What part of 'foreign' don't you understand?

We've all come across words and phrases in foreign cultures that we don't understand. Here's a chance to find out what they mean. I suspect that most will end up being English - because it's such a quirky langauge but any language counts. Feel free to post about anything you've heard from a foreign culture that you wish you had an explanation for.

Here are three from me to set the ball rolling....

1) When Americans say they like their eggs cooked "over easy", what exactly does over easy mean? :confused:

2) What is a Rhinestone? :confused:

3) What is a Station Wagon? :confused:


Over to you chaps in the USA.....

Live from New York....

EGG - Over Easy A typical fried egg is cracked and cooked on a hot flat surface leaving the yolk intact. All cooking occurs without flipping the egg. "Over Easy" involves a flip of the egg during cooking. It is flipped "over easy" so as not to break the Yolk.

RhineStone A cheap peice of glass (actually the technical definition is a bit more specific) use as jewerly. Due to the low cost it is often worn in large quantities.

Station Wagon A style of car (originating in the late 1940's and VERY common up until the 1970's) that features a combination of passenger area and a cargo area. The two areas are not seperated by any barriers and (typically) the rear seat can be folded down to increase the available cargo area at the expense of seatting capacity.

I came across a british auto repair manual some years ago, and still recall puzzling over the meaning of 'spanner' (wrench), and chuckling over terms like 'bonnet' (for hood), 'flat battery' (which we call a dead battery) and hooking the battery cable to Earth (hooking the battery cable to ground).

That reminds me - when I was younger I puzzled for ages over what part of a car was the "fender" (we call it a "bumper" in England). It also took me ages to figure out what a "convertible" was (cabriolet in most of Europe). I genuinely thought it was a car that could be converted into a boat or something!! :p

Over here, the bumpers protect the grille and taillights on your car (front and back)

Will never forget (especially since I still have a picture of it) the time (1985) I was in a London suburb and saw a small electronics shop that advertised "Evacuated Vessel Valves". At the time the sign was probably 30+ years old..

Quote:

---

Originally posted by gjs368
Over here, the bumpers protect the grille and taillights on your car (front and back)

---

Oh, that sounds like the same as in England. What are the "fenders" then? I must have misinterpreted that.

Fenders are technically the metal panels on the side of the car in front of the door. The side panels on the rear are also often referred to as fenders, but this is (in a very strict sense) not technically correct.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by TheCPUWizard
Fenders are technically the metal panels on the side of the car in front of the door.

---

That's even weirder in England. For some bizarre reason we call these the "wings" !?!

Many many times ago, the first time I ear "whisky on the rocks" I imagined some people in some lost high mountain having a glass of whisky. I surprised when I knew that those "rocks" were really "ice cubes". I think this is only for whisky but sometimes I have used this words in pubs and bars when I wanted drinks with ice, but it was rare when someone understood what I want.
It was funny to see the barman's face when I said "a coke on the rocks please" and the most common response was "w.. w..what??!!"

LIVE FROM NY....

"On the Rocks" is typically used in reference to any drink that is pure alcohol (Wiskey, Vodka, etc) meaning "with ice". "Neat" is the inverse, meaning "no Ice".

I remember confusing the bartenders in Europe when I used those terms :D

But what is "RhineStone Cowboy" ??? I dont get this much !!!:(

It was a movie from back in the 1970's [ and no I am NOT confusing it with Urban Cowboy...]

Ooh ....
:D :D

And what about the US "billion"?

In my country one billion is 1.000.000.000.000

But If I remember well one billion in USA is less that number. How much is it ? 100.000.000.000? That has caused to me some confussion while reading some texts.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Doctor Luz
And what about the US "billion"?

In my country one billion is 1.000.000.000.000

But If I remember well one billion in USA is less that number. How much is it ? 100.000.000.000? That has caused to me some confussion while reading some texts.

---

One billion is: 1.000.000.000 or in other words one thousand millions...

In US: 1 Million Million (aka a european Billion) is a Trillion.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by TheCPUWizard
In US: 1 Million Million (aka a european Billion) is a Trillion.

---

That basically raises the question what is a european trillion? And if go further that would mean that you guys are always one step ahead of us...so there has to be one word that we are not using here... :confused:

Well you could always use the term a milliBillion to describe 10^9 :D :D

Everytime I get in here, ....happy so much fun!:D :D :D :D

Then a US billion dollar is a Giga dollar (G$) using scientific language. :D ;)

A billion is 10^9 in the U.S. and Canada, but 10^12 in Europe.

A trillion is even more adrift, being 10^12 in the U.S. and Canada, but 10^18 in Europe.

As I understand it, for the sake of scientific sanity, the U.S./Canadian definition is now generally used by the international scientific community, and is becoming the more common usage in Europe, especially the UK.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Doctor Luz
Then a US billion dollar is a Giga dollar (G$) using scientific language. :D ;)

---

If you could find me such an item I would be very happy.
:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Quote:

---

If you could find me such an item I would be very happy.

---

just wonder ?
Could you tell me y people cannot find out such an item ?;) ;) ;) :p :D :( :o :) :confused: :eek:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Wfranc
just wonder ?
Could you tell me y people cannot find out such an item ?

---

I think he means he'd be very happy if you could ever find him a Giga-dollar bill....

But don't forget your 10% commission though, as a finder's fee - oh and I wouldn't mind 10% for starting off this thread :D

Can anyone else think why they should get 10% as well ?? Now's the time to stake your claim :)

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Andreas Masur

That basically raises the question what is a european trillion? And if go further that would mean that you guys are always one step ahead of us...so there has to be one word that we are not using here... :confused:

---

The missing word in french would be milliard:

value -> French -> US
10^9 -> milliard -> Billion
10^12 -> Billion -> Trillion
...

By the way, in Ireland they seem to use the same as US values (Billion is 10^9)

:D
Basically,all the American "came from" the European and the Indian..... But why do they have an absotely different accent and in some way different pronuciation with the British and people frm other English speaking countries ???? :) Any explanation ????



:D :D :D :D :D

Standard drift caused by isolation. Same reason people from different regions of the same country speak with different accents. Nothing special [IMHO]

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Wfranc
Basically,all the American "came from" the European and the Indian..... But why do they have an absotely different accent and in some way different pronuciation with the British and people frm other English speaking countries ???? :) Any explanation ????

---

It's hard to imagine that kind of thing today, with worldwide communications and whatnot. But even a hundred years ago, you only spoke with people you met in person, which was rarely more than a dozen miles from home. For this reason there was little uniformity in language. This accounts for the changes in spelling and pronunciation of words, and before the printing press, the shapes of the letters. Now that people have dictionaries and the internet and an education, for the most part, language tends to change very little, and is even a bit convergent, whereas before it was divergent.

[IMHO]<-- yours !!! TheCPUWizard:) But I dont know wat that is.

solarflare!!! you re like a ling,your words r amazing!!! really!:)

you two nice guys !!!:)

Quote:

---

IMHO - In My Humble Opinion

---

TYFYE ----Thank You For Your Explanation. :)

I couldnot do it correctly at the first time, so I did edit it again :o

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Wfranc
solarflare!!! you re like a ling,your words r amazing!!! really!:)

---

Thanks for the compliment - or should I say, approbation :)

As some friends of mine told me," is it true that in America, an ordered pizza comes earlier than an ambulance does?" :D

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Wfranc
As some friends of mine told me," is it true that in America, an ordered pizza comes earlier than an ambulance does?" :D

---

Really it's more of a joke, but it all depends, it could be true. One of the ways pizza companies sell pizzas is by promising delivery in 30 minutes or less, or some other time. To do so, they often have to break traffic laws, thereby holding up their promise for a speedy delivery. For ambulences, hospitals are far fewer in number compared to pizza places (probably like 50 to 1 or so). This means they may need to take longer distance (=time) to get to the desired location. On occasion, no ambulences are available and you must wait longer for one to even start on its way for you. Also, in an emergency (where you might need an ambulence), time seems to move slower; so it may seem like the ambulence is taking longer than it really is. All this together may explain that strange saying.

If you guys heard someone say "That s a whoop-de-doo thing !!!" then how do you understand about it ?:D

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Wfranc
TYFYE ----Thank You For Your Explanation. :)

---

Wfranc, your abbreviation cannot be found here.

http://www.acronymfinder.com/

:D

Oh:) I made it myself, so of course there is no such a word....
awesome ?:D (I learnt it from TheCPUWizard, he is a naice yankee.:D )
By the way, I thought you were so scared by that webpage that you seemed to run away from me for days. I still have some other stuff but I m afraid you will not want to take a look at. Anyway, they are all fine for me. You know, sometimes I feel sad or alone, I just turn it on and wait for around 3 minutes and ......sure you get that. Really nice and so much fun, I get back to my good mood again. So, If you are in trouble or having stress, just get back there and have fun.

One more thing I would like to ask you basicnet. In Singapore, If I ask some guy "Can you tell me about this ?", Is it true that he will say just like ..."can"?.:D. Yeah that short ?. :D Right?

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Wfranc
If you guys heard someone say "That s a whoop-de-doo thing !!!" then how do you understand about it ?:D

---

That's a new one on me... are you sure you didn't make that one up yourself as well?? ;)

No, I didnot make up that word, I want to ask anyone who is from Eng how he/she will understand that word(whoop-de-doo). I said I made up this one TYFYE. I think people hear it and write it in such a way. So it can be woopty-du or hoopty-doo...Therefore that word maynot come up in dictionaries.

I've never heard "whoop-dee-doo" used in a sentence. Alone, it means "who cares?" If someone said "That's a whoop-dee-doo thing" I'd assume they escaped from an asylum or something.

A question posed by Simon666

What is the meaning of the phrase "No names - no pack drill"?

Often heard in war movies, spy movies etc (mainly American) but where does it originate from?

Quote:

---

Originally posted by John E
What is the meaning of the phrase "No names - no pack drill"?

Often heard in war movies, spy movies etc (mainly American) but where does it originate from?

---

I have never ever ever ever heard that. Well, not all five words together at the same time. What movies have this line???

Quote:

---

Originally posted by solarflare
I have never ever ever ever heard that. Well, not all five words together at the same time. What movies have this line???

---

Funnily enough, I last heard it during the Christmas period in a re-run of one of the James Bond movies. It was one of the ones with Sean Connery in it - either Thunderball or Never Say Never Again, I think

Some explanations : the third is the best :

Site 1
Site 2
Site 3

Interesting... maybe that phrase should also be in a thread called "what part of native don't you understand"!

I just thought of another Americanism that's always bugged me.....

What is a crap table??

(over here in England, it would just be a badly made table...!) :)

Quote:

---

Originally posted by John E
I just thought of another Americanism that's always bugged me.....

What is a crap table??

(over here in England, it would just be a badly made table...!) :)

---

Craps is a dice game. Crap table, well, you get the idea (does not involve removal of pants).

you know whats really wierd about americans... they never seem to go to the toilet in movies, but they do seem to go to the bathroom a lot.. I mean, how many showers do they take in a day?? :confused: