@die13lda it’s great moving to South Carolina from Britain and a semi-common dish in South Carolina is called “Chicken Bog”. Almost as funny as South Carolina’s state dance being the “shag”.
@Kyeh or just pissed…
If a Brit is pissed, they’ve had too many beverages at the pub.
If a Yank is pissed, someone/thing’s made them exceptionally angy
@earlyre Oh, right! The Brit told his American wife he was pissed . She got pissed! But he laughed and told her he was just taking the piss .
And then there was my high school friend from New York, who described a really great party or other fun occasion as a “real pisser!”
@Kidsandliz the word “faggot” originally meant thin stick (or a bundle of thin sticks). It had nothing to do with sexuality. Just a pure guess… But I’m assuming that’s how “fag” became slang for a cigarette.
@Kidsandliz yeah, sod is short for “sodomy” so “sod off” would literally mean “arse-fuck off”… Pretty darn similar… Probably harsher in literal meaning but probably slightly softer in actual usage.
One my favorites was “I’ll come by and knock you up in the morning.” Translation: “I’ll come by and knock on your door in the morning”. (My response was usually something like “That might prove difficult… nevermind.”)
Another was “Keep your pecker up!” Translation: “Keep a stiff upper lip!” (My response was usually “I try to!”)
Of course it goes both ways. Once, I was asked to give a live demo of an extremely expensive and complex piece of equipment to a very senior UK government delegation. Of course, something important and totally unexpected happened, and my focus immediately shifted to the situation at hand. As I wrested with the controls, I uttered (not quite under my breath) “Come here you little bugger!” I could hear a couple of snickers slip from my audience, and I spotted one of my Brit friends doing a facepalm. Someone interjected that it had quite a different meaning in American English than in British English, and there were a couple of choruses of “Oh, yes, of course, of course!” In the end, the demo ended up going really well, and my audience left happy. But the temperature of the room went up about 20 degrees, mostly around my face.
@mehcuda67 I used to read the UK music papers as a preteen/teen, so most of the slang was familiar to me when I visited. But I was, shall we say, gobsmacked when I heard “knock you up” from a 20-something guy (I was 14) on my first visit. My friends and I told him what it meant in the US, and he turned several previously unknown shades of red.
@chienfou@earl_danger@Tripod2 IMO, (re-)watching Coupling for the nth time is still funnier than 99% of what is on these days (although it declined a bit when Jeff/Richard Coyle left).
Some years ago a family friend from New Zealand, Kurt, was visiting. (New Zealanders use much of the same slang as Brits.) Kurt is an auto mechanic by trade and a US friend of mine, Mike, asked him to look at his sports car to figure out how to change the headlight. Kurt popped the hood and looked for a minute, then turned to me and asked “Have you got a torch?” (meaning flashlight). Mike’s reaction was priceless.
@macromeh flashlight always confused me. Flash to me always meant “flicker” or “stolen”… I learnt though that the reason they got that name over here is that the original ones were so badly made they would literally flash quite a bit.
@macromeh@OnionSoup This may be due to hand lights being designed more to flash code signals by the military in the field than to provide illumination; that’s the reason why the early ones had the reflector at a right angle to the body, and had a button at one one of the slide switch. As illumination, they were pretty much pointless.
@blaineg Similar here. My mom’s parents immigrated to the US from England, plus my parents lived in New Zealand for several years after marrying (I was born there). So I grew up hearing lots of Brit/NZ slang.
OMG… if you think UK slang. Wow. Here in the US you can go to New England, to the South, Mid West thinnest Coast … you wonder if they are still speaking English.
One of my fav words is Y’all!
@OnionSoup That’s because none of us ever caught on to the meaning. Too subtle, maybe?
Many decades ago, on a military exercise with the SAS, I discovered that a “dog’s breakfast” was a total cock-up, but a “dog’s danglies” were the best. I’m still confused.
@brasscupcakes I’ve heard that “dick” in this instance is derived from an older word for “dough”, and the old usage persisted for this specific item; it’s definitely the case that this was “spotted dick” long before “dick” got its current slang meaning.
A quid and the boot.
@hchavers The latter got me goated.
I chose bog because that’s the one I don’t know what it’s slang for.
@die13lda
@die13lda it’s great moving to South Carolina from Britain and a semi-common dish in South Carolina is called “Chicken Bog”. Almost as funny as South Carolina’s state dance being the “shag”.
“Taking the piss” - not at all what it means over here. Also “fanny.”
@Kyeh Yes, Brits find the US term “fanny pack” amusing. (They say “bum bag”.)
@Kyeh or just pissed…
If a Brit is pissed, they’ve had too many beverages at the pub.
If a Yank is pissed, someone/thing’s made them exceptionally angy
@earlyre Oh, right!
. She got pissed! 
But he laughed and told her he was just taking the piss 
.
The Brit told his American wife he was pissed
And then there was my high school friend from New York, who described a really great party or other fun occasion as a “real pisser!”
@Kyeh @macromeh they prefer keeping stuff in their bums, I guess.
@Kyeh @medz If one has no fanny, I guess there is no choice.
@earlyre @Kyeh After a little exposure, decoding these foreign idioms is a piece of piss.
@Kyeh @macromeh “Fanny” means vagina in England. So yes, you yanks calling it a fanny pack is very funny to us!
@Kyeh @macromeh that’s why i moved on to Aussie slang.
pretty much had the UK stuff (mostly) down pat.
Wanna listen to some akka dakka, on the way to Macca’s this Arvo?
@earlyre @macromeh
Oooh, that’s cool and different!
Sod this
@bmf and sod off.
@bmf @Kidsandliz Silly sod.
@blaineg @bmf @Kidsandliz
You’re arguing about sod all.
@bmf there is a company selling grass turf near here called “super sod”. I’ve sent photos of that billboard back home to all my friends.
@bmf @OnionSoup
https://www.cleetusmcfarland.com/product/freedom-factory-sod-pod-bundle/
Fag. When I lived there it took me a while to figure out it meant cigarettes. No idea how it ended up being called that.
@Kidsandliz They are burned. Look up the traditional English meaning of “faggot” for the obvious linkage.
@werehatrack Not the first thing that came to mind as a 20 something kid working over there at the time.
@Kidsandliz the word “faggot” originally meant thin stick (or a bundle of thin sticks). It had nothing to do with sexuality. Just a pure guess… But I’m assuming that’s how “fag” became slang for a cigarette.
Kip is another one that took me a while to guess. People would say, “I’m going to take a kip”. Kip is nap.
Bird (female human)
WC (water closet) make sense (toilet) however it is pronounced “Way Say” in the appropriate accent.
And Sod Off is about a half a breath away from fuck off.
I’ll probably think of more. I lived and worked in England and Scotland for a while.
@Kidsandliz yeah, sod is short for “sodomy” so “sod off” would literally mean “arse-fuck off”… Pretty darn similar… Probably harsher in literal meaning but probably slightly softer in actual usage.
I lived in England many, many moons ago.
One my favorites was “I’ll come by and knock you up in the morning.” Translation: “I’ll come by and knock on your door in the morning”. (My response was usually something like “That might prove difficult… nevermind.”)
Another was “Keep your pecker up!” Translation: “Keep a stiff upper lip!” (My response was usually “I try to!”)
Of course it goes both ways. Once, I was asked to give a live demo of an extremely expensive and complex piece of equipment to a very senior UK government delegation. Of course, something important and totally unexpected happened, and my focus immediately shifted to the situation at hand. As I wrested with the controls, I uttered (not quite under my breath) “Come here you little bugger!” I could hear a couple of snickers slip from my audience, and I spotted one of my Brit friends doing a facepalm. Someone interjected that it had quite a different meaning in American English than in British English, and there were a couple of choruses of “Oh, yes, of course, of course!” In the end, the demo ended up going really well, and my audience left happy. But the temperature of the room went up about 20 degrees, mostly around my face.
@mehcuda67 Oh yeah. I forgot about bugger (I lived in England and Scotland).
@mehcuda67 I used to read the UK music papers as a preteen/teen, so most of the slang was familiar to me when I visited. But I was, shall we say, gobsmacked when I heard “knock you up” from a 20-something guy (I was 14) on my first visit. My friends and I told him what it meant in the US, and he turned several previously unknown shades of red.
Smack my bitch up.
The Prodigy - Smack My Bitch Up (Vocal sample is Kool Keith from the song Give The Drummer Some by Ultramagnetic MCs)
https://vimeo.com/ 144850907
Not making a clickable link for obvious reasons.
Snog.
How that means kiss I’ll never know.
@earl_danger Thanks for making me watch The Dangerous Brothers crocodile snogging! Wow, that was an oldie!
@earl_danger @Tripod2
made me think of Coupling. That was an awesome show.
KRULL! A SKULL! BRETT HULL! AWESOME!
@chienfou @earl_danger @Tripod2 IMO, (re-)watching Coupling for the nth time is still funnier than 99% of what is on these days (although it declined a bit when Jeff/Richard Coyle left).
Bugger off! Ya Bloody Wanker , with the appropriate Cockey accent of course
Rhyming slang.
Jezz it’s a nickname for Jeremy. ???
/giphy confused
@Fuzzalini In one particularly flagrant example, its lingual proximity to a certain piece of US slang is just too bloody priceless for words.
@Fuzzalini yeah. Or Gaz/Gazzer for Gary
Wait 'til you get a load of Scottish vernacular.
The series “Still Game” is fookin’ high-larry-oos.
Thass nah fooneh!
Apples and pears or Tony Blairs, etc
Some years ago a family friend from New Zealand, Kurt, was visiting. (New Zealanders use much of the same slang as Brits.) Kurt is an auto mechanic by trade and a US friend of mine, Mike, asked him to look at his sports car to figure out how to change the headlight. Kurt popped the hood and looked for a minute, then turned to me and asked “Have you got a torch?” (meaning flashlight). Mike’s reaction was priceless.
@macromeh While you and I both understand that Kurt was asking for a flashlight, the look on Mike’s face was probably worth savoring.
@macromeh @werehatrack
There. FIFY
@macromeh flashlight always confused me. Flash to me always meant “flicker” or “stolen”… I learnt though that the reason they got that name over here is that the original ones were so badly made they would literally flash quite a bit.
@macromeh @OnionSoup This may be due to hand lights being designed more to flash code signals by the military in the field than to provide illumination; that’s the reason why the early ones had the reflector at a right angle to the body, and had a button at one one of the slide switch. As illumination, they were pretty much pointless.
I should have loads, but after 25 years being married to an Englishwoman, I’m just not sure what’s unusual anymore.
Though after all this time, she still catches me out on occasion with something I haven’t heard before.
@blaineg Similar here. My mom’s parents immigrated to the US from England, plus my parents lived in New Zealand for several years after marrying (I was born there). So I grew up hearing lots of Brit/NZ slang.
Tagging @spiritgreen for comments on US slang.
OMG… if you think UK slang. Wow. Here in the US you can go to New England, to the South, Mid West thinnest Coast … you wonder if they are still speaking English.
One of my fav words is Y’all!
There is a YouTube channel “Lost in the Pond” a British guy that moved to the Mid West (married) he compares The US vs the UK.
Cockney rhyming slang
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jun/09/guide-to-cockney-rhyming-slang
And don’t forget the loo.
@chienfou Toilet roll.
Kitchen roll.
@blaineg @chienfou Knickers. Dust bin. Cling film. Knackered.
@blaineg @chienfou @macromeh Fairy Liquid
@blaineg @chienfou Bog roll.
@chienfou @earlyre @macromeh
A brand name, even!
Just had bangers and mash last night!
/image bangers and mash
@ybmuG
or bangers in a crust… aka toad in a hole
@ybmuG omg I love bangers and mash
@ybmuG Needs a fried slice.
@ybmuG How about some
Spotted Dick for dessert?
@chienfou @ybmuG love toad in the hole!
Fancy a shag?
Surprised “septic” and “Sherman” not mentioned…
/Sorry.
@OnionSoup That’s because none of us ever caught on to the meaning. Too subtle, maybe?
Many decades ago, on a military exercise with the SAS, I discovered that a “dog’s breakfast” was a total cock-up, but a “dog’s danglies” were the best. I’m still confused.
@rockblossom yeah, can’t explain what’s so good about dogs’ bollocks.
I’ve always had female dogs, maybe I need a boy dog to see what’s so good about them.
Spotted Dick. Most revolting name ever for a dessert.
@brasscupcakes
Yep, already proposed that for dessert above, after the bangers and mash.
@brasscupcakes I’ve heard that “dick” in this instance is derived from an older word for “dough”, and the old usage persisted for this specific item; it’s definitely the case that this was “spotted dick” long before “dick” got its current slang meaning.
“Surgery” is a doctor’s office.
An operating room is a “theater”.
What about smoking a fag?