Funny things foreigners say (mildly adult)

[oneup]

IN New Zealand the rubber soled footwear with a Y shaped strap that goes between your toes is called a jandal. here in Australia its called a thong.
But this gets tricky because in New Zealand a thong is a very small piece of womens underwear. so an aussie saying he is going to wear thongs can get a good laugh from New Zealanders.
Similarly we call the thing in the livingroom we watch DVDs on and has an arial on the roof, we call a TV,, but i some parts of the UK it is only known as tele..
i visited a cousin i hadnt met before in the UK and she wasnt home when i got there so i went to the shops and was looking at TV;s to fill in time. when i went back and she and her family were home, i told them i had filled in time at the shops looking at TV's. they all laughed, and i later found out that they thought i had been watching transvestites, as they call TV Tele , and TV is an abbreviation for transvestites.
Anyone else got a funny story about miscommunication with someone else either speaking a different version of english, or a foreign language??

 

[GARYD]

When I lived in Temple Tx. a few years back, I stopped for gas. The attendant asked for my tag number(license plate in Yankee speak). I told him TNZ 79. On the receipt he wrote 10Z79 ........ wait a minute ........wait a minute .....get it? :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

 

[Mr.Wizard]

Was tuning an Ultra for a boy in England a few months back. He asked what I rode.. said a TG. He had no clue what a TG was so I said a Harley Trike. Oh... you ride a Buggy.


HUH??

 

[Rosy]

When I came to New England in the 50s from the Midwest, the English teacher ask me to spell hoss, what I said, hoss she said, don' t know I said, she spelled horse, hoss..and if you ever been to New England or spoken to my sister-in-law, it is hoss, not horse! WOW
NJ..pop..New Hampshire soda...other places coke, no matter what it is!

Regards,

Rosy
From NH

 

[joncallihan]

A creek (small waterway) is a crick here.
"Towards the mountains" is a valid term to use for west on the flat-lands (eastern part of Colorado.

Jon

 

[Bill Reber]

In SC a creek is a branch

 

[slick rick]

......Well you guys,,,,,OUGHT NOUGHT ,,,,,, talk that way . My grandmother ( God bless her ) called a bag a POKE ,,never figured that one out .:Shrug:

 

[kawabeemer]

Down south, you might hear the expressions 'a pig in a poke', ie. a pig in a bag. Just to confuse you further, that bag might be a 'croaker sack', ie a bag that about 50 lbs of potatoes comes in.

 

[slick rick]

Yep I've heard the pig in a poke but the croaker sack that's a new one ,,,,

 

[bongobobny]

What we call restrooms the Canadians call Washrooms! They rest in hotel rooms...

 

[GARYD]

So that's why I've called it a washroom all my life, that's what my parents always called it.
Rest in a restroom, wash in a washroom - so what do we call it when we have to pee = Where's the Peeroom??

 

[editor55]

Growing up in Nebraska we called the rubber soled footwear with a Y shaped strap that goes between your toes, "thongs" during the 60's & 70's. Now they are called flip flops.

Fast forward to 2005, a friend of mine was coaching 12 to 14 year old girls in softball and several were wearing flip flops to practice. After watching them try to field balls in flip flops he called all the girls together and told them that they couldn't wear thongs any more to practice.

After an uncomfortable silence the coach realized what he had said and had to explain about the change in name of footwear and under garments. They all had a good laugh and needless to say none of the girls wore "thongs" to practice any more.

I traveled to England in 1973 and tried to find a restroom/washroom in a college dorm. After about 30 minutes of painful searching I finally realized they called them "water closets".

 

[John Luciano]

Well in England a cigarette is called a FAG. You can use your imagination on that one. I' m going out and have a Fag. The hood of a car is a bonnet, the trunk is the Boot
When out west every soda is a pop and down south the kept asking me if I wanted a coke and what flavor. In Ny it was a wedge, here it is a grinder, in Pa it is a hoggie and most places it is a sub. Funny is it was first sold in New London Conn at the Sub Base and it looked like a Submarine so the called it a submarine sandwich .

 

[bongobobny]

so what do we call it when we have to pee = Where's the Peeroom??

At the Urination Station...

 

[model28a]

When my lady friend was visiting England the desk clerk asked if she would liked to be knocked up in the morning.:xzqxz:

 

[slick rick]

:wave4: :wave4:...Well , is that it ...did she or didn't she....:Shrug: :Shrug:

 

[Ozarkryder]

Moved from Minnesota to Arkansas. Went to a grocery store and they asked if I wanted a buggy. Up north a buggy is a little cart you push your kid around in, down here it is what you push your groceries around in. AKA a grocery cart in Minn.
A rubber band is used to keep things together, in most of Minnesota it is a rubber binder. In public you can get a drink from a drinking fountain, cross the river into Wisconsin and in some parts you use the "bubbler".
I once had a co-worker that very recently had moved from England, and was just learning American slang. She got very upset and embarrassed when I asked about her fanny pack. She called it a "Bum Bag". She didn't know "fanny" was a common term for a person's seat, rump or whatever you call your bottom. I didn't know where she came from "fanny" was impolite slang for a women's private lady parts.

 

[oneup]

fanny is a womans front bits here.. we always laugh at that fran dresher tv show the nanny.. the opening song says something like...."what was she to do, she was out on her fanny" but when you think about it from our point its rather rude lol