Jump to content

English 101 (for Americans)


flyday58
This post is 4125 days old and we'd rather you create a new post instead of adding to this one. You can't reply in this post.

Recommended Posts

So a little help from my friends across the sea.

What is the difference between:

knackered

bodged

gubbed

Explain: WOT

MOT

VAT

Define:

gudgeon

gaiters

What are collywobbles and codswallop, and which would be the better gift for my wife?

Help a fellow blue smoker out.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do you want an ad-free experience? Join today and help support the Yamaha Owners Club.

Knackered = broken, also can mean a person is ‘Dog tired’

Bodged = repaired using unconventional methods such as gaffer tape on a fairing

Gubbed = for me means plaster or filler daubed on a component,

WOT = ??? depends on context, but probably slang phonetic spelling of 'What'

MOT = Ministry of Transport = now outdated (DoT) Department of Transport. Annual Vehicle road worthy inspection carried out by licensed garages

VAT = Value added tax, government con to get more money on goods or services supplied to the customer for money,

Gudgeon = Piston wrist pin (gudgeon pin)

Gaiters = Rubber sleeves used to protect items such as the exposed fork legs from the weather

'Collywobbles' = feeling frightened, trepidation,

Codswallop = talking rubbish or a description of something or an act that is rubbish,

Politicians talk a load of ‘codswallop’

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

:yeahthat:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

isn't gubbed 'FUBARD' ?

You are probably correct 'Gubbed' is not a term I have ever really used, 'Fubard' to me = knackered.

I wonder if 'Gubbins' translates?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gubbins - Stuff, thingumies, technical knick-knack, random bits, etc. Term used to describe a mass of stuff that, typically, the speaker is not too familiar with... eg, "the fans, CPU, GPU and all that gubbins inside my computer".

Gubbed is more a Scottish word, meaning knackered or completely busted, but also means to be punched in the mouth (ie, your gob).

Gaiters - Usually spats, or similar cover for the lower legs. US Marines and soldiers wore them in WW2, although they call them Leggings. Same thing. Consequently, anything similar (such as fork covers) are also called gaiters or skirts (as in the platic/leather cover on a car handbrake lever).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gaiters - Usually spats, or similar cover for the lower legs. US Marines and soldiers wore them in WW2, although they call them Leggings. Same thing. Consequently, anything similar (such as fork covers) are also called gaiters or skirts (as in the platic/leather cover on a car handbrake lever).

We called them 'Putties' I still have some somewhere, a right pain to put on,

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, there's English and then there's Northern Ireland (Norn ' iron) english. I shall explain......

"Mucker" - Friend
"Bout ye" - Hello, How are you?
"Whats the score?" - What is happening?
"Them 'un's" - Those people
"Yous 'un's" - You people
"Aye" - Yes
"Here's me" - This is what I did/said
"The Brew" - Job Seekers Allowance
"A Swally" - A drink
"Saunter" - Walk on
"Ye What?" - What did you do/say
"Bake" - Someones face
"Bap" - Head/Hair
"You Slabbering?" - You making fun of me?
"Dander" A short walk
"Stroked" - Stolen / ripped off
"Baltic" - Cold
"Houl On" - Please wait
"Oxters" - Armpits
"Bate" - Beat
"Meat Wagon" - Police Landrovers
"Suckin' Diesel" - Having a good time
"Scundered" - Embarrassed

"Stickin out" - That's really good

"Get my head showered" - Take a much needed break

"Dead on" - ok (can be used as sarcasm)

"Taig" - someone of the Roman catholic religion

"Orangy" - someone of the Protestant religion (NB: In N Ireland you must fall into one of these 2 religions - we recognise no other!! Lol)

"Wise up" - Be serious

"Your head's cut" - You are talking nonsense

That's for starters ... :)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, and how can I forget ...

"Craic" - a good time

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, there's English and then there's Northern Ireland (Norn ' iron) english. I shall explain......

Half of that is now generic UK English anyway, though. Terms migrate.

We called them 'Putties' I still have some somewhere, a right pain to put on,

Ah, no - Puttees are slightly different, but do the same job. Puttees are long strips of cloth that wrap around the top of the ankle boot and then up to tie just below the knee. British used them in WW1, although we were still issuing them into the late 80s!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brilliant, all of this. I knew y'all could enlighten me, us, U.S. OGOAB, yes, FUBAR over here is knackered beyond repair. How about miles? I see signs on the M4 saying how many miles to somewhere. Are yours and mine the same? Why miles when your clocks read kilometers?

OOH! Another one! Clocks that don't tell time, wassup with that?? :shakeno:

You guys are great for indulging me...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Our speedos are in miles. Most have kilometers along the inside, in case we hop over to Europe for a trip or something.

As for variation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mile

Clocks do tell the time, analogue and digital.

However, a clock has a face and so do you, so to 'clean someone's clock' is usually to punch their face in, heh heh!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Clock!

This can be used as a verb: IE, to clock something can mean to take a measurement, perhaps with a micrometer or a depth gauge or even to take a good look at, perhaps a person would say, ' did you 'clock' the wheels on that, meaning did you see those wheels, so the word clock can mean you have caught a glimpse of something

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderator

Clocks are speedos and rev counters

Clock (as in clocking someone/something) is seeing someone/something

As mentioned before, miles are miles however, we have had to adopt a lot of metric measurements so, apart from road distances, almost everything else is in metres etc. That said loads of people still use the imperial measurements when talking about things like wood.sizes. 4 by 2 as apposed to 100 by 50.

We use Litres for everything liquid (although I think that it is a measurement of volume) but most people still convert it to Gallons (about 4.6 L to a gallon). Our Gallons were always a different measurement to yours even though we called them the same.

Lots of different names for the same thing depending on what part of the country you are from.

A roll (as in a small, round bread thing) can be a; roll; cob, balm cake; bap or something else

A person you know can be a: hen, duck, mate, chic(ken) or lots of other things.

I am from London and live in the midlands and they talk weird around here. They even call a roundabout an island. Mind you I have never seen a roundabout in the US.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gubbed = chucked away

VAT = value added tax. Never existed before we joined the European Union, its the tax raised by the Union to pay for the Union across the member states. When we leave, there should be no further requirement for it in the UK

Is that a cuckoo?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Want anything translated? I'm a Cockney, lived in East Anglia for a few years, moved to Scotland (Teuchter country), married a lass from the Wirral who had parents from Dundee and Banff, so I've got most of it covered. Also fluent in Civil Service speak, got an aunt from Southern Ireland, had long conversations with various gentlemen from Norn Iron, went to a school populated mostly by pupils of a Yiddish background and my first job was at a petrol station run by Islamic persons. Multi-culturalism, I am your natural end product!

(This post fuelled by OVD rum)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We've started getting roundabouts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...