Useful boating accessory....
- Thread starter misterg
- Start date
Tiercel
Well-Known Member
Fascinating! One would think that the manufacturers might have googled the name to see what surfaced before settling on the name - in fact what were you googling for when you found the site??
blackdogsailing
Well-Known Member
I have never quite understood how American English and English can have a 'fanny' as opposite sides of the body !
. Pity the poor american woman who went into a shop over here and asked for 'fanny protection'...
When SWMBO and I were out in South Carolina we went to a typical Southern outdoor dance and BBQ. When the announcer told the audience to get on the grass and shag we wondered what we had come to ! Then we realised, 'shagging' is a type of dancing.
Going into an American Post Office and asking to borrow a rubber got some strange looks as well.
Any more ?
Chris
. Pity the poor american woman who went into a shop over here and asked for 'fanny protection'...When SWMBO and I were out in South Carolina we went to a typical Southern outdoor dance and BBQ. When the announcer told the audience to get on the grass and shag we wondered what we had come to ! Then we realised, 'shagging' is a type of dancing.
Going into an American Post Office and asking to borrow a rubber got some strange looks as well.
Any more ?
Chris
DanTribe
Well-Known Member
If you want to scrounge a cigarette from someone, don't ask if you can bum a fag.
ADLS
Well-Known Member
While on a US/UK joiny venture project and when asked why I was late for dinner I answered "While driving to a flat the car suffered a puncture and the tyre in the boot was flat" there were lots of blank looks around the table, when one guy blurts out, "he means while looking for an apartment he got a flat and the tire in the trunk was flat.
![[32511]](https://ybw-data.community.forum/avatars/m/32/32511.jpg?1576058889){kind=avatar}
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An Australian bishop was giving a lecture in west coast America. To emphasise the informality of his approach, he said his parishioners were quite used to seeing him visiting the outback in his shorts. There were gasps; to the Amerericans this meant him visiting the outside toilet in his underpants.
mjcp
Well-Known Member
DJE
Well-Known Member
While staying in a hotel in the US SWMBO got back to the room to find that one of the lights didn't work. Went down to reception and reported that one of the bulbs had gone. "Gone, Mam?" and a baffled look was all the concierge could manage.
jhr
Well-Known Member
You'll also get a blank stare in the US if you talk about a "bum bag" - they call 'em "Fanny Packs"
Oh - and if an Australian asks you for Durex, don't take offence: he's just after some Sellotape!
Oh - and if an Australian asks you for Durex, don't take offence: he's just after some Sellotape!
misterg
Well-Known Member
DownWest
Well-Known Member
A friend asked for a Cona coffee maker in Portugal. Bad slang there for 'Fanny'. Mandelson has another word for it......
Swmbo is from the US, so I am used to the normal misnomers.
A
And Durex is a mark of contact adhesive in Portugal. ( some things have certain visual problems.....)
Swmbo is from the US, so I am used to the normal misnomers.
A
And Durex is a mark of contact adhesive in Portugal. ( some things have certain visual problems.....)
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Ubergeekian
Well-Known Member
I have never quite understood how American English and English can have a 'fanny' as opposite sides of the body !
One of my contemporaries at university was an american woman who never seemed quite to realise why her name caused so much amusement. Fanny Hymen.
Leighb
Well-Known Member
I attended a very entertaining talk some years ago whose title was
"Britain and the USA, two nations divided by a common language"
All the above and many more potential misunderstandings and sources of embarassment.
"Britain and the USA, two nations divided by a common language"
All the above and many more potential misunderstandings and sources of embarassment.
Bajansailor
Well-Known Member
Here is 'The American's Guide to speaking British' which might help when translating from one English to t'other :
http://www.effingpot.com/slang.shtml
Some years ago I went sailing on a tall ship (the brig Stavros owned by the Tall Ship Youth Trust) for the first time.
About 60 odd Poms on board, with one female American deckhand and me from the Windies.
The poor American deckie got a lot of stick for the expressions she innocently used - but the best was when she mentioned her 'fanny pack'........
http://www.effingpot.com/slang.shtml
Some years ago I went sailing on a tall ship (the brig Stavros owned by the Tall Ship Youth Trust) for the first time.
About 60 odd Poms on board, with one female American deckhand and me from the Windies.
The poor American deckie got a lot of stick for the expressions she innocently used - but the best was when she mentioned her 'fanny pack'........
jbweston
Well-Known Member
A relation of mine came from South Africa to work in London. He was in computer technical support. He says one day he shouted across the office 'Anyone got a stiffy?'. Silence fell across the room . . .
In South Africa a stiffy was one of those removeable 3.5 inch computer disks. The big 5.25 inch ones you could bend were 'floppies', so when they brought out the rigid-plastic-cased ones that wouldn't bend, people (in SA) called them 'stiffies'. He needed a disk and so asked his colleagues if they could lend him one.
Simple.
In South Africa a stiffy was one of those removeable 3.5 inch computer disks. The big 5.25 inch ones you could bend were 'floppies', so when they brought out the rigid-plastic-cased ones that wouldn't bend, people (in SA) called them 'stiffies'. He needed a disk and so asked his colleagues if they could lend him one.
Simple.
puddock
Well-Known Member
Try telling them you're sitting on the dyke having a fag ..................
HinewaisMan
Well-Known Member
Crewing for a Septic a few years back, was initially confused when he asked if I could see a Red Boooo-eeeeee
snooks
Well-Known Member
A friends dad was a bus driver near Peterborough, an American from one of the nearby army bases got on the bus and asked:
"How much is a ticket to Loog-a-baroooga?"
"Loog-a-baroooga? Sorry, mate I think you're on the wrong bus, there's nowhere near here called Loog-a-baroooga"
"There is!....Loog-a-baroooga, it what is says on the front of your bus!"
"no, that says Loughborough"
"How much is a ticket to Loog-a-baroooga?"
"Loog-a-baroooga? Sorry, mate I think you're on the wrong bus, there's nowhere near here called Loog-a-baroooga"
"There is!....Loog-a-baroooga, it what is says on the front of your bus!"
"no, that says Loughborough"
chewi
Well-Known Member
Bill Brysons book "The mother Tongue" illustrates that in the US they have the US Post, that delivers the Mail, whereas in the UK we have the Royal Mail that delivers the post (at least when they're not on strike!)
alan_d
Well-Known Member
Another strange thing about Americans is that in a restaurant they ask for tapwater, even though it comes out of a faucet.