After the fun of the "P" edition of They Talk Funny Here, I thought I'd put together a new list of words/expressions we don't use in America. For no particular reason, I recently started noticing "G" words.
So here you have it, Five "G" words that might sound weird to an American over here:
1. give over - In the states, we might say "get out of town!" or "no way!" Here, one way to respond if you hear something incredulous is to say (best in a very exaggerated tone), "Give over!"
2. gutted - An oft-used expression by yours truly. It means disappointed, or even upset. As in, "I heard back about the job I interviewed for...I didn't get it. I'm gutted."
3. gor-blimey - I was surprised to see this spelled out to be honest. To my American ears, it sounds almost like they say CWAW-blimey (sounding things out is not my strong-suit obviously). It's kind of like, "wow!" because it shows surprise or possibility that you're impressed by something. Example: "Those boots are on sale for...400 pounds? Gor-blimey that's ridiculously expensive!"
4. grotty - This can be used to describe something gross, shabby or crappy. The most common ways I've heard it used are: "The size of the flat is okay but the kitchen is so grotty, it'd take days to get it clean" or to describe when you're feeling unwell, "I think I'll head home early, I'm feeling pretty grotty."
5. git - Amazing how many words there are here to describe less than awesome men. Git is one of them. It's often used with "old" but not always. "I was going to park there but this git had parked his car over the lines!"
Here are a few other "g" words you might here over here:
geezer - old guy (derogatory)
guvnor - boss, someone in charge
gobshite - someone who talks a lot of crap. (gob = mouth, shite = crap).
gormless - idiot
graft - work hard
What do you think? Are there any other "g" words you'd add to the list?
Geezer doesn't have to be an old guy or derogatory in British English--though it is in American English. It happens to be one of the first linguistic differences I blogged about: http://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/2006/06/geezers.html.
ReplyDelete(I've also done href="http://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/2009/02/gutted.html>gutted, if you're interested!)
I've never heard any of these five G-words before, but in context, certainly #2 and #4 would be understandable to most Yanks, #2 being akin to "eviscerated" and #4 a conflation of gross-rotten-groady.
ReplyDeletedon't understand.. sorry my englis is poor..
ReplyDeleteYou forgot 'Gertcha' Val .. Used to have it said to me all the time as a kid. Have no idea what it means but I knew I was in trouble when I heard it :-D .. http://youtu.be/fOiuDAPHxCE
ReplyDeleteWell I had to say, I am British and I thought it was cor-blimey. People often say 'cor' you see, when faced with something shocking. Like, 'cor, that was a loud bang'. It's not a fashionable thing to say, mind.
ReplyDeleteNow, git, that is a word I love, and use rather too much I suspect. In fact, now I think about it, I have been calling my mum's cat git-face for quite a while (he IS a git).
As a Brit, I would say geezer is also more commonly as a term of endearment, especially with teenage lads 'y'alright geezer?'. We do speak a little oddly, but apparently you say groady... so I think we can call it even.
ReplyDeleteGor-blimey is a contraction of "God blind me" as an expression of incredulity and was guaranteed to send my grandmother (true Cockney) batty as she considered it "taking the Lord's name in vain", whereas more anglo-saxon swearing was just bad language!
ReplyDeleteI once read that gor blimy was used as people misheard others saying "god blind me". This is not an expression you'd hear outside of the south east of England though. What about gonads?
ReplyDelete