Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
I wish I were British...
- Thread starter Kwesi
- Start date
This Yank says "brilliant," and I'm fond of "bloody hell," and "damn your hide" as well. And "wanker" seems to be popular with a lot of Americans. It expresses so much with far fewer syllables, the hallmark of all good curse words.
I guess "bloody hell" is not as offensive as it used to be.
Without using one of the seven words you can't say on TV, what's a modern Brit slang that makes the old ladys' hair stand on end?
I guess "bloody hell" is not as offensive as it used to be.
Without using one of the seven words you can't say on TV, what's a modern Brit slang that makes the old ladys' hair stand on end?
A few Indian terms made the journey our way as well...That really shows how much of a British influence there is on the way we speak English in India. We use all those non-bracketed words you mentioned (rather than the bracketed ones)
Pukka, Char (or Chai {or is that Chinese?}), Khaki (from which we also get 'Cack'), Mem-Sahb (The Mrs), & doubtless others that escape me at the moment.
While I've got you, any idea what the phrase "the Pani is Tik-Hai" might mean? The literal translation comes across as "the water is excellent" but I suspect it has a general colloquial meaning.
Oh & Marmite. Hard to explain, but once you've got the taste for it, you're hooked. Hot buttered toast & Marmite....
Bread - check,
Butter - positive,
... I'm just nipping to the Shop - anyone want anything?
Pete.
So what is Marmite? What do you do with it? What do you eat it with?
1. Yeast extract. Yeast is mixed with salt and that causes the cells to explode. The result of the cell's brutal demise is marmite.
2. You eat it.
3. You eat it with toast or other bread products
I think Vegemite is the same thing as marmite.
No we do NOT all talk with really posh accents (I find that stereotype really funny).
We are not all educated and cultured, playing cricket and eating cucumber sandwiches...it was great to go to America and exploit that stereotype though...
I would n't under estimate the Indian influence either.
A few more Indian words that have crept in to the English Language....
Pyjama, Bungalow, Paisley....
I like marmite on Chappati's (Indian bread).
I have tried Vegimite and marmite next to each other - they are essentially the same thing but vegimite is a little more salty.
I would n't under estimate the Indian influence either.
A few more Indian words that have crept in to the English Language....
Pyjama, Bungalow, Paisley....
I like marmite on Chappati's (Indian bread).
I have tried Vegimite and marmite next to each other - they are essentially the same thing but vegimite is a little more salty.
The folks in the Guinness commercial are Irish and that is not British, so c'mon Kwesi make up your mind? 
Interestingly the English are more likely to use 'lovely' in place of brilliant and the Scots, (who are British btw!) particularly in Glasgow prefer 'Magic', quite often prefaced by 'pure'!
Interestingly the English are more likely to use 'lovely' in place of brilliant and the Scots, (who are British btw!) particularly in Glasgow prefer 'Magic', quite often prefaced by 'pure'!
Paisley is a town in Scotland, that's been called that since at least the 6th century. The name itself is thought to have come from the ancient Britons, most likely the Picts.
The link with Paisley and India is that in the 19th century, at the height of the British Commonwealth's presences in India, and industrial revolution Paisley was a mill town (it had three, run by the Coats family). At that time women's shawls were a popular fashion item and the cotton mills in Paisley made many of these. One of the popular designs they used came from India/Persia, the droplet shape that today is known as the 'Paisley Pattern' named after the town where the shawls were produced.
(Yes, I'm from Paisley!)
Howay the Toon mon! Aheid ah tha Scouse, like! Andy Carroll is my God!
And on to that whole piece about accents, I'm sure you Americans may not find a girl with a thick Brummie or West Country accent quite as appealing as a Home Counties one.
Benjamin Strange
Commercial User
- Dec 25, 2002
- 9,737
- 310
- 49
- Disclosures
- Owner / Tech: Strange Guitarworks
You don't have to be British to say naff stuff like that - American hipsters say it all the time, along with other gems like "cheers".
Chai is the ubiquitous word for tea in India, though I think the word has Chinese roots.
And "the Pani is Tik-Hai"? LOL!!! Made me crack up!
You're right about the translation, 'pani' means water 'thik hai' means 'is alright'. This specific phrase, though, does not have any unique colloquial connotations; or none that I know of, at any rate. A funny thing I see is that if I turn the British English spell checker on in Chrome, it points out the word "movie" as a spelling mistake
So what is Marmite? What do you do with it? What do you eat it with?
It really needs to be experienced... I don't think it can be described without calling it "weird black paste".
A lot of people I know absolutely hate it but I love it. It's great mixed with butter and spread on toast, with butter in sandwiches...
Oh, and it's amazing in cheese sandwiches!
And by culture I mean chicks with British accents
Funny how we're both from Tennessee, though!
What ones? The UK has soooo many accents!
Marmite is made with what's left of the yeast after the brewers have made beer with it. And Marmite IS great on cheese sandwiches, yes. Or on toast. Or as a flavouring additive in some soups, stews, sauces. A tiny dab of Marmite can work wonders in a Bloody Mary made in a cocktail shaker.
Vegemite is also yeast extract but I find it has a distinctly different flavour to Marmite and I don't really like it.
Bovril (beef extract) is absolutely delicious. Both Bovril and Marmite are essential ingredients in my kitchen. Mmmm, Bovril amd tomato sandwich...
Vegemite is also yeast extract but I find it has a distinctly different flavour to Marmite and I don't really like it.
Bovril (beef extract) is absolutely delicious. Both Bovril and Marmite are essential ingredients in my kitchen. Mmmm, Bovril amd tomato sandwich...
I was watching a show on the discovery channel the other day, and they were talking about the construction of the swimming facility in London for the Olympics, and they had to subtitle the workers they were interviewing, their accents were so bad.
Some of you bastards speak another language over there.
Some of you bastards speak another language over there.
They may have been Polish Slo, there's a lot of it about.
What usually happens is, the BBC send a crew down from Broadcasting House in London to do a regional interview, usually because a hedgehog got runover or something. As soon as they arrive in town and are safe from the prying eyes of the BBC bod's, they hit the nearest pub and start knocking them back, this continues until they realise they have to head back to The Big Smoke with some kind of work.
They then look around the pub and pick out the old fella in the corner who's so p****d he can't say his own name properly, they interview him instead. They get the receipts from the bar, put the session down to company expenses and get the flock out of there. Then you see it on T.V. and thereby we are collectively defined as a bunch of old soaks with decent betting tips ; )
Nah, these guys were wearing hard hats and standing upright at a job site. I could make out a word or two here and there if I read ahead and listened for it, but other wise, Damn.
I've met Americans whose accents were almost totally incomprehensible to me.
I guess we all think or our own version as being "unaccented", but the reality is everyone has their own vowels. And with US accents, just like with some accents over here, some sound pleasant to my ears and some sound bloody awful. It's a real trial to listen to some of them.
The way some of you guys pronounce the word "and" is particularly objectionable. "Eeianed..." And on the consonants front, why do you all pronounce "t" as "d" in words like "little" and "attitude"?
