Global Lingo Thread

[nun2sharp]

concerning JMS post about jimbos character, that was just too damn good!

[Bruno]

I haven't made much of those mistakes yet, because much of my vocabulary comes from books, and those are generally not written in slang. If anything, my English friends tell me that my grasp of the language is better and more correct than theirs.

But I've worked closely with several English (and one irish) colleagues, and among those nationalities it is considered a sign of friendship or closeness to call each other git / swine / bastard /...
At least among those I worked with.
It was perfectly acceptable for me to say something like 'Good morning, you English swine, now sod off so I can get a cup of coffee'.
If people you know are suddenly polite to you otoh, that's a sign that something is going on and they are distancing themselves from you.

I've also worked with Americans, and they are generally very sensitive about these things.
Whenever I move between work environments (English <-> American) I have to mentally change gears in order to blend in. In the normal interaction with close colleagues, the things that are almost expected among the English are offensive to the Americans and vice versa.

[cako72]

Bruno, You a fan of Terry Pratchett, i suppose?

At least your signature looks like it!

Sorry, slightly .....

The Swedish direct translation to english for a "rare steak" is "a bloody steak", could cause some rised eyebrows in an English restaurant....and an American too, i suppose...Hehe!


Clas

[Bruno]

Yup. I own everything discworld related except the latest versions of the discworld companion. It gets updated every couple of years, but they are not that useful or interesting. And if you have all the books, then the companion is redundant so I only bought the first one.

I re-read them every now and again, too. Some I've read 7 or 8 times.

[Quick Orange]

Bruno, You a fan of Terry Pratchett, i suppose?

At least your signature looks like it!

Sorry, slightly .....

The Swedish direct translation to english for a "rare steak" is "a bloody steak", could cause some rised eyebrows in an English restaurant....and an American too, i suppose...Hehe!


Clas

No raised eyebrows here. If you order it bloody, they know you mean rare. Bloody here doesn't carry the same weight as in the UK. It's one of those "cute" English sayings

[Bruno]

Just give me the bloody steak

[Wildtim]

No raised eyebrows here. If you order it bloody, they know you mean rare. Bloody here doesn't carry the same weight as in the UK. It's one of those "cute" English sayings

I don't know about that, there used to be a guy I knew that ordered his steak "bloody" He'd say:

"I want it bloody, just introduce it to the grill if they get to cozy I'll send it back!"

He was a Texan and he meant it too! He liked his steak warm and pink on the outside with the faintest hint of sear, no more, and if it Mooed when he stuck a fork in it all the better! There are probably some good surgeons who could re-attach what he called perfectly edible.

To me thats what a "bloody" steak is.

[Silver]

I don't know about that, there used to be a guy I knew that ordered his steak "bloody" He'd say:

"I want it bloody, just introduce it to the grill if they get to cozy I'll send it back!"

He was a Texan and he meant it too! He liked his steak warm and pink on the outside with the faintest hint of sear, no more, and if it Mooed when he stuck a fork in it all the better! There are probably some good surgeons who could re-attach what he called perfectly edible.

To me thats what a "bloody" steak is.

Well now, that would be known as a Blue steak over here. If you asked for a bloody steak you would probably be told not to be so rude.

[poona]

Woofter in Northern Ireland means a 'Gay boy' or homosexual. It's not widely used anymore but that's how it would be perceived here.