I love
language
Listen to any
type of verbal media for even a small amount of time and you are sure to hear
any number of reasons why English is a difficult language for some non-native
speakers to learn, especially for those whose native tongue is fairly literal
and spelling reasonably straight forward.
Because of the olla podrida into which English has evolved, we tend to
find terms and combinations which, while the colloquial meaning may be (but isn't always) apparent, the origins are murky.
Easy example. My
computer has on occasion been "out of whack" or "out of
kilter." But, can an object be "in whack?" or even "in
kilter?"
As generally
used, we know what we mean but a learner might struggle with: Where is whack
(or kilter)? Is it a commodity, such that if I have none I can be out of it? It
is a state of being? Why, if my car is out of kilter, can't I get it repaired
and back "in kilter"? As it
turns out, change the spelling to "kelter" which meant "good
order or health" in the 17th century, and it makes sense.
My Pennsylvania Dutch grandmother used to
describe anything that wasn't even or level as either "cattywampus"
or "sowickered" when she really meant they were "out of kilter".
Go figure. Cattywampus always sounded to me like a broom one might use to
"shoo" a cat. The origins are
lost, but best guess is that it comes from "quatre" as in French for
"four" referring to four corners, or square. Sowickered? I got
nuthin'. And, oh yeah, PA Dutch aren’t or weren’t “Dutch,” They were German (“Deutsche”)
One which I
find particularly evocative in meaning is the South Carolina euphemism for
vomit - "cascade". This,
defecation and masturbation may be the three words with the largest number of
referential aliases. I'll leave the other two alone, but in addition to the
beautiful mountain stream image created by "cascade" my personal top
ten include:
1) barfing
2) visual burp
3) blowing chunks
4) talking to Ralph on the big white telephone
5) yakking
6) to tumble groceries
7) the liquid laugh
8) yawning in Technicolor
9) revisiting lunch
10) a tie between "3d shouting" and "chowder
gargling"
honorable mention goes to:
"Induce an involuntary personal protein spill" (credit George
Carlin)
I know we all have our faves, but these are mine.
As a frequent
viewer and fan of Australian cop shows, I have discovered several previously
unknown (to me) euphemisms and phrases. If you have been somewhere doing almost anything
and it didn’t work out because of your actions, I might ask, on your return, “How’d
ya go?” This connotes any action conceivable and substitutes for a host of
longer and more involved questions. If you erred, and things went awry due to
your actions your response might well be “I stuffed up.”
Apparently, by mutual agreement in all ANZAC media, if you
mean to say “fuck”, “fucking”, “fuck it” (or you, or them or me) or “fucked,”
you can’t say that on TV, but you can substitute “stuff.”, “get
stuffed”, “stuff you,” “go stuff yourself” “stuffing” or “stuffed” which everyone knows
is synonymous with the “f bomb”, and boy do they ever. It is also used in
adjective form such as “stuffing asshole” and one time “stuffing dickhead,”
dickhead apparently also being fair game. I’m talking network broadcast TV here, not cable.
In fact,
Aussies have unique slang terms which can be almost as difficult to grasp as Cockney
rhyming slang. Quick example”: “Saturday arvo, we was at the beach and went
into a nearby bottle-o. This dag in a budgie smuggler hits me up for a durry. I told him to get stuffed and rack off, bought
me a rack of stubbies, some hot snags and a sanger, and left.
Just in case you don’t speak Aussie, that translates as: “Saturday
afternoon, we went to a liquor store near the beach. A nerd in a speedo asked
me for a cigarette. I told him to fuck off and go away, bought a case of beer,
some hot sausages and a sandwich and left.”
Finally, I'll
leave you with several terms from our friends in the UK, which I guarantee
would leave a non-native speaker in the dust. The first two are more Irish:
"Take the piss."
I know, sounds straightforward, like maybe you might do it in the loo?
Not so fast my non-Anglophilic friend; it actually means to make fun of, tease
or take advantage of a person, as in "are you serious or just taking the
piss?" This one actually shows up in Brit TV dialogue frequently. Scots
use it even more.
The other, similar sounding in origin,
but not meaning, is "Dry Shite."
Again, we might think we have a feel for the meaning and the posterior
discomfort it implies but not so much. It means " boring" or if leveled at
someone, as calling them a bore. In usage:
Collum could either BE a "dry shite" or what he was speaking
about was "dry shite."
"Bob's
your uncle," meaning "things are fine, or optimum." Its roots go
back to a man named Robert, a British cabinet minister who appointed his nephew
to a government job without the nephew’s being really qualified. So, if Bob
was/is you uncle, you’re doing fine.
A similar phrase
in meaning is "Tickety- Boo".
This probably came back from India with the British army. A common Hindi phrase “tikai babu,” which
translates as “it’s all right, sir” became Tickety-Boo in English.
Let’s finish with one derived from
rhyming slang, and absolutely undecipherable if you don't know already.
"Have a butcher's" comes from Cockney rhyming slang. Back in the day,
butcher shops hung meat on hooks as display. "Hook" is a sound alike
for "look" so "have a butcher's" means to have (or take) a
look.
Hope this helps all my non-English speaking readers......oh
wait, I only have one; so Leina, enjoy this and I hope the other Philistines
will be amused as well.
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