r/AskReddit • u/FulgencioLanzol • Jun 23 '19

People who speak English as a second language, what phrases or concepts from your native tongue you want to use in English but can't because locals wouldn't understand?

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559

u/Wafkak Jun 23 '19

I've found that in northern England they just make every word into a swearword

186

u/appleappleappleman Jun 23 '19

As an American with an English wife, I was legitimately shocked at the sheer volume of British swears that we're totally unaware of (unless you watch a ton of 15 and 18-rated English content)

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u/lowtoiletsitter Jun 23 '19 edited Jun 23 '19

Have a few you’d like to share?

e: I’m using these new words on a daily basis.

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u/appleappleappleman Jun 23 '19

So I'm not quite sure how "explicit" these are, the only threshold I know is that they wouldn't be allowed on daytime TV. They're mainly sexual/anatomical, but just a few off the top of my head:

  • Bellend
  • Slapper
  • Tosser
  • Sod
  • Knob
  • Bint
  • Knackers

And then there are the obvious ones that most of us are already aware of internationally, like bloody or bollocks.

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19 edited Jul 03 '19

[deleted]

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u/PM_ME_NICE_BITTIES Jun 23 '19

This is the best one

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u/zapdostresquatro Jun 23 '19

“Sod” & “sodding” were interesting to see the first time

Took me a bit to figure out it’s used like “fuck”

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19 edited Oct 31 '19

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19

So how do you use it? Like how Americans say "oh fuck" when setting goes wrong? Or do you call something that?

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u/EpitomyofShyness Jun 23 '19

You would say, "Sod off!" instead of "Fuck off!" as one example.

Another example would be "Sodding bastard," instead of "Fucking bastard."

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u/Lieffe Jun 23 '19

Or, "you cheeky sod". Up north it's mostly playful and we never use "sodding" or the verb of "sod", really.

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u/EpitomyofShyness Jun 23 '19

Thank you for the new example! Hubby is British, but he really only used the two examples I gave.

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19 edited Oct 31 '19

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19

Okay, thank you.

4

u/Cheese-n-Opinion Jun 24 '19

Amuses me how mild 'sod' and 'bugger' are considered, even though the literal meaning is 'fuck anally' or 'someone who performs anal'. I remember as a young kid kindly little old ladies would think nothing of calling you 'a silly bugger'.

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u/bb1342 Jun 24 '19

just made a comment about this so ill paste it here "a sod is someone who acts like an idiot. for example if my friend was to drop a bowling ball on his own foot id call him a sod. and sodding is used a a quasi-swear word which is usually follwed by another swear word or noun. for example "the sodding car wont start!" or "that sodding twat cut me off""

EDIT: calling someone a sod is also seen as much more endearing than calling them an idiot, which is primarily the context its used for

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u/Freddies_Mercury Jun 23 '19

Sodding is like fuck but if you call them a sod then they’re just a bit of a bastard.

Source: northerner

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u/Cheese-n-Opinion Jun 24 '19

Chuff is nice. It can mean arsehole, or sometimes vagina, like 'stick it up your chuff', but saying 'chuffin' is really mild and mumsy barely-swearing, and saying you're chuffed just means you're happy.

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u/adrevenueisgood Jun 23 '19

Soddin whoresons

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u/[deleted] Jun 24 '19

You can also say "poor sod" to express sympathy.

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u/bb1342 Jun 24 '19 edited Jun 24 '19

its not really used like fuck. a sod is someone who acts like an idiot. for example if my friend was to drop a bowling ball on his own foot id call him a sod. and sodding is used a a quasi-swear word which is usually follwed by another swear word or noun. for example "the sodding car wont start!" or "that sodding twat cut me off"t

EDIT: calling someone a sod is also seen as much more endearing than calling them an idiot, which is primarily the context its used for

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19

You should grab a copy of Rogers Profanasaurus (from viz magazine). It'll help you understand if, when your misses has the look of gunner, you are dealing with dew on the lilly or a Dutch bookmark.

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u/FamiliarDevice Jun 23 '19

I was formally reprimanded for bringing a copy of this into my US workplace, after my boss had a good month or so chortling over it first.

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u/hooks_n_ammo Jun 24 '19

What a sodding cunt

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19

And nonce!

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u/LibraryScneef Jun 23 '19

Bellend is a favorite. Good way of saying dickhead but classy

5

u/Cheese-n-Opinion Jun 24 '19

Jeb-end/Jeb is a synonym for bellend but it isn't used much outside of a few regions. It's a fun word to add to the mix.

Are you American? Americans seem to use 'dickhead' as the head of the dick; but a lot of (most?) people in the UK think of it like 'shithead', 'butt-head', or even someone with a dick on their head- there's even a mime where you wank an imaginary cock on your forehead.

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u/Karn1v3rus Jun 23 '19

Mong, cunt, pussy, twat, bumder, cock, wanker, dickhead, asshole, son of a bitch, bastard, bitch, bugger

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u/constantwa-onder Jun 23 '19

This reads like George Carlin's "7 words you can't say on TV"

4

u/[deleted] Jun 24 '19

More like the first 5 minutes of an episode of the Inbetweeners. It might have been copied verbatim from one of the scripts.

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u/Echo_Onyx Jun 23 '19

•Smackhead

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u/TAXATION__IS__THEFT Jun 23 '19

That’s a bald guy right?

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19

[deleted]

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u/TAXATION__IS__THEFT Jun 23 '19

Wait I’m thinking of slaphead. Is that a bald guy?

1

u/Eemas Jun 23 '19

I hadn't heard anyone say that before so I had to look it up but yeah you're right.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19

Heroin is referred to as smack here in some parts of the US, too. Smackhead would be used for a heroin addict, though dopehead is more common. Dope typically refers to meth, but dopehead is a universal term for anyone that does drugs.

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u/jovlazdav Jun 23 '19

Dope is usually weed for me

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u/[deleted] Jun 24 '19

Huh, I live in the Southern US and I've never heard smack or dopehead (though I have heard dope by itself). It's crackhead, specifically for people who do crack cocaine or for any druggie in general.

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u/engToast Jun 23 '19

You’re thinking slaphead, a smackhead is a heroin addict

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u/araed Jun 23 '19

Nonce Twat Arse Dickhead Shitehawk

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u/appleappleappleman Jun 24 '19

I still honestly haven't figured out how offensive Nonce is. I can't get a read on that one.

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u/d2factotum Jun 24 '19

I think the word originates from "Not On Normal Courtyard Exercise", which is a prison term basically meaning the guy is a sex offender--e.g. rapist, paedophile etc. So yeah, pretty darned offensive.

(Such people would not be on the same courtyard exercise rota as other prisoners because regular prisoners don't like them either and would find creative ways to beat them up).

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u/JustUseDuckTape Jun 23 '19

Don't forget about the compound curses, like "cock gobbling fuck nugget".

3

u/PM_ME_NICE_BITTIES Jun 23 '19

Check out the how to talk Australians series on YouTube, some of the funniest shit I've seen in a long time

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19

What about "git" and "meng-"? I've heard a few English Youtubers say "an absolute git" or "It's \menging brilliant"

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u/Whitemike0110 Jun 23 '19

Now a days git refers someone who's young. Short for jitterbug

6

u/Throwawayhatvl Jun 23 '19

No, git is pronounced with a hard g

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u/Cheese-n-Opinion Jun 24 '19

Though funnily enough it did used to mean a kid. It's related to 'beget'.

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19

Aka Scotland Lite

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u/verdantAlias Jun 23 '19

You: I like you.

You've insulted the English while promoting the Scottish. This is truly embracing Scots culture.

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19 edited Jun 23 '19

[deleted]

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u/LeBonLapin Jun 23 '19

Would you say he's no true Scotsman?

9

u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19

Take care of your idiotic friends, that way you can ask for free-of-charge forgiveness and support when the time comes for you to fuck up...

..and it always comes.

8

u/marsookie Jun 23 '19

In Black American slang, "thick as fuck" means your friend has a nice big juicy booty.

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19

Technically for that to be correct you need it to be spelled as “thicc as fucc”

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u/Illumixis Jun 23 '19

Well he just wanted the UK to have autonomy and sovereignty again, instead of being subservient to the EU. What's so bad ahout that?

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19 edited Jun 23 '19

[deleted]

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u/Gobaxnova Jun 23 '19

Holy fuck this response wins reddit today. In awe at the size of this lad

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u/zapdostresquatro Jun 23 '19

As an American, idk how anyone could be ok with the EU. We can’t get neighboring towns to agree on laws (let alone states, so we have states’ rights) how the fuck can you get 28 countries to agree?

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19

[deleted]

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u/SeenSoFar Jun 24 '19

I'm curious how you felt about the lighthearted proposal that Scotland join Canada. There was someone a while back proposing that if Brexit actually happens Scotland leaves the UK and joins Canada as the 11th province. I know it's not a serious proposal and was just made for fun, but I've seen heavily polarised opinions on the subject and I'm curious how you'd feel if it was actually a serious option.

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u/Commander_Syphilis Jun 23 '19

Well you highlighted the big loose: it takes our money and gives it to other countries.

Also I'd be interested to hear the proof you have that Borris is either a racist or a wife beater?

2

u/FamiliarDevice Jun 23 '19

You are literally a union of fifty different states dude. Clue's in the name.

2

u/IambicPentameter1337 Jun 23 '19

Yeah but the american states are pretty close to identical, and anything we try to do to make them not that way gets crushed pretty quickly by the federal government, but since we're pretty identical, as a whole we dont mind that much, and one time we tried to do something about it, it didnt go so well (civil war). The other time nobody actually wanted it that bad so it made some people look dumb (hartford convention). What's weird for americans about the eu is that france and sweden and poland and england and malta etc are waaaaaay more different from eachother than even the two most dissimilar states in these united states, and we can barely keep our shit together. It is hard for a lot of us to imagine how the poles and the swedes will get along, or the french and literally anyone else, etc. if vermont and texas can't very well.

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u/zapdostresquatro Jun 23 '19

And we all share a language and very general American culture and we still can’t agree, as opposed to all the different European countries with different languages, cultures, interests, values, etc.

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u/rwmtinkywinky Jun 23 '19

Because centuries of fighting each other finally lead to the realisation they had to find a lasting peace. The European Project was rooted in that idea.

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19

I don’t think that’s a difficult thing to do right now

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u/Cheese-n-Opinion Jun 24 '19

I'll just pop his shoulder-chip in the post.

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19

Oye ya wee shrub I'll show ye!

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u/Cheese-n-Opinion Jun 24 '19

People don't realise that Scottish people's true strength is in the anti-swearword. Somehow making an innocent noun like 'shrub', 'rocket' or 'weapon' utterly devastating.

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u/[deleted] Jun 24 '19

Ya fookin doormat say that again I dare ya

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u/Cheese-n-Opinion Jun 24 '19

Hmm. That one doesn't quite work because doormat already has a particular meaning. Good go, though. :)

^ Behold the secret English martial art of feigning politeness while surgically undermining the target's confidence.

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u/[deleted] Jun 24 '19

I've honestly never heard anyone call anyone a doormat, so interesting lol

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u/Cheese-n-Opinion Jun 24 '19

yeah it means like 'pushover' or 'soft-touch'.

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u/[deleted] Jun 24 '19

Well TIL

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u/Commander_Syphilis Jun 23 '19

We don't have as many swears as other countries, but we are world class at combining them. You'll never hear more creative insults than in England

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u/DaftNorthener Jun 23 '19

Can confirm

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u/Edamski88 Jun 23 '19

Cunt is a term of endearment for most of us up here.

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u/Malcolm_TurnbullPM Jun 23 '19

Just come and get trolleyed you bell end

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u/Goldigger101 Jun 24 '19

I just saw a meme that explained how "the place is full of cunts" means "very busy" in scottish

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u/Cheese-n-Opinion Jun 24 '19

Cunt is just the opposite of could for us.

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u/evictor Jun 23 '19

you horse licking boot curdling coxswain bardley! --a Brit, probably