Sunday, August 31, 2008

Bugger this for a game of soldiers, take two


Britsh words and phrases of frustration, resignation, condemnation and disappointment. Some are obvious to an American, some not. There may even be another 2 or 3 that are not on the list...can you come up with any more. This time, let's add some American expressions as well. None on the list yet.

Can't be arsed
Browned off
Cheesed off
Pig's ear
Make a total bollocks of
Pull your finger out
Ropey
Sweet F.A.
Cock up
Jack in

19 comments:

  1. Can't be fagged
    Pissed off
    Make a complete shambles
    Completely shambolic
    Get your arse in gear

    Dare say you've seen these before. Are we supposed to research and make sure they aren't duplicates? :)

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  2. a. - Yes, please. Compare with all resources you can find to make certain there are no duplicates. Would appreciate your numbering multiple entries as well, if you please. Grouping alphabetically goes without saying.

    Ummmm....the book research has come to an end. Some time ago. This is for fun. Have fun. BE fun. LOVE fun. What the hell is "shambolic"?

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  3. What is shambolic? Don't tempt me Max! :)

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  4. Let's see for American ...

    Frost your pumpkin.

    Chap your ass.

    Get your dander up.

    And, of course, the ever popular - WTF????

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  5. Those really make no sense to me, I just can't be arsed to make a proper comment when I can't read "british" LOL

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  6. Oh I see. OK then:

    Can't be fagged
    Pissed off
    Make a complete shambles
    Completely shambolic
    Get your arse in gear

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  7. Good ones. And thanks droach75 for your input. We are just having fun here. And I saw you comment on my long-neglected financial blog: thank you for reading it. I will try to follow what you are doing in that regard. I hope you will drop by here from time to time as well and have a little fun with us, and at our sister blog over at the pub (britishspeak3.blogspot.com) You would be most welcome. Hmmmm. Yorkshire, huh? Just what I need. :)

    And, see - commenting works. I just went to look at your blog. And so will some of your irritating countrymen who frequent this one, I'll bet. :)

    Thanks again!

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  8. Yo! Interesting site here, one thought tho from looking at this post: You might want to put definitions of the phrases since they mean different things...
    Can't Be [Arsed / bothered / bovvered / fucked] - An expression of resignation / lack of motivation
    [Browned / cheesed / fucked / pissed] off, that really [gets my goat / twists my melons / gets up my nose / burns me up / gets me hot under the collar / fries my bacon] - expressions of annoyance or irritation
    [cock / balls / arse / fuck / screw] up, make a [pigs ear / bollocks / shambles] of - To do something wrong
    [ropey / dodgy] - something of poor quality, e.g. ropey construction, a ropey deal
    jack in - to give up
    Pull your [finger out / socks up] - a bit like saying "get back to work", but implies the need for a new dedication to quality. e.g. "Shiv would be a good student if he'd stop distracting others and pull his socks up"

    Some others for you, I'm afraid I don't know which one's are known in America so I'm gonna guess :)
    "You're as useful as a chocolate teapot"
    "like pissing in the wind"
    "you're a plonker" (idiot)
    "It's all gone pear shaped" / "It's all gone Pete Tong" - It's all gone wrong

    ~Shiv

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  9. Thanks Shiv. And thanks for all the good stuff!

    Well, frankly we are mostly old friends here - mostly Brits and a few Americans - who have been around this block before together (hence the post title "take two". And the intro was meant to (loosely at least) confine the words and phrases to "words of frustration or resignation" I guess you could say.

    The sorting out has already been done and the book this blog spawned mostly written now. So we are currently just sitting around the campfire and having a few drinks and arguments with one another. It would be great if you would join in - you seem to know quite a few cool words and phrases yourself.

    If you want to amuse yourself with some of the categories we did for the book, check out the archives. My personal favorites are the two posts my friend Claire did on British words and terms for "doing it". Our companion blog, the pub (appropriately named the Slap & Tickle, btw,) is another place we congregate to waste time and belittle the American (me). Consider stopping by there in your travels as well. (britishspeak3.blogspot.com)

    Yours? I liked your "useful as a chocolate teapot" best, I think. Cool dude!

    Hope we see you again here. And thanks again!

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  10. I like SNAFU .. old but still in use.. Situation Normal, all f***ed up

    Describing someone's ability as being likened to 'couldn't arrange a piss up in a brewery' always means that they are about as useful as a paperbag in a rainstorm.

    good post

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  11. Right.
    But maybe that is a bit too polite for a wanker like yourself.

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  12. Being a pup from the deep 'merkan' south, we have our OWN phrases of frustration:

    "he makes me soooo mad, i could pinch his head off!"

    "she was so angry, she was spittin' nails."

    and one my granny pup (R.I.P.) always used ...

    "Well I swannnn."

    woof.

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  13. Hehe, I'm sure I'll be lurking around for a bit, thanks for the welcome :)

    ~Shiv

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  14. Prat, or should it have a double t?

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  15. Hello Sage. I have been stalking you a bit, and all I have been able to come up with is cornish Rugby. But I will do better. I thought I was the only one in the world who knew what SNAFU ment. It came from military people in Europe in WWII. I read it was coined by American GIs there. But what do I know? Thanks for the comment.

    Descartes, don't have a clue. Thanks for the compliment, though.

    Claire, no need to get into personal name-calling. :)

    Lola, woof! Like a pig in a poke. Me Mum was a Rebelette and learned me a few of them thar sayins. Thanks.

    Shiv, we'll keep the light on for you, buddy!

    A. You are making these up. Don't tell me you aren't. You are taking advantage of my delicate sensibilities, and you know it. Prat. No way.

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  16. Wait a minute. My apologies.

    Prat:
    1. American: a person's buttocks
    2. British: an incompetent, stupid, or foolish person; an idiot.

    What are you trying to say here, a.?

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  17. ARFFFFF! MAX !

    does that mean we're 23rd cousins, 50 times removed ??????


    woof.

    ReplyDelete

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