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Could someone help with me British slang?
March 28, 2011
10:26 pm
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MegC
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I'm watching the BBC version of Being Human and someone on the show used the word “pikey”.  What is a pikey??

And what does “dosh” mean??

And what is a “rounder”?  It sounds like a term I would use to describe one of my less-motivated students.

I know “torch” and “biscuit” and, thanks to Austin Powers, I know what “shag” means, but I got nothin' on these other ones.

"We mustn't let our passions destroy our dreams…"

March 29, 2011
2:28 am
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Clarebear
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This is from Wikipedia –Pikey is a pejorative slang term used mainly in the United Kingdom to refer to Irish Travellers, gypsies or people of low social class. Pikey is also sometimes called a piker in the United States, but a piker in Australia means someone who refuses to do something within a group. 

 

Dosh = money

 

I have no idea what “rounder” is to be honest with you, im stumped on that one !?

 

 

 

Why not join my page on Facebook – Tudor Dynasty 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/.....9213293551

March 29, 2011
10:09 am
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Sharon
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Rounder…A habitual criminal or disreputable person.  A gambler who makes rounds playing cards.  A person who makes the rounds at bars and is often drunk.  A wastrel. 

March 29, 2011
10:56 am
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MegC
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Sharon said:

Rounder…A habitual criminal or disreputable person.  A gambler who makes rounds playing cards.  A person who makes the rounds at bars and is often drunk.  A wastrel. 


Sounds like some of my former students!  Thanks!!

"We mustn't let our passions destroy our dreams…"

March 29, 2011
12:14 pm
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Louise
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I've heard of bounder meaning a disreputable person but not rounder, so you learn something new ever day!

Now you all know Cockney rhyming slang, If you're feeling a bit Hank Marvin you can all enjoy a Ruby Murray and a nice cup of Rosie Lee and an oily rag. Then you can go up the apples and pears to your trouble and strife. You need to wash your boat race before going to uncle Ned to get some Bo Peep. Ha!!! 

March 29, 2011
12:40 pm
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Sharon
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Bounder: a dishonorable man: “He is nothing but a fortune-seeking bounder.”   A man of objectionable social behavior.  A cad! 

As to the rest, can you translate/explain or isn't it supposed to make sense?  Surprised

March 29, 2011
12:55 pm
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Louise
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He he.  Hank Marvin (starving), Ruby Murray (curry), Rosie Lee (tea), oily rag (fag/cigarette), apples and pears (stairs), trouble and strife (wife), boat race (face), uncle Ned (bed), Bo Peep (sleep).

Did you know that the word Cad comes from conductor? In the nineteenth century the old London bus conductors were so rude that the word conductor became a byword for being uncivil. It later became shortened to Cad. I'm a wealth of useless information.

March 29, 2011
9:08 pm
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Impish_Impulse
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Louise said:

I'm a wealth of useless information.


A woman after my own heart!

                        survivor ribbon                             

               "Don't knock at death's door. 

          Ring the bell and run. He hates that."    

March 30, 2011
11:57 am
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Sharon
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Louise said:

He he.  Hank Marvin (starving), Ruby Murray (curry), Rosie Lee (tea), oily rag (fag/cigarette), apples and pears (stairs), trouble and strife (wife), boat race (face), uncle Ned (bed), Bo Peep (sleep).

Did you know that the word Cad comes from conductor? In the nineteenth century the old London bus conductors were so rude that the word conductor became a byword for being uncivil. It later became shortened to Cad. I'm a wealth of useless information.


LOL…thanks for the explanation.  English….a foreign language to an American.

Cad…I did not know that.  I'll just put that in my ever growing file of “useless information.”  You never know when the subject will come up again.

March 30, 2011
1:18 pm
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Bella44
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wreckmasterjay said:

  Dont worry its foreign to me sometimes and I live here!! I have to have a translator when some of my friends talk to me lol


Yes it does get confusing, especially when you don't all sound like snooty BBC newsreaders from the '60s with their oh-so-correct- pronunciation 😉  In fact, I'm always secretly disappointed when I meet an English person who doesn't sound like that!  


March 30, 2011
1:35 pm
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Louise
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I tell you what, Bella, when you come to England you'll find very few people talk 'BBC'. It's just not really accepted anymore because a lot of people don't like it. Local accents are 'in' (brilliant)!!! but more difficult for a non-brit to follow. I remember my dad saying that being in a Newcastle pub, listening to a Newcastle comedian talking to Newcastle audience he didn't understand a word being said. So what?, I think it's so important to hold on to tradition, including glorious accents.

March 30, 2011
1:52 pm
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DuchessofBrittany
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When my Mum and I were in Scotland two years ago, I acted as translator for My Mum who had a hard time understanding the “Scottish brogue.”

But, I agree with the variations of accents from the UK. I love it though. A man from, especially from Scotland or Ireland and with those accents, does it for me everytime. (Keep all your minds out of the gutter, okay!) Just Joking!

However, people, especially from the US, ask Mum and I if we are from Ireland, and they are always sad to learn we're not.

"By daily proof you shall find me to be to you both loving and kind" Anne Boleyn

March 30, 2011
2:03 pm
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Louise
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Accents are sexy, especially Irish (but that's a personal thing). They bring a country alive. I know I joked about Cockney rhyming slang but even though I'm not from London some slang still enters into my vocabulary. I hope we can hang on to that individuality or else the whole world will become one boring mush.

March 30, 2011
3:28 pm
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Bella44
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Just as well no one speaks BBC anymore!  (Even though I still like it Laugh )  New Zealand newsreaders and radio hosts HAD to speak like that right up until about the '80s because it was thought our accent wasn't proper enough.  And it's funny how an accent sounds to others – last time I was in the States people thought I was either British or Australian.

I have a thing for the Welsh accent…. and I adore the American Southern drawl too!

March 31, 2011
7:34 am
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Sharon
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DuchessofBrittany said:

When my Mum and I were in Scotland two years ago, I acted as translator for My Mum who had a hard time understanding the “Scottish brogue.”

But, I agree with the variations of accents from the UK. I love it though. A man from, especially from Scotland or Ireland and with those accents, does it for me everytime. (Keep all your minds out of the gutter, okay!) Just Joking!

However, people, especially from the US, ask Mum and I if we are from Ireland, and they are always sad to learn we're not.


I love to hear a man with a Scots brogue.  Sends shivers up and down my spine.  Wink

We have our share of accents, and I love them all.  We were trapped once in the mountains of NC during a snowstorm.  There were 10 of us.  None of us could understand the waitress.  Poor girl had to repeat herself, very slowly over and over again.

March 31, 2011
9:22 am
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MegC
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Oh what a variety of accents we have!!

My husband is from Wisconsin (waaaay northern U.S.) where most people have accents that are very nasal (he has relatives who honestly say, “Yah, hey dere…”.  Anyway, Daniel fortunately missed the bullet and, other than obviously NOT being southern, most people wouldn't automatically identify him as a Wisconsinite.

@Sharon: The East Tennessee accent is very similar to the North Carolina accent.  I bet that poor waitress had just as much trouble understanding you all! 😀  Jude Law did a very good job with his North Carolina accent in Cold Mountain as did Rene Zellweger.  Nicole Kidman…well, I give her a pass because her character was supposed to be from Charleston where the southern accent is a little more genteel (more drawl-like).  I'm still getting used to the Georgia accent.

A lot of my husband's co-workers are South African and I have a REALLY hard time understanding them.  They talk so fast and their accent is like a combination of British and German and, like, Dutch or something.  

It amazes me how England and Scotland and the U.S. and New Zealand and Australia and Ireland and Canada, etc. all speak English, but it's all so DIFFERENT!

"We mustn't let our passions destroy our dreams…"

March 31, 2011
9:36 am
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DuchessofBrittany
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MegC said:

 

It amazes me how England and Scotland and the U.S. and New Zealand and Australia and Ireland and Canada, etc. all speak English, but it's all so DIFFERENT!


So true, MegC. In fact, on little Prince Edward Island (a population of 142,000), there are a variety of accents. I've decided it must have something to do with migration patterns of people during the great migrations of the 18th and 19th centuries.

One accent here in Canada I can never understand is the Newfoundland accent. A combination of Irish and Scottish, perhaps. But, very heavy and I need to listen carefully to pick up the words. Yet, they are the nicest people you could ever meet!

"By daily proof you shall find me to be to you both loving and kind" Anne Boleyn

March 31, 2011
10:08 am
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Anyanka
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Louise said:

I tell you what, Bella, when you come to England you'll find very few people talk 'BBC'. It's just not really accepted anymore because a lot of people don't like it. Local accents are 'in' (brilliant)!!! but more difficult for a non-brit to follow. I remember my dad saying that being in a Newcastle pub, listening to a Newcastle comedian talking to Newcastle audience he didn't understand a word being said. So what?, I think it's so important to hold on to tradition, including glorious accents.


Upon-Tyne or Under-Lime?? 

DH reacons he can tell how annoyed I am by the amount of Geordie that creeps through.

It's always bunnies.

March 31, 2011
10:15 am
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Anyanka
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Sharon said:


I love to hear a man with a Scots brogue.  Sends shivers up and down my spine.  Wink

 


Ash slong ash it's not Shean Connery. Hish voiche drives me up the wall….

It's always bunnies.

March 31, 2011
10:27 am
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Sharon
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MegC said:

Oh what a variety of accents we have!!

@Sharon: The East Tennessee accent is very similar to the North Carolina accent.  I bet that poor waitress had just as much trouble understanding you all! 😀  Jude Law did a very good job with his North Carolina accent in Cold Mountain as did Rene Zellweger.  Nicole Kidman…well, I give her a pass because her character was supposed to be from Charleston where the southern accent is a little more genteel (more drawl-like).  I'm still getting used to the Georgia accent.

It amazes me how England and Scotland and the U.S. and New Zealand and Australia and Ireland and Canada, etc. all speak English, but it's all so DIFFERENT!


Yes, that's why I said poor girl.  We wanted to write it down for her in the end, but we noticed that when we ordered toast, she actually drew a picture of toast.  We were there a long time.

It always amazes me when actors from England and Australia etc, do our accents.  They do them so well.

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