Yep, that piece of furniture up in our living room is a chesterfield. I also have understood davenport to represent a particular style of couch/sofa -- one that is much like a futon, converting from sofa to bed, and with storage under the seat.
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English to English translations
- Thread starter twstychik
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I always thought a davenport was a futon with storage , a chesterfield as a more 'formal' sofa / couch and then the regular kind is a sofa and loveseat
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Cool! What's the fold-up bed called then?
are you referring to a sofa-bed? a sofa that folds out into a bed?
I thought that was what I said...
Thats weird to me! I picture a baby sleeping on an army cot
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Pecker=Chin (When the English say, "Keep your pecker up", it simply means, "Look on the bright side/keep your chin up"). My Brit mom learned not to use this expression in America, the HARD way! :-))
Knickers=panties ("Don't get your knickers in a twist.")
Rubber=Pencil eraser. We once had a Welsh woman in our department at work, who had no clue what "rubber" could mean here, and would call out, "Does anyone have a rubber I can borrow?", which drew strange looks!
Screw=salary (though I think this isn't being used much nowadays). The woman mentioned above said they used the expression, "He makes a good screw" to mean, "He makes a good salary." No wonder it's not used much now!
(And I always thought SPANISH slang was a minefield!)
Moggy(or is it "moggie"?)=cat
Washing up=the dishes
Washing up liquid=Dish detergent
Laundrette=Laundromat
Off-license=Liquor store
(The) post=the mail
Dual carriageway=2-lane highway
(on)Holiday=can mean your vacation
Carpark=parking lot
Football=soccer
Biro=ballpoint pen
Loo=bathroom/toilet
WC (for "water closet")=as above
Jumper=sweater
Mum=Mom; though "Ma'am" sounds much like "Mum", too.
Chips=similar to our French fries; often served with battered fish (Fish 'n chips)
Courgettes=(I think) are eggplants
Haricorts vert (actually French)=string beans
Corn=can mean any edible grain; "Maize" is our corn
Detached and semi-detached houses=single-family homes, and the end of a row home
Flat=apartment
Front garden=really can just be your front yard
(The) tube=subway
Castor sugar=powdered sugar
Bed-sit=studio apartment
Front room=living room (used to mean more of a formal one, like our parlor)
Lorry=truck
Biscuit=cookie
Sponge=Can mean a sponge cake, such as Victoria sponge or my fave, jam sponge (actually very good, made in a Crock-pot, believe it or not!)
My Mom, who is not from London, loved to do the Cockney slang thing--"Apples and pears"="Stairs"; "Bee's knees"=cheese. Drives me barmy! ("Nuts")
This is all I can think up off the top of my head...
Knickers=panties ("Don't get your knickers in a twist.")
Rubber=Pencil eraser. We once had a Welsh woman in our department at work, who had no clue what "rubber" could mean here, and would call out, "Does anyone have a rubber I can borrow?", which drew strange looks!
Screw=salary (though I think this isn't being used much nowadays). The woman mentioned above said they used the expression, "He makes a good screw" to mean, "He makes a good salary." No wonder it's not used much now!
(And I always thought SPANISH slang was a minefield!)
Moggy(or is it "moggie"?)=cat
Washing up=the dishes
Washing up liquid=Dish detergent
Laundrette=Laundromat
Off-license=Liquor store
(The) post=the mail
Dual carriageway=2-lane highway
(on)Holiday=can mean your vacation
Carpark=parking lot
Football=soccer
Biro=ballpoint pen
Loo=bathroom/toilet
WC (for "water closet")=as above
Jumper=sweater
Mum=Mom; though "Ma'am" sounds much like "Mum", too.
Chips=similar to our French fries; often served with battered fish (Fish 'n chips)
Courgettes=(I think) are eggplants
Haricorts vert (actually French)=string beans
Corn=can mean any edible grain; "Maize" is our corn
Detached and semi-detached houses=single-family homes, and the end of a row home
Flat=apartment
Front garden=really can just be your front yard
(The) tube=subway
Castor sugar=powdered sugar
Bed-sit=studio apartment
Front room=living room (used to mean more of a formal one, like our parlor)
Lorry=truck
Biscuit=cookie
Sponge=Can mean a sponge cake, such as Victoria sponge or my fave, jam sponge (actually very good, made in a Crock-pot, believe it or not!)
My Mom, who is not from London, loved to do the Cockney slang thing--"Apples and pears"="Stairs"; "Bee's knees"=cheese. Drives me barmy! ("Nuts")
This is all I can think up off the top of my head...
OMG, those two are priceless here
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Just a sarnie (sorry, had to throw that one in!), such as a "bacon buttie"--a Northern England term for sandwich, I think usually greasy, with meat!
Bangers=sausage--I grew up eating "Bangers and mash"=ssausages & mashed potatoes
Oh, and mashed "neeps" (turnips), or the yellow type=Swedes.
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Thank you! I couldn't remember about the courgettes (I just knew they were a veggie I disliked, either eggplant or zucchini!)Originally Posted by Kiwideus
I had a chip buttie for lunch today. Yum!
Margecat - courgettes are zucchini.
What you Americans call a cot, we call a stretcher in NZ.
And eggplant is aubergine
In the US "stretcher" refers to a device to carry someone unable to move.
An increase in wages -
US - "raise"
UK - "rise"
(Learned that from "Are You Being Served"?".)
I am in LOVE with this thread!
Also, I just learned to get "stuffed" has totally different meanings from the US to the UK.
To be stuffed in the US- To have eaten to much.
To be stuffed in the UK- To have sex.
Now that makes the expression "To stuff a bird" have a totally different meaning for me. I don't think I'll be able to look at a turkey the same way ever again.
Also, I just learned to get "stuffed" has totally different meanings from the US to the UK.
To be stuffed in the US- To have eaten to much.
To be stuffed in the UK- To have sex.
Now that makes the expression "To stuff a bird" have a totally different meaning for me. I don't think I'll be able to look at a turkey the same way ever again.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #95
Wow... this thread blew uo over the weekend! How very educational!
I'm so glad we don't actually stuff our thanksgiving bird! LMAO!
Another one I've heard is to suss out which from what I gather is the same as finding out.
Ahh... yes, it probably should have been American to English.Originally Posted by Momofmany
And shouldn't this be "American to English" translations? I've been corrected by most of my foreign friends that we don't speak English, we speak Americanese.
Oh my! Thats one that could lead to a few slaps across the face!
Sorry, Rigel. You do so well now that I'm sure you can handle a few new words.Originally Posted by CoolCat
..............more vocabulary to learn!...
They are EVIL things! Our town has recently discovered them and we now have 3 and people here have no idea how to use them either though we do still call them round-abouts.
Originally Posted by lookingglass
I am in LOVE with this thread!
Also, I just learned to get "stuffed" has totally different meanings from the US to the UK.
To be stuffed in the US- To have eaten to much.
To be stuffed in the UK- To have sex.
Now that makes the expression "To stuff a bird" have a totally different meaning for me. I don't think I'll be able to look at a turkey the same way ever again.
Another one I've heard is to suss out which from what I gather is the same as finding out.
this threas is great!! I'll be very prepared if I ever got to the UK
Yep just agreeing and expanding on the chesterfieldOriginally Posted by rapunzel47
I thought that was what I said...
There was one by my uni that was a big one with 5-6 smaller ones around it and to go the right way around the small ones, you go the wrong way around the big one, but the big one has two lanes so you don't have to go around every small one, so you do actually go around the big one the wrong way!
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #98
Just reading that has my head spinning! I couldn't imagine actually trying to drive that.
I'm English and live in the US with my Finace.
I about died when I found out what a "Douche bag" was. Here I was thinking all these years, on the movies and stuff it was just an idiot.
Here's some others
English Term ~ English Term
aerial ~ antenna
cats eyes ~ reflectors
indicators ~ turn signals
motorway ~ freeway
dummy ~ pacifier
frock ~ dress
holiday ~ vacation
shopping trolley ~ shopping cart
attic ~ Loft
I also found This
It's a alphabetical list of English word with a sentence, explaining it in American
I about died when I found out what a "Douche bag" was. Here I was thinking all these years, on the movies and stuff it was just an idiot.
Here's some others
English Term ~ English Term
aerial ~ antenna
cats eyes ~ reflectors
indicators ~ turn signals
motorway ~ freeway
dummy ~ pacifier
frock ~ dress
holiday ~ vacation
shopping trolley ~ shopping cart
attic ~ Loft
I also found This
It's a alphabetical list of English word with a sentence, explaining it in American
That brings up another one!
UK = US
Uni = College
Coach = Bus
can't think of any more, lol.
