UK-Canada English language incident at the Apricity! ;)

[Aemma]

Well it seems that I inadvertently used a phrase in one of my posts yesterday that appears to have an entirely different meaning in the UK as opposed to Canada!! :eek: :embarrassed :tongue And what might this said phrase be, you might ask? Well I can hardly use it in mixed company now can I? ;) :D Ok, ok....it's the verb "to nosh"--a perfectly acceptable way of saying to eat, or to munch on some FOOD here in Canada. :D Apparently it means quite something else in the UK!! :eek: Ye gods! :eek: (Can you tell I'm mortified?!! :eek: :D)

Anyway, this reminds me of another such incident which happened a couple of years ago on another international forum which I used to frequent regularly. In a thread where we were discussing what holiday/vacation plans we were entertaining for the upcoming summer, I enthusiastically reported that I was going to enjoy a good part of my summer [I]cottaging (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cottaging)!! :eek: :eek: :eek: Rest assured that in my part of Canada cottaging means something ENTIRELY different!! :D It simply means to go to one's cottage! Pretty simple really! :tongue :D

Anyway, other than to provide you all with a good laugh (see Thrymmie, I told you you'd be laughing!!) have any of you other funny stories to share in terms of different interpretations of English words and/or phrases? Dear Aemma seeks only to learn from all of our wee faux pas in order to not be seen as some vile sex-craved creature!! Egads!! :eek::eek::D

Cheers All....and Beornie! ;) LOL :p

[Beorn]

I enthusiastically reported that I was going to enjoy a good part of my summer cottaging (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cottaging)!!

:rotfl:

God bless you, Aemma.

[Æmeric]

I wouldn't worry about. I've seen plenty of British programming on BBC America & the Brits are sex obsessed. Everything has a sexual innuendo attached to it. It's as if that country was ruled by a cabal of horny 14-year old boys.

[Loki]

I wouldn't worry about. I've seen plenty of British programming on BBC America & the Brits are sex obsessed. Everything has a sexual innuendo attached to it. It's as if that country was ruled by a cabal of horny 14-year old boys.

That may be so, but people over here [generally in Europe at large] are so desensitised on the subject, that it does not have the same sting as it has in America. People hardly notice it. However in professional environments it is not the case at all. You always read in the papers about some or other office sexual harassment case, and people suing for millions. People generally know and respect the unspoken boundaries.

[Skandi]

Ok I have no idea what "to nosh" is meant to mean here. to me that is just slang for eating??? the cottaging however is soooo funny

[Beorn]

Ok I have no idea what "to nosh" is meant to mean here. to me that is just slang for eating??? the cottaging however is soooo funny

Perhaps it is just a localised slang?

nosh Noun. Food. [Orig. German/Yiddish. 1900s]
Verb. 1. To eat.
2. To fellate. See 'nosh-off'.

nosh off Verb. To fellate. Derived from 'nosh' (verb) meaning to eat. E.g."She always noshed me off before I went to work; it helped me stick with that job for more than 5 years." [1990s]

peevish (http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/n.htm)

[Aemma]

Perhaps it is just a localised slang?

nosh Noun. Food. [Orig. German/Yiddish. 1900s]
Verb. 1. To eat.
2. To fellate. See 'nosh-off'.

nosh off Verb. To fellate. Derived from 'nosh' (verb) meaning to eat. E.g."She always noshed me off before I went to work; it helped me stick with that job for more than 5 years." [1990s]

peevish (http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/n.htm)

Ahh well, I'll not be sending you a PM now Thrymmie seeing that Beornie has beat me to the explanation. :D

Now you tell me that there's such an animal, Beornie! I'll have to study this e-dictionary very very well methinks! :P

[Óttar]

German. Naschen verb. inf. To snack. Strangely enough, the Hindi word for breakfast is nasta. (nuh'stuh) short "a" = short u sound, as in Hindi thag "thief" ---> English thug.

[Osweo]

Ok I have no idea what "to nosh" is meant to mean here.
Excellent example of correct usage to be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZeCivHygHw

fZeCivHygHw:wink

[Loki]

In South Africa there is a chocolate bar named Nosh:

http://www.tastesfromhome.co.uk/images/16221Large.gif

[Lenny]

people over here [generally in Europe at large] are so desensitised on the subject [of "sexuality"], that it does not have the same sting as it has in America. People hardly notice it.
That is surely one of the reasons that Europe is on the decline.

I am still shocked that German tabloids put naked women on their cover-pages-- and are allowed to do so (below the fold, but still...). What a pathetic state of affairs.

[Brynhild]

Oh gods, I cracked up over nosh-off. I'd only heard of nosh as in to eat food before that (well there's a double entendre!), and I've known about cottaging for a while.

One of my favourite stories comes from an American woman who came over here to visit. She apparently went clothes shopping, proceeded to ask "Does my fanny look big in this?" when she tried on a pair of pants, and rather loudly for the entire shop to hear. Of course she was referring to her arse, but over here it means something else. Needless to say, I was in fits of laughter!

[Loki]

That is surely one of the reasons that Europe is on the decline.

I am still shocked that German tabloids put naked women on their cover-pages-- and are allowed to do so (below the fold, but still...). What a pathetic state of affairs.

Well some of the most popular daily newspapers in England have the well-known page three naked breast pictures. I found it kinda odd when I came here first. On the tube, men in suits on their way to work read the paper and happily stare at the boobies, with females sitting next to them and hardly noticing. It's sort of normal here. People even read it in their lunchtimes at work, with the SUN page 3 spread on their desks while munching on a sandwich. :D

[Tolleson]

It's sort of normal here. People even read it in their lunchtimes at work, with the SUN page 3 spread on their desks while munching on a sandwich. :D

Or is that "while noshing on a sandwich" :shrug: :D

[Jamt]

That is surely one of the reasons that Europe is on the decline.

I am still shocked that German tabloids put naked women on their cover-pages-- and are allowed to do so (below the fold, but still...). What a pathetic state of affairs.

These damn neked pictures will be the end of us!

[Lenny]

It's sort of normal here.I suppose some would mock me for saying it: but the fact that it has become normal is a very bad sign indeed.

[Loki]

I suppose some would mock me for saying it: but the fact that it has become normal is a very bad sign indeed.

Well, the lack of religious morals are not necessarily the reason for decline. It's just a different cultural climate. Human sexuality shouldn't be a taboo subject, it's illogical.

[Æmeric]

Well, the lack of religious morals are not necessarily the reason for decline. It's just a different cultural climate. Human sexuality shouldn't be a taboo subject, it's illogical.
Human sexuality shouldn't be a taboo subject but.... it also shouldn't pervade everything. The example of men checking out the naked boobies on public transport or in the office. It use to be men would do that in private. And the magazines would have to bought in adult book stores in the bad part of town or from under the counter at the local drug store. Adult material is now available everywhere in many parts of the US, parts of the Bible Belt & Utah excepted. Explicit sexual ads are visible in the public forum in New York & Los Angeles. In the name of freedon of expression & freedom of speech we have allowed the pornographers to take over popular culture & the public sphere. Human sexuality should not = pornagraphic, but that is what has happened. And we now have children coming of age who have the sexual discretion of alley cats. Perverts are becoming the norm & those who keep their sexuality & sex lives private are the repressed freaks.

[Lenny]

Human sexuality shouldn't be a taboo subject but.... it also shouldn't pervade everything. The example of men checking out the naked boobies on public transport or in the office. It use to be men would do that in private. And the magazines would have to bought in adult book stores in the bad part of town or from under the counter at the local drug store. Adult material is now available everywhere in many parts of the US, parts of the Bible Belt & Utah excepted. Explicit sexual ads are visible in the public forum in New York & Los Angeles. In the name of freedon of expression & freedom of speech we have allowed the pornographers to take over popular culture & the public sphere. Human sexuality should not = pornagraphic, but that is what has happened. And we now have children coming of age who have the sexual discretion of alley cats. Perverts are becoming the norm & those who keep their sexuality & sex lives private are the repressed freaks.
I greatly sympathize with the above.

Call me a throwback and not in line with the times, but I think basic sexual morality is a real "canary in the coal mine" (http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/10/messages/818.html) when it comes to civilizations and Peoples on the upswing vs those on the decline.

[Rainraven]

One that always used to get me when I was young was the word thong. Which some people seem to use for these

http://1samoana.com/alamailounge/files/2009/04/jandal.jpg

But I'd always thought was one of these

http://www.lejoca.com/ELLE%20MACPHERSON%20INTIMATE/Elle%20Macpherson%20Thong%20IVORY%202.jpg

(You don't know how long it took me to find a picture of one of them without a Brazilian woman inside them :eek::p)

As for noshing and cottaging? I'd never heard of either :eek:
You mean people actually do that sort of thing..? :embarrassed

[Brynhild]

One that always used to get me when I was young was the word thong. Which some people seem to use for these

http://1samoana.com/alamailounge/files/2009/04/jandal.jpg

But I'd always thought was one of these

http://www.lejoca.com/ELLE%20MACPHERSON%20INTIMATE/Elle%20Macpherson%20Thong%20IVORY%202.jpg

(You don't know how long it took me to find a picture of one of them without a Brazilian woman inside them :eek::p)

As for noshing and cottaging? I'd never heard of either :eek:
You mean people actually do that sort of thing..? :embarrassed

Some people? Thongs are what you wear on your feet - and that is it! :p You're just born in the wrong generation is all! :D

[Lulletje Rozewater]

These damn neked pictures will be the end of us!

Why?????
When Adam saw Eve for the first time,he :rolleyes: said:"Well Nosh it, better one bird in the hand then ten in the Tree of good and evil