In all fairness, though, Britglish is one of the more awesome variants on the English language, being as it is one of the best to swear in and just all around fun to listen to in all its varied forms.
We do have so many forms of it! One of my favourite stories is that my dad actually had to use my uncle to act as a translator when he was up in Scotland doing some work to go between his own English employees and the Scottish contracted engineers! The disparities between even the way different counties speak over here is so fascinating. (:
Having a travel bug, I understand this completely, Though my heart has the Stars and stripes of the USA on it. And I want to kiss it's ground evertime I travel when I return home.
It's always such a comfort to go back to what you know when you've been away. Coming back to the UK after six months on the ship was such a relief - it was almost like being able to breathe properly, really.
I've always been fascinated by cultures that are similar yet different. I love your explanation! I already knew many of them, although I never have quite gotten the whole idea of pantomime :)
Panto is wonderful! Perhaps I'm biased, I'm stage crew on one right now, but I actually almost did my entry about panto until I realised I could write this one better. Perhaps next topic, if it fits!
It's basically a fairy tale performed on stage, but it's got a whole series of rules that it abides by; good fairy always enters stage right, villain stage left, the Dame is both a man in a womans costume with several costume changes and the mother to the lead male who is traditionally played by a female, there are shoutouts to audience members, certain call and responses that always happen and a walkdown finale at the end with the minor characters entering first and the most senior characters entering last. Almost every Brit is trained in the most Pavlovian way to say "Oh no you're not!" to the sentence "Oh yes I am!", and it's very hard to break the habit. ;)
Thanks! Our pancakes are lovely. There are more and more street market stalls popping up that sell crepes with nutella and strawberries, or lemon and sugar, or ham and cheese, and they're such a great snack on a cold day. (:
o.O No Christmas crackers? NO PASS THE PARCEL?? But but but! I'm literally flabbergasted by that. What IS an under-10's birthday party without pass the parcel? Especially when it's wrapped in magazine pages and there's a handful of jelly beans at each layer.
Though Boxing Day in Australia = Boxing Day SALES. And apparently cricket. But more shopping.
I think I put on a bit more Aussieness when abroad. xD I love educating my British girlfriend on our words for things - as she is learning, Australian is generally one word for everything. Sweets and lollipops and some chocolates are all "lollies" to me. Trousers and jeans and knickers are all "pants". I'm sure there are more!
No Christmas crackers! I know, right?? No Christmas pudding either, apparently! My campers thought I was absolutely mental when I explained about jelly and ice cream, and then I sat them all down and played a game of pass the parcel with them. Teaching rich thirteen year old American girls how to play that is a lasting memory of mine!
I always admire just how many Aussies I meet abroad - it's like your whole country up and move sticks for a time when you're all twenty-odd for a rite of passage! I don't think I've met an Aussie I didn't get along with, though - we've got the same sense of humour after all. ;)
But Christmas pudding is the BEST THING EVER!! Omg I can't even. I love Christmas pud. I have a little mini single one waiting for me in our cupboard because my gf doesn't like it (WTF) and I knew better than to get a normal one when only I'd be eating it.
What else would you have jelly with but ice-cream?! Those poor deprived children!
it's like your whole country up and move sticks for a time when you're all twenty-odd for a rite of passage! It really is! When people ask me here why I came over I'm usually just, it's the Aussie thing to do! Everyone does it - we're so damn far from the rest of the world that of course we all want to change that for a little while ;)
Comments 31
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
It's basically a fairy tale performed on stage, but it's got a whole series of rules that it abides by; good fairy always enters stage right, villain stage left, the Dame is both a man in a womans costume with several costume changes and the mother to the lead male who is traditionally played by a female, there are shoutouts to audience members, certain call and responses that always happen and a walkdown finale at the end with the minor characters entering first and the most senior characters entering last. Almost every Brit is trained in the most Pavlovian way to say "Oh no you're not!" to the sentence "Oh yes I am!", and it's very hard to break the habit. ;)
Reply
Reply
Reply
Though Boxing Day in Australia = Boxing Day SALES. And apparently cricket. But more shopping.
I think I put on a bit more Aussieness when abroad. xD I love educating my British girlfriend on our words for things - as she is learning, Australian is generally one word for everything. Sweets and lollipops and some chocolates are all "lollies" to me. Trousers and jeans and knickers are all "pants". I'm sure there are more!
Reply
I always admire just how many Aussies I meet abroad - it's like your whole country up and move sticks for a time when you're all twenty-odd for a rite of passage! I don't think I've met an Aussie I didn't get along with, though - we've got the same sense of humour after all. ;)
Reply
What else would you have jelly with but ice-cream?! Those poor deprived children!
it's like your whole country up and move sticks for a time when you're all twenty-odd for a rite of passage! It really is! When people ask me here why I came over I'm usually just, it's the Aussie thing to do! Everyone does it - we're so damn far from the rest of the world that of course we all want to change that for a little while ;)
Reply
Leave a comment