Phrases with different meaning depending on geographic location

r3nu4l

Unusual one here. I was out in a pub a while back sitting with some people I know and a couple of friends of theirs. Anyway, two of the guys I didn't know were talking about their childhood and one of them said quite casually to the other:

"Oh when we were kids you were always tea-bagging me every winter" :eek:

Now apparently in certain parts of the North of England "Tea-bagging" refers to the act of holding someone down and...filling their pockets with snow!

On the other hand the look on my face confused them as they felt tea-bagging was the way to go between friends. Thankfully another friend of mine knew both definitions and explained to us all where the confusion lay. Red-faces all round then.

Anyone else ever have any bizarre experiences like this?

Donegal Lass

if you say shift in the North they think you are a slut!:D copped onto that pretty quickly!!

Also Savage at home means something thats not really nice/offensive! as in the weather is savage (bad) today!

But in Galway i find that people are using it the other way about...as in the weather is savage (good) today!

Me gets confused!:(

humanji

In Cork, "I will, yeah" means "I won't"

Confused the hell out of me when people jsut weren't doing what they had just said they would!

Of getting pissed here means getting drunk, but in the states it usually means getting angry.

GreenHell

Goull, spelling? Anyway, apparently this has different meaning up the country, down in Cork I have always believed it meant that said person was a fool. Acting the goull, for example.

cornbb

Ha, I always thought ghoul (pronounced "gowl") was a Limerick thing. Brilliant word though.

DarkJager

Just like in the US, they describe something thats good as being "the sh1t"?? And yes gowl is a limerick word used by the "feens"..

Black Swan

After eating too much, an American might lean back feeling his full belly and say, "I feel stuffed!"

5starpool

I had a conversation about a phrase that was used once by an Aussie guy once. He was telling me he was late for work as he 'just about' caught the train, which confused me. As far as I was concerned if he just about caught it there was no problem and should have been on time, but he insisted, and got backup from his Aussies friends, that 'just about' meant nearly doing something but not quite, where as in this part of the world it meant you did do it, but just in time.

Made for a good heated pub discussion I tell ya. And yes, gowl is definitely a limerick thing and is in no way complementary. Can also be used to call someone a gowlbag.

biko

"I'm full" in Ireland means I have had a lot of food.
"I'm full" in Sweden means I have a lot of drink taken.

_blank_

I know a Waterford lad who uses gowl. Great word tbh.

Ya gowl ya.

Stop acting the gowl.

Ha!

Marksie

seansouth wrote:

I know a Waterford lad who uses gowl. Great word tbh.

Ya gowl ya.

Stop acting the gowl.

Ha!

have you ever heard of Diamaid O'Muirithe, he has several books out: "the words we use" etc.

he goes into all the local words from ireland and the UK and their origin.

It can be interesting:
in my home town of wigan we call baps: Barmcakes, but this title is also linked to the word Barmy meaning mad.

The root origin is Barm: and is olde english describing the yeasty froth following fermentation.

I do recall "Gowl" being in the book

hullaballoo

"I am hot" means that I'm feeling the heat in Ireland.

In Spain, the direct translation has slightly different intonations.

You'll have to excuse my spelling here, I never learnt Spanish formally (obviously):
"I am hot" = "Soy" [I am] "caliente(s?)" [hot] (literally), but:
"Soy caliente(s?)" means you're horny.

If you want to talk about the fact that the temperature is high, you have to say "tengo calor".

_blank_

marksuttonie wrote:

have you ever heard of Diamaid O'Muirithe, he has several books out: "the words we use" etc.

he goes into all the local words from ireland and the UK and their origin.

It can be interesting:
in my home town of wigan we call baps: Barmcakes, but this title is also linked to the word Barmy meaning mad.

The root origin is Barm: and is olde english describing the yeasty froth following fermentation.

I do recall "Gowl" being in the book

Very interesting, and I wouldn't mind getting my hands on that book either.

Terry

seansouth wrote:

Very interesting, and I wouldn't mind getting my hands on that book either.

http://www.allbookstores.com/book/1851824669/Diarmaid_O_Muirithe/Words_We_Use.html

Ryaller

"Can I bum a fag?" mightn't always get you a free cigarette.

_blank_

Terry wrote:

http://www.allbookstores.com/book/1851824669/Diarmaid_O_Muirithe/Words_We_Use.html

Ah thanks a million Terry.

jor el

5starpool wrote:

I had a conversation about a phrase that was used once by an Aussie guy once. He was telling me he was late for work as he 'just about' caught the train, which confused me. As far as I was concerned if he just about caught it there was no problem and should have been on time, but he insisted, and got backup from his Aussies friends, that 'just about' meant nearly doing something but not quite, where as in this part of the world it meant you did do it, but just in time.

I'd be with the Aussies on that one too, 'just about' means you're not quite there yet. 'Only just' would mean you barely made it alright.

If you're a smoker and in America, don't mention to your American friends that you're just heading out to get fags. They'll think you're after some rent boys or something.

I've always found that Savage can mean good and bad, depending on what you're talking about.

Finally, what's Tea Bagging? I've never heard this expression

r3nu4l

seansouth wrote:

Ah thanks a million Terry.

A few weeks ago, on my computer, the phrase 'Ah thanks a million Terry' meant 'Ah thanks a million julep'.

r3nu4l

jor el wrote:

Finally, what's Tea Bagging? I've never heard this expression

Ahem!

Terry

hehe.

I'm waiting for jor el to come back after finding out what tea bagging means.

humanji

And look up tea-gagging after that! :eek:

Donegal Lass

Rofl!!!:D

DarkJager

Tea-bagging: such a quality phrase!!!

coyote6

In certain the US "tuning someone up" means giving them a beating.

"Shut your suck" means, obviously "Shut your mouth".

And the word Bitch can mean many different things depending on inflection or emphasis: "Beeeaatch"etc.

Unpossible

I've had to explain "How's it going" a number of times recently

damiennolan

seansouth wrote:

I know a Waterford lad who uses gowl. Great word tbh.

Ya gowl ya.

Stop acting the gowl.

Ha!

In Dublin I've heard people use the word "gowl" to refer to a ladies private parts.

e.g. "I wouldn't mind tearing the gowl off her"

shane86

cornbb wrote:

Ha, I always thought ghoul (pronounced "gowl") was a Limerick thing. Brilliant word though.

In Cavan its another word for a womans.....well, Im in work so I shant say

I tought savage meant good all over Ireland. Thats the great thing about the Irish version of English, we can completely baffle fluent English speaking foreigners My mate went out with an American, we used to take joy in deliberately baffling them the whole time

(infront of them)

"So, how did the weekend go?"

(must be said at 80 mph)"Oh jaysus, pure rapid. We were out Friday night pure locked outta the bin, on the floor givin it socks tryna get stuck into this young one, yid have pure lashed it outa her nahmeanlike. Rob was tryna get stuck into this other one but her mate kept pure wreckin his head....."

cue the Americans with a look theyd give if they had been listening to some obscure Asian dialect.

_blank_

I've only ever known it to mean that.

Ladies private parts?

WTF is wrong with Vagina?

themole

Ryaller wrote:

"Can I bum a fag?" mightn't always get you a free cigarette.

Indeed, a guy my brother knows used that very phrase in the US and got a hiding for his troubles.

This site may interest people here.

A a quick search for gowl gives:

1. gowl

female genitalia.

mikedragon32

In Oz a "spunk" is a good looking guy...

jester77

themole wrote:

Indeed, a guy my brother knows used that very phrase in the US and got a hiding for his troubles.

This site may interest people here.

A a quick search for gowl gives:

Speaking of genitalia, the Americans have gotten the meaning of fanny all backwards!

Overheal

Groceries <-> Messages....wtf?

In America, people put the word 'like' preferably at the start of a sentence, like. Whereas like in Ireland I've gotten accustomed to putting 'like' at the end of my sentences.

Also, when an American says "Drive on the right side of the road" he means it.

Sam Vimes

in australia, flips flops are called thongs. when my 16 year old australian cousin was over she said she was going upstairs to put her thongs on.

i was thinking to myself "why are you telling me this and why are you putting on two of them"

threebeards

biko wrote:

"I'm full" in Sweden means I have a lot of drink taken.

Strange, in Mayo (or at least in Castlebar) "I'm full" regularly means exactly what it does in Sweden!! Just to clarify, the full phrase (pun very much intended ) is "I'm/He's/She's full to the gills"

Ah yes, Castlebar, the Sweden of Ireland

Sofaspud

Then, of course, we have this lovely young English rapper.

http://www.geebag.co.uk/

I showed this to some English people, and they found it hilarious only after I explained to them what Gee meant in Ireland.

maxi-twist

I asked for a rubber in america and got a condom.....Its an "eraser" over there..

:|

Commander Vimes wrote:

in australia, flips flops are called thongs. when my 16 year old australian cousin was over she said she was going upstairs to put her thongs on.

i was thinking to myself "why are you telling me this and why are you putting on two of them"

Aussie doctor: now just take off you thong and i'll have a look
Me::eek:

Sofaspud wrote:

Then, of course, we have this lovely young English rapper.

http://www.geebag.co.uk/

I showed this to some English people, and they found it hilarious only after I explained to them what Gee meant in Ireland.

Thats hilarious, i always call people geebags

The Hill Billy

There's also the very versatile "craic".

"Any craic lads?" will get you a different respose from a bunch of homies in the Lower East Side than it will from your mates in your local boozer.

As would "Jaysus I'm gasping for a fag!"

Fwaggle

In Scotland if we didn't go to school (6 years ago) we would call it "dogging". Not so much now though

Overheal

Hill Billy wrote:

There's also the very versatile "craic".

"Any craic lads?" will get you a different respose from a bunch of homies in the Lower East Side than it will from your mates in your local boozer.

Yea my mom loves hearing that one when I come to visit :cool:

Marksie

seansouth wrote:

Very interesting, and I wouldn't mind getting my hands on that book either.

http://www.kennys.ie/Search_Results.aspx?profile=Books&view=single&barcode=1851824669

its vol. 3

I think he writes or wrote for the irish times and these are a compilation of those.

i guess any of the good bookshops in dublin will have em all, but this gives yu the isbn and an idea which section to look in

jor el

Terry wrote:

hehe.

I'm waiting for jor el to come back after finding out what tea bagging means.

I was afraid to Google it or follow the link as everything here is blocked and logged when you attempt to access it. Now that I've checked it though I'm glad I didn't look it up at work :eek:

Since someone else mentioned fanny, does anyone know why the yanks think fanny means ar$e? How the hell did that happen?

Kojak

maxi-twist wrote:

I asked for a rubber in america and got a condom.....Its an "eraser" over there..

That's a good one

r3nu4l

Speaking of rubbers...

I had a friend from Oz who referred to an eraser as a 'todger'. For the first week or two in school he'd be asking the guys around:

'Mate, can I borrow your todger, I don't have one?'

He stopped pretty quickly!

I've met other Australians who don't say 'todger' for eraser, so it must have been a very local phrase

greine

A good friend of mine worked in chicago as a carer to an old lady for a while. On her first day she brought the old lady's breakfast on a tray into the bedroom. She managed to open the door with the tray but on entering she was unable to close the door while holding the tray. She was nervous about making a good impression. The old lady noticing my friend's difficulty, shouted across the room to her "hey, girl, just close it with your fanny!", so a little bit bemused, that's exactly what my friend did! With tray in hand she tried desperately to make contact with the door with her fanny and after many attempts succeeded, only to turn around at a very confused old lady! The old lady wanted her to close the door with her behind!:D

emeraldstar

jor el wrote:

I'd be with the Aussies on that one too, 'just about' means you're not quite there yet. 'Only just' would mean you barely made it alright.

agreed

blahhh

Dyke (ireland) - Huge puddle thing in a field
Dyke (america) - Lesbian

My Irish friend telling a story to an american friend, as follows..

"So we were in this huge field running from the guards, and there were dykes everywhere, and loads of people fell in them, I just jumped over them"

So funny watching the american fellas face....one of sheer confusion

Overheal

Overheal wrote:

Groceries <-> Messages....wtf?

I use that, and in my experience it's mainly an inner city thing.

I'd be with the Irish version of the "just about" e.g.

Her: "Is it in yet?"
Me: ".......just about"



On a similar note, I worked with a girl from Sligo and she once said "he won €2000, sure that's not even a weeks wages!!!" .................meaning,.........
"We earn less than 2000 a week and he has won more than that"

Had a lovely argument over that one. Also, in Derry, "Deadly" means the complete opposite to what it means in Dublin.

Catari Jaguar

Girls in college were arguing over the meaning of beat as in "bet" or "bate" and which meant what, like it means to win, but in town it's to beat up, or to be "bet into" someone you fancy them...

Irish people always say "I'm after doin such n such"... There's not need for the "after" part and it doesn't really make sense. It just comes from tar eis in Gaeilge.

Does anyone here use the expression "I didn't use to" instead of " I used to not"? My dad reckons it's a London expression I picked up.

tolosenc

50 post till someone mentions "to do be", eg "I do be goin' there..."

Foreigners just don't get that one...

ballroom blitz

what about usen't to?