what american words are bizarre and/or hilarious spoken in a british accent?

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"like, dude"

― geeta, Tuesday, 7 January 2003 16:31 (twenty-three years ago)

connecticut

― gareth (gareth), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 16:34 (twenty-three years ago)

herre

― mark p (Mark P), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 16:35 (twenty-three years ago)

i so knew this thread was coming :)

'capiche' (sic)

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 16:35 (twenty-three years ago)

according to my former housemate (who was from Texas), Keanu.

― MarkH (MarkH), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 16:36 (twenty-three years ago)

"punani" (cf BB3 Kate)

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 16:36 (twenty-three years ago)

key-ah-nu, nu?

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 16:37 (twenty-three years ago)

taco

― mark p (Mark P), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 16:37 (twenty-three years ago)

mike skinner to thread!!

― geeta, Tuesday, 7 January 2003 16:38 (twenty-three years ago)

Decent service.

― Pete (Pete), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 16:38 (twenty-three years ago)

In Holland, I heard an English fellow with whom I was sharing a cab from a music festival back to the hotel late at night describing somebody or other as "the livest, livest MC" and I had to physically restrain myself from laughing

― J0hn Darn13ll3 (J0hn Darn13ll3), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 16:49 (twenty-three years ago)

"Giles i'm telling you, Roger was completely off the hook!"

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 17:07 (twenty-three years ago)

I can't even say dude without putting on a faux American accent. And I say dude all the time, I secretly want to be in Waynes World.

― jel -- (jel), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 17:54 (twenty-three years ago)

Reversing the thread for a moment, "wanker" sounds all wrong when said in an American accent.

― Chriddof (Chriddof), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 18:41 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh, there's already a thread about that. It came before this one too. Blast.

― Chriddof (Chriddof), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 18:44 (twenty-three years ago)

All words are bizarre and/or hilarious when spoken in a British accent

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 18:57 (twenty-three years ago)

"She got it goin on, mofo."

― Curtis Stephens, Tuesday, 7 January 2003 20:47 (twenty-three years ago)

no they're not Tracer, if i was to say 'tittybiscuits' in my natural accent i could assure you there would be nothing remotely amusing about it at all

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 20:55 (twenty-three years ago)

S: A Message To Love. Witness the words of Jerry Garcia in the mouths
of some hippies from Clacton. Things will never be the same again.

― William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 20:57 (twenty-three years ago)

"yeah"

― felicity (felicity), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 21:02 (twenty-three years ago)

did they call him Garceeya or Gar-cee-yay?

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 21:17 (twenty-three years ago)

seriously, i knew a guy from Clacton who once pronounced it Garceeyay, twas highly comical

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 21:18 (twenty-three years ago)

mr burns is the only american i've heard say wanker,and he pulled it off (no pun intended) fairly well,i thought...

― robin (robin), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 21:18 (twenty-three years ago)

I don't actually remember specific Garcia referencing, but there was one feller who went "The cats, man, all the cats care about is the dough, man" which sent me cackling all the way through Leonard Cohen.

― William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 21:20 (twenty-three years ago)

arrggh, i've NEVER heard Mr Burns say 'wanker' - its to U2 in the 200th episode isnt it? they always seem to cut that out in the UK, wankers

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 21:23 (twenty-three years ago)

oh btw robin, thats cos Mr Burns has a fairly British accent wouldnt you say?

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 21:23 (twenty-three years ago)

soccer

― Aaron A., Tuesday, 7 January 2003 21:26 (twenty-three years ago)

wankster

― A Nairn (moretap), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 21:32 (twenty-three years ago)

snootchie boochies

― Nicole (Nicole), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 21:58 (twenty-three years ago)

The word 'wanker' crops up a lot in the Bundys sitcom, the name of which I have unaccountably forgotten. Peggy's family came from Wanker County.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 22:09 (twenty-three years ago)

"Why, devil take that woman! She's nothing but a ho." scowled Sir Darcy in his anger.

― Al_Ewing, Tuesday, 7 January 2003 22:16 (twenty-three years ago)

yeah now that you mention it,what am i talking about?
mr burns obviously has a fairly british accent...

― robin (robin), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 22:23 (twenty-three years ago)

For some reason, americans saying 'twat' (happens a lot in The Sopranos) sounds weird to me. It doesn't have the harshness of the british accent. And 'fanny pack' makes me giggle too.

― stephen. s (yaye), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 22:50 (twenty-three years ago)

ponce
price (adj.)
blightey

DESTROY: USAmericans who use the OU spelling. kill kill kill.

― gygax!, Tuesday, 7 January 2003 23:07 (twenty-three years ago)

"price" as an adjective is ludicrous! it doesn't count if it's bizarre/hilarious to begin with, gygax!

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 23:09 (twenty-three years ago)

Burns accent is a bit difficult to place actually - unless YV has lied to me all upper class Americans have that accent but its only BASED on a posh English one, there's a slight difference i'm sure

hey its important

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 23:24 (twenty-three years ago)

DESTROY: USAmericans who use the OU spelling. kill kill kill.

You just killed off Morrissey's entire fanbase.

― J0hn Darn13ll3 (J0hn Darn13ll3), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 23:30 (twenty-three years ago)

There are Americans who use ou spellings? How do you tell them apart from Canadians?

as for the topic:
y'all

― Kim (Kim), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 23:33 (twenty-three years ago)

Pig Latin

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 23:46 (twenty-three years ago)

Pentagon. As in, the building in Washington.

I start swearing at the TV when they refer to The Pen-taggen, because bloody hell, it's a PLACENAME, and should be pronounced the way the natives do, PEN-tuh-gone. Like, when I take a bath, I take a bath, but when I go to Bath, I go to Baaaaaaahhhhth.

― kate, Wednesday, 8 January 2003 01:13 (twenty-three years ago)

You just killed off Morrissey's entire fanbase.

Ahem.

I'm not so much taken by words as whole sentences, specifically the various radio promos and things I've heard over time from British announcers of any number of accents pumping up their metal shows on regional or nationwide radio. Just - does - not - WORK. There's a hilarious bonus track buried on one of the Cult box sets hyping up either the release of Sonic Temple or a tour for same that makes me giggle.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 8 January 2003 01:44 (twenty-three years ago)

Texarkana

― sgs, Wednesday, 8 January 2003 01:46 (twenty-three years ago)

it's impossible for a brit to say "ass" without sounding daft but it sounds cool when coming from an amurkan.

― michael wells (michael w.), Wednesday, 8 January 2003 10:09 (twenty-three years ago)

of course many british words sounds bizarre when spoken in a different british accent...

...the one thing about being down here is the number of people who put an R into words like bath and laugh, so you get this weirdout 'barth' and 'larf'. whats that about? FLAT As please! its BATH

― gareth (gareth), Wednesday, 8 January 2003 10:18 (twenty-three years ago)

you can take the boy out of yorkshire...

― michael wells (michael w.), Wednesday, 8 January 2003 10:28 (twenty-three years ago)

Gareth - you've got to go native. Don't fight it. C'mon mate, you're 'avin' a larrrgh intya?

― Anna (Anna), Wednesday, 8 January 2003 12:51 (twenty-three years ago)

'Dude' was introduced to America via the journalism of PG Wodehouse, for the record.

― Siobhan Shpillane, Wednesday, 8 January 2003 13:05 (twenty-three years ago)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/classic/A193853

Wilde, possibly?

― Bath, Wednesday, 8 January 2003 13:10 (twenty-three years ago)

Dude! Where's My Cart?!

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 8 January 2003 13:11 (twenty-three years ago)

i second "ass"

― Alan (Alan), Wednesday, 8 January 2003 13:13 (twenty-three years ago)

Replace "dude" with "dawg". Classic.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 8 January 2003 13:44 (twenty-three years ago)

it's not american as such, but just saying "prawn" used to have my canadian friends in stitches. weirdos

― Alan (Alan), Wednesday, 8 January 2003 13:50 (twenty-three years ago)

Weirdly 'prawn' was the only word my Canadian friend could say in a passable English accent, even then he sounded like Mick Jagger (all non-English males for whom English is a first language sound like Mick Jagger when trying to do English accents.).

― Anna (Anna), Wednesday, 8 January 2003 14:03 (twenty-three years ago)

two weeks pass...

It's very cute to me how British people use "reckon" because in America, the only time I've really heard it used is maybe as a fictional caricature of an extremely countrified, hillbilly old kind of Gold Rush prospecter in a crappy Hanna-Barbera cartoon, the kind who would be taking his time, spitting out his chaw, scratching his head, feeding his mule, sipping on the XXX jug and pointing your way down the road.

― felicity (felicity), Friday, 24 January 2003 21:16 (twenty-three years ago)

That's what we're like in Britain when not trying to impress visiting Americans!

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Friday, 24 January 2003 21:27 (twenty-three years ago)

I also like the "Proper Metal" section at Reckless.

― felicity (felicity), Friday, 24 January 2003 21:30 (twenty-three years ago)

I think when Brits say "horses" and "autumn" it might be the most beautiful sound in the universe!

― Mandee, Friday, 24 January 2003 21:38 (twenty-three years ago)

They have a "proper metal" section?!? (Is it next to "fake metal" and "poseur metal" and "metal only in the broadest sense?")

― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, 24 January 2003 21:44 (twenty-three years ago)

(Also after meeting those guys I still image the London Reckless shops as being like ten rows of shelves with a sign over six of them reading "PROG" and a sign over three reading "BEVIS FROND.")

― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, 24 January 2003 21:46 (twenty-three years ago)

Bitchin'.

― JD (JND), Friday, 24 January 2003 22:10 (twenty-three years ago)

Cookie.

― Lara (Lara), Friday, 24 January 2003 22:11 (twenty-three years ago)

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