UK English, American English, how does it translate?

[SexyVita]

That's what concerns me. People have paid money to read my book for an interactive arousal, and they're reading words that make them laugh rather than turn them on. Personally, I find 'panties' a bit of a silly word.

If I'm reading a story set in the UK, I'm expecting the language differences. I'd even go so far as to say that they are part of the appeal.

Not only do I find American English perfectly good English, I think in some ways it's preferable. I'm often impressed by how precisely Americans pronounce words that have become an amorphous blob of generic vowels in England. And we're taking on more and more Americanisms, in such cases where they serve a useful purpose.

I suppose that depends on where in America you are talking about. I would agree that in the north central and western US English is generally spoken more clearly than in parts of the south and east. Still even there, you won't generally find anything as bad as Cockney!

 

[ElectricBlue]

BritTongue is easy enough. The toughie is OzSpeak.

It's a piece of piss, TP (just to confuse the fuck out of you with some Aussie vernacular) .

 

[ElectricBlue]

I suppose that depends on where in America you are talking about. I would agree that in the north central and western US English is generally spoken more clearly than in parts of the south and east. Still even there, you won't generally find anything as bad good as Cockney!

Just did an edit for you.

 

[Seadog777]

I suppose that depends on where in America you are talking about. I would agree that in the north central and western US English is generally spoken more clearly than in parts of the south and east. Still even there, you won't generally find anything as bad as Cockney!

I guess you've never heard us Rednecks talk then.

 

[SexyVita]

I've read so much non-American English-language erotica, Fanny to me is now Pussy, and not Ass.

I actually prefer some of the British alternatives for Pussy, like Fanny or Nunny. I even like Quim, though that is, I believe, more like a alternative for Cunt, more vulgar and offensive.

 

[SexyVita]

I guess you've never heard us Rednecks talk then.

Oh, I have, and I can understand Redneckese much better than Cockney!

 

[SexyVita]

Just did an edit for you.

I don't appreciate unsolicited edits. I meant what I said, if the English is so mangled as to require an interpreter for a native English speaker, something is very wrong.

 

[Seadog777]

Oh, I have, and I can understand Redneckese much better than Cockney!

A Brummie accent can be just as bad as us Rednecks.
I always have so much fun when I go to Birmingham.
Stace and I will just walk around and talk to folk, when I visit.
It's hilarious to watch them try and understand me.

 

[stickygirl]

Knickers is a casual word we Brits don't take seriously - so for example not many companies market 'knickers' opting instead for 'briefs'.

Pussy and fanny? Sniff your fingers to work out where you are.

Restrooms... ffs sake. I know the US think 'toilet' is a child's word, but what are you going to the Ladies Room or Powder Room ? What else do you think she's going to do in there? *clue* she isn't resting. If she's on her period she's gone to sort that out or she's gone for a tinkle or a pee or to paint the porcelain but she ain't gone for a rest... or a bath. Who the fuck has a bath in MacDonald's?

 

[onehitwanda]

Pussy and fanny? Sniff your fingers to work out where you are.

You owe me a keyboard.

Early England, as in Þonne hie swa writon.

ᚳᚩᛘᛖ ᚻᛖᚱᛖ ᚪᚾᛞ ᛚᛖᛏ ᛘᛖ ᛏᚩᚢᚳᚻ ᛁᚩᚢ

 

[SexyVita]

Restrooms... ffs sake. I know the US think 'toilet' is a child's word, but what are you going to the Ladies Room or Powder Room ? What else do you think she's going to do in there? *clue* she isn't resting. If she's on her period she's gone to sort that out or she's gone for a tinkle or a pee or to paint the porcelain but she ain't gone for a rest... or a bath. Who the fuck has a bath in MacDonald's?

American women, for reasons I (mostly) fail to understand, even though I am one, seem to prefer not to discuss their bodily functions in mixed company. I mean, if I got up and said I was about to make a sacrifice on the porcelain alter, I might get a few weird looks. If we're trying to be clear about what we plan to do in there though, I vote for renaming the facilities in bars as "Alcohol Elimination Rooms" or possibly "Projectile Vomitoriums." Those in a Taco Bell should be called "Explosive Shitters."

 

[onehitwanda]

American women, for reasons I (mostly) fail to understand, even though I am one, seem to prefer not to discuss their bodily functions in mixed company. I mean, if I got up and said I was about to make a sacrifice on the porcelain alter, I might get a few weird looks. If we're trying to be clear about what we plan to do in there though, I vote for renaming the facilities in bars as "Alcohol Elimination Rooms" or possibly "Projectile Vomitoriums." Those in a Taco Bell should be called "Explosive Shitters."

https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/403/892/091.png

 

[Jackie.Hikaru]

Knickers is a casual word we Brits don't take seriously - so for example not many companies market 'knickers' opting instead for 'briefs'.

Pussy and fanny? Sniff your fingers to work out where you are.

Restrooms... ffs sake. I know the US think 'toilet' is a child's word, but what are you going to the Ladies Room or Powder Room ? What else do you think she's going to do in there? *clue* she isn't resting. If she's on her period she's gone to sort that out or she's gone for a tinkle or a pee or to paint the porcelain but she ain't gone for a rest... or a bath. Who the fuck has a bath in MacDonald's?

And what about Water Closet? Am I picking out a water dress here, or... what am I doing?

 

[ElectricBlue]

I don't appreciate unsolicited edits. I meant what I said, if the English is so mangled as to require an interpreter for a native English speaker, something is very wrong.

No sense of humour then.

Cockney and its rhyming slang is a fundamental part of the English English language and culture. Shrug.

 

[SexyVita]

No sense of humour then.

Cockney and its rhyming slang is a fundamental part of the English English language and culture. Shrug.

I have a great sense of humor, but I'm a woman of words, and touching my words without asking is like touching my nunny without asking.

As for Cockney's place in English, I'm not calling it bad as culture, I'm calling it bad as a way to communicate outside the relatively tiny number of English speakers who can actually decipher it.

 

[MajorRewrite]

American: “I like British English but I do have to turn the volume very high when watching BBC shows.”
English bloke: “Bloody wanker.”
Aussie: “Whinging Pom.”

(My non-American English needs work)

 

[ElectricBlue]

I have a great sense of humor, but I'm a woman of words, and touching my words without asking is like touching my nunny without asking.

As for Cockney's place in English, I'm not calling it bad as culture, I'm calling it bad as a way to communicate outside the relatively tiny number of English speakers who can actually decipher it.

My apologies, I didn't mean to offend .

 

[Mom_nxtdoor]

I have a great sense of humor, but I'm a woman of words, and touching my words without asking is like touching my nunny without asking.

As for Cockney's place in English, I'm not calling it bad as culture, I'm calling it bad as a way to communicate outside the relatively tiny number of English speakers who can actually decipher it.

I think it's interesting

 

[onehitwanda]

English bloke: “Bloody wanker.”
Aussie: “Whinging Pom.”

(My non-American English needs work)

Brit: "Daft twat."
Aussie: "Stupid cunt."
Kiwi: "Stupid cunt."
Saffer: "Stupid cunt / Dom fokken doos / stupid poes."
Canadian: "Sorry, eh."

 

[MajorRewrite]

US coverage of the Women’s World Cup will undoubtedly amuse itself with Aussie and Kiwi slang in the most cringe worthy way possible. We apologize in advance.

Go Matildas and Ferns! (I always cheer for the host nation as well as the US).

 

[TarnishedPenny]

It's a piece of piss, TP (just to confuse the fuck out of you with some Aussie vernacular) .

Oddly enough, that particular phrase is common up here, EB. Have a good one.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Oddly enough, that particular phrase is common up here, EB. Have a good one.

There ya go! Didn't know that.

 

[stickygirl]

Oddly enough, that particular phrase is common up here, EB. Have a good one.

Piss in Uk English can be

• taken ( are you taking the ... ? )
• a long streak of ... ( a person regarded as a waste of space/ useless person )
• an expression of frustration/anger ( I broke my favourite necklace - I'm so pissed (off) )
• drunkeness ( He was so pissed, the twat. Off his fuckin face wann'e )
• or a piece of ... ( it was an easy task )

ETA in Fetish some people neck it, either from the source or a bottle.
Because we are exposed to US tv, we also understand 'He looked so pissed' to mean threatening anger.

 

[onehitwanda]

ETA in Fetish some people neck it, either from the source or a bottle.

Oh Jesus Christ.

Though, to be fair, people drink reindeer piss to get high

 

[SimonDoom]

I suppose that depends on where in America you are talking about. I would agree that in the north central and western US English is generally spoken more clearly than in parts of the south and east. Still even there, you won't generally find anything as bad as Cockney!

Agreed. We have a wide variety of accents in the US but I can't think of any that are as difficult to understand as some of the accents in Britain, and I get the sense that even many Brits find some of the accents of their countryman unintelligible. Backwoods Cajun is a bit hard to understand. Maybe some Appalachian accents. I have a typical "American broadcaster" type of accent typical of the western US and I can easily understand people from Minnesota, Boston, New York, New Jersey, and the South.