Phrases with different meaning depending on geographic location

r3nu4l

Unusual one here. I was out in a pub a while back sitting with some people I know and a couple of friends of theirs. Anyway, two of the guys I didn't know were talking about their childhood and one of them said quite casually to the other:

"Oh when we were kids you were always tea-bagging me every winter" :eek:

Now apparently in certain parts of the North of England "Tea-bagging" refers to the act of holding someone down and...filling their pockets with snow!

On the other hand the look on my face confused them as they felt tea-bagging was the way to go between friends. Thankfully another friend of mine knew both definitions and explained to us all where the confusion lay. Red-faces all round then.

Anyone else ever have any bizarre experiences like this?

Donegal Lass

if you say shift in the North they think you are a slut!:D copped onto that pretty quickly!!

Also Savage at home means something thats not really nice/offensive! as in the weather is savage (bad) today!

But in Galway i find that people are using it the other way about...as in the weather is savage (good) today!

Me gets confused!:(

humanji

In Cork, "I will, yeah" means "I won't"

Confused the hell out of me when people jsut weren't doing what they had just said they would!

Of getting pissed here means getting drunk, but in the states it usually means getting angry.

GreenHell

Goull, spelling? Anyway, apparently this has different meaning up the country, down in Cork I have always believed it meant that said person was a fool. Acting the goull, for example.

cornbb

Ha, I always thought ghoul (pronounced "gowl") was a Limerick thing. Brilliant word though.

DarkJager

Just like in the US, they describe something thats good as being "the sh1t"?? And yes gowl is a limerick word used by the "feens"..

Black Swan

After eating too much, an American might lean back feeling his full belly and say, "I feel stuffed!"

5starpool

I had a conversation about a phrase that was used once by an Aussie guy once. He was telling me he was late for work as he 'just about' caught the train, which confused me. As far as I was concerned if he just about caught it there was no problem and should have been on time, but he insisted, and got backup from his Aussies friends, that 'just about' meant nearly doing something but not quite, where as in this part of the world it meant you did do it, but just in time.

Made for a good heated pub discussion I tell ya. And yes, gowl is definitely a limerick thing and is in no way complementary. Can also be used to call someone a gowlbag.

biko

"I'm full" in Ireland means I have had a lot of food.
"I'm full" in Sweden means I have a lot of drink taken.

_blank_

I know a Waterford lad who uses gowl. Great word tbh.

Ya gowl ya.

Stop acting the gowl.

Ha!

Marksie

seansouth wrote:

I know a Waterford lad who uses gowl. Great word tbh.

Ya gowl ya.

Stop acting the gowl.

Ha!

have you ever heard of Diamaid O'Muirithe, he has several books out: "the words we use" etc.

he goes into all the local words from ireland and the UK and their origin.

It can be interesting:
in my home town of wigan we call baps: Barmcakes, but this title is also linked to the word Barmy meaning mad.

The root origin is Barm: and is olde english describing the yeasty froth following fermentation.

I do recall "Gowl" being in the book

hullaballoo

"I am hot" means that I'm feeling the heat in Ireland.

In Spain, the direct translation has slightly different intonations.

You'll have to excuse my spelling here, I never learnt Spanish formally (obviously):
"I am hot" = "Soy" [I am] "caliente(s?)" [hot] (literally), but:
"Soy caliente(s?)" means you're horny.

If you want to talk about the fact that the temperature is high, you have to say "tengo calor".

_blank_

marksuttonie wrote:

have you ever heard of Diamaid O'Muirithe, he has several books out: "the words we use" etc.

he goes into all the local words from ireland and the UK and their origin.

It can be interesting:
in my home town of wigan we call baps: Barmcakes, but this title is also linked to the word Barmy meaning mad.

The root origin is Barm: and is olde english describing the yeasty froth following fermentation.

I do recall "Gowl" being in the book

Very interesting, and I wouldn't mind getting my hands on that book either.

Terry

seansouth wrote:

Very interesting, and I wouldn't mind getting my hands on that book either.

http://www.allbookstores.com/book/1851824669/Diarmaid_O_Muirithe/Words_We_Use.html

Ryaller

"Can I bum a fag?" mightn't always get you a free cigarette.

_blank_

Terry wrote:

http://www.allbookstores.com/book/1851824669/Diarmaid_O_Muirithe/Words_We_Use.html

Ah thanks a million Terry.

jor el

5starpool wrote:

I had a conversation about a phrase that was used once by an Aussie guy once. He was telling me he was late for work as he 'just about' caught the train, which confused me. As far as I was concerned if he just about caught it there was no problem and should have been on time, but he insisted, and got backup from his Aussies friends, that 'just about' meant nearly doing something but not quite, where as in this part of the world it meant you did do it, but just in time.

I'd be with the Aussies on that one too, 'just about' means you're not quite there yet. 'Only just' would mean you barely made it alright.

If you're a smoker and in America, don't mention to your American friends that you're just heading out to get fags. They'll think you're after some rent boys or something.

I've always found that Savage can mean good and bad, depending on what you're talking about.

Finally, what's Tea Bagging? I've never heard this expression

r3nu4l

seansouth wrote:

Ah thanks a million Terry.

A few weeks ago, on my computer, the phrase 'Ah thanks a million Terry' meant 'Ah thanks a million julep'.

r3nu4l

jor el wrote:

Finally, what's Tea Bagging? I've never heard this expression

Ahem!

Terry

hehe.

I'm waiting for jor el to come back after finding out what tea bagging means.

humanji

And look up tea-gagging after that! :eek:

Donegal Lass

Rofl!!!:D

DarkJager

Tea-bagging: such a quality phrase!!!

coyote6

In certain the US "tuning someone up" means giving them a beating.

"Shut your suck" means, obviously "Shut your mouth".

And the word Bitch can mean many different things depending on inflection or emphasis: "Beeeaatch"etc.

Unpossible

I've had to explain "How's it going" a number of times recently

damiennolan

seansouth wrote:

I know a Waterford lad who uses gowl. Great word tbh.

Ya gowl ya.

Stop acting the gowl.

Ha!

In Dublin I've heard people use the word "gowl" to refer to a ladies private parts.

e.g. "I wouldn't mind tearing the gowl off her"

shane86

cornbb wrote:

Ha, I always thought ghoul (pronounced "gowl") was a Limerick thing. Brilliant word though.

In Cavan its another word for a womans.....well, Im in work so I shant say

I tought savage meant good all over Ireland. Thats the great thing about the Irish version of English, we can completely baffle fluent English speaking foreigners My mate went out with an American, we used to take joy in deliberately baffling them the whole time

(infront of them)

"So, how did the weekend go?"

(must be said at 80 mph)"Oh jaysus, pure rapid. We were out Friday night pure locked outta the bin, on the floor givin it socks tryna get stuck into this young one, yid have pure lashed it outa her nahmeanlike. Rob was tryna get stuck into this other one but her mate kept pure wreckin his head....."

cue the Americans with a look theyd give if they had been listening to some obscure Asian dialect.

_blank_

I've only ever known it to mean that.

Ladies private parts?

WTF is wrong with Vagina?

themole

Ryaller wrote:

"Can I bum a fag?" mightn't always get you a free cigarette.

Indeed, a guy my brother knows used that very phrase in the US and got a hiding for his troubles.

This site may interest people here.

A a quick search for gowl gives:

1. gowl

female genitalia.

mikedragon32

In Oz a "spunk" is a good looking guy...

jester77

themole wrote:

Indeed, a guy my brother knows used that very phrase in the US and got a hiding for his troubles.

This site may interest people here.

A a quick search for gowl gives:

Speaking of genitalia, the Americans have gotten the meaning of fanny all backwards!