Chiches you want to bitch slap.

[EscapingDelusion]

Here's some Western-Pennsylvanian (most with origins elsewhere, but common here at least) for you. Can anyone guess the translations? I will grant that some are common elsewhere in the US, and many have eastern-European origins (as we have a very high Slovak and Polish population here in Western Pennsylvania. Let me know if there's any you can't get!

Allegheny Whitefish
Alunamin
Babushka
Babushka
Berm
Blinkers
Buggy
Carbon oil
Chipped ham
City chicken
Clicker
Crick
Cruds
Dippy
Flip flops (I've been told this is a western-PA thing, but I think it's more universal than just us)
Gob
Gumband
Halupki
Halushki
Hoagie
How's come
Jagger
Kielbasa (typically pronounced kobasi)
Meerow
N'at
Needs swept
Pierogi
Pigs-in-a-blanket
Pop
Punkin
Redd up
Rigs-n-Pigs
Slippy
Spicket
Studda bubba
Sweeper
The burgh
Tin foil
Warsh
Whenever
Yel'low
Yinz
Yinzer

[Gambit]

Allegheny Whitefish - No idea
Alunamin - Tin roof material?
Babushka - Like the Kate Bush song? I think this refers to someone who acts beyond their years - little grandmother. Although, the spelling doesn't look right.

Berm - No idea
Blinkers - Headlights?
Buggy - Stroller?
Carbon oil - No idea
Chipped ham - sliced ham?
City chicken - Another name for a city slicker?
Clicker - TV Remote control
Crick - A strain in your neck, or a swimming hole, maybe?
Cruds - No idea
Dippy - Not so smart?
Flip flops (I've been told this is a western-PA thing, but I think it's more universal than just us) - Open toed, sandal like, beach shoes?
Gob - Either spit or face?
Gumband - No idea
Halupki - - No idea
Halushki - No idea
Hoagie - Know this one, but can't remember. I think it's something you eat; possibly a hotdog.
How's come - We say "how come" here, so I'm guessing it is the same thing - the start of a question.
Jagger - - No idea
Kielbasa (typically pronounced kobasi) - Sausage?
Meerow - A fish?
N'at - No idea
Needs swept - No idea
Pierogi - No idea
Pigs-in-a-blanket - Sausage wrapped in bacon?
Pop - Dad or Grandfather
Punkin - Really good?
Redd up - Clean up.
Rigs-n-Pigs - No idea
Slippy - No idea
Spicket - Water outlet?
Studda bubba - No idea
Sweeper - Yard brush or hoover?
The burgh - Pittsburgh?
Tin foil - Aluminum foil for wrapping food. We call it that here too.
Warsh - Wash?
Whenever - No idea
Yel'low - No idea
Yinz - No idea
Yinzer - No idea

I probably got them all wrong, but there you go.

[frankiej]

Buggy is the name of a clown in One Piece...

Kielbasa is a Tenacious D song...

[Brian37]

Actually "babushka" is Russian for old lady. It may be a cliche amongst Russians, but here in the states you wont find many who know what it means. The only reason I know about it was reading a Plath poem she named "Cut" in which she describes the "Babushka's" head scarf like the cloth implied in the poem people would use to stop bleeding in the kitchen when they accidentally cut themselves while chopping something with a knife.

[Tobie]

Another one that annoys me is when someone says something is "everything but ....", because it blatantly is untrue.

[Cyberman]

Some of those words look like ones we use over here, e.g.:

Blinkers - the head-thing worn by horses so they can only see forward; I believe the US term is 'blinders'.

Buggy - a term for what we also call a pushchair, a pram (dimunitive of the charming and archaic 'perambulator', would you believe) for toddlers. Stroller is also commonly used.

Chipped ham - looks to me what we call corned beef, or maybe even Spam or similar processed tinned meat.

Flip-flops - the minimalist footwear for beach use, essentially a sole with an attachment strap. Can also refer to a poloitician's opinions from one day to the next.

Gob - either the noun or verb for 'spit' or the slang term for the mouth (as in "shut yer gob!")

Pigs-in-a-blanket - sausage rolls? Or as Gambit says, bacon-wrapped sausages? Either that or a copper having a crafty nap.

Pop - either an uncommon term over here for a Dad or the soft, often fizzy, fruity drinks popular with children, teetotallers and designated drivers and served at alcohol prices in pubs.

How's come - either an inappropriate question for this part of the forum regarding the flavour and/or sensation of generational fluids, or another way of saying "how come" as in "why?"; "how did that come about?"

Tin-foil - yeah, we use that here too, some people apparently make hats from it.

Whenever - anytime; when convenient; in your own time; etc.

Yel'low - clearly not the colour, given the unexpected apostrophe, however it looks to me like the relatively-popular Homer Simpson neologism for answering the telephone; perhaps a corruption of "yeah, hello?" (I bet that's totally and hilariously wrong though!)

Babushka - not an English word nor commonly heard in my everyday experience, if at all, but I think it's more a East European/Russian term of affection for a baby or young child. Popularised by Kate Babushka.

Other words I've heard or at least heard of, but have never really known of any English equivalent, such as Hoagie (which I think may be a type of breaded snack akin to a sandwich), Kielbasa (no idea) or Punkin (which I believe is a variation of pumpkin, often used as a term of affection for a small child, usually a little girl).

How did I do?

[greneknight]

I find Stimbo very funny but I agree with him. Americans have a funny way of saying things and they can be confusing. I have been to America and I was on a train with my Mum when an announcement went "This train will depart momentarily". My Mum and I looked at each other in bewilderment. I thought there was a technical fault and the train would depart and return to where we were seconds later. I made a mental note of the word and when I got home, I looked it up in my trusty Oxford and it says "momentarily" also means "in a moment" in US English.

As for the cock/rooster thing, it's got a lot to do with Americans being prudish. I read an article in the Guardian once about how you can't say "toilet" in the US. You've got to say "bathroom". Naturally, they cooked up the word "rooster" so they didn't have to use the word "cock". I wonder if the puritans who founded the US had anything to do with this.

In the US, they say "elevator" all the time. And of course their elevators take you to the wrong floor - you have to reduce the floor by one all the time. I've been to Lisbon and they call their lifts "Elevador" (I could have spelt it wrong). Lisbon has very interesting lifts that take you from one road level to another. My dad says it's because Lisbon is built on a hilly land. Oh, and "spelt" is a problem too. I was told in another forum that I spelt "spelt" wrong. I didn't check with them how they would spell it. Perhaps "spelled" which looks weird to me.

Why are they so different? Isn't English the language of England?

America and Britain: two countries seperated by a common language.

Yes, "momentarily" really makes me cringe. "I'll be with you momentarily" (oh, aren't you staying? I have had a bath you know!)

Also I too have problems with words like "spelt". I'm ashamed to say that over here the spelling is becoming dominant, even though English english really makes no distinction between that and "spelled", which looks more correct to my eyes; "spelt" looks ugly and just wrong. Apparently it can cause confusion in America, too, since spelt is a laurel and hardy type of wheat grown mostly in Europe.

"Smelt" is the same; it's used as the past participle of "smell" but the word can also be a type of freshwater fish, not to mention something you do to extract metal from ore.

In fact, on the topic of smells, it annoys me on those extremely, vanishingly rare occasions that a person might say "you smell" (my response would be "no, you smell; I stink" - I promise you this situation is almost non-existent, applying only to cases in which I may have trodden in something unsavoury. I do wash and bathe, honestly! Am I protesting too much?)

Some more that occurred to me just this morning:

* "please fill out this form" (sorry, but you cannot "fill out" any kind of paperwork. You can fill in a form, or you can make out a form, but the only things you can "fill out" include things like clothing - as in "she really fills out a bra, doesn't she?")

* any talk of a person being executed. You cannot execute a person. Somebody signs a death warrant, then it's that order which is executed, i.e. carried out.

* a person being "hung" instead of "hanged" (giving rise to the old joke that a criminal ought to be well-hung: "indeed I am, madam!" or "that's what she said!")

* people who talk about energy as though it's a catch-all term for every kind of magic and spiritual mumbo-jumbo

* the word "irregardless" makes me want to punch that person even if it means doing it through the internet

* starting a handwritten letter with "I'm writing to tell you..." (Of course you're writing, it's a bloody letter!)

* the phenomenon of a happy, fun thread turning into a blazing row after about two pages

Also this is rather esoteric and requires a bit of backstory. Back in the nineties, I had a period of unemployment, one 'solution' for which was to attend what was called a "Job-club", a privately-sponsored Government scheme to reclassify a percentage of the unemployed as "job seekers" and thus downwardly massage the official unemployment figures. Basically it involved daily attending a group and being 'taught' how to read the job pages of newspapers, fill out () application forms, watch 'inspirational' videos etc. Anyway, their motto, which was drummed into our heads like a mantra was:

* "Getting a job is a job in itself!"

Yes, we used to throw up in our mouths too.

I'm sure there were some more but my memory seems to be leaking.

---

Oh by the way:

I find Stimbo very funny but I agree with him.

This actually made my day. I do aim to please and it's encouraging when those efforts are appreciated, or even simply acknowledged. Thank you!

Yes, I was told "fill out" is an Americanism. Lots of weird constructions are Americanisms. My dad has Fowler's Modern English Usage 2nd edition and I have the third edition. It's funny because things that were Americanisms in the 2nd edition are now accepted as British English in the 3rd editions. So one day, we'll all be saying fill out and Three Cocks in Wales will be called Three Roosters.

I find you very funny probably because you're British and I'm more used to that kind of funniness.

[Gambit]

[Cyberman]

Actually, I'm English but I'll let you off with that one..!

Incidentally, you reminded me of another cliché that gets up my nose:

* people who say British (or <shudder> 'Brit') when they mean English. I'm sure the Welsh, Scots, Irish and similar regional minorities get the same reaction.

(only kidding, knight! Well, partially anyway...)

[Tobie]

Actually, I'm English but I'll let you off with that one..!

Incidentally, you reminded me of another cliché that gets up my nose:

* people who say British (or <shudder> 'Brit') when they mean English. I'm sure the Welsh, Scots, Irish and similar regional minorities get the same reaction.

(only kidding, knight! Well, partially anyway...)

Calling someone British can be correct. For example, I have Welsh, Irish and English ancestors.