Lets talk English English!

[Random Joker]

I have a habit of using rhyming slang, which annoys my Yank friends.

"Are you having a girrafe? Someone half inched my sharon stone! Ugh, I'm in so much barney rubble, you just don't have a scooby doo."

I set the challenge of a non "english" english speaker to translate it. Winner gets a Joe Blake

EDIT: Over the "Zee" over "Zed" thing. I'm British and I missed the joke as well because I say "Zed". I also say "Nought" instead of zero sometimes

One of my old lecturers used to have a go at us for buggering up cockney rhyming slang so its kind of stuck in my head and I now have an annoying urge to call you out. Sorry.

Undesirables on the streets of old London made it up so they could communicate without alerting or being overheard by the police. Because of this you shouldn't actually use the rhyming part of the slang just the first word so its sounds even more like non-sense.

"Are you having a giraffe" (Well ok that right ) But the rest should have been "Someone halfed me Sharon! Urg, I'm in so much Barney you just don't have a Scooby..."

OT: English words/terms for the police are legendary:-
The fuzz
The rozzers
The law
And it always must be preceeded by "Bloody hell its the..." and ended with "SCARPER!"
And its Zed.

But thats just skimming the top what about

Po Po

Feds

Pigs

Youths have made up most of these like myself well know in all of england and alot of american films like Friday with ice cube

He also forgot "coppers" and "peelers"...

Edit: and isn't "Feds" American?

Yeah it is but somehow got into the english vocab

 

[SmartIdiot]

Haha, you may say that you have self respect and thus will never speak with an English accent but just remember, Americans can't spell.

 

[CptPanda29]

I'm from North Yorkshire, the "Old" York, Tosser is definatley wakner, and the language is not a single thing like "Bottoms up chaps". Anywhere. Seriously. Stop it.

Maybe it's cause I'm a sparky and am always on site, noone has time for polite conversation really as time is money. Swear words are just words, next to nobody cares about it anymore.

As far as phrases go I use "At the end of the day" "Whats that got to do with the price of bacon / a kettle of fish?" "Don't smoke (Use it when you have nothing to say to something)"

 

[ojm62]

In the spirit of asking questions, do english people actually say "zed" instead of "zee" when they're talking about the letter "z" or is that just jokingly?

It's a joke. We say zee.

I also greatly enjoy the British accent.

Apparently it's a joke Canada missed out on then, as we say "zed".

Or at least I do...

We'll in the UK we say it both ways depending on what word precede it. Oh and half the posts here have word no British person would say. Plus 'English English' as the OP put it isn't just the cockney slang you here. I can often switch between the posh Brit accent and the slightly rougher one depending on the situation, so we don't all speak like chavs.

 

[Conqueror Kenny]

OT: English words/terms for the police are legendary:-
The fuzz
The rozzers
The law
And it always must be preceeded by "Bloody hell its the..." and ended with "SCARPER!"
And its Zed.

But thats just skimming the top what about

Po Po

Feds

Pigs

Youths have made up most of these like myself well know in all of england and alot of american films like Friday with ice cube

He also forgot "coppers" and "peelers"...

Edit: and isn't "Feds" American?

Yeah "Feds" is American.
You all missed a few more
The old Bill
The filth
The bizzies
Ducks and Geese
A Johnny Hopper

 

[The Cheezy One]

I'm a Yorkshire lass myself. So I speak all common like.

So when I moved down south everyone thought it was odd when I pronounced my to the as tuh.

Example "Am off tuh shops"

my RE teacher was accused of being the yorkshire ripper cos he had a really potent accent, which they compared to the tape sent in by John Humble, and was pulled in twice for interviews
not a happy note, but it has to be

Spoiler: Happy jingly music

Equinoxs' interesting fact, of the daaaaaaaaay

 

[daz_O_O]

Ok Well im an English man.. What most of you are talking about is call "Cockney Rhyming" dates back to the 50's - 60's.

Its Cockney english slang like using rhyming words to make up different words such as

Apples and Pears - Stairs
Jack Nash - Slash
Tom Tit - Shit

Its not English English never has been its just Cockney Rhyming

Sorted Bruv

Just to clarify, slash is simply another word for piss, although I don't use rhyming slang, I'm pretty confident that it finds more usage with "I gotta take a Jack Nash" than "I'm in for Jack Nashing some guy in an alley".

Something that hasn't already been covered... Hm Birmingham's utter shite for unique phrases, we're just not imaginative enough and since I fall in the crevice between Brummie (Strong Birmingham accent) and Yam-yam (strong Dudley/West Bromwich accent) I don't get the defining features of either in my dialect.

 

[Clashero]

"Are you having a girrafe? Someone half inched my sharon stone! Ugh, I'm in so much barney rubble, you just don't have a scooby doo."

Fantastic!

Are you having a laugh? Some one's stolen my phone! I'm in so much trouble, you don't have a clue.

I call shenanigans, NO WAY your not a Proper English speaker.

Indeed. I'm an Argentine, but I know lots of English (Aced Cambridge's proficiency exam, for one), teach English to make money on the side, and am very familiar with slang from both sides of the ocean, and I only knew about "barney rubble". I supposed Scooby may have had something to do with clue or idea, but Sharon Stone left me dumbfounded.

Being an English teacher in a Spanish-speaking country, I have my choice of whether to teach and speak American or British English, and prefer British for several reasons:
- Zed
- The pronunciation is closer to the IPA symbols, and sounds better and more elegant.
- Most listenings are in British English.
- I give my students books to read and movies to write, and most of them are in British English. Here's something I said to them "I'm going to give you a movie to watch: Rock'n'rolla. Watch it without subtitles. If you can understand every single word that is said, we will never practice listening again."

 

[Rob Shogun]

What a bizarre thread, although now I know what a 'hoser' is it'll make me laugh all the more. I'm Enlgish myself, come from the South and what bugs the shit out of me is that whilst playing Horde mode on GOW2 I was matched up with some kids that turned out to be from the same town as me but they both spoke with chopped up "LUNDUN" accents and proceeded to call me a posh geek becasue I don't talk like I failed school!

I think the only proplem that I have with the term "English English" is that is has conotations of either cockney or 'posh English' and it leads some people (look at earlier posts for reference) to stereotype English people as those that say "what what" and "cheerio" and crap like that, bvelieve me, I wouldnt even say cheerio if I was after the rancid cereal!

Good swear words that sound good in english:
By far the worst word in the world: ****! - said in the southern dialect the emphisis on the CU and the T makes it sound really harsh, you literally spit the word at people
Fuck Off and Bastard sound a lot better with a Northern accent as it just rolls off the tongue better "FUCK OFF BASTAD" again, BASTAD (i spelt it as its pronounced) is spit out, look at the film "This Is England" to see what I mean
Just to settle this one for me, what the fuck does "oh my days" mean??

Turning it around, I'd like to know why the Americans find 'fag' to be so offensive, they always use it as an insult online and it really doesn't insult at all, it just makes me laugh, and the term 'Jack-ass.' I called an American one once and he flew off the fucking handle and kept shouting at me!

Almost last point, the term "************" (cant remember who posted it) actually is a term used by American slaves against their 'owners'(that sounds nasty) as the slave masters would sexually abuse the slave women and impregate them, for sick kicks or to try and enforce themselves more over their slaves.

Final thing, if you want to hear some normal English then find me and play me on xbox live, I'm always happy to chat

 

[Jonatron]

Once you hit the north of England, the accents do change a lot, so much so that morons have to have subtitles when Scottish people speak in shows such as Taggart. Scouse and Mancunian aren't too bad, people who aren't British usually have a problem with Geordies and Scots.

Fix'd.
I for one love the strong accents of Northern England (And Scotland, since I'm born and bread up here).
If you want to know why I think Geordie accents are awesome, just watch some 'Aufedersein Pet'.

 

[Goenitz]

In the spirit of asking questions, do english people actually say "zed" instead of "zee" when they're talking about the letter "z" or is that just jokingly?

Well, im a Canadian, and I say "zed." And since we're still a British colony... I would think they also say "zed"

 

[PixelKing]

How do Shon?-Greeting

 

[cptRazz]

In the spirit of asking questions, do english people actually say "zed" instead of "zee" when they're talking about the letter "z" or is that just jokingly?

It's a joke. We say zee.

I also greatly enjoy the British accent.

No we really do say Zed

 

[Snotnarok]

I wanted to know (but never wanted to bother with a topic on it) why do the english call a ball point pen a biro. I looked it up and all I found was "a ball point pen is often refereed to as a biro" leaving me still wondering the reason.

I get bonnet and boot, water closet and other such terms but biro? I'm going to make a guess and say it was an early brand of ball point pen.

Ball point pen is a bit of a mouthful isn't it? Pfft, I supppose you've already been answered, but I'm too lazy to keep on trawlin'; the ball point pen was invented by a man with the name of Biro, henceforth it was called that.

You were right, it was already answered thanks a bunch. We just call them pens but its really not a big deal lots of countries call lots of things differently and I really find that interesting.

 

[Lexodus]

In the spirit of asking questions, do english people actually say "zed" instead of "zee" when they're talking about the letter "z" or is that just jokingly?

It's a joke. We say zee.

I also greatly enjoy the British accent.

Speak for yourself, charlatan!

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

Side note I had a teacher named Mr. Wanker

That's nothing; I once knew someone called Dave Glasscock. You could always see when he was coming.

 

[Booze_Hound]

What about the west country? Or Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle? The dialect everyone's discussing is extinct and the accent is derived from Kentish.

English English? What are you referring to? South-west English? North-west English? Midlands English? They're all English English!

P.S it is Zed. According to wikipedia, it is only "zee" in American english.

 

[skintrade]

How about Canadian English? It's like American English but we spell everything correctly. Like ALUMINIUM. "Aluminum" is a COLOUR.

I say old bean, you mean to tell me that the Canadians got the dictionary without the spelling mistake? In all seriousness, that is actually how those grubby oiks to your southern border ended with the spelling

can you really just say "shit" whenever in Britain? i hear it all the time on the BBC, but nobody says on American TV.

However, in England

A SKINHEAD IS NOT A NEO-NAZI

There are: Communist skinheads. Normal skinheads. Poor Skinheads. Rich skinheads. CHav Skinheads. ETC

that's true in America, too (well i don't know if we have chavs). unfortunately the media only publicizes racist skinheads so most people don't know it's an entire subculture beyond that.

I would also like to point out that it is the Rastafarian "Nasty Boy" culture that started the whole shaven headed look, so to see it often taken on as those of a racist persuasion makes me remember how uneducated so many are.

The acceptable use of "shit" in mainstream culture and broadcasting is fairly recent because (ex Prime Minister) John Major referred to a group of politicians as a "bunch of shits".

 

[Lexodus]

Watch this for some edumacation. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe1a1wHxTyo]
Also, this. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T70-HTlKRXo&feature=related]