I am British and whenever I travel to America I have trouble understanding their accent and the phrases they use. I hate to be rude, but they have such thick accents and it makes me batty. Here are just a few things I've heard and don't understand right away, but there are lots more.
Ex: He seems just a quarter short of a buck. ???
Ex: Sorry Ma'am, but the john's out of order. ???
Does anyone else have trouble understanding them?
2006-09-03 07:18:09 · 15 answers · asked by Jenn A 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
This is a great question. I am American however I have traveled rather extensively. I think where ever you go you will interact with different cultural "isms". Humor will be different, slang will be different, and mostly, a sense of communication will be different. If you look in your own culture i am sure you will find that you do not always say, "May I have a cup of coffee, Thank you very much, you are a very kind person" or statements like that. Next time you are talking with an American and they say something that you don't understand, you can always ask them to explain what their meaning of the term is. If they are at all kind or considerate, they will explain what they are saying and will refrain from slang and "Americanized" English.
2006-09-03 07:32:16 · answer #1 · answered by Chris R 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I can understand that our different usages are a challenge for you. As I read questions worded well but in a way I'd never word them, I've been thinking that they must be posted by British speakers of English.
Being a quarter short of a buck, literally, would be to have 25 cents less than a dollar, but it was likely used figuratively, to mean that the person spoken about is lacking in something such as brains, good sense, that sort of thing.
The john, in this sense, is the toilet, the w.c.
Email me if you have any more questions, I love this sort of thing. Are you in the US now?
fmosconi@aol.com
p.s. what is meant by "trainers", in terms of something to wear?
2006-09-03 14:23:31 · answer #2 · answered by catintrepid 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm American, but that sometimes happens to me. It really depends on where you are. In my area, we don't use any esoteric phrases. The "john" (which I rarely hear) is the bathroom. Whoever said that is saying that the bathroom is not working. I'm not sure what the first example is. You must have been in the south to hear "thick accents". I myself have a hard time understanding thick southern accents. I also find them very irritating. Different regions of the nation have different accents and different phraseology.
2006-09-03 14:30:18 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm American. Do we really have thick accents? haha that's funny because I have a teacher who is British and half the time I can't understand what in the world she's saying. So as much trouble as you have understanding Americans, that's how much trouble most Americans have with understanding you.
2006-09-03 15:33:09 · answer #4 · answered by Kaytee 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think its like that on both sides of the pond. I have a boss who is British and I have a hard time understanding him sometimes.
I am also Jamaican and when I first came here I had trouble with the American vernacular. But, they couldn't understand me either.
A little patience and time and we will all understand each other.
2006-09-03 14:51:12 · answer #5 · answered by dionne m 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A quarter short of a buck means that the person in question is not entirely sane. Rather like "His lift doesn't go to the top floor." "The john's out of order" means "The loo's not working."
As a bi-lingual British/American, I'd be happy to help.
2006-09-03 14:24:45 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
they will have the same trouble with some of our british turn of phrases. its what makes the world so unique. if we all talked the same it would be pretty boring
i would say the 1st one means "hes a few sandwiches short of a picnic" & the 2nd one the toliet is out of order
2006-09-03 14:23:20 · answer #7 · answered by tjstarbe 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
When I lived in England, it took a few months to figure out YOUR language, too. Quid, One yer Bike, Wellies, Brollies, etc. You can't expect to know another culture just because you are on their soil. Could you speak Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai, simply because you are visiting there? Get a grip! Why blame America for your shortcomings?
2006-09-03 14:28:58 · answer #8 · answered by AzOasis8 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Im English I find it very hard to understand them and they find it hard too understand me, I pleased someone elce has problems understanding them and that its not just me, They quite often ask me if I can speak English when im talking in English crazzy,
but English and so called American English are very different
2006-09-03 14:22:43 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
yep,,, the same as you , its cos the American language has been taken over with black-African slang... We have the same in the UK ...
Every time i speak to my step-brother ( Bro ) who is a yank....sorry American , i cant understand some of the things he talks about.....Just so happy my name is not John , as thinking of a Fat obese yank ( sorry American ) crapping on me makes me puke.
2006-09-03 14:31:25 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋