Lost in Translation--US vs UK English words

**Rob** · 29th November 09, 02:58 PM

US: I could care less.
UK: I couldn't care less.

I think the UK version is gramatically more correct for the implied meaning.

**WClarkB** · 29th November 09, 03:36 PM

USA: "I'll come come by and see if you are ready to go in the morning"
UK: "I come 'round and knock you up in the morning"

**KiltedCapt** · 29th November 09, 05:43 PM

Originally Posted by Rob

US: I could care less.
UK: I couldn't care less.

I think the UK version is gramatically more correct for the implied meaning.

Not really a "UK" or "US" thing as I've heard both nations say it both ways...

The grammatically correct way is of course "I couldn't care less"

One I always have to "think" about since moving to the states is "eraser" when I really just want to ask for a rubber.

Used to really crack my wife up...

**sydnie7** · 29th November 09, 06:11 PM

Another one that can get you in trouble:

UK - paraffin (a fuel oil), US - kerosene
In US, paraffin is general term for a white waxy stuff that my mother and aunts would use to seal the top of canned goods. Not sure what they call that application in UK.

I had a newbie technical writer working on motorcycle maintenance instructions who was brought up short by the (IIRC) Norton instructions to "clean the chain in paraffin" LOL

**ForresterModern** · 30th November 09, 07:29 AM

Originally Posted by sydnie7

Another one that can get you in trouble:

UK - paraffin (a fuel oil), US - kerosene
In US, paraffin is general term for a white waxy stuff that my mother and aunts would use to seal the top of canned goods. Not sure what they call that application in UK.

I had a newbie technical writer working on motorcycle maintenance instructions who was brought up short by the (IIRC) Norton instructions to "clean the chain in paraffin" LOL

As a cycling mechanic, I can see that working in two ways. In UK speak, paraffin/kerosene is a good solvent for cleaning greasy parts, which I presume is the original intention. However, in the US speak, actually chains (particularly bicycle chains), often work far more smoothly (after cleaning) once they have been dipped in melted paraffin wax for a few minutes, then wiped dry. The wax permeates and lubricates and waterproofs all the small moving parts of the chain. I know off road cycling mechanics who swear by it for particularly wet conditions.

jeff

**O'Callaghan** · 30th November 09, 07:45 AM

Originally Posted by ###KILTEDKIWI###

Kiwi ism's (not hijacking, promise)

"Knock off time" - to finish work. (not a gang hit)(for the above quote)

"Kick her in the guts" - press the start button.

"She'll be right mate" - quite possibly, this may or may not be the single greatest disaster produced by man kind.

"What could possibly go wrong?" - certain calamity and imminent death.

"Bugger" - it appears my arm has fallen off.

"Chur" - bstardised version of "Cheers", can be positive or negative depending on the situation.

"just up the road, or just around the corner" - between 100 mtrs and 160 Km's away.

"A 2 and a 4" - 24 pack of beers

Back to the topic UK - US

We use all three also,

Pssed / pssed as - drunk
pssed off - angry
To pss off, or pss off home - to leave.

oh and the ever famous

"he got the living pss kicked out of him" (copped a hiding in a scrap)
"Are you pulling the pss?" (are you having a laugh at my expense)

and that leads to...

"He pulls pss for a living" - his chosen occupation is a bartender or publican
"lets go and get us some pss" - shall we have a quiet drink? (1 -24 beers)
"lets get on the pss" (we shall not be able to feel our faces due to the volume of alcoholic units consumed)
"that scared the pss out of me" - (gave me a fright)

That's a much more complete list. In general, though, if you want to tell someone to go away and wish to be offensive, you could tell them to p*ss off, b*gg*r off, f*ck off, s*d off, and probably other swear words followed by 'off' that don't come to mind right now. (Just thought of another one - bog off was originally coined by the TV series The Dustbinmen to use instead of a 'real' swear word, and ultimately became real in it's own right). That's looking at it from the perspective of the British Isles, and I'm not sure how many of them would find common usage in the US, but certainly not all of them.

I think all of them would get used in Ireland (both sides of the border), although the Irish often bowlderise the F word as feck, whereas the English equivalent (in as much as there is one) is fudge. Feck sounds a lot more forceful, though.

It's funny how any discussion of language differences drifts onto the subject of cussing sooner or later.

**O'Callaghan** · 30th November 09, 07:54 AM

Dragging the thread back out of the gutter, there are a lot of regional variations within countries that complicate this issue. For example, in the British Isles a single storey house is called a bungalow (a word borrowed from India), and in various different parts of the US it is called a ranch, a rambler (in the South) or in fact a bungalow (in California), but some California bungalows have an upstairs ...

**sydnie7** · 30th November 09, 08:23 AM

I've been keeping up with the post and don't recall seeing

petrol. . . gas or gasoline

**Rob** · 30th November 09, 01:14 PM

Originally Posted by KiltedCapt

Not really a "UK" or "US" thing as I've heard both nations say it both ways...

The grammatically correct way is of course "I couldn't care less"

I must admit I have never heard anyone in the UK say: "I could care less", but I have heard it many times in the US and I have seen it written by Americans in forums such as this one.