Faux pas

[mojo]

From Wikipedia

A faux pas (IPA /ˌfoʊˈpɑː/, plural: faux pas /ˌfoʊˈpɑː(z)/) is a violation of accepted, although unwritten, social rules. Faux pas vary widely from culture to culture and what is considered good manners in one culture can be considered a faux pas in another. For example, in English-speaking Western countries, it is sometimes considered a thoughtful gesture to bring a bottle of wine when going to someone's house for dinner. In France, however, if the dinner is a bit formal, this is considered insulting as it suggests the hosts are unable to provide their own good wine. To bring wine to the home of teetotalers might suggest ignorance, obstinance, or ill intent.

I was chatting with someone in another country and was telling them about something that happened and that I was "pissed". In the USA where I am, pissed means very angry. In other countries it means very drunk lol.


With all the world travelers here and members from all corners of the globe, how do you keep it all straight? You could make a faux pas and not know it therefore making a second faux pas.

[matted]

At my conference in Hilton Head there was certainly an international presence... And some folks I was hanging out with from Holland loved to talk about getting pissed. I think the Brits have the same terminology!

I actually love the potential faux pas speaking to british folks. There are things back and forth in both languages with very different meanings...

[MrKay]

We generally use 'pissed off' for being angry and 'pissed' or 'pissed up' for being drunk....

This resource will help you fit in in the uk....

xxhttp://marble2.vox.com/library/post/top-100-british-slang-and-english-language-differences-from-cursing-to-the-spoken-word.html

Please don't read if you are easily offended, some are quite rude !!

[Renee]

being an aussie i wasnt offended by anything there because the same pretty much applies here. I think we have a few more actually that would be unsavoury to the foreign ear.

[mojo]

Prey tell Renee!

I used "pissed" as an example along with the wine. There must be more misconstrued behaviour out there! What fun! BTW, in the USA you shouldn't use your middle finger to point at people, things, places. That is probably true in other places as well.

I find it fascinating and interesting. Particularly here at the GPWA where we are so diverse and wanting to know everything about everyone!

In the US alot of people shake hands. What about that?? lol

[Renee]

Well mate, for example:

Someone might say to another person 'you pissed it up the wall' or 'I'm going to **** it up the wall' which means they spent their money on alcohol or spent their whole paycheck on alcohol. That's just one example.

You will also find in Oz that because we have so many different cultures it isn't rare that when you see your friends you give them a kiss on teh cheek. Mind you that's more common with us folks that have European backgrounds (or as Aussies refer to us as Wogs).

There's other sayings like 'Bloody Oath' and 'Fair Dinkem' which can mean a range of different things depending on the sentence they're used in.

Someone might say bloody oath if they are emphasising something or reconfirming it... Like maybe someone will say 'Are you sure?' and you might say 'Bloody oath I'm sure'.

Fair Dinkem has so many meanings it's almost impossible to explain them all..

It can mean 'are you serious?'

EG.
Mate the other day I fought off a shark!
Fair Dinkem?
Yep

Or you could use it like this

'The other day mate I fair dinkem fought off a shark'

It can be used in soooo many different ways.
They are just a couple of examples of 'family friendly' sayings over here...
The C word is used here regularly. Just another word to most of us.
Another few swear words that we commonly use are
Dickhead
Cockhead
**** nut
etc

Some aussie sayings:

Shrimp short of a BBQ
Not the brightest crayon in the box
Not the sharpest tool in the shed.

Some of these aren't common (only used by out group) but some are used to describe ugly people:

Head like a busted fart
Head like a half sucked mango
Head like a smashed crab
Fallen out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down
Hit with the ugly stick
Ugly as a hat full of assholes
Head like a dogs ass.

Etc etc

Sorry if I offended anyone!

[mojo]

Too funny Renee! I can honestly say I havn't heard of 'Bloody Oath' and 'Fair Dinkem' ever lol.

Someone might say bloody oath if they are emphasising something or reconfirming it... Like maybe someone will say 'Are you sure?' and you might say 'Bloody oath I'm sure'.

Here if someone says Are you sure? In the US we may say "Damn straight I'm sure" or "Helllll YA!'

EG.
Mate the other day I fought off a shark!
Fair Dinkem?
Yep

Here if someone said 'I fought of a shark'. The reply would be.. 'No fkn WAY!'

LMAO!!!!!

Fair Dinkem...Bloody Oath! Never heard of such a thing..toooo good!

[mojo]

Also...lol.

Mate is known as your spouse here. I believe the 'mate' you refer to is 'buddy' here.

[bonustreak]

lol you just get use to it Mo, at first I was like wtf are you guys all talking about but now I get people telling me I sound like I'm English...lol

When we all are pissed at conferences we all know what each other means in the end...lol

[LiveCasinoPartners]

You could make a faux pas and not know it therefore making a second faux pas.

My worst one was when I had to give a lecture in spanish to a crowd of educated medical professionals. Great.. I've only been speaking Spanish for about 4 years at the time, and wasn't quite sure about every single inflection..

So.. about in the middle of my lecture I said.. "Estuvo pisando que...." Which means engaging in vigorous sexual intercoarse... I meant to say "Estuvo Pensando".. which means "I was thinking.." There was a huge outburst of laughter.. but the only think I could do was to go forward.. and grit it out. I eventually found out what I said afterwards.. but I was already in a what-the-hell-happened state of mind. lol

That's my worst.. I hope it stays that way.

[Renee]

Wager X that is absolute gold.

I have a story. My greek teacher was telling us in class one night that her friend was in the bridal party at a Greek wedding and had just started learning Greek so decided to do her speech in Greek.

In Greek, the word for wedding and the word for **** are very similar... spelt the same but pronounced differently.

So instead of saying something nice about a wedding, she said something nice about ****. Everyone laughed at her too.. LOL

Mojo - Mate is also a very common Hungarian surname (spelt Máté, pronounced a little differently)
In Australia, we call every one mate. We say it on the end of every sentence.

We also shorten every single word and name possible. Sometimes we even shorten shortened words.

Gary - Gazza
Sharon - Shazza
Barbara - Barbs
Aaron - Azza
Thomas - Tommo

Service Station (what you guys call a gas station) - Servo
Bottle Shop (you guys call this a liquor store) - Bottle-o (this one is funny because there are even bottle shops now called 'The Bottle-o')
Mayonnaise - mayo
Train station - Traino
Police - cops/coppers (there is even a song people sing when police are around... it goes: what's the colour of a 2 cent coin? copper copper - to the tune of doo dah, doo dah - cant remember the name)

I could go on forever and a day really.

[onestopgamblingguide]

Great topic Mojo! I have been through some "faux pas" myself, a few funny and a few not so funny grrrr

[bonustreak]

lmaooo@ Renee!!

[Renee]

Now this is what real Aussies are like...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thWqNof5nXA

GOLD - makes me laugh every time.

[Martyn@Betfred]

Ausies are weird (including Renee), I have a few friends living there now after meeting Ausie ladies. When they come back to pay a visit they talk funny and not only that but they call flip flops THONGS!

WHAT....THONGS?

Thongs are pretty much bum floss and nothing to do with the plastic beach footwear!

Seriously, thongs!

Sort it out Renee.

[Chris-AffiliateClub]

HA HA - I was just excited about how Aussie girls talked about their underwear so freely!

[mojo]

Omg all of you..lol. Good stuff! Renee, that youtube reminds of a staff meeting I was in once.

[Amateur]

Renee,

I'm thinking you "borrowed" some of those words from us in the US. Our cuss words seem to translate very well, regardless of where ppl go!!:

WagerX,

One thing you can be sure of, you will be remembered, and ppl paid attention to every word you said!! What more can you ask for??

Martyn,

Whether you're talking about "butt-floss" or flipflops, I feel the same way about both of them...they are an "acquired taste" I haven't acquired..and don't plan to either!!

[Renee]

Renee,

I'm thinking you "borrowed" some of those words from us in the US. Our cuss words seem to translate very well, regardless of where ppl go!!:

WagerX,

One thing you can be sure of, you will be remembered, and ppl paid attention to every word you said!! What more can you ask for??

Martyn,

Whether you're talking about "butt-floss" or flipflops, I feel the same way about both of them...they are an "acquired taste" I haven't acquired..and don't plan to either!!

Other than the fact that our prime minister has his nose snuggled well up your presidents ass (we refer to that here as brown nosing btw), we really don't do anything like you guys in the US. Hate to burst your bubble there. Sorry. Most of our language comes from the UK (seeing as we are convicts after all - well those people with english backgrounds).

Actually my beau said another funny Aussie saying today. Some lady had no idea how to drive. And he said 'What the f*** is she doing?! Sharp as a bowling ball.'
I couldn't help but laugh and think of this thread and just HAD to post it as soon as I could.

Chris - Aussie chicks have no shame... Believe me. But what you guys call a 'Thong', we call a G-string, V-string, G-banger, Silencer, G, etc.
I think perhaps the reason we call 'flip flops' thongs is, well, look at how they look on your feet! Isn't that a good enough reason?

BTW Martyn, I'm not weird... I'm special

[mojo]

Renee, you totally crack me up!



I found this...

xxxhttp://www.users.bigpond.com/RandyMiller/Dictionary.htm

I'll have to remember not to "root" for anyone in Aust. Here it means to cheer on lol.