Apropos of previous discussion on variants of English (did someone call Aust English "pseudo-English", how very mean?!)

An English friend told me she was mystified by signs reading "No Thongs" sometimes seen at pubs here in Australia. She wondered why women (or men) wearing skimpy underwear would be a problem for publicans but later discovered that in Aust thongs are footwear - in the UK or is it the USA these are called "flipflops' I think.

Also my physiotherapist returned from a year o/s where he often told people to "take off their pants" (which here means your long trousers -either men or women's) say if he was going to inspect their lower back and got shocked when he turned around to find someone naked from the waist down- cos apparently "pants" refers to underpants - quite a difference!.

Oh we laugh at these things don't we?

In the US, thongs can be either wedgiefied underwear or "flip flop sandals"...depends on which ocean you're dipping your toes in. For instance, I grew up on the West Coast and thongs to me were always those @#$%& toe splitting sandals that it took about a week of constant wear to get a callous between your toes built up sufficiently so it wouldn't bleed.

Then I moved to the East Coast, and I asked my employer where I could buy a good pair of thongs and I thought he was gonna choke on his bagel! And when I explained what I was looking for, he said, "OH...you mean flip-flops!"

So even here in the States, there's still confusion!

(And I'm sorry about the pseudo-English crack...but you have to admit, Aussies have some pretty bizarre words that you never see in print anywhere else! And then there's the accent and how quickly they tend to speak... Don't get me wrong, I've had some great Aussie and Kiwi pals, but it really is almost its own language!)

It's the differences between us that keep life interesting!

Yep, here in Michigan I've heard the footwear called either thongs or flipflops, while the undergarment is referred to either as a thong or as butt floss. (Okay, you wouldn't ask for the latter in a store).



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"I've often said that the difference between British and American SF TV series is that the British ones have three-dimensional characters and cardboard spaceships, while the Americans do it the other way around."
--Ross Smith

I've never understood why g-strings are so called.

I could be crude with a suggestion, but I'm trying to reform.



PSD

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This is the work of an Italian narco-anarchic collective. Don't bother insulting them, they can't read English anyway.

Reform? Gasp!
Naaaaaaah...



I drink to drown my sorrows. Unfortunately they've learnt how to swim.

Still not posting it!



PSD

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This is the work of an Italian narco-anarchic collective. Don't bother insulting them, they can't read English anyway.

and again, why anyone would want to wear thong underwear is beyond me. I spend my time trying to pick my underwear OUT of my butt as it is!

I think that last post definitely comes under the heading of Too Much Information.



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I am very interested in the Universe. I am specialising in the Universe and everything surrounding it. - E. L. Wisty

I don't know. You floss between your teeth for hygiene, don't you? Can't see why it can't apply elsewhere...

Coming soon - thongy socks...



PSD

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This is the work of an Italian narco-anarchic collective. Don't bother insulting them, they can't read English anyway.

I don't get the idea of thong underwear either, but I can assure you it's very popular. David sells plenty of it. He also keeps pestering me to review one of these things... er... thongs... whatever, but I keep telling him rather severely that if I spend £10 on a pair of knickers I don't want £4 worth of them up my backside.

Apparently it is also possible to buy thongs for men. The mind boggles!



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That which does not kill us makes us stranger.
(Llewelyn the dragon, Ozy and Millie)

Sarah

I'm still recovering from the sight of my husband in bikini briefs...and that was several years ago! I don't think my constitution could handle him in a thong!

Note for blokes - don't even think about trying thongs. Everything gets split down the middle, and chafes. Unless you want to greet your lover with what looks like tiny party balloons tied together in an 'amusing' fashion, just avoid them.

Too much information?



PSD

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This is the work of an Italian narco-anarchic collective. Don't bother insulting them, they can't read English anyway.

FX: sound of mind boggling



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That which does not kill us makes us stranger.
(Llewelyn the dragon, Ozy and Millie)

Sarah

eurgh.

have discovered comfy thong - the Granny Thong. Marks&Spencers oh yes.
Just buy half a size larger than you need and chafing is no longer a problem. Don't get the nasty frilly g-string types either owowowowow.


Name 'g-string' purely so school band members can snigger when being made to play Air on a G-string.

That was what I was going to say earlier - is it the note it whistles as you fart? That would be a whole new meaning to air on a g-string...



PSD

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This is the work of an Italian narco-anarchic collective. Don't bother insulting them, they can't read English anyway.

maybe because it actually grates your behind, thus the 'g'

I can't remeber where the original comment about varieties of English was, and a quick check in the threads that I thought most likely hasn't revealed its presence, so I'll attach this comment here instead.
Winston Churchill (the famous British politician, not his grandson, and not the American author either) once defined Britain and the USA as "two countries separated by a common language".

Oh, yes. I ran into that problem when translating poetry from the Italian. An American acquaintance to whom I e-mailed some of my work observed that he thought it was pretty good but the scanning could be improved. I had no idea what he was talking about, because to my British ear it scanned perfectly... then I looked at some of the "improvements" he suggested and realised that some of the pronunciation differences between British and American English are a lot more subtle than I thought. To my ear, the _American_ version didn't scan! If it had been anything other than poetry, the discrepancies would have gone unnoticed.

Ben: I don't _think_ G-strings are meant to do that, but you could have fun with a strategically placed reed... possibly... if you liked that sort of thing, that is.



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That which does not kill us makes us stranger.
(Llewelyn the dragon, Ozy and Millie)

Sarah