Lost in translation... English vs American :)

[metallicat]

I figure I'd share since we have many UK folks here; so my wife is a nurse in Brooklyn NY near a port where the Queen Mary docs, and she gets Brits time to time (btw usually the best patients, but I digress)...

Anyway, she had an older couple, using plenty of phrases foreign to us Americans... until one caught her off guard; the dude called her a 'driver's dog'. It took his wife to realize my wife's face turned sour and then they explained its actually complement (means she's fit/spunky or something like that).

We're European and open minded so its all good, but she did explain that calling any female in the states a dog (of any type) would usually result in @ss kicking :spank:.

<rant>over</rant>

 

[Andz]

I'm glad you got the topic name right, you are acknowledging that Americans do NOT speak English :spank:

I'm British but "driver's dog" is a new one on me, Google doesn't know it either. Is your wife sure that's what was said? Maybe it was the accent!

 

[Humperdinkel]

I have never heard of a Drivers Dog either :thumbup:

In Australia on the other hand the saying is a 'Drovers Dog' & that is far from being a compliment

 

[ChevyFazer]

I've actually herd that expression before living down in Georgia. Some of its meaning might of got lost in translation from "proper gents" to rednecks though. When I herd it the guy I was talking to, I worked with him and as far as I know he was born and raised in ga, but he used it referring to a guy we worked with who constantly was screwing up because he would get ahead of himself he said something like " man the bet part of of dat boy musta dun run down his daddy's leg, that boy always runnin round like a drivers dog and countin his damn chickens before the eggs hatch"

 

[Marthy]

I've actually herd that expression before living down in Georgia. Some of its meaning might of got lost in translation from "proper gents" to rednecks though. When I herd it the guy I was talking to, I worked with him and as far as I know he was born and raised in ga, but he used it referring to a guy we worked with who constantly was screwing up because he would get ahead of himself he said something like " man the bet part of of dat boy musta dun run down his daddy's leg, that boy always runnin round like a drivers dog and countin his damn chickens before the eggs hatch"

LOL Yep, this is the GA I remember... :BLAA: My English wasn't that great when I moved there back in 2001. Most of the time I couldn't understand 1/2 of what people were saying.

 

[greg]

americans using the word "fanny" is a never ending source of amusement to us brits

 

[yamihoe]

I speak Merican'
and a tad bit of ebonics :BLAA:

 

[mylo]

ive only heard of dogs dinner and dogs bollox myself

 

[RCPMg33k]

Yeah...we speaka da spanglish here in Phoenix. Grassy ass. :BLAA:

 

[sniff6]

Nope never heard that one either ??/

Spunky means something else in the uk btw (i'll leave it there)

 

[metallicat]

Thanks everyone for the <sometimes scary> replies... my eyes have been opened just how our (Aussies vs UK vs USA vs ...) language differ . If the poor guy who got me thinking about all this didn't just suffer a stroke and heart attack in the same day, I'd love to drive down to the hospital and ask him myself to settle this once and for all .

And yes, I've heard of drover's dog, and what spunk(y) actually means... :spank:

Now, I'm gonna go have myself a fag [you knew that was coming...].

 

[Kazza]

Born in Wales, lived in NZ, now live in Australia

NEVER heard of that one.....

 

[lytehouse]

Now, I'm gonna go have myself a fag [you knew that was coming...].

Heard Mick use that expression when we were chatting one day




Then he explained to this silly American what it meant in Australia :tard: