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| pipins ancestor |
 Posted: Sun May 29, 2005 5:35 pm |
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Joined: 29 May 2005
Posts: 5
Location: dorset ~ farmers paradise!
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Vocalion wrote: I wrote a scene in which Snape became drunk and facetiously translated a Latin phrase as "Hello, toots". It came back from my beta with "toots" revised to "tidy bird". I questioned it and she said "toots" was too American and her British friend suggested "tidy bird". He said it was complimentary. I wasn't convinced, so I asked another friend who had lived in the U.K. and she said it was vulgar and men would only use it in conversation if they were certain that a woman wasn't listening.
That's the story of "tidy bird". I ended up rephrasing the Latin because I couldn't come up with a British synonym for "toots".
"tidy bird" is simple (ive heard it before) it literally means a "hot lady" "tidy" meaning "fit" or "hot" (used in the forties to descirbe a beautiful aristocrat) and "bird" was slang used in london for many years to mean "woman" or "lady"
erm...about the bedjacket, you COULD use that...but if you wanted to sound a tad more british you could say "dressing gown" |
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| Owlbait |
| Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2005 3:12 pm |
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Joined: 01 Jul 2005
Posts: 92
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azazello wrote:
babysitter is a minder Actually we say babysitter to refer to someone who looks after a child for example in the evening if the parents go out. A Childminder is more usually the person who looks after children, on a near professional basis, for pay. Registered childminders can earn a great deal and are rigorously vetted.
Is this the same as a nanny, or not? Does the childminder work in your home or theirs, or in a place of business, like a daycare center?
Quote: garter belt is called suspenders
In the UK, suspenders hold up your stockings, or in the case of old fashioned men, socks. Sock suspenders are somehow inherently funny.
Suspenders do not hold up your trousers. First time I read a comment in an american novel by a cautious character, that he was "A suspenders and belt man" I thought he was a transvestite.
What then does a man use to hold up trousers if he's not the belt type?
-Liz |
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| black spot |
| Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2005 8:24 am |
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Joined: 23 Aug 2005
Posts: 3
Location: U.K.
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This is so much fun. I do love the differences and they can be very amusing.
Here's some more British to American translations:
Fag - Cigarette (this one is a hoot)
Tube/underground - Subway (a subway here is an underground crossing beneath a road)
Pavement - Walkway
Cloakroom - Washroom (we are much too polite to refer to anything to do with the toilet)
Chips - Fries
Crisps - Chips (this has caused no end of confusion on my travels)
Shank's Pony - Walking as have no other transport. Q. How are you getting home? A. I'm going by Shank's Pony.
Braces are used to hold a man's trousers up.
Bedjackets are the same here but are used by long term invalids and your grandmother. |
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| Lady Whitehart |
| Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2005 5:07 am |
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Joined: 20 Jul 2005
Posts: 38
Location: East Coast USA
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OK, if a belt is called braces, then what do you call the wire-things that are used to straighten teeth? Are they still braces?
Dr. Az, if you ever wish to expand your vocabulary in the insult department, please come to Philadelphia or, better yet, New Jersey. They do pretty well in the Bronx section of NYC, as well. |
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There is no point in arguing with an idiot, they will just drag you down to their level and beat you with experience. |
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| bellasol67 |
| Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 5:42 am |
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Joined: 14 Oct 2005
Posts: 6
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| I'm not a writer, just a reader from Boston who is grateful for this thread. I've learned so much, but I do have a question, what the heck is a 'jammy cow'? |
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| liquidscissors |
| Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 8:22 am |
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Moderator
Joined: 27 Dec 2004
Posts: 164
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[the internet]Liquidscissors is a jammy cow.[/the internet]
A jammy cow is a smug, smarmy, or overly self-satisfied woman. I believe my critics have firmly placed me into the second category, bless 'em.
LadyWhitehart, they're either called braces, brace (singular name for multiple use, Hermione mentions 'continuing her brace' in the novels) or plain orthodontics. Brace-face, train tracks, tin teeth... |
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| bellasol67 |
| Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2005 11:58 pm |
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Joined: 14 Oct 2005
Posts: 6
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| Thank you so much! I love that! |
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| Phoenix_Fire |
| Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 12:10 pm |
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Joined: 21 Nov 2005
Posts: 3
Location: Edmond, OK
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I imagine that the British have some kind of graduation ceremony. Is it called graduation? Do you receive diplomas or something similar? I'm working on a scene for a Hogwarts graduation, which would grantedly be different from a normal ceremony anyway, but I just wanted to check. 
Thanks!
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| caz |
| Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2005 11:40 am |
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Joined: 22 Jun 2005
Posts: 1
Location: The Gorgeous Georgian City of Bath (except for the hols, when I'll be kicking my heels in Reading)
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Quote: I imagine that the British have some kind of graduation ceremony. Is it called graduation? Do you receive diplomas or something similar? I'm working on a scene for a Hogwarts graduation, which would grantedly be different from a normal ceremony anyway, but I just wanted to check.
Basically, no, we don't. Graduation is from University only.
In the British school system, you can leave school at 16, after taking your GCSEs (OWL equivalents), sort of like the twins did. Alternatively, you can continue into the sixth form for two years, and leave at 18 after taking A-levels (It's a little more complicated now, but that's the gist).
Many schools will have a prizegiving, or presentation when exam certificates are handed out. Mine had one in the December after A-levels (May), but I couldn't make it, so I picked my certificates up from the office.
There is no certificate for finishing school, it's your exam results that count.
I'm sure someone wrote a more coherent explanation of the school system, but I can't find it at the moment. If I do, I'll pop a link in.
Edit: Here it is http://www.sugarquill.net/index.php?action=gringotts&st=british The education section has a little more info. |
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| Andromeda |
| Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 9:37 am |
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Joined: 16 Apr 2005
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Braces aren't a belt. They're the american suspenders. A belt is just a belt. Unless you're refering to smaking someone, then you can belt them too!
A tidy bird, is indeed a fit woman. However, although I use bird to my friends; 'Alright bird(s)?' It would be only shower room chatter for a man to call a woman a bird now days.
The school system over here is run as thus:
At the age of 11, you enter year 7, which is your first year of secondary educationl. You will learn basic science, mathematics, english, religious studies, geography, history and technology. This will gradually advance until third year (year 9) when you will sit the SAT's. You will be graded for each individual course and be set a level for the following year. Also at year 9 you will be given your 'options' for the following year. This is what courses you want to take for your GCSE's - I dropped (which meant that I didn't do them) Geography, History, French, PE and some technologies, and carried one with Religious Studies, German, Photography and Typing. You have to take English, Eng Lit, Maths and Sciences. This is similar to what JKR does book 3 with the Time Turner. The boys have picked one lot of classes and Hermione another, but they all have set classes like Potions and Transfiguration.
When we start our GCSE's (year 10 age 14) you are set to a level, Higher, Intermediate, or Lower, and these have been set by your SAT scores. For two years you study your chosen courses and at 16 you sit the final exams. Your final grade is achieved from a combination of exam mark and course work.
When we've sat our final exam, we all go home for a good long holiday! We then go to the school again in August to get our results. Basically we all just stood around and held pieces of paper saying, 'I'm not going first, you go!' 'Oh lets all go together!' 'No wait, you read mine, I cant do it!'
The ones that do really well, or have special achievements, get invited back to a prize giving, but that's up to each school and is more for show really.
Pending on your grades you can go on to study for A-Levels (Advanced Level) or AS levels. These you do until you're 18/19 and are your entry requirements to university. Its the same again. You pick whatever subjects you want to study (there is no compulsory subjects here, but you should study something you have a GCSE in) and you study them for two years. Again getting your results is the same. This is shown in book five with McGonagal and Harry speaking in Umbridges presences. They had careers paths to chose from... its like that in the UK.
The only graduation ceremony in the UK is the University Graduation Ceremony. Its really annoying when you see 'graduations' at Hogwarts because there just isn't any! Have you ever seen JKR write one? Remember Harry got his O.W.L results by an actual Owl.
I hope that this helps. |
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| Vampiryyn |
| Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2005 9:15 pm |
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Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 5
Location: Silicon Valley, California
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azazello wrote:
However, Snape speaking in American diction is. If he says, "Howdy" then that is probably a mistake...
I find this hilarious. I've lived in the US for the majority of my life, and not ONCE have I EVER heard anyone use the word "howdy."
Do Brits honestly think we say that??? XD |
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| azazello |
| Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 7:01 am |
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Joined: 29 Nov 2004
Posts: 183
Location: Northern UK
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Yes....
Same as youse think England is awash with Manor Houses. |
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Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony ~ Monty Python and the Holy Grail |
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| Vampiryyn |
| Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2005 9:16 am |
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Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 5
Location: Silicon Valley, California
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azazello wrote: Yes....
Same as youse think England is awash with Manor Houses.
...People think THAT too?!
Gosh, people are a lot dumber than I thought... what a severely depressing thought... -_______-; Though it really shouldn't surprise me; I read Babb Chronicles too. |
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| Metamuse |
| Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2005 12:38 am |
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Site Admin
Joined: 28 Nov 2004
Posts: 475
Location: USA
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People in the US do say howdy! I've heard them. But they were mostly from Texas, New Mexico and Arizona area. Cowboys also.
Now as for the manor houses, I would believe quite a few Americans would actually thing that. Just shows what mass ignorance will do. |
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Wannabe Admin, but the other Admins kick me out of the sand box to play with the technical and managerial aspects of the site. |
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| Diana |
| Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2005 1:00 pm |
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Head Moderator
Joined: 04 Jan 2005
Posts: 116
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The Manor issue doesn't make me snicker so much as Americans always thinking that everyone in and/or from Britain is a peer. Lords and Ladies this and that...
Oh, and, contrary to popular (American, no offence) opinion, not all of us (living inside or outside the UK, being outside myself) take our afternoon tea in some spacious, if a bit pretentiously decorated, sitting room. Seated by the window, overlooking the spacious grounds of our estate while servants bow and scrape to and fro while doing their duties... |
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