Bisky's Twitterling's Scribbles! discussion

Having just published a book which is soaked in the British vernacular but like everything else will be available across the pond, I wonder if we are still two nations divided by a common tongue? Just offer a word or a phrase and say if it's of UK or US origin. Then maybe someone from the other side can suggest a meaning.

Here's a word and a phrase (UK) that I like. Anyone US want to define them?

1. gobsmacked
2. 'I go to the foot of our stairs'.

I defined 'gob' on here once before.

But they don't say the foot of the stairs in the US? Do you not say 'foot of the mountain' either?

"blow my conk" is one phrase my Viking particularly enjoys.

I think this is going to vary by age group as well.

My father and I have been watching episodes of Are You Being Served, and often come across phrases we don't understand, but the dry humor is hilarious ! Captain Peacock is THE MAN !

I don't know about the foot of the stairs in the USA I'd have to ask the hubby, but I'm definitely familiar with the expression ( from Canada).
But gobsmacked I'm not sure what it could be, and if Bisky mentioned it, I already forgot.

Isn't gobsmacked a hit in the mouth ?

Hit in the mouth figuratively. As in totally stunned.

Born and raised in the US I've only heard the bottom of the staircase referred to as the foot of the stairs. I'm guessing the phrase has more meaning in the UK?

Augustin, yeah, I've always heard "foot of the stairs." I grew up in TX and have lived in lots of places around the USA & the world. Seems like a common phrase all over the English-speaking world. Further "gob" talk - gob is the mouth as in "Shut your gob," but gobsmacked I've only seen used as stunned.

I go to the foot of our stairs - I can only guess at its obscure origins but it seems to be a Northern English expression of amazement. 'Gobsmacked' means astounded. So who has an obscure US word or expression I can guess at?

Mark wrote: "My father and I have been watching episodes of Are You Being Served, and often come across phrases we don't understand, but the dry humor is hilarious ! Captain Peacock is THE MAN !"

Not seen that for a long time. I want t catch a US series now being shown here called Parks and Recreation - great reviews.

It's a little warped but good.

Parks & Recreation, that is! =) Don't get that "foot of our stairs" thing. Lived in England 4 yrs & frolicked in Hampshire & Berkshire - never heard it. Funny saying!

I think it would be peculiar to the North And to a certain class of people

'a certain class of people'? :/

Yes indeed. Class would have been a key decider of how people spoke and the expressions they employed. I'm thinking of people with their own houses but who still enjoy a gossip, whatever class that would have been a few decades ago, when the saying might have been more in currency?

Ok so what does I go to the foot of our stairs mean exactly? :P

It expressed mild astonishment but I can't think why.

Oh maybe because you're so astonished that you tumbled down the steps?

Don't think so..,the foot of the stairs would be close to the front door in aller houses. Maybe there is something in that but the expression has long puzzled me

Well now it puzzles me also. :P

Well, this wasn't what I thought it meant. I googled it and it comes from the North of England apparently lol

Hehe GG that would've been my guess too.

I'm learning things :3 lol

It's weird I haven't really noticed any expressions in the US that's different, but that's prob bc I live here xp I will have to think about it and get back to y'all.

My best friend is from NC and we skype all the time but her afternoon is late night for me. She called me and first thing I said was:

"I'm soooo pissed."

And she sat staring at me like :s for a few minutes trying to figure out what she had done.

Since pissed in the UK is drunk, we add an 'off' to make it irritation :p We have similar words but they vary. (Yes. I am an angry drunk)

I wonder if you have as many linguistic deviations as we do? Is there more plainness of speech there while we hide our meanings with irony and other devices?

They do, you can see in films xP

@BIsky Aaaaahhaaaaa lol that's hilarious. My friend says that a lot, now that I think about it. Sometimes, rarely, you hear 'piss-drunk'.
And yeah, those damn LA vloggers >> lol

I mean I know a lot of lingo that's different, but I still have to think about like phrases and expressions. It's gonna drive me nuts all day 'till I think about it haha

When I went to UK when I was little I asked for a "soda" and got soda water lol, I should've asked for a "coke" I learned. When I was a Server, I asked a family from the UK if they wanted "fries or fruit" with their food and they looked at me like ._. until I said, "Oh, I mean 'chips'" lol

Other lingo (UK-US):

Crisps-chips
loli-sucker
Ice loli-popscicle
tube-train/subway
grotty-gross
Garage (Gair-age)-Garage (Graw-ge)

Here's some expressions, but they're mostly lame from the top of my head xp I don't know how many of these are universal lol

'It's soup'
'Start off on the right foot'
'Make it rain'
'Rome wasn't built in a day'
'The fog has lifted'
'The sun doesn't revolve around you'
'flip the bird' lol
'barking up the wrong tree'
'big fish in a small pond'
'jump the gun'
'that's all she wrote'
'He wants his cake and eat it too'
'slice of the pie'
'curiosity killed the cat'
'Do as I say, not as I do'
"If it aint broke, don't fix it'
'What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas' ;)
'You made your bed, now it's time to lie in it'

I think it might have been the fruit part that was confusing ._. fries or fruit? You can order fruit instead of fries?

Hah :p My Viking grew up with Americanisms so when we first moved intogether we got our wires crossed alot.

"I'm going to take off my pants when we get there."
".___. Why?!"

I know the Scandiavians are known for their nudist tendencies but sheesh :p

One thing I did learn while my US friend was here is that the 'collar plucking' as in, get your collar plucking hands off, was actually pronouced 'cotton picking'

My mum was horrified. Stupid Tom and Jerry (where she thinks she heard it)! lol

Hahaha aww that's adorable. Good ol' Tom and Jerry lol

Also the pronounciation of the word twat in Boardwalk Empire has been absolutely fascinating to me lol

I must be living in a bubble... wait... I am living in a bubble... the only people I talk to are on the internet so... but anyway, I've never heard anyone ever say that they would remove their pants once they would get somewhere. I know that in my mind, wearing the pants is equal as to be the man of the house but why would someone remove them when visiting?!!?

Canada is much like UK.. we don't ask (or at least French Canadian don't) for soda, we ask for coke/pepsi or sometimes a word we use is liqueur... which I know is wrong because a liquor is an alcoholic beverage.

Some expressions I know but I've never heard in the USA so probably Canadian...
Pea soup (someone who is afraid of everything)
Newfie (a stupid person)
Frog (French Canadian)
Bloke/square head (I presume because of misspelling bloke for block?) (Any English speaking person)

Fruit instead of fries: I know some fast food restaurant such as McDonald now offer that choice.

GG maybe the rest of the world is living in a bubble and the internet…isn't a bubble…yeah we'll go with that ;D

Ive never heard of Newfie lol But the Pea one reminded me of 'Two peas in a pod'

Bisky wrote: "Also the pronounciation of the word twat in Boardwalk Empire has been absolutely fascinating to me lol"

I missed that. Really? I thought that one was the sole property of the UK. But now I think, with TV and film common to both there must be a healthy exchange and adoption of each other's terminology. American usages have been common here since the age of cinema I guess (think) but it's always amusing to see a British usage used there.

Reminds me that my first novel of years ago was set mostly in the 19th century US and to get the lingo I reread Huck Finn and others and tried to carry on in that vein.It worked for me but I never heard how convinced Americans were.

G.G. wrote: "I must be living in a bubble... wait... I am living in a bubble... the only people I talk to are on the internet so... but anyway, I've never heard anyone ever say that they would remove their pan..."
Pea soup is an old term for thick fog here. Newfie, A canadian friend says is someone from Newfoundland and frog is a mildly derogatory term for the French here too - maybe the equivalent of their 'rosbifs' for us.

Ops... been living with English people for too long... :P Erase Pea soup... it's rather the French word Pissou which comes from pisser (to piss) so it makes more sense... when you're scared you pee your pants... thus pissou... NOT pea soup /blush lol

buahaha love it ^^

Now I'm trying to think of americanisms, but the only ones I can think of are crude slang from rap music.

Hahaha, Nicole posted a brilliant Kanye West post on her Google+ That guy has no redeeming qualities.

Ha - I'm so behind on slang and such, I have to use the Urban Dictionary when writing most of my dialogue. And of course, now that I'm trying to think of it, the only American slang that comes to mind is "pissed" which means "mad" - not drunk.

Haha Yeah that was just awful xp I just can't…there are no words lol

What an insightful conversation. There are so many differences it is amazing. The whole having your weight unit as a stone always blows my mind. When I first heard of this we my friend and I was incredulous that people would do such a thing. However by the end we were ready to believe that they used pebbles for more accuracy. Lol

I used 'I lie back and think of England' on p 1 of new bk without knowing its provenance, which I have just looked up. It's from 1912 and quite using but possibly not for discussion here.

ROFL...lovin this discussion :-)
One phrase my sis came out with recently: "it's wild and woolly".
This is a northern England term, and her southern hubby laughed his head off when he heard it.
Before I explain it... Any guesses? :3

Does it involve sheep at al?

I remember Hermione in Harry Potter saying that Divination was a bit woolly? Didnt really understand it exactly but I got the gist. Probably means something like unreliable?

Doesn't it mean sort of rowdily exciting? Does seem like sheep should have something to do with it.

Woolly sounds like an area undefined.. Off the map maybe?

There's a small town near where I live in WA called Sedro Woolley. (The second "l" is not a typo.) It once was 2 little towns & when they combined, couldn't decide on a name so just used both

Interesting, but not just for that. Doesn't 'wild and woolly' describe the remoter sheep country of parts of Australia? (My knowledge of Aus
tralia is entirely derived from episodes of Neighbours and the novels of Patrick White)

Ha ha ... No sheep at all :-) it describes wet, foggy and windy weather. It has its origins in the American frontier...meaning rough and untamed. The phrase has come to have a number of meanings depending on local usage. Trust the Brits to link it to the weather - lol :3
Wooly in HP re divination refers to unclear and imprecise...a bit like the word by the looks of things! :D

Than you - that all sounds right!