Agatha_EmApr 9
Adrianna Tan

Just realized that here in London, I can say ‘I took the lift up to my flat after removing the items from the boot’ and people are going to understand me

I also look forward to standing in a queue, and throwing away my rubbish

In the afternoon, I shall have some biscuits

#English #Languages

Apr 9 at 6:21amWeb
Show threadAdrianna TanApr 9

I have caused a lot of confused concern when I’ve told people in the U.S. that I’ve purchased food from a boot

(Trunk of a car..)

Or maybe they’re concerned I’m buying food from random strangers. But mostly the boot thing.

#English #Languages

Show threadAdrianna TanApr 9

British people don’t need to explain your English to me. I grew up in a colony and did my A levels and all :)

In British English literature too!

#English #Languages

Show thread🇨🇦 CowMan 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 🇲🇽Apr 9

@skinnylatte British English is all new fangled now.

Have to go to the farthest flung, most isolated of the old colonies to hear it properly, in all it's proper glory.

I presume it would sound Dutch

Show threadKat SApr 9

@CowMan I grew up in one of those colonies, and subsequently lived in Amsterdam.
It does not, sorry 😸
Amsterdam-accented English does have a charm all its own, though.

And "proper"? Oh dear. It isn't that. :coughs politely:
@skinnylatte

Show thread·J MoppApr 9
@CowMan @skinnylatte So, Bermuda then 😛
Granted, the Bermuda accent is pretty cool because it's like a mix of British, American, and Caribbean
Show threadMike Prior-JonesApr 9

@skinnylatte my (British) Mum came back from a holiday in the US some years ago and said “you know, I’d like to be a US National Park ranger, you get to wear a great hat and say <US accent>’Put your trash in the bearproof dumpsters!’ “

(Mostly she finds this funny because she loved Yogi Bear cartoons!)

Show threadAlex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UKApr 9

@drmikepj @skinnylatte

My Malaysian Chinese dad, living in Reading, SE England, bought a cowboy hat at a country show (on the border of the suburban town and the rural area), and during late 1970s regularly wore it whilst driving his Austin Mini van and listening to Country and Western on a Japanese car radio cassette player (which he had installed himself) 😁

Show threadsport of sacred spherical cowsApr 9

@skinnylatte

There was an old woman whose shop's in a shoe.
She had so much grocery, she didn't know what to do.
She sold out of broth, yet not enough bread;
Then whipped up a frenzy with sale on jam spread.

Show threadJeff SiverApr 9
@skinnylatte many years ago, in a training class, an English man asked the woman next to him if she had a rubber he could use. It caused about five minutes of panic until we figured out he wanted an eraser.
Show threadJuneSim63 💚Apr 9
@skinnylatte
And paying with cash from your purse, which is in your handbag..
Show threadAlexander KnochelApr 9
@skinnylatte I'd rather have my items from a lorry than from some bloke's boot :)
Show threadTim RichardsApr 9
@skinnylatte Make sure you enjoy some crisps
Show threadPaco HopeApr 9

@skinnylatte You will master British English when you can use “piss” in all its many forms.

“Taking a piss” means the same to US and UK speakers. “Taking the piss” is something else entirely. And that’s the sense involved in a “piss take.”

But if someone in the US is “pissed” they are angry. In the UK, they’re drunk. A party with a lot of alcohol is a “piss up,” from which we get the fantastic insult “he’s so dumb he couldn’t organise a piss-up in a brewery”

Two countries separated by a common language. 😜

Show threadAdrianna TanApr 9
@paco I grew up in a British colony and did most of my schoolin in British English. :)
Show threadPaco HopeApr 9
@skinnylatte ah. I misunderstood. I did not, so I don’t call myself a master of British English because I can’t, in fact, use “piss” in all its many forms. I lived in London for a decade. So I’m fluent, but not native. 😜
Show threadMike 🇬🇧 🇪🇺Apr 9
@paco @skinnylatte
Oh piss off!
Is yet another use
Show threadHeatherApr 9
@MikeFromLFE @paco @skinnylatte Plus oh PISS when you do something silly.
Show threadFlipper 🐬🏳️‍🌈Apr 9

@skinnylatte tea with biscuits, I hope.

Also, if someone is being a muppet, just say "gercha".

Show threadJimmyApr 9
@flipper @skinnylatte 🤣
Show threadDeixis9Apr 9
@skinnylatte Half four etc. as a concept of time.
Show threadjensilberApr 9
@Deixis9 This one always trips me up, as an American. Is it half past four, or halfway until four?
Show threadDeixis9Apr 9
@jensilber Half past four..
Show threadMarjorieRApr 9
@Deixis9 @jensilber [UK speaker here] never heard the expression 'halfway until four' but I'd guess it was actually half past three not half past four.
Show threadjensilberApr 9
@marjolica No I don't think I've heard "halfway until four" but we say "20 to four" or "quarter to four," so there is ambiguity!
Show threadMarjorieRApr 9
@jensilber always asking a bit much for any version of English to be consistent.
But obviously (?) in the UK we draw the line at the half hour and switch over to using 'after'.
Show threadjensilberApr 9
@marjolica 😆
Show threadMrinappropriateApr 9
@marjolica @Deixis9 @jensilber I use “ the back of four” to mean anything from 4.01-4.29. My wife - UK born & bred, hates it & says no one knows what it means. Clearly she is wrong.
Show threadDeixis9Apr 9

@MrInappropriate @marjolica @jensilber

'the back of + time seems to be a Scot phrase.

I’d never heard of it either.

Show threadEyeApr 9

@skinnylatte

Being a Brit, this post made me chuckle 😁

Show threadUkeleleEricApr 9
@skinnylatte Don't forget to put your pants on before your trousers...
Show threadIlka 🌐Apr 9
@skinnylatte indeed, I do not understand, I could have biscuits anytime. 🤪🤡
Show threadEd NealApr 9

@skinnylatte You may well know, but just in case: When it comes to transatlantic differences in meaning, beware "fanny".

About half of the UK population do not have one.

(That said, the way the Scots employ it as a tag insult is a masterclass in delivery)

Show threadSimon J AshcroftApr 9

@skinnylatte

There is more than one UK English, as well. I went up the trip earlier.

I walked up the South Welsh hill...

Show threadRay McCarthyApr 9

@skinnylatte
Actual biscuits, not the clone of a Scottish scone the Americans call a biscuit.

Sadly many classics and their makers (Peak Freans?) are gone and other now owned by big multinationals.

So you can read & write English and American!

I'm amazed at Americans that write British setting detective stories without an American protagonist. They get so many things wrong even if they master the spelling and grammar.

Show threadCharles ☭  is a GreenApr 9
@skinnylatte Welcome to London!
Show threadjetmakerbritApr 9

@skinnylatte was there anyone outside wearing trainers, trousers and a jumper with a fag in their mouth?

Years ago I came home in Toronto to find a neighbour struggling desperately to operate the roof of his new convertible Saab in a snow storm. The instruction manual said to pull a lever in the boot and he hadn’t the foggiest idea what that meant. Luckily for him, I grew up in England.

Show threadSindarina, Edge Case DetectiveApr 9
@skinnylatte Into the bin, with that rubbish 😄
Show threadDGPrestonApr 9
@skinnylatte throw away rubbish? Ah yes, instead of garbage. Have fun in London town.
Show threadJordi (Spherical Queirdo)Apr 9

@skinnylatte

Go slow over the sleeping policeman *taps nose knowingly*

Show threadMike 🇬🇧 🇪🇺Apr 9
@skinnylatte
Avoid the cars by walking on the pavement. But remember there are no pavements on the motorway.
Show threadKimApr 9
@skinnylatte Bet you threw the rubbish in a bin, too.