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.

I have noticed that Indian colleagues would ‘give an exam’ whereas I would ‘take an exam’. Also that they use ‘kindly’ to literally mean ‘it would be kind of you to do that’, whereas to me ‘kindly organise this’ sounds like an order.

@MadamBatty

Yes, ‘lads’ can mean anyone in Ireland, too, not just a bunch of young men.

I'm American, DH is English. I was very confused the first time he said " what time do you make it?".
What time do I make what?
What?
What?

Of course there are quite a few words that seem innocent in American English that are not in the UK: fanny, fanny pack, randy, spunk/ spunky.

Even simple questions tend to be phrased differently. US: do you have any milk? UK: have you got any milk?

I thought 'yous' was plural of you but I find it's used to address one person as well. So now I'm really confused. (Glasgow, Edinburgh and Ayrshire)

I get taken aback in Australia (east and west coasts) when people start a remark with 'Look'. I would use that to mean 'Now, look here, you', (quite forceful) but they just seem to use it as a filler.

And as for all that 10 of the hour, 10 off the hour, 10 behind the hour. What? Just say 'to' or 'past' then we know where we are.

I was also surprised when a Spanish contact answered the phone with 'Digame' - 'speak' (to me). It seemed a bit abrupt.

Yous isn’t a word

It then or they as plural

In the North East we older folk use 'champion' as adjective mean good or excellent.
'How are you?' 'I'm champion'.
'How's the weather?' 'Champion!'.
I get some bemused looks down south!

My grandma used to say everything was "champion" 🥰 she indeed was from the NE.

I can't bear "yous" it's so used in the NW my teens didn't believe that it isn't a real word 🤦🏼‍♀️

And as for all that 10 of the hour, 10 off the hour, 10 behind the hour. What? Just say 'to' or 'past' then we know where we are.

Yes, definitely important to say 'to' or 'past'.
I once arranged to meet a Dutch colleague at half four. To me, that clearly meant half past four, but the way it's used in Dutch meant she interpreted it as half to four (ie. 3.30)

@Insert1x20p

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

ha- yes! If they want to say they'll do it immediately they say "now now"

In HK we are the land of the "la" so if you want to emphasise something you just say la on the end- it also sort of means "isn't it?", so you might see a puppy and say "so cute la". Most commonly used as "Ok la" which pretty much just means "ok". It's basically a national tic.

Reminds me of how we say 'oh' or 'o' to emphasize everything or to show exasperation. "I'm coming o" "She's tired o" "Where's my biscuit oh?"

My Ghanaian friends would say 'paaa'/'pah'.

We also say 'now now' the same way and double other words for emphasis.

'last last' - Finally or eventually or the regular meaning of last.

'Before before' - A long time ago or just the regular before.

NiceGerbil are you thinking of faggots? Totally different here and USA.
I think my favourite is "suspenders" - my mental image reading about a CEO with red suspenders is not what an American is imagining.
Also to smooth the cat in Bristol is stroking it, in Ireland you are ironing it!

'Screw'. A friend of mine moved to the US and decided to help out with the local Brownies. One of the children said to her 'I've messed this paper up'. Friend replied, 'oh don't worry, there's plenty more - just screw it up and throw in the bin.' She was hastily dragged aside by the adults and informed that it's not a word to say to a child in view of its other meaning..

Aunty/uncle used by my Indian family is a way of addressing older relations/friends respectfully (no matter if they are your aunty, cousin etc).

My mum was quite taken aback to be addressed like that when her much younger cousins came to visit. (Mum moved as a young child). Basically her cousins were being Indian polite, but mum felt she was being called old. They continued to do this even though DM said to use her first name. Me and DBro thought it was very funny .

We watched loads of Indian movies growing up. We noticed a lot of similarities in the way we treat each other.

I still have fond memories and remember a lot of them.

I'm thinking of us saying fags for cigarettes and this being met with horror sometimes by USA people on here!

@NiceGerbil

I'm thinking of us saying fags for cigarettes and this being met with horror sometimes by USA people on here!

Yes, I remember a couple of years ago a poster claimed that their brother was gay and he was sitting next to her, sobbing and shaking and terrified to leave the house, because some people in a different country refused to change their usage of a word that had a totally different meaning in that country. I was, let's say, not convinced that the poster was posting in good faith, to use a MNHQ turn of phrase.

By which I mean the poster claimed to be in America and was demanding that the word be banned in the UK.

NiceGerbil yes, I know, but there was one you couldn't remember and I wondered if it was faggots, as in the savoury meatball type things. Faggots has same meaning as fags (an abbreviation of faggot) in USA.

@BluebellsGreenbells

‘Fine’ to mean not fine

Biggest pet hate at the moment ‘need suggestions for x hit me with them’

Hit me? Why are we changing the language?

Language is constantly evolving. Hence why we don't all speak like Shakespeare characters. Perfectly normal and has always been the case.

I thought on USA fag was a derogatory term for a gay man.

I don't think they are getting angry about meatballs!

I remember years ago when my cousin visited from India....she was around 14ish. Quite innocently she said in front of us all "Im desparate for a piss, so just going for a piss"

My Dad was horrified when I had a quiet word she was shocked and said it was a common saying not course or crude. I could only interrpt as equivilent to us saying.. Going for a wee...or going for a tiddle

Fag/Faggot means the same thing (Gay) in the US. One's the short form of the other.

Bonny...in the midlands means chubby...others areas of the uk means pretty, lovely,

Aunty/uncle used by my Indian family is a way of addressing older relations/friends respectfully (no matter if they are your aunty, cousin etc).

We used to do that in the UK too with friends of the family. I still call a couple of people "auntie" now who I've known since I was little. It's a tradition that has died out though.

NiceGerbil yes it does. I'm obviously not explaining well. Fag UK = cigarette, Faggot UK = meatball type product. Fag/faggot USA = derogatory term for gay man.
I can (or could pre-COVID) go to a pub in my area and faggots, mash and peas is a perfectly ordinary pub meal.
Fag and faggot are two different things in the UK, but mean the same (gay man) in USA.

We say yous in NI. Perfect plural!