British phrases

[Kitsune]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Kitsune, what do you think about that? Do you think it is a good thing or a bad thing?

I think Boobah is a terrible thing.

[steppana]

Now I really AM gobsmacked. I had no idea Britspeak literature would be dumbed down, I mean altered. Imagine reading Evelyn Waugh's "Brideshead Revisited" or Virginia Woolf's "Orlando" without their flair for English narrative! Imagine if Stephen King's novels were anglicized - what would happen to all the product placements, for a start?
Dubbing children's tv programs I can understand.
Talking of dumbing down, I think Teletubbies should have been forbidden by law in the first place, but I grew up with Muffin the Mule, Thomas the Tank Engine, Pugwash the Pirate and the Flowerpot Men. Even the Flowerpot Men had better dialog than the flicking Teletubbies.
"Weeeed! Little weeeed!"

[Kitsune]

Originally Posted by steppana

Now I really AM gobsmacked. I had no idea Britspeak literature would be dumbed down, I mean altered. Imagine reading Evelyn Waugh's "Brideshead Revisited" or Virginia Woolf's "Orlando" without their flair for English narrative!

They leave the classics alone, thankfully.

I don't like that they edit books this way, but I understand that they do it because it is an easier sell. I think it would be interesting if we could compare two versions of the same book, side-by-side, and find the differences and see if much is changed in the overall meaning and plot.

The editors must have readers that do nothing more than highlight passages and words they don't understand or seem uncomfortable in reading. Every instance of a light switch flipping down to turn something on must be meticulously altered to stop mass confusion! Entire paragraphs describing "her delicious, juicy butty" must be rewritten to prevent snickering!

[wolf]

Originally Posted by monster

Burger patty? PATTY? Not a Brit word. Very 'gay' sounding

There is actually a difference between a burger and a patty.

If you're buying frozen pre-formed meat at the store, always go for the burgers.

Both, if labelled as such, will contain 100% beef. Patties, however, contain the less popular parts of the animal, including lips, veins, and testicles.

Remember, always buy the burgers.

[Sundae]

... and yet our introduction to the word "patty" came from McDonalds. Wait, makes sense.

I still remember the Big Mac advert from the 70s
"Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun..."

This website shows the differences between the UK and US editions of Harry Potter. For me it contains weird examples of finding out something I thought was universal is in fact simply British. Like posting here

[Kitsune]

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl

This website shows the differences between the UK and US editions of Harry Potter.

I'd just like to note that I fully plan on using the phrase "do his nut" in everyday conversation after reading this. Thank you.

[Shawnee123]

[quote=Sundae GirlI still remember the Big Mac advert from the 70s
"Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun..." [/QUOTE]


omg, I just remembered one of my big tricks in Jr Hi was being able to say that backwards. I still can. Without reading it. TA DAAAAA (I went to a very boring Junior High School!)

[monster]

[slight detour]
American FYI re Harry Potter
The Harry Potter books mention Muggle coins with 7 sides or something like that. I have learned that some Americans assume this is just a flight of fancy of the author and are unaware thet two British coins are in fact heptagonal rather than round. Should you ever need this in a quiz, they are the 20p and 50p pieces.
[further off track] another potential quiz winner is that there are 14 pounds in a stone
[/further off track]
[/slight detour]

[Urbane Guerrilla]

It occurs to me to wonder -- after discovering that Lucky Jack Aubrey (he's like Horatio Hornblower but more recently written, and more lively written too) weighs exactly what I do -- does anyone know why exactly fourteen pounds to the stone, and not a dozen, nor eighteen?

[tangentially OT]In reading any Aubrey-Maturin Patrick O'Brian novel, it is helpful to have recourse to The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. I suspect O'Brian had his own copy. I've finally learned what brailing is, sailing large, and sailing on a broad reach; tacking and wearing I'd already grasped. O'Brian's novels give you the no doubt dangerous impression that with a couple of week's experience on a square-rigged ship, provided you'd read all the novels, you could con and fight her -- if not a line-of-battle ship, then at least a fourth-rater (also explained in the Companion).

[barefoot serpent]

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

does anyone know why exactly fourteen pounds to the stone, and not a dozen, nor eighteen?

the standard cannon ball weight for a ship-of-the-line?

[Griff]

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

[tangentially OT]In reading any Aubrey-Maturin Patrick O'Brian novel, it is helpful to have recourse to The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea.

Any idea why the wheelhouse is the bridge?

[Kitsune]

Speaking of odd transatlantic editing...

Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles? What the hell?

Upon TMNT's first arrival in the United Kingdom, the name was changed to "Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles" (or TMHT, for short), since local censorship policies deemed the word ninja to have excessively violent connotations for a children's program. Consequently, everything related to the Turtles had to be renamed before being released in the UK. The lyrics were also changed, such as changing "Splinter taught them to be ninja teens" to "Splinter taught them to be fighting teens."

[Sundae]

Baffled us too, don't worry.
I used to know the theme tune off by heart though.

[monster]

Yeah we all knew the Ninja bit. That was a weird thing. Didn't really care, though, as I was getting a bit long in the tooth for that sort of thing by then.

[Aliantha]

Over here, a hamburger is the whole bun with salad, onions and a meat patty in between. Meat patties are made of minced meat.

Sometimes when I make rissoles (the australian word for what you call a hamburger) I put curry paste (and a few other things) in them. They're very yummy that way if you've never tried it.