So Suey tells me that in England, pants are not pants – that’s what they call underwear. So underwear is pants, and pants are trousers, I guess. Follow me? Which casts a funny light on the Dockers “Nice pants” campaign, where men in various public situations are ogled below the waist by women who exclaim, you guessed it, “Nice pants.” I have always loved regional U.S. terms for things (sofa, couch, davenport), and now I’m equally fascinated by English-American differences. As the saying goes, we’re two countries separated by a common language.
“Basil, you have a kipper sticking out of your jumper.” -Sybil Fawlty
oh, one of my favorite topics. i buy english books to teach my girls english and unfortunately they are usually english english books. so i am forever explaining the differences to them in the hope that they will grow up talking american. actually, if they would grow up speaking irish english, that would be the finest of all, in my opinion. and, to be honest, i would have nothing against them speaking british english – it sounds smart – except for two things: my wife is into them living their american heritage to the full, and the english teachers here who are sticklers for bbc english are supercilious twits.
that aside, how do you say “shag rug” in england, suey?
or: “fanny pack”?
Not sure about the former, but the latter is definitely “bum bag.”
well if a fanny pack is a bum bag, then what do they call … uh, never mind.
something with “wino”. or wait, do they say wino?
“pants” BTW can also be an adjective describing something that is completely useless or pathetic – I once heard an american use it as such, though I’m not sure he realised it refers to underwear and not trousers…. which is important in understanding the meaning of the word when used in that context… (eg. “that film was complete pants”)
apologies for my late arrival *g*
shag rug we understand although it has been used as a cheap laugh in sit-coms once in a while (I’m assuming you know why?)
“fanny pack“?? if it’s what I think it is it’s a bum-bag. You do know what a fanny is over here tho’ do you?
We do say wino, but whereas you would maybe call a vagrant a bum, we would often say tramp – and to us your bum is your ass and to you a tramp is…….the list is endless