has been sent to Huston this week by his work...

My sympathies. I am so glad I no longer live there.

if you do happen to go to America, and you are in a room and want to tell someone that you are going to leave, try and avoid saying "I have to shoot off"!

XD

Never use "pop" or "soda". The correct word is "coke". A mixed container of cold beverages uses the plural form, "cokes". As in, the "cokes is over there."

If he prefers iced tea sans sugar he must specifically request "unsweetened tea".

"Fixin-to" = "planning" or "going to".

Mind the personal space.

Remember: Y'all is singular. All y'all is plural. All y'all's is plural possessive.

--Kinky Friedman

Oh, the quintessential water tower complete with city name. In case we forget where we live.

Yes, in Texas, the word is Coke. I've lived in Indiana, Texas, and Arkansas. You can use just about any word you want, Coke, Soda, or Pop. People may look at you a little strange, but they get the idea of what you're saying.

Unless they call it a tonic.

All y'all are having a lot of fun at Houston's expense. Since I live in Houston, I feel compelled to defend it. However, most of what you're saying is true-ish, if not true outright.

Grumpy_Mike:
... try and avoid saying "I have to shoot off"!

With a reasonable audience, you can get away with it - indeed, you can get away with almost anything - if you say it with a British accent. Teenagers and young men who don't date much will probably ridicule you for it, no matter what your accent. Unless you're from Yorkshire, in which case no one will understand you at all.

[quote author=Coding Badly link=topic=225562.msg1633422#msg1633422 date=1394758846]Never use "pop" or "soda".[/quote]I live in Houston now, and I can't remember the last time I heard generic soft drinks called "cokes." It's a ferocious melting pot here, and things change fast. I say "soda," and always get away with it. Out in the hinterland, though, everything seems to be a coke.

If he prefers iced tea sans sugar he must specifically request "unsweetened tea".

Yes, he must. The default state of iced tea is sweetened. In the broad swath of the south, an especially sweetened tea has come into use, made by saturating it with sugar while it's hot; that's called, "sweet tea," and you generally have to ask for it specifically. It the server asks you, "Sweet tea?" and you decline, you'll probably get sweetened tea.

"Fixin-to" = "planning" or "going to".

"Fixin' to" is used by the speaker to explain why he's idle at the moment. "Whatchoo doin' up there on the porch with that mint julep, Buford?" "I'm fixin' to go out back and dig me some post holes." Post-hole digging is a lot of work, so it sounds like the speaker is very busy, while fixin' to dig post holes is kind of relaxing, and may involve whiskey or beer.

AWOL:
... don't ask for a rubber.

Indeed. Even an upperclass London accent won't help you with that one. Especially, don't send your young daughter into the drugstore to ask for them.

[quote author=Jack Christensen link=topic=225562.msg1633461#msg1633461 date=1394762530]Y'all is singular ...[/quote]Yeah, sort of. In my experience, the expected form of address - "you," "y'all," or "all y'all," - depends on the angle that the listeners occupy, from the speakers viewpoint. Narrow angle, "you;" up to about 90 degrees, "y'all;" more than that "all y'all."

Normal US phrase embarrassing in Australia.

Hi, and in Australia we barrack for our footballs team, not root.
Has more than just a meaning of a trees appendages.

Tom....

Do you root for the home team?

I understand that in Australia the word Sellotape is the name of a condom, where as in the UK this is the generic word for adhesive tape or scotch tape in the US.

In the UK barrack is exactly the opposite it means to noisily show disapproval.

In the US they seem to do this to their president as they always Barrack Obarma

Hi, not Cellotape but close.
Here you buy rolls of Durex Tape, same as Cellotape, but ofcourse not in northern hemisphere.
By the way our water spirals the other way down the plughole.

Tom.....yaayyy.. Aussie on the podium F1..... :slight_smile:

Durex used to be a roofing material in the UK.
One slogan was "Protect your valuable livestock with Durex"

When I started working in 1985, the company had just hired a bunch of Brits at the same time. So between the Brit's accents and odd phrases, the local Boston accent, and the folks like me who were Not from eastern Massachussetts, we had some odd conversations. Dart throwing is big in England it seems, and with many folks here. I recall trying to talk to our department secretary, a pretty young blond about my age from the Boston area, asking if I was going to the pub down the road to have a beer and play dots. Dots? Yes, dots. Like with pencil & paper, draw a bunch of dots and connect up the squares? No, Dots! Just what are you talking about? You stand a few feet from the wall and throws dots at the board. Oh, you mean "darts"! Yes, that's what I said. And teaching the Brits to play softball, that was funny too!
Cricket players swinging baseball bats, very odd stances. Overrunning 2nd & 3rd base. Catching the ball bare handed. Quite amusing!

I know, as a tourist in England, never to refer to my utility belt as a "fanny pack"

magician59:
I know, as a tourist in England, never to refer to my utility belt as a "fanny pack"

And a bathroom does not always have a toilet in it.

magician59:
I know, as a tourist in England, never to refer to my utility belt as a "fanny pack"

In England that belt is known as a bum bag, cos it fits round your bum.

Also as a tourist never say "I am an American" .... We know.

The thing that got me for many years was that song "That's why the lady is a tramp" to convert that back into American means " that's why the lady is a hobo"

crossRoads ... No one ever says dots, maybe that is only what you herd. In fact where I come from darts are called arrows.

TomGeorge:
....
....
Tom.....yaayyy.. Aussie on the podium F1..... :slight_smile:

whoops, spoke too soon ! :wink:

Grumpy_Mike:
...
...
In the UK barrack is exactly the opposite it means to noisily show disapproval.
...

yes well, you know those boisterous Aussies !

and to bring it full circle...

tmd3:
...
...

AWOL:
... don't ask for a rubber.

Indeed. Even an upperclass London accent won't help you with that one. Especially, don't send your young daughter into the drugstore to ask for them.
....

there's also "rubbing one out"

Tom.....yaayyy.. Aussie on the podium F1.....

BUGGER... (in Australia the term is used in a Toyota commercial.)

Missed it by that!!!! much.....

Still a good drive, didn't take any risky chances and is still a nice guy, and not his fault... =(

Tom...... :slight_smile: