What are some of the phrases or terms used in your culture that you've seen used differently in other cultures?

[NwaNaija]

Following this thread www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3988409-Why-is-Mummy-Daddy-considered-posh-Other-cultural-differences?pg=1,
I think this question was buried under the first post so I'm making a new thread for it.

What phrases or terms do you use in one country/culture but means something else in another country/culture?

I'll paste the responses I can remember seeing on that thread, including my posts on it. Sorry I have too much time on my hands and enjoy conversations on cultural differences and similarities.

"Yous" is the plural form of "you" where I live. Agree it's useful!

South African friends used to say they were going to do something" just now", meaning"in a while". That led to some confusion between us!

“Common”, meaning working class, or in some way associated with lower social status is a hugely loaded term and I think most middle class Brits under the age of 80 will try their best to avoid saying it even if it’s what they’re thinking.

People very rarely use it on MN because it’s so taboo, but I occasionally see threads kick off because someone describes a baby name or whatever as being “common” meaning high frequency and someone else interprets them as meaning lower class.

A classic UK vs US discrepancy is that “quite” means “very” in the US, but normally means “somewhat” in the UK. It’s not on the standard lists of words that mean different things so it can lead to genuine misunderstandings.

Irish "just about" means different to my Kiwi "just about". In NZ if I say my jeans just about fit it means they nearly fit but not quite. In Ireland their jeans that just about fit do fit, but just. I'm even confused reading that back.

Also Nigerian, it was a shock to learn that saying “I’m through” to mean I’ve completed a task wasn’t really a done thing in the uk

Directly. As in 'I'll do it directly'. In Cornwall that means 'I'll do it at some stage, but not yet'. i.e. later.

Pronounced 'Dreckly'

I had a couple of British friends who used 'must' often. 'Ooh you must come round for tea next Sunday'. 'You must tell me where you bought that, it's lovely'.

So I got used to the word as it didn't come across rude or bossy to me, except the first time I heard it.

Much later, I used it once with another British friend (Something like: You must let me know how you get on. Just like I've also heard before) and didn't get a reply. We're still friends and I don't know if the word had anything to do with the non reply but I thought 'Uh-oh this one's not for me'. Never used it again 😂

And also how we describe mild illnesses. Like having catarrh to mean a stuffed nose or purging to mean diarrhoea

Friends had an Austrian visitor who used the word 'sufficient'' to describe a meal, turned out he thought he was paying a compliment.

@Thelnebriati

Friends had an Austrian visitor who used the word 'sufficient'' to describe a meal, turned out he thought he was paying a compliment.

American work colleagues of mine often say something is "slated". They use it to mean it's provisionally happening at a certain time. Over here if something is "slated" it means it's being talked about badly or getting a bad review. Took me a couple of times of it being used before I understood certain projects weren't crap, lol they were just happening at a later date.

Jerk

my grandma used to say (of a meal)
'my sufficiency's sufforcified, I've stuffed myself amazingly'
which was a compliment, meaning I've had plenty of food

My US colleagues use “momentarily” to mean “in a minute”, whereas in the UK we use it to mean “for a minute, short time”. So I would say, eg I was momentarily surprised when I saw something but then recovered my composure. A US colleague will often say “I will join you in the meeting momentarily” and it always conjures up visions of them showing up, shouting hi and then disappearing again!

I work with a man from Ireland who says "You might send me the documents today" to mean "Could you send me the documents today?" I know he's being perfectly polite, but it always strikes me as a bit rude.

The Welsh 'I'll do it now' means 'I'll do it shortly'. Sometimes lengthened to 'in a minute now'. If you are going to do it immediately you have to put more emphasis on the 'now'.

I've also noticed that mostly in Wales 'my old man/lady' refers to your dad/mum, but in other countries of the UK, possibly elsewhere but I couldn't say where, it means your husband/wife.

@AnnaMagnani

In Danish, it's perfectly acceptable to start a conversation just by saying 'You'.

Not 'Hi', or 'Can I ask you' or "do you mind' just walking up to someone and saying 'You'.

Unsurprisingly they can and do sound rude in English. They don't waste time with a lot of the niceties we do - they just assume you are always polite and that's it.

Oh my goodness! 😂 That sounds scary.

Reminds me of when a friend of an Eastern European friend of mine said 'You, come!' to my daughter and I remember thinking it sounded like an order and wasn't very happy about it at first especially as we had just met her that day. Knowing the context and also realising how some Nigerians can often come across as rude and bossy in the way we say some things when we don't mean to be, I gave the benefit of doubt. She was actually wanting to say hi and give her a little gift. lol

@DelurkingAJ

I would like a plural version of ‘you’ in the UK. I find it difficult when someone says (pre COVID!) ‘would you like to...’ is that just me? Me and DH? Me, DH and DC? And if you ask them and it was just me then I feel like I’m fishing for a wider invitation! Argh!

I've heard people in the UK say 'Yous' many times...mostly on tv.

We say 'you guys' or 'you people', 'you all', 'you and x'. Some of my British friends say 'you both', 'you lot', 'you all'.

I like the American 'Y'all' but have never heard it anywhere else outside the southern part of the US.

I once had to stop a colleague calling a mental health act assessment after a patient told him it was "raining cats and dogs outside". He'd never heard the expression and assumed the patient was psychotic and hallucinating!

@Dilbertian

I had a Scottish junior colleague who used to ask me "Will I do xyz?" I was very puzzled - I don't know, I'm not a prophet! Until I eventually understood that she used 'will' for 'shall/should'.

I have an Irish friend who asks this too!

"Populaire" in French means "popular" in English. But a part of town that is "populaire" is working class.

England: I live in London.
Scotland: I stay in Edinburgh.

Growing up in Wales "fit" meant cheeky, and not on top of your exercise regime or good looking/fanciable.

In the west of Scotland black means dirty or unhygienic, probably stemming from the amount of coal miners in the 19c in the area and how filthy they would get.
I don't need to point out how bad it sounds to people from outwith the area