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.

The verb "coger" in Spanish is an interesting one. It roughly translates as to get, grab or take but it is used with gay abandon all over Spain - you would coger the phone, for example, when it rings; coger the bus to go somewhere, or ask children to coger each others' hands if you need them to join hands for a game or similar. It couldn't be more innocuous.
In Latin America, however, the same word has very dark sexual connotation and is considered a really bad swear word. I've known lots of Spanish people, or folk who have learned Spanish in Europe, get into very bad situations when they instinctively use this word in many parts of Latin America.

@ScandiCrimeFan

In my part of Sweden, you can use the wording ‘to be permitted’ to mean making a good/right decision. So I might say ‘it was freezing outside, so I was permitted to wear my hat’ (meaning the cold weather ‘permitted’ the use of a hat).

My friends from the south used to take the piss out of this, and ask who gave this permission to wear a hat. My parents? The Government?

@ScandiCrimeFan God I can't work out what Swedish expression you mean, help me out here? Do you mean "får/fick"?

Yay, so pleased to be famous and quoted by the OP in the beginning of the thread. Hope everyone writing about boldness marked that I was first!

I find the plural youse/yiz very useful, especially when talking to my children who (being Swedes) feel attacked by the general "you". My English is Swedified so I often speak like queen Elizabeth and say "one has to rinse the plates" (or whatever), to translate the general "you" we have in Swedish (similar to French "on").

I probably often come across as rude in English because i don't cushion my requests with a million pleases. Swedish used to be much more flowery in this regard but from the 60s on this fell out of fashion. We could do with putting some more of that in tbh. OTOH you can use as many of those politeness filler words as you like but they'll never cover up when you're rude anyway. I'm regularly blown away by stories on Mumsnet, everyone in the UK seems really confrontational and rude!

Ha I just worked it out LITERALLY as I posted. "fick lov att ha mössa" am I right? I don't think this is so odd and your friends are being very mean to you.

"Is it in Scotland that people 'keen' instead of 'weep' ?"

Do you mean greet?

Yay! Welcome to the thread! @banivani
I wanted to @ all the posters I quoted but I know some people don't like being @ ed so didn't want to risk it, seeing as it was a different thread. Was hoping all my @ ed "guest stars" would join us.

@banivani yes ’jag fick lov att ha på min mössa’. We used it in Dalecarlia where I’m from, but my friends from Skåne hadn’t heard that expression.

Meant quoted "guest stars", not @ ed.

[quote ScandiCrimeFan]@banivani yes ’jag fick lov att ha på min mössa’. We used it in Dalecarlia where I’m from, but my friends from Skåne hadn’t heard that expression.[/quote]
Yeah i worked it out as I posted ... I've probably heard this all my life (am not that far from Dalarna and it's probably wide-spread, I'd use it myself) so I think it's normal. What do people in Skåne know, eh? @ScandiCrimeFan

@NwaNaija haha thank you! Tbh I seldom look at @:s because clicking the email doesn't take you to the post, just the thread ;)

Keening would be wailing in grief, where greeting would just be general crying.

I've always thought of keening as Irish and greeting as Scottish (being from N Ireland where our language is influence by both) but I may be wrong.

@NuniaBeeswax

"Is it in Scotland that people 'keen' instead of 'weep' ?"

Do you mean greet?

No, keening is definitely Irish (but possibly also in Scotland?). From the Irish 'caoin', to lament -- and it can mean normal crying, but also has a larger ritual meaning of a traditional lament for the dead performed by special mná caointe at funerals. It's died out now, but there are a few recordings from the 1950s, right at the end of the tradition, in archives, and it's an incredibly eerie sound.

T/O My own plan is never to die, but those who must, must do it in Ireland. Certainly in out in the country towns, they really are brilliant at funerals. I've seen towns shut down, (yes, even the pubs, at least briefly) and apparently half the population walking in procession to the grave. Oh, and they still do the thing of sitting formally at an open-house ritual by the open coffin keeping vigil day and night. There's real grief. You will have your grave visited and tended indefinitely, too.

Ordinary people can get a better send off than Heads of State could hope for, in other countries.

The slight catch is; you probably do have to be a local resident going back as many generations as anyone can remember, and therefore most of the town are either relatives or quasi relatives.

"No, keening is definitely Irish (but possibly also in Scotland?). From the Irish 'caoin', to lament -- and it can mean normal crying, but also has a larger ritual meaning of a traditional lament for the dead performed by special mná caointe at funerals. It's died out now, but there are a few recordings from the 1950s, right at the end of the tradition, in archives, and it's an incredibly eerie sound."

Ah right. I'm Scottish and haven't heard it but maybe it's not used around these parts!

Canadian here.

The UK use of the word "homely" always gives me pause because to me it means plain and ugly. Also "half six" for 6:30 confuses me for a second.

My British born and raised DH is a high school teacher and he always gets laughter when he calls an eraser a "rubber".

Another one I have to translate in my head is "pavement." We call it a sidewalk.

We sometimes call the sea or ocean the "salt chuck." Then there is tuque, which is a knitted hat.

We have a "hydro bill" instead of electric bill.

And I know a person is a fellow Canadian the minute they ask where the "washroom" is. Equally, an American will say "restroom."

"Swimming costume" sounds very quaint to me. It's a bathing suit here!

I had never heard of a gilet until a British family member called a puffy vest a gilet.

I've always said keening but although I'm Scottish my grandparents on one side are from Ireland. I realise that doesn't help!

Also there certainly were open casket days long events in people's homes in Scotland when I was wee, but again a lot of our friends/neighbours had come across in the previous generation so who knows?!

Oh and weirdly, cousins i north Lincolnshire talked about kids 'roaring' (usually in the context that they were exhibiting weakness eg 'he hit you and you were nearly roaring') back in the 1980s. I had no idea Irish people said it too!

I was chatting to a Danish lady about languages years ago. One thing she pointed out was the difference in the word ‘actually’

So if we went to someone’s house and they’d baked a cake, Brits would say ‘this is really nice’ whereas Danes would say ‘Actually this is really nice’. But the word actually would be taken in completely the wrong context to the Brit. As in what do you mean ‘actually’? Are you surprised that it’s nice?

Curls and that is actually really odd if you’ve ever watched British tv, esp cooking programmes “what I’m actually doing here is I’m chopping the onions” - no really?

Just looking at my posts and was interested by lovefall as it was on my screen! Not picking on you

Round here homely isn't used at all! I think of it as USA phrase (obviously Canada but we get less of your telly!).

Here in NW London it's just not a word that anyone uses ever.

Maybe in different parts of the UK?

Can I forward wind it?

Language changes so much.

Round here we have innit and I love an isit? Not even sure how to write! It's just spoken.

As a middle aged middle class woman it messes with my colleagues heads I use it very sparingly at work as a professional grown up!

It's great language.

Eg

I saw xxxxxx on the telly the other day. It's brilliant!

Isit?

Language evolves.

I love 'isit' meaning gosh that's interesting, you have my attention. I have listened to you and am keen for you to confirm that indeed, it really is that good. Because that sounds exciting and I'm very keen to hear more

I think I’ve seen that written as izzit, but interesting to see if anyone else has input.

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.

I remember that thread and the person you're talking about. Bonkers.

@NiceGerbil

Can I forward wind it?

Language changes so much.

Round here we have innit and I love an isit? Not even sure how to write! It's just spoken.

As a middle aged middle class woman it messes with my colleagues heads I use it very sparingly at work as a professional grown up!

It's great language.

Eg

I saw xxxxxx on the telly the other day. It's brilliant!

Isit?

Language evolves.

I love 'isit' meaning gosh that's interesting, you have my attention. I have listened to you and am keen for you to confirm that indeed, it really is that good. Because that sounds exciting and I'm very keen to hear more

But that’s grammatically correct. One person has asserted something is brilliant, and the other one has replied ‘Is it?’ Where’s the language evolution or controversy?

Round here we have innit and I love an isit? Not even sure how to write! It's just spoken.

I love 'isit' meaning gosh that's interesting, you have my attention. I have listened to you and am keen for you to confirm that indeed, it really is that good. Because that sounds exciting and I'm very keen to hear more

I thought that was just "Is it?" (with a different intonation), like saying "Is that so?" Or "Really?"

That's how I use it and what I thought everyone I heard use it meant.

At first, I didn't know what "innit" meant but I've come to think it's really "ain't it?" As in "isn't it?", just said and written differently.

Is that wrong too?

@Bairnsmum05

I never knew that "will I" and "just now" were so unusual elsewhere 😂 one I've seen recently and had confused me. Scottish people would say mortified meaning embarrassed however some English people have used it differently.

@Bairnsmum05 mortified means extremely embarrassed in England too but it is commonly used incorrectly by lots of British people. My Scottish colleague uses it to mean angry. It's just a strange, common misuse. Nonplussed, ambivalent, enormity are also good examples of words commonly used incorrectly across the UK (possibly beyond too).