what do you call...

[iradney]

A post by NightAngel re a little typo of mine made me think of this. Coming from South Africa, we have different terms for things as compared to eg the US, Europe, Australia etc. Would like to hear what you guys call various things. I'll start the list off.

taps - the thing that water comes out of
nappies - the thing that babies poop in
pavement - what pedestrians are supposed to walk on
robots - the lights that say stop, slow down and go
truck - a large load bearing vehicle with more than 4 wheels
bakkie - a medium load bearing vehicle with a removable rear canopy and four wheels
minibus taxi - general public transport for the masses, generally unsafe as they ignore the 16 passenger limit and often pile in up to 24 people.
takkies - sneakers
biltong - jerky
jam - sugared fruit spread
preserves - preserved whole fruit that can be served with icecream or spread (eg figs)
jelly - flavoured wobbly stuff
potplant - plant in a pot ;)
bokkoms - very strongly flavoured (and strong smelling!) fish jerky
howzit (howzit my bru) - hello, how are you, hello my friend
china from another 'gina - crude variation of brother from another mother
jean pant - afrikaans variation of Jeans, or Pants

that's about all i can think of at the moment...

[Becks]

Having been born and raised in the Milwaukee area, but now living in NJ, there are a few differences in what some things are called.

I say bubbler, they say water fountain.
I say hamburger meat, they say chopped meat.
I say (shopping) cart, they say carriage.

That's all I can think of for now, unless you want a pronunciation difference.

OK, I'll do it anyway. :p

I say ray-dee-ate-er
They say rad-dee-ate-er

[MystyGlyttyr]

Deep rural Arkansas, i.e. "redneck"...

Sit IN the floor: Sit ON the floor.
Coke: Any soda/pop/carbonated beverage dependant on the asker. If I or my cousins say "hand me a coke" it's known automatically to hand over a Dr Pepper. If my mother says the same thing, she gets a Diet Coke. For my father, it's Dr. Thunder and for my sister, it's Coca-Cola. But they're all just "cokes". If I ask a waitress in a restaurant what cokes they have, they will list the sodas for me. :lol:

[Greenday]

Faucet instead of tap.
Diapers instead of nappies.
Sidewalk instead of pavement. Here, pavement is basically any ground that is paved.
Stop light for robots.
Water fountain.
Soda. Calling it all coke doesn't make sense, it's too confusing. Pop I can is alright.
Night before Holloween is Mischief Night.

[Rapscallion]

I ran into a problem in Holland. I wanted lemonade.

Which lemonade?

Er, lemonade, please.

Which one?

It took a nearby tourist to explain that all soft drinks over there were called lemonade, whereas I had been hoping for a fizzy drink tasting somewhat of lemons. Silly me.

Rapscallion

[I See Stupid People]

taps - music played at the end of the day while the flag is being brought down on military bases
the thing that water comes out of - faucet
the thing that babies poop in - diapers
pavement - what cars drive on
what pedestrians are supposed to walk on - sidewalk
robots - mechanical people
the lights that say stop, slow down and go - traffic light
a medium load bearing vehicle with a removable rear canopy and four wheels - pickup truck
very strongly flavoured (and strong smelling!) fish jerky - YUCK!

[Rahmota]

Appalachia version of Redneck here.

Aside from pronunciation (PRO-NUN-SEE-AShun) differences where we love to put the letters R or W into words that otherwise do not have them like "Warsh them winders there when ya get dun tawkin to that hussy".

Pop: Carbonated Cola based beverage.
Soda: What you bake with
Shopping cart: Buggy
Chaw: Chewing tobacco
Blinds: Window Shades
Touched: (said like tetched) Slightly crazy as in touched in the head.
Plug: A measure of chewing tobacco
Poke: What plugs of chaw come in.
Yonder: Over there, not here.

[BusBus]

Iradney-

Although I was not born/raised in ZAF, I have family that was, plus my better half is from ZAF, so I am quite use to the different words and sayings that get misunderstood.

I don't know why, but I have to explain what borrowing and lending mean on a regular basis....

borrow= to have something temporarily loaned to you
lend= to loan something to someone

The expression "just now" is confusing as all hell because, to a north american, it implies that it means now, not later (just now=later :confused: ).

BTW, a local place here makes biltong and, boy, is it ever yummy!

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Another phrase I often hear in Wisconsin is "Tyme machine". Tyme stands for "Take Your Money Everywhere" and was at one time the dominant ATM network in Wisconsin.

Another one is "aina", a contraction of "ain't" and "it".

[flybye023]

pop--carbonated beverage
soda--used in baking
borrow pit--ditch
ditch--comes off a canal; used for irrigation
ignorant--(pronounced ig-nernt) really rude
sweater--nice knit shirt, can be long or short sleeved
jumper--skirt with shoulder straps that fasten at the shoulder (like overalls, only in dress form)
tenny-runners--tennis shoes/sneakers
thongs--flip-flops (shoes)
houseplant--any plant indoors in a pot
tap=indoors; faucet=outdoors

That's all I can think of right now.

[SteverinoNY]

Upstate NY Words

Truck - any SUV
Pickup - pickup truck
18 wheeler - big truck
Basket - shopping cart
Supermarket - grocery store
Corner Store - convenience store
Soda - Soda
Barber - place you get your hair cut
City - anything without a cow walking down main street
Town - anything with more farms than buildings
Farm - where you go hunt turkey or deer
Winter - season with the snow and the ice and the pot holes
Summer - hot

All I can think of for now...New Yorkers feel free to add

[iradney]

I

I don't know why, but I have to explain what borrowing and lending mean on a regular basis....



hehehe
i know, South African's have an annoying habit of saying "borrow me this!" or "can i lend this from you??"
i refuse to lend anyone anything unless they ask me in the grammatically correct manner!

aina is a phonetic spelling of "eina" which is afrikaans for "ouch"

[stormtreader]

pop--carbonated beverage
sweater--nice knit shirt, can be long or short sleeved
jumper--skirt with shoulder straps that fasten at the shoulder (like overalls, only in dress form)
thongs--flip-flops (shoes)


I would say Jumper in the UK is a longsleaved single-piece (no buttons or zip) insulated top, cardigan is one of these with buttons or a zip down the front. I cant imagine a jumper being a skirt.

Thong is just the underwear, so dont say you just slipped your thong on to wander down to the shop in ;)

[Caveat Emptor]

Town - anything with more farms than buildings

Well, I'm also from Upstate (Ra cha cha) and I define a town as anything not within the boundaries of another town (that is a "village") and has a population greater than a few thousand. Otherwise I think it's a hamlet, but they are often used interchangably :confused:

Also I define cars in the following manner:

Minivan: Small van that is used by soccer moms to ferry their brood, Plymouth Voyager

SUV: Four wheeled, often gas guzzling, enclosed back, also used by soccer moms - Jeep is a popular one, as is Ford Bronco

Pickup: Small truck with open cargo bed

Truck: Used commercially to transport cargo, with a front cab, four wheels

Semi or 18-wheeler - Large truck, long trailer, noisy :D

[Barefootgirl]

4x4 or Chelsea Tractor - SUV, e.g Toyota Landcruiser, Range Rover

MPV - minivan, soccer mom-mobile, e.g Mercedes A-Class, Chrysler Grand Voyager

Van - small commercial vehicle.

Lorry - large commercial vehicle, usually with a cab, a separate cargo area, and more than four wheels.

Artic - short for articulated lorry, probably what most Americans would call a semi-trailer.

Pinafore dress - overall-style dress with bib front and shoulder straps, what Americans would call a jumper. Designed to be worn with a top of some sort underneath it.

Dungarees - overalls, or bib overalls.

Overalls - the one-piece uniform like a shirt and trousers joined together that mechanics wear. Also describes cavalry uniform, rather confusingly.

Trolley or Shopping trolley - the wire thing on wheels you push around the supermarket and fill with your groceries
,

[reformedwaitress]

Coke: Any soda/pop/carbonated beverage dependant on the asker. If I or my cousins say "hand me a coke" it's known automatically to hand over a Dr Pepper. If my mother says the same thing, she gets a Diet Coke. For my father, it's Dr. Thunder and for my sister, it's Coca-Cola. But they're all just "cokes". If I ask a waitress in a restaurant what cokes they have, they will list the sodas for me. :lol:

Same thing in Georgia. "Give me a coke" is usually followed by a response of "What kind?"

[dispatch]

hehehehe

deck-floor or level (hit the deck, go to deck 5)
overhead-ceiling
bulkhead-wall
ladderway-stairwell
alleyway-hallway, gennerally pedestrian traffic
head-bathroom
davits-outstretched (usually retractable) arms that the lifeboats can be lowered on
galley-where food is cooked and prepared
mess-where the food is eaten, dining room
scullery-dishwashing room
starboard-right side (when facing forward; passenger side in the US)
port-left side (driver's side in the US)
cabin-living quarters
rack-bed


but I left all that behind, in nebraska...

sack-vessel for carrying groceries
bag-cloth vessel for carrying personal effects
pop-carbonated beverage
soda-what the tourists call pop during the college world series
unicamerel-state legislature, the only unicameral in the nation I believe
wheel tax-highest in the nation, and one of the only left in the nation
cow tipping-pushing cows over as they sleep, first the bull, then the sows, then the calfs
tags-licence plates

[Linda]

I know my hubby hates it when I use Wenglish. It's really English, with random Welsh words thrown in, and words which really make no sense where they are in the sentence. We also add extra words to the end of a sentece which don't mean anything or have any purpose!

banjo - sandwich with a hot filling.
cwtch - cuddle
Ach-y-fi - Something is dirty or horrible
now - later ("now in a minute")
ashman - refuse collector
gibbons (pronounced jibbons) - spring onions
twp - stupid
bach - little one
shw-mae (pronounced shoo-my) - hello, how are you?
oosht - be quiet

[stormtreader]

OT, but "davits" sounds like a great swearword-substitute to me.

[BusBus]

I don't know if this is a south africanism or my cousins just haven't spoken English in quite a while (they live in Europe now, so they don't speak English unless I'm visiting), but they kept asking me if I was "fit" the last time that I was visiting them. I was curious as to why they were concerned about my physical health, until I found out that they meant if I was no longer tired anymore (i.e. recovered from the jet lag). Can any ZAFers shed light on this?

[iradney]

here, coke is coke, sprite is sprite, fanta is fanta etc etc. but coke isn't always coca cola. it's anything coke flavoured...

[Fera Festiva]

Ach-y-fi - Something is dirty or horrible

My mother is from Swansea and she's always used Ach-y-fi, but never knew how to spell it. So, thank you. :D

[Banrion]

Fera just reminded me, and hopefully one of our Norwegian members can help me. My great- grandmother always used to say uff-da instead of swearing, I always wondered what it meant.

[Linda]

My mother is from Swansea and she's always used Ach-y-fi, but never knew how to spell it. So, thank you. :D

Ach y fi is the Wenglish spelling. The Welsh spelling is ych-y-fi :)

[flybye023]

4x4 or Chelsea Tractor - SUV, e.g Toyota Landcruiser, Range Rover



Pinafore dress - overall-style dress with bib front and shoulder straps, what Americans would call a jumper. Designed to be worn with a top of some sort underneath it.


Overalls - the one-piece uniform like a shirt and trousers joined together that mechanics wear. Also describes cavalry uniform, rather confusingly.

,

Pinafore! thanks Barefootgirl, I couldn't remember the other name for that.

I just remembered some more:
coveralls--overalls
frypan--skillet (or any shallow pot)
supper--lunch
dinner--last meal of the day

[Posture Moll]

Newfoundland Words and Phrases I've picked up.

Joggers: Running shoes/Sneakers.
Arse foremost: Backwards
Shut up your prate: Shut up.
Mind ya mouth: Watch your language.
Where you 'longs to?: Where are you from?
Singin' out: Calling out to someone.
Bai/Me son: Apparently, it's 'boy'/'my son' but folks will use it to refer to everyone, even their female friends and relatives.
Down home: Newfoundland, one of our more northern provinces.
Up-aways: Territory that is NOT Newfoundland, despite it being 90% of the time geographically southern to Newfoundland.
Screech: A potentially fatal Newfie variety of rum.