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scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Stoth and other USAnians should know that the rest of the world does not talk funny like what they do. And the rest of the world does not watch USAnian TV !

'Diapers' ? Not where I come from, Sir ! They are NAPPIES !

I will refrain from following the trail laid by Mr Jones.

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

I never thought of you as a coward Scot. Cool

You know what always struck me in the difference between names of many things between the US and the British Isles... you take these:

diaper - nappie
pacifier - binkie

To my ear... lowly American that it is... the BrEng terms sound very childish... words that one would say to a young child, but not to another adult. It always made me laugh to hear an adult say to another adult, "where is little Rupert's binkie?"

Another one that always sounded funny to me was: telly for TV. Isn't the nicknaming of so many things with the -y or -ie rather twee. Laughing

Don't you watch satellite TV? All the serials and sitcoms and films that I got over there in English seemed to be American reruns. You could only avoid watching American TV by not turning it on. Do you only watch sports, Bollywood stuff and the BBC? I have never been much of a TV or movie watcher myself other than news, but I never saw anything else to choose over there on satellite.

VS

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Bah ! Television, like the internal combustion engine, is much over-rated. It will never catch on !

As for 'binkie' I have never come across that expression. Probably used by the effete English upper-middle classes.

sheikh radlinrol · Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 1222 Location: Spain

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

A biscuit is a type of bread one eats warm with butter for breakfast or dinner which would never contain sugar. I had also never heard 'binkie' until I worked with all the Brits at SQU. I never heard a UKian use any other term. Do you have one?

(you're right, of course, about cookie... I was just picking on Scot. Laughing

)

VS

jwbhomer · Joined: 14 Dec 2003 Posts: 876 Location: CANADA

I also never heard the term "binkie" anywhere. In Canada many people say "dummy".
As for what's on TV (or telly??? Canadians say "TV"), American sitcoms are all over the international TV channels, but for some reason the Brits seems to be taking over American TV, especially PBS. (Yeah, yeah, I know; PBS is not exactly a major network.) Sometimes the shows are adapted and Americanized (e.g. "The Office") but sometimes they're the real thing, complete with all the "funny" British terms.
Speaking of which, and getting back to the original post, do most Americans understand the term "wee", as in "just wee in your nappy"? Laughing

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Well if it is in that context, I would. But if it is Scot47, he might mean tiny. Perhaps Scot is right and the term binkie is used by the folks who would name their child Rupert. Isn't dummy just as bad? "Harriet darling... where's the dummy?" Laughing

You are right about PBS being taken over by old BBC re-runs. But there are only about a half dozen of us who actually watch that channel. At least many of the PBS channels have the BBCWorld news once a day.

Now... what was the topic of this thread again?

VS

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

VS

We were talking about the clever things that witty Scotsmen of mature years say.

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

I think it's American TV depicting twee, upper-class Brits where the term 'binkie' started...

Oh, sorry, back to the mature Scots wisdom Embarassed

007 · Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 7:34 pm Post subject:

sheikh radlinrol · Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 1222 Location: Spain

Once again, 007 is a mine of information. Have to disagree, however, about the inventor of the flush (not flash) toilet. I've never heard of this Harrington bloke, it was Thomas Crapper who came up with original idea.
Incidentally, it was explained to me that the Eastern ''squat'' toilet is not only cleaner but healthier, for reasons I won't go into here and now.

jwbhomer · Joined: 14 Dec 2003 Posts: 876 Location: CANADA

desultude · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 614

jwbhomer · Joined: 14 Dec 2003 Posts: 876 Location: CANADA

Loo Crapper? Laughing

That would be just too funny! Laughing

I know some of the Asian squatters can be pretty awful, and you don't want to even think about where the stuff goes. I read a good story once about a toilet in Goa which -- so the story goes -- used to be open at the back of the box, and was cleaned out occasionally by a pig! But at least the user doesn't have to come in contact with the facility. In that way, I do think the squatters are more hygienic than the thrones.

My point above was that Americans (and other westerners, but especially Americans) seem to think these things are both horrifying Surprised

and hilarious. Laughing

As in "Mommy, where's the potty? There's only this hole in the floor." Those contemplating working in the ROTW had better be prepared to adapt!

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

I have to say that I wasn't thrilled the first time I saw one, but I at least knew that they existed. My problem was that since I was nearly 40 by that time, my knees did fear the concept. Shocked

And I do think that nationality has nothing to do with how a young child will react when first seeing facilities that are completely different from what he or she has ever encountered. At least they will have Mumsy there to help them get up or down.

One of most interesting public toilets that I have ever seen as a tourist was in Thailand at a temple site... where you were required to take off your shoes before you could enter. It was the most spotless squat toilet system that I have ever seen.

VS