Job Discussion Forums

[Irish]

Rob:

I've never heard "minky" before. Can you give us an example of how you've heard it used and the conflicting definitions you've gotten for it? Or is it too vulgar for our tender sensibilities?

Steiner:

After seeing your fabulous photo, I think we all want to know: what's the secret to your success? Maintaining such a physique must be a lot of work.

And now for my minor contribution... The word that got me a couple of odd looks from my British friends was "pants." I didn't know that they used that term for underwear and that I should have said trousers instead. It made our conversation more interesting though.

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

Hello Irish

I just posted what I think is the answer to the 'minky' question. It's the last post on page 3 of this thread.

HaveANiceDay,
kENt

[Irish]

Thanks, Kent. Rob, does that square with how you've heard it used?

(I'm not doubting you, Kent--I know better than that! I'm just curious as to how Rob's heard it used and why it's being associated with us Yanks. Heck, maybe we should start saying it.)

[rogan]

Not sure about the French derivation of "minky".

In French it would be "mon-kay" not "min-key"

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

Hello People:

Just for fun, here's the etymology of 'mink', courtesy of www.geocities.com/etymonline/index.html

mink - 1431, from a Scand. source. Used of fur earlier than of animal (cf. Swed. menk "a stinking animal in Finland").

It would appear from the etymology, as well as the slang definition on the bottom of page 3, that if someone calls you 'minkey' (minky) they are commenting on an aspect of your personal hygiene.

Hey ... I took my shower this morning, despite the fact that we've had nothing but freezing cold water for the past two weeks here in Samara.


keNt

[Irish]

Thank you, Kent, and I'm sure your students appreciate you braving the freezing cold shower. (You poor man!) No minkey teacher for them! It's those little touches that really make learning a special experience.

[R]

Oddly enough, 'minky' as defined by Kent at the end of page 3 seems to have turned into 'manky' over here. The two definitions of 'minky' that I've heard are 1) troublesome child and 2) er, um, you know, lady bits. I heard the second usage first and was quite alarmed when I first heard people using the first usage! Just wondered if either or both definitons came from the States.

[Irish]

Well, we're guilty of many things, but I think we're clean on the minky thing (so to speak).

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

Hello Rob, Irish and Rogan:

Thanks for helping to solve the great 'minky' mystery

I left the States 14 years ago, so I'm afraid I'm just not really up-to-date anymore on the latest American slang.

Dear Irish: As for 'braving' the cold water shower every morning for these past 2 weeks, I can assure you that I have been swearing rather loudly in 8 different languages every time I enter the bathroom. It makes me so mad to pour freezing cold water on my head at 9am ... I could just explode.

Anyway ... I think my neighbors on the floors above and below me are now afraid of me. (Thin walls) Oh hell; this is Russia, so maybe that's a good thing?

Peace,
kEnt

[Steiner]

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

My dear Steiner:

Didn't you used to have the Cheshire Cat as your avatar? Well ... I, for one, think I can guess what happened to that poor old kitty. I hope you were humane about it.
______________________________________

And now, to help keep us on-topic: a few British expressions and slang on the left, with the American counterparts on the right:

Beeb = affectionate name for the BBC
bird = slang for woman
Birmingham Six, The = were wrongly convicted of an IRA bombing, sentenced
to umpteen years in jail, but were recently released after an
investigation
biro = ball-point pen
bog = toilet
bog-roll = toilet roll
bugger = general insult ("You Bugger!"); some believe a derivation of
sodomy with animals
bugger off = go away
chat-up lines = pick-up lines
cracking = great ("What a cracking bird!")
dole = welfare ("I'm on the dole.")
dosh = money
kip = sleep ("I could do with a kip" or "He's kipping on the sofa.")
knackered = tired or broken
knob = p.e.n.i.s. (see also nob)
Marmite = brand name for a thick black yeast-spread used on toast, or in
sandwiches. Widely used in the U.K.
nicked = stolen
nob = short for "nobility" (see also knob)
on the pull = looking for sex; seeking a 'one-night-stand'
pants = underwear [Just for Irish]
quid = pound (monetary unit in England); 500 quid = 500 pounds
shag = sexual intercourse
slap-up = four-star, excellent
snog = deep-mouth kissing
swizz = rip-off
ta = informal thank you
telly = television
Tizer = a bright orange fruity-flavoured fizzy drink, mostly drunk by kids
tot = nonsense (considered to be old-fashioned slang)
whinging = whining, to complain in an annoying manner
_________________________________

DISCLAIMER: I know absolutely nothing about British slang (except for "ta!) which appears in the Headway series by John and Liz Soars. I have merely stolen the above words from various websites and reposted them here for your viewing pleasure, educational enlightenment, and personal commentary. Additions and corrections are, of course, quite welcome!

[R]

As in, "I was watching this thing on the telly, a docunentary about the Birmingham Six, on the Beeb. Typical Aunty* tot. I was drinking Tizer and some slap up grub - spuds with marmite when this bird I chatted up when I was on the pull last night gives me a bell. "I'll come round for a shag, if you like, but I ain't gonna let you bugger me. It'll cost ya ten quid," she says.

"Cracking!" I said. "I may be knackered but I'd rather have a shag than a kip!"

"Cor," she replied. "You don't 'arf talk common. You're no nob, that's for sure."

So she comes over and I whip out my knob, but she's only down to her pants when she says "so come on, giz a hundred quid."

"A hundred?" says I. "But you said ten! Don't try and swizz me! I'm on the dole and I ain't got that much dosh!"

"Ten!?" she says. "I wouldn't snog you for that!"

So I went to the bog, got a bit of bog-roll and wrote in biro 'bugger off'. Then I give the bit of loo-roll to her and chuck her out. She can go knock up some other knob. What a swizz.

* another word for the BBC.
I've never heard 'tot' before.

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

Dearest Rob:

I've said it before; I'll say it again. You're barking up the wrong tree with this EFL stuff. If you look half as good as Steiner, you'd be a smashing hit on comedy TV!

May I suggest a sitcom title? "Living British Slang with BritRob and His Slap-Up Band of Merry Pranksters"

Now you'll have to excuse me. I have a class to teach in 30 minutes and must turn off this bloody gizmo for a few hours. Thanks for the GREAT laughs, R. You really take the cake (or biscuit) if you prefer.

kenT

PS: tot = minky (your 1st definition)

[Ben Round de Bloc]

The first time I encountered the word invigilator in the Matters textbook series, my initial reaction was, I wonder if batteries are included.

About 4 years ago, our English department began the change-over from the textbook series Blueprint to Matters. Therefore, I've had to learn a bunch of new vocabulary words. When the words appear with no context clues, it can be kind of tricky sometimes. The most recent one I can recall was dustman in a sentence something like The dustman is a hard worker, and he can dance well, too.

Of the regular 20 full- and part-time EFL teachers where I teach, only 2 of us are native English speakers: a Brit and a Yank (me.) This year we have an exchange teacher from New Zealand, and there are a couple of retired Australians who volunteer as conversation partners. We frequently ask each other, "How do you say ____ ?" or, "What does ____ mean in your country?"

In the textbook, phone conversation dialogs (dialogues?) still sound strange to me, I must admit. The line is engaged. Or, is it occupied? (I can never remember.) I'll ring you up later. It's Mary here.

We Americans can either talk to someone or with someone, depending on whether one person is talking or both are talking, while I get the impression that Brits only talk to someone. I may be wrong on this one.

An American can ask someone, "Have you gone to the store yet?" while I think a Brit would say, "Have you been to the store yet?"

I think for most Americans, the word term can mean a semester, a trimester, a quarter, a year, or however long a period of study lasts. For us, term and semester aren't synonymous, unless the term lasts for a semester.

Back to the Matters series for a moment, the listening cassettes and CDs that come with the series are somewhat of an improvement over those of the old Blueprint series, in my opinion. Unlike Blueprint, at least Matters doesn't have Brits trying to do American and Australian accents on the recordings. However, there are some British dialects on the Matters recordings that, for the life of me, I can't understand no matter how hard I try. Fortunately for me, tapescripts are included in the teacher's book.

Best wishes!

[Stephen Jones]

Bugger is a serious insult in the South of England, and it does refer to buggery or sodomy.

In the North of England it's a term of near-endearment.

When I told one of my students in London he "was a right bugger!" he looked at me in horror.