General Chat

Many years ago a friend was living in America and wanted to do some sewing. In the shop she asked for a reel of cotton.

Assistant - A WHOLE reel?
Friend - Yes please
Assistant - Are you quite sure? What do you want it for?
Friend - To sew a button on my husband's shirt.
Assistant - I see. What you need is a spool of thread! :-)

bob i only get time to pop in and out thease days
to bizzy as i work full time now

:-) :-)

"USA have fanny bags"

Really I thought they were fanny packs and as you wear them near your fanny hence the name. But what to I know. :-D

Shell...... ;-) <3

gas station????? or something you pick up on the beach

Grub's up.

Feeling under the weather?

Take a seat.

We'll have you tickety boo in no time at all.

As for 'toastie', don't get me started. Toastie as in warm and toastie is not the same as toastie as in jaffle.

Yes, folks, I am ancient enough to remember that lovely old word for a toasted sandwich, 'jaffle'. (No, not the little round aniseed balls that you lot in Oz know as Jaffas which, to us means a big orange.)

I also remember jaffle irons, long before sandwich toasters came into being. In fact, some people simply flipped the sandwich in a frying-pan - and some still do. :-D

Isn't it time we re-educated our young in the 'lingo' before we turn our attention to others? They seem to be dead set on creating a new technology-driven language that, unless we older folk learn, will remain exclusive to young people. We'll end up not knowing what the heck they're on about if we don't step up to the plate.

Doncha know it's txtspk!

I was put off having a vanilla slice,which I really like,when I was in Oz over 10 years ago when I was told they called them"snot blocks"....ugh

Also when in a cafe in Rhyll, Victoria.Oz and asked what sort of fish they were serving and was told Gummy Flake...what's that I asked....shark was the reply!

So even us Brits can't understand English as interpreted in other parts...so how can we expect others who are fluent in their own languages to know what we're talking about?...lol. :-S

Flake and chips is what you always get there when you ask for fish and chips in the take-aways in Vic. In the same way here, the norm is cod and chips unless you place an order for a different fish.

Chips and crisps, too, is another strange one in supermarkets.

Courgettes French and zucchini Italian and in Oz.

Aubergine French and eggplant in Oz.

Closer to home and a word that's now more widespread - butty (which I have used all my life).

Bap, roll, bun, tuffee - they're all rolls to me.

Language is fantastic.

I was a bit flummoxed the other day when a report indicated that England's caretaker manager excluded English foreigners from his team selection.

I bet you were Dermot.

Not half as rattled as we were when we saw how hard the ECB had come down on Durham Cricket Club.

Talk about done up like a kipper!

Not only a drop in league and a cap on players' wages but a 48 penalty to boot.

The Club will start the next season behind the eight-ball in more ways than one.

When other clubs owe more and one Council has written off another club's debt, it just ain't cricket.

They don't half like to stick it to them, some people.

Now, what parts of that would any foreigner not understand? :-S

a ladies vest in the UK is a tank top over here.

If you ask for a "vest" you will be shown a gillet (gilet) or possibly sent to the men's department for a waistcoat. Alternatively, you will be sent to the underwear department to look at undershirts.

I recall they were called singlets in Oz and I'm sure that they were described as such in some shops in England when I was a child, Sylvia.

My Liverpool Gran used to call trousers kecks - you may know that Sylvia.

Another favourite was going up the dancers - when going upstairs to bed.

One universal saying that may flummox foreigners is 'glad rags' - still used by us.

Don't you just love life's little quirks! :-D

"Well, I'll go to the bottom of our stairs!"

Explain this to a foreigner or anyone living in a bungalow!

looks over, kind of "sideways"

Just looked in after my weekly night out before I hit the hay!

Toodle pip! :-D :-D

Thumb a lift.

It's a lazy wind

I play the piano with sheet music,but I also play by ear!

.... "in five minutes"
the pyriamids were built in less time

"brexit"

nice

hotel

tea

There are a fair few 'English Sayings' that confuse the British born.

Example: "It is what it is".

Here's your chance to add to my amusing & growing list.