Entertainment For Lively Minds
Language!
You've probably read that some US shops are complaining about the 'offensive' title of the new Arctic Monkeys LP Suck It And See. It always amazes me that some innocuous English word or phrase can take on a whole different meaning, even in other 'English speaking' countries.
It reminds me of the time I met an Australian cricket fan in a Manchester pub around the time of the 2005 Ashes. His speech was pleasingly punctuated with 'bloodies', 'bastards' and 'buggers', but when he talked about Shane Warne's alleged infidelities, he described Warne as 'a bounder'
I couldn't believe it. Bounder reeks of English upper class language from early in the last century or before and seems like one of the inoffensive and ridiculous words you could use now.
When I asked the Australian fella about why he used it, he explained that if he called me a 'bloody bastard', it meant I was a good bloke, but bounder was a serious word for him - showing he really disapproved of Warne's behaviour.
I don't know how typical this is in Australia and, to be honest, both of us were well-oiled, but I found his use of 'bounder' fascinating.
I'm also intrigued by words or phrases that don't translate into English. For example:
Esprit d’escalier (French)- the witty comeback you only think of hours after when you should have used it.
Saudade (Portuguese) - longing for something or someone that you love and which is lost
And does anyone in Scotland use tartle? Hestitating while introducing someone because you’ve forgotten their name.
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My grandmother
visited Oz in the early 70s and was deemed to have been most inappropriate when she described a bowls player as having "fallen over on their bottom".
'Arse' was the socially acceptable term.
There's a Japanese word
called Bakku-shan. (I don't speak a word of Japanese btw.)
It refers to a lady who looks really hot when you first see her from behind, but is much less so when she turns to face you.
I think English needs a word like this.
it does - it's a bobfoc
Body Off Baywatch, Face Off Crimewatch.
Heh!
I hadn't heard that one.
Or a 1664,
16 from the back, 64 from the front.
Schadenfreude
German for "delight in the misfortune of others."
Much in evidence at the Emirates, Stamford Bridge, City of Manchester Stadium etc. after Barcelona's most recent Champions' League win.
(To be honest it was all we Arsenal fans had left for most of the season after the defeat in the Carling Cup final...)
Timothy.
.
Weltschmerz
Sadness at the state of the world (German)
Another Japanese one
baakodo-hage (literally barcode hair)
Descriptive of the appearance of a balding man who has attempted to cover up via means of the comb over
I imagine that's
a "Rab heed" north o' the border.
Suck It And See
Not very original. This sampler LP came out on the Vertigo label in 1973.
Progtastic
it is, too.
Americans use Wanker
without realising that it is more offensive to Brits (I seem to remember Spike in Buffy saying it a lot), and famously of course there is the Monkees "Randy Scouse Git" which Micky Dolenz heard on Til Death Do Us Part and thought was a mildly complimentary term. It was released in the UK as "Alternative Title" because it was seen as offensive (in the late 60s)
Americans drink Wanker
because there is a beer called Wanker.
I live near...
...Wanker's Corner Saloon.
http://goo.gl/maps/JVVh
I've never "hung out" there, though.
I never accept cheese
from one of these
Off topic for the OP, but Smeg related:
I always liked Wallace & Gromit's fridge:
SMUG indeed
It's not so much the unfortunate word as the fact that they display it I N E N O R M O U S L E T T E R S so that it follows you around the kitchen. We buy their product despite feeling queasy about the name and, rather than being grateful, they punish us by waving it in our face.
If there isn't a special schadenfreude-style foreign word to describe this specific phenomenon of the charity case who, once they have their feet under the table, abuses your hospitality, then there really ought to be..
My Mum has a SMEG fridge
Says it the cold storage equivalent of an Alfa Romeo. Pretty to look at but prone to breaking down necessitating expensive repairs and parts every 6 months.
Mamihlapinatapai
This word, from Tierra del Fuego, apparently, features in the new 'Life in a Day' film and is meant to be the single word with the most complex meaning in any language: “A look shared by two people, each wishing the other will initiate something that they both desire, but which neither one wants to start.” Rather lovely, I thought.