Beau Peep Notice Board
Beau Peep Notice Board => Outpourings => Topic started by: Roger Kettle on May 29, 2010, 08:58:26 PM
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I was working on Andy Capp today and toying with a script which included the line "He's in the garden, drinking beer in his vest and pants". It suddenly dawned on me that this has a completely different meaning in the States. Vest=waistcoat and pants=trousers. "He's in the garden drinking beer in his waistcoat and trousers". Not quite what I intended. I'm sure Feather can back up what I'm saying but, Diane---do Canadians use the same terminology?
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Anyway, I dropped the whole idea---so it's not important---but I'm still interested.
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Yes, is the answer.
Canadians do use the same terminology, but as a nation they retained the awareness, irony and sarcasm genes which were bred out of Americans, so they would sort of know what you meant.
To get across your original imagery to the Yanks you would need to use the words 'singlet' and 'y-fronts', I reckon. Cupboards are closets, by the way. I know you didn't ask, just sayin'...
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Do singlets come in different sizes?
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Help me, Malc! I was okay with "vest", but when I read "pants", I pictured Andy in trousers. :o I'm being Australianised. I never, repeat, never, say "pants" when I mean "trousers".
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I was working on Andy Capp today and toying with a script which included the line "He's in the garden, drinking beer in his vest and pants". It suddenly dawned on me that this has a completely different meaning in the States. Vest=waistcoat and pants=trousers. "He's in the garden drinking beer in his waistcoat and trousers". Not quite what I intended. I'm sure Feather can back up what I'm saying but, Diane---do Canadians use the same terminology?
Candians do not tend to say "beer" - they say the brand of the beer such as "Bud Light" or "Canadian" - if they do say beer they say "Brewskis".
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Most Americans would say "He's in the yard in his underwear drinking beer," or they might say "He's out in the yard in his underwear drinking beer." If you want to be specific about what type of underwear, you would write "He's in the yard in his briefs (or boxers or tighty-whiteys) and T-shirt." (or undershirt, or even 'wife-beater' if it's a sleeveless undershirt and you want to use slang).
Americans do not say "Y-fronts" or "singlets." I am guessing "Y-fronts" are briefs. I don't know what a 'singlet' is.
"Pants" are slacks or trousers; however, some people do refer to women's panties as "pants," but it's mostly the elderly who do that.
Most Americans would say "Wanna get a beer?" Someone might say "I'really want a Corona with lime tonight" or they might say "I bought a case of Dos Equis, so come on over!" Brewski is mostly used by university students or very young adults, but I don't think it really "in fashion" to say that anymore here. "Cold one" can mean beer. Some people say "You wanna cold one?" before they hand you a beer.
Cupboard is a rather old-fashioned word for cabinet. "Garden" refers to something that is more formal or it is used in reference with growing vegetables. "Yard" is what you think of as "garden." We also use "lawn." It would be used like this: "Did you see that bird bath the Smiths put on the front lawn?" We don't use "lawn" to refer to the backyard.
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That quiz site that Diane got us started on, Sporcle, has a section on meanings of words in the US and UK.....
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Yes, Feather, I think "singlet" is quite Australian, although my Dad used to use it to refer to a sleeveless vest. "Semmit" was another word he used, but that is definitely Scottish. I get very confused now about what is Australian, Scottish, English, American, etc. So I come out with a mishmash of words from different versions of English, which is, of course, what Australian English is. :)
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Feather, I stand corrected. 'Singlet' is very Australian and I thought (as with everything else) they merely copied the Americans. In the US a singlet is sometimes a'tank top' or a 'wife beater"? I guess that's a reference to the type of bloke who struts around in his vest, but another reason why the guy who writes Andy Capp wouldn't use it.
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Aye, Joan, my dad was one who said no matter how bad things got financially, he would never be reduced to 'sittin' aroon' the hoose in mah simmit'.
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"Tank top" is not the same as a "wife-beater." A tank top is not underwear, although you can sleep in a tank top. In fact, I am wearing a bright-pink tank top with my jeans right now.
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Tank Top.
http://www.carniestuff.com/images/ladiesTankTop.jpg (http://www.carniestuff.com/images/ladiesTankTop.jpg)
Wife Beater
http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/images/gallery/wifebeater-wonder.jpg (http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/images/gallery/wifebeater-wonder.jpg)
Difference: .000000002% ..0
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One's got boobies in it. The other hasn't.
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One's a mannequin, and the other is a .... No, one's a dummy, and the other is a ... No, one's a ... Oh, forget it!
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One's got boobies in it. The other hasn't.
They both look as though they have 'boobies'. The vest with the man inside looks to have the bigger boobies!
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One's a mannequin, and the other is a .... No, one's a dummy, and the other is a ... No, one's a ... Oh, forget it!
Talking of dummies, where IS Mince today?
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Tank Top.
http://www.carniestuff.com/images/ladiesTankTop.jpg (http://www.carniestuff.com/images/ladiesTankTop.jpg)
Wife Beater
http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/images/gallery/wifebeater-wonder.jpg (http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/images/gallery/wifebeater-wonder.jpg)
Difference: .000000002% ..0
"Wife-beaters" are considered underwear because they are made of a very thin cotton. Men are the ones who wear wife-beaters.
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Well this is certainly shaping up to be the Beau Peep great underwear debate of 2010
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I was going to launch into a flurry of Peepmaster-like puns about Beau Peep/Legionnaire/Desert underwear but couldn't think of any.
Wearing a "beau tie" was as close as I got.
I'm not good at this.
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I was going to launch into a flurry of Peepmaster-like puns about Beau Peep/Legionnaire/Desert underwear but couldn't think of any.
Wearing a "beau tie" was as close as I got.
I'm not good at this.
You just keep going, Roger. You're doing fine. :-*
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Well this is certainly shaping up to be the Beau Peep great underwear debate of 2010
While not underwear, may I respectfully refer you all to :
Tarks has never heard of Betty Bottle, as demonstrated by the attached screen image. He might have been confused with this site. How very useful.
http://bottlebetty.com/ (http://bottlebetty.com/)
p.s. I wish I were getting commission but I'm not. I just think they are an interesting idea.
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Well this is certainly shaping up to be the Beau Peep great underwear debate of 2010
Shouldn't that be "the great Beau Peep underwear debate of 2010"?
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I'm not sure Nige - I never clicked on the links - I just imagined smashing undies.
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I'm not sure Nige - I never clicked on the links - I just imagined smashing undies.
Smashing undies? You might quite like my Y-fronts and string-vest.
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I'm not sure Nige - I never clicked on the links - I just imagined smashing undies.
Smashing undies? You might quite like my Y-fronts and string-vest.
Show us a picture, then we can all vote!
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Oh good lord, please don't be in them!
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Oh good lord, please don't be in them!
^^^^^^^^
Wot she said! (Just had the horrible thought that Peeps might also have string Y-fronts......argghhh!)
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:D :o :-X
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Oh good lord, please don't be in them!
You want a picture of me not in my underwear? I'll see what I can do...
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Lucy!
Sort him out, please!
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I'm hardly likely to post such an image on a public forum, Vulch!
I've got Diane's email address.
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Er...back to the subject of the divisions of a common language, I got an email from a puzzled cartoon editor at The Mirror. I mentioned in a Horace strip that someone's "hat was squint". I had no idea that "squint" is a Scottish word. It means "crooked" or "not straight". To be honest, I'm surprised this kind of thing doesn't happen more often.
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Er...back to the subject of the divisions of a common language, I got an email from a puzzled cartoon editor at The Mirror. I mentioned in a Horace strip that someone's "hat was squint". I had no idea that "squint" is a Scottish word. It means "crooked" or "not straight". To be honest, I'm surprised this kind of thing doesn't happen more often.
Shall I run this through Babelfish?
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Er...back to the subject of the divisions of a common language, I got an email from a puzzled cartoon editor at The Mirror. I mentioned in a Horace strip that someone's "hat was squint". I had no idea that "squint" is a Scottish word. It means "crooked" or "not straight". To be honest, I'm surprised this kind of thing doesn't happen more often.
It's definitely not a Scottish word, Roger. Sam knew what it meant instantly, and it's in dictionary.com with no mention of a regional or dialectical origin. I can only imagine the Mirror's cartoon editor is such a perfectionist that he's never come across the word in his daily life before. How odd!
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I knew what squint meant Roger - it must be related to skiwiffie (however I have no idea how to spell that word).
Nige, why did you email me a photo of a bag of onions?
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I'm familiar with the word "squint" too, Roger, and I'm not Scottish (other than by name).
You, of course, are something of a wordsmith, they being the tools of your trade, so it's tradlient that there would be any words that you were still unfamiliar with.
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Sorry Vulch, Nigel who? Don't know the guy :-[
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Sorry Vulch, Nigel who? Don't know the guy :-[
Lucy, I didn't mention Nigel...... Who's he?
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I tried to update you on the "squint" busines last night but, for some reason, I couldn't get into the site. Anyway, the cartoon editor asked around the London office and NOBODY knew what I meant so the word has been substituted with "crooked".
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That's playing it safe, Roger. I suppose it's wise in such a pherpacious situation, with their being the paymasters!
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I'd say it was being a little over-equiphillibrous myself, but I suppose they know their diasprints.
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<< sigh >>
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Something hinckling you, Vult?
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Nope!
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Tarks has nailed it. Roger, as a bladelled master of humourous writing, will be aware of pretty much every word in the English language.
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This is like sitting through an extended Leonard Sachs intro on the Good Old Days... :o
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Good article on "squint" here:
http://heritage.caledonianmercury.com/2010/05/08/useful-scots-word-squint/00710 (http://heritage.caledonianmercury.com/2010/05/08/useful-scots-word-squint/00710)
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Thanks for that, Joan. Fascinating and enlightening.
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Thanks for that, Joan. Fascinating and enlightening.
Yeah, like that's a real word.
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"that" is a real word.
It's a demonstrative pronoun (pl. "Those"), which usually points out, or refers to, a person or thing previously mentioned, or supposed to be understood. "That", as a demonstrative, may precede the noun to which it refers.
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You took the words right out of my mouth, Malc. Concribulations!