Local customs and slang

[Rodgers]

Following on from the "where do you live" thread -

Even within this small isle there are LOADS of accents, local dialects etc, so there must be millions worldwide. Give me some examples of the weirdest phrases (with accurate translation if not in English) or customs where you live.

A quick example : In Sheffield one slang word for unination is to go for "a waz". Now in Suffolk, England the same phrase means to masturbate. So, you can imagine how stupid I felt when I stood up in a pub in Suffolk and asked if anyone wanted a drink as I'm "just off for a quick waz and then I'm going to the bar".

 

[IceBlaZe]

In Kurdish 'Waz' means subject, topic of conversation.

 

[Switch625]

In Illinois, "waz" is the rural pronunciation of the word "was." That pronunciation isn't so common in the cities, though.

 

[Jason Fox]

Originally posted by Rodgers
"just off for a quick waz and then I'm going to the bar".

That's too funny. I can imagine the looks.

 

[philippe]

uhm waz=was was is the past of is.(dutch)
and here is my dialect West-Vloamsgij mutten gie zijt ne kieken ja en gij zijt ne stinkbeare.Metn n'auto gingn winder naor den kust.its actually VERY hard to write it but very easy to talk it.but understanding only some poeple(like me)can understand it.

 

[Padma]

Hmm, I didn't understand this thread to be a discussion about "waz" and what it means in other languages.

Actually, I believe the phrase used is related to a phrase I have heard in the US Midwest: "to take a whiz". Same meaning - urinate.

 

[duke o' york]

Maybe it follows the same bizarre logic that makes s*at the past participle of sh*t. Whiz - whaz? Slash is popular to mean whaz/whiz too.
Another interesting thing is the various words people use to describe the unlawful acquisition of something. Steal is obvious, but twoc (take without consent), chaw, thieve and nick are all popular in Newcastle. Most of these words are used countrywide but chaw seems to be particular to the North East. Likewise nash to mean travel speedily.
Can others actually give examples of their own, rather than just going on about whizzing?

 

[Jason Fox]

Originally posted by duke o' york
Can others actually give examples of their own, rather than just going on about whizzing?

I think part of the problem is the first one was so classic that we don't have anything that compares favorably.

 

[polymath]

Another one for steal: scav, as in scavenge - "Hey, scav that!" Can also mean, just scavenge.
munter: ugly girl or bloke, or stupid person.
In manchester and the north, add '-mans' on the end of nearly every word. i.e "It's well coldmans" or "I'm not walking, it's longmans". I have no idea why.
I'll try and think of some others.

 

[Ohkrana]

XXXX or 4X is beer down here (from Queensland), I believe it's a brand of condoms in France..
Was brought to light in a speech by ex-PM Gough Whitlam.
Slang from the commercial - 'have a 4X' or something like that.

Split the whisker - female taking a slash/leak
Slash on mid wicket - a guy taking a leak
Larrot or larrop - slang for a toss (made popular by that idiotic show big brother down here). Also use shank, toss etc to cover that one.

One that is the source of much amusement
SPOTTED DICK - actually an outback style desert (Damper with raisins in it)

Some common slang phrases - which are completely silly
'I'll be laughing like a fat spider'
'You little ripper'
'Struth' - It only sounds good when Jacko says it! Akin to saying Oh SH*T.
'get a dog up ya'
'You beauty'
'Howdy champ'

Odd ryhmes - Okker slang if you like
Dog's eye = Meat Pie
Horse's Hoof - see the homosexual thread
Henley and grange = change
China = mate

 

[Orioles3386]

It seems everyone knows a Boston accent. dropping the r's at the end of words.

I think it's funny when people try to imitate it. In movies, or people just making fun of it, everyones favorite Boston phrase "Park the car in Harvard Yard" is made fun of wrong. Pak the ca in Havid Yad, not Paaaaahhhk the caaaahhh in Haaahvaahd Yaaahhhd. There is no emphasis put on the missing r!!!! It just isn't there. If someone's going to imitate or make fun of it, at least do it right.

On the morning announcements at my school last year, my chemistry teacher pointed out how heavy the accents were. "Seenyis don't fahget ta get cha pichis in the lieberry" (that would be, "Seniors, don't forget to get your pictures in the library")

 

[Graeme the mad]

We have a quaint custom here in liverpool - when someones house in the nieghbourhood is empty for a night everyone else in the nieghbourhood gathers round their house. Then people prise the doors and windows open and take all their belongings.

 

[Becka]

Around here, we really don't have any weird customs/slang, except maybe for "y'all". I don't use y'all much, though I could be doing it subconsciously.

 

[anarchywrksbest]

Northern Irealnd is full of them.
craic/crack - fun
banter - conversation
mucker - friend
bout ye - how are you?

We also have a few quaint customs like instead of using public transport for it true purpose we take empty buses, park them across the road and set them on fire, just for a laugh like.

 

[Grisu]

Originally posted by Orioles3386
It seems everyone knows a Boston accent. dropping the r's at the end of words.

I think it's funny when people try to imitate it. In movies, or people just making fun of it, everyones favorite Boston phrase "Park the car in Harvard Yard" is made fun of wrong. Pak the ca in Havid Yad, not Paaaaahhhk the caaaahhh in Haaahvaahd Yaaahhhd. There is no emphasis put on the missing r!!!! It just isn't there. If someone's going to imitate or make fun of it, at least do it right.

Yeah, imitations of accents are usually horrible to the imitated to listen to. For instance I regularly get sick when I hear some germans who are trying to imitate the swiss dialect, it's just hilarious they just emphasize every k or ch and think that's it

 

[Padma]

One that I hear commonly these days is O.B.E., as in "that project was OBE'ed" (Overcome By Events = no longer valid)

We could probably run a whole thread just on military slang!

 

[Simon Darkshade]

Originally posted by Ohkrana
Some common slang phrases - which are completely silly
'I'll be laughing like a fat spider'
'You little ripper'
'Struth' - It only sounds good when Jacko says it! Akin to saying Oh SH*T.
'get a dog up ya'
'You beauty'
'Howdy champ'

Odd ryhmes - Okker slang if you like
Dog's eye = Meat Pie
Horse's Hoof - see the homosexual thread
Henley and grange = change
China = mate

Indeed, we do take a lot of cockney rhyming slang into our Aussie idiom, but it is being swamped by Americanisms, to the extent that young types don't even know what a Lady Godiva is.

'Struth' is good, combined with "Stone the crows", and Jacko yelling "Oi!", "you little bloody ripper"
"Mate" is still common for those who speak Australian.

 

[Caligastia]

Ill leave the New Zealand slang to the other kiwis on here, but I heard some funny stuff when I visited my friends in Tasmania.

In Tasmania the feminine version of "wanker" is "finger banger", and the act of a woman masterbating is called "flicking the bean".

 

[Switch625]

Some Illinois slang:

"can o' corn!" = something that is very easy, or not a problem.

"slough" - pronounced "slew" = small creek

"yahoo" = stupid person

"cheesehead" = person from Wisconsin (non-complimentary)

"slab" = road, usually a paved country road

"upstater" = person from the urbanized area of Chicago and environs. Generally thought of as a person from a different planet.

"boocoo" = many or a large number (undoubtedly taken from the French "beaucoup")

 

[Arioch]

Some local Wolverhampton slang-

Muppet - i.e. as intelligent and as useful as a green felt frog which you have to operate with your hand...

(Hope Ming from Apolyton doesn't come read this thread)

'How am ya?' - translation - how are you?

Darlo bird - A woman who resides in Darlaston, one of the more 'up-market' *cough* areas

Hell-Hole = Walsall