Questions for Americans

[Lori_the_Hoosier]

Those words from your Will sound like his inner posh education rather than inner Londoner! Am I right he went to the place on the edge of Windsor?

Polari is bizarre - but became widely known thanks to a BBC radio show, Around the Horne, where two characters talk mainly in Polari to Mr Horne, who visits their new business (Bona XXX) each episode. In Bona Law, one mentions 'we have a criminal practice which takes up all our time'. At the time the Beeb claimed they didn't see any references to homosexuality, but it's more likely they just decided the jokes had enough plausible deniability to pass scrutiny.
So many Brits would understand at least "Mr Horne! How bona to viddy your dolly old eek" (how good to see your dear old face", and many of the words have become mainstream slang just as with Cockney.

All the scripts are available and often performed now as a stage show - highly recommended.

Will does admit to attending a certain stuffy place not a million miles from Windsor, along with a slovenly blond bounder currently masquerading as a PM...

He grew up without the benefit of television, thanks to his repressive and bitter mother, so radio was his entertainment as a boy, and 'Around The Horne' and 'The Goon Show' were his comedy yardsticks. I've heard some of the 'Julian and Sandy' dialogs on BBC Lionheart they are very funny, just listening to them with the hindsight of knowing what they were really saying makes me realize just how risqué they really were. Of course, the strait-laced barons of the BBC of the time would never have admitted to allowing 'that' kind of content to be aired, so they just stuck their fingers in their ears and did the 'la-la-la I can't hear you...' thing.

He also tells me that the Polari word 'naff' I used earlier means dull, tacky, ugly, but also applies to straight men, as in 'not available for f*cking'. He compiled a Polari glossary for a friend writing a book about the theater gay community of the 1930's-60's, some of the words, like 'omi-polone' (effeminate gay man), 'polone-Omi (lesbian), ria (hair), ria-shusher (hairdresser), Oglefakes (glasses), Fantabulosa (wonderful - also 'bonaroo'), 'basket' (the bulge of male gentials showing through tight pants) are just so weirdly attractive I wish I could think of occasions where I could use them and look cool and switched-on...

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Were you last in England in the 80s?
You're thinking of legwarmers, which admittedly were also known as leggings, but since certain elastane fibres were trademarked and their use in clothing took off in the late 80s onwards (Lycra, for example), no-one this millennium would think of them rather than an item of stretchy outerwear or underwear (depending on thickness and budget) going from waist to ankles.

(thanks for showing how to do coloured text,.btw)

Now I'm wondering if 'camel toe' is a recognised phrase (effect on the pubic area's appearnce if a woman wears too-tight leggings/tights), and what is the US or other foreign equivalent of a 'Croydon facelift'?

(that's a ponytail that's pulled so tight it pulls the skin tight a bit like a cheap facelift. Associated with what are often known as chavs, which my mother says in America are called 'trailer trash what don't necessarily live in trailers, which I think sums up Croydon's reputation fairly well.

That's just it. None of us in the US call pantyhose tights. And leggings are as you describe them although no one wears them anymore.

We now have what are called yoga pants, tight fitting Lycra opaque pantyhose essentially without feet. Very form fitting and yes some women have a camel toe, that's what it's called here in the states, and they also lift and separate the buttocks.

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chinaleggings.com%2Fattached%2Fimage%2F20180323%2F20180323064249944994.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

Couldn't find one that showed a camel toe.

 

[jehoram]

Couldn't find one that showed a camel toe.

You'll probably find them on this thread:

Yoga Pants - Stretch Pants on Women - Pictures!

https://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=1543164&highlight=pants

 

[YDB95]

Were you last in England in the 80s?
You're thinking of legwarmers, which admittedly were also known as leggings, but since certain elastane fibres were trademarked and their use in clothing took off in the late 80s onwards (Lycra, for example), no-one this millennium would think of them rather than an item of stretchy outerwear or underwear (depending on thickness and budget) going from waist to ankles.

Yes, what you describe as legwarmers were known as such in the US too, and they're also associated with the '80s there.

Now I'm wondering if 'camel toe' is a recognised phrase (effect on the pubic area's appearnce if a woman wears too-tight leggings/tights), and what is the US or other foreign equivalent of a 'Croydon facelift'?

Camel toe is well known. I've never heard "Croydon facelift" before and I don't know of any US equivalent (to be fair, although I am American, I haven't actually lived there in about 15 years. I now live in Australia, and I don't know of any equivalent of Croydon Facelift here either.)

 

[vanmyers86]

Anyone who ever read the brilliant "And the Band Played On" by Randy Shilts is unlikely to forget what felching is, but folks younger than 40-45 or so probably never did, come to think of it. The early years of the AIDS crisis are largely lost to time now.

This thread has been a fascinating read!

 

[Rustyoznail]

I've never heard "Croydon facelift" before and I don't know of any US equivalent (to be fair, although I am American, I haven't actually lived there in about 15 years. I now live in Australia, and I don't know of any equivalent of Croydon Facelift here either.)

I've heard that referred to as the $2 facelift - pull your hair back really tight in a ponytail and tightly wrap a hairband around it to hold it there. Don't think it's in common usage...

 

[Emirus]

Felching? I’ll give it a miss.

I wrote a story set in the southern states, an area of the USA with which I’m familiar, and used the term “Bubba.” I was surprised when someone, who lives in West Coast USA, who used to proof read my stories did not know what the term meant.

In another story, set in the UK, I used the phrase “I’ll give it a miss” which they again didn’t understand. Now that I can understand!

Does an American understand that “taking the piss” in the UK means making fun of someone? It can also be used as a crude term for urinating but, if in a story, would have to fit in with the context.

I recently began reading stories by a UK writer, who only began last year and whose stories I enjoy, and told them it wasn’t necessary to keep explaining to American readers the British phrases they used. Their stories are good enough as it is.

If, when reading a story by an American writer, I come across a word or phrase I don’t understand I look it up. If I need to in order to understand the story. If I judge it isn’t important to the story I give it a miss.

I came across a story, some time ago, in which an American writer kept continually using the word “jock.” I had to look it up and afterwards considered there were other words which were more suitable and that it was an unnecessary use of American slang. Another American friend, who has never heard of Literotica, knew the term but had difficulty in explaining to me exactly what it meant. Perhaps he thought I was taking the piss?

I’ve never heard of the term “felching” but I have no interest in Gay Male stories. Perhaps it’s a word used in some of them but I’ll never know. I also googled it and, as been said previously, wish I hadn’t.

 

[Agiel]

Maybe think again if you’ve got a large posterior?

We now have what are called yoga pants, tight fitting Lycra opaque pantyhose essentially without feet. Very form fitting and yes some women have a camel toe, that's what it's called here in the states, and they also lift and separate the buttocks.

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chinaleggings.com%2Fattached%2Fimage%2F20180323%2F20180323064249944994.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

.

*****

I’ve seen many women in the UK wearing yoga pants and I’ve admired the view. I’ve also seen many women wearing them who have obviously never seen a view of themselves from behind.

I remember, many years ago, a well known fashion designer saying being fashionable is okay but one always needs to decide if the current fashion is suitable for yourself.

 

[Lori_the_Hoosier]

*****

I’ve seen many women in the UK wearing yoga pants and I’ve admired the view. I’ve also seen many women wearing them who have obviously never seen a view of themselves from behind.

I remember, many years ago, a well known fashion designer saying being fashionable is okay but one always needs to decide if the current fashion is suitable for yourself.

Aaaand that's why Ogden Nash wrote:

“Sure deck your lower limbs in pants;
Yours are the limbs, my sweeting.
You look divine as you advance–
Have you seen yourself retreating?”

Hubby likes to quote that one at me on occasion; he likes to live dangerously...

 

[jehoram]

And now I'm thinking of Spinal Tap's ballad:

Big Bottoms
Big Bottoms
Talk about mud flaps my gal's got 'em
Big Bottoms drive me out of my mind
How can I leave this behind?

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Bubba
I came across a story, some time ago, in which an American writer kept continually using the word “jock.” I had to look it up and afterwards considered there were other words which were more suitable and that it was an unnecessary use of American slang.

I’ve never heard of the term “felching” but I have no interest in Gay Male stories.

Bubba is your stereotypical inbred dim-witted redneck southerner, derived from the word 'brother', am I right? It gets used here a fair bit because laughing at stupid Americans never gets old in England. I'm sure Jack Reacher met some guys called Bubba and things didn't go so well for them.

I'm told that US high schools don't really get rigidly divided into the jocks, cheerleaders, drama kids,.etc as Hollywood movies would have us believe, but the term is pretty widely known even for those who don't remember The Breakfast Club. One confusing word is 'athlete' which in UK is reserved for people who do athletics, ie track or field events. In US it seems to be anyone who does team sports too.

My story which contains the word felching is heterosexual and it was accidental. Thanks to the feedback on this thread, I had our nice American chap, who generally doesn't curse or use profanity, respond like this:

"F...?"

A faint bell rang in his memory. His friend in ninth grade had discovered the Urban Dictionary back when it was new, and they'd spent an educational afternoon learning new words via his parents' dial-up internet. Which meant that unexpected taste of Emily's sweet asshole... was cum??

"Jesus H. fucking Christ!"


One American phrase that really confused me last year was 'ball cap. I'd never heard it before and from the context (two stories on Lit...) I concluded it was something similar to a cock ring, maybe one of those little bondage harnesses that goes round the scrotum?

Anyway, I went for months merrily assuming a ball cap went on the lower balls, until I heard the term used by someone very respectable and I realised it was a ball cap like a ball game, ie a baseball cap...

(Is 'ball game always baseball, btw?)

 

[TadOverdon]

And now I'm thinking of Spinal Tap's ballad:

Big Bottoms
Big Bottoms
Talk about mud flaps my gal's got 'em
Big Bottoms drive me out of my mind
How can I leave this behind?

A prime example of the truism that rock lyrics are impossible to parody.

 

[PennameWombat]

Bubba is your stereotypical inbred dim-witted redneck southerner, derived from the word 'brother', am I right? It gets used here a fair bit because laughing at stupid Americans never gets old in England. I'm sure Jack Reacher met some guys called Bubba and things didn't go so well for them.

Um, it depends. To 'outsiders', your definition is the general view of it. But, across much of the US South (mostly, and in a few other enclaves), it can be used as a term of endearment or have a positive connotation. I've also known folks, who, in professional settings, applied it to themselves to 'show the lie of it being derogatory.' Do an internet search for and read about "Head Bubba", onetime VP at Credit Suisse (or pull up his old profile on LinkedIn.)

As president, Bill Clinton accepted the 'bubba' nickname as a badge of authenticity of his working class southern (Arkansas) roots, when political foes tried to use it as a slur.

So, there can be plenty of subtleties around the term.

I'm told that US high schools don't really get rigidly divided into the jocks, cheerleaders, drama kids,.etc as Hollywood movies would have us believe, but the term is pretty widely known even for those who don't remember The Breakfast Club. One confusing word is 'athlete' which in UK is reserved for people who do athletics, ie track or field events. In US it seems to be anyone who does team sports too.

And 'athletic' to Americans can also be a generic adjective, that can refer to any person (male or female, although more often female), whether they play sports or not, with a fit or 'healthy' body type. I often think of it as American 'athletic' being close to British 'fit' or (kind of) Scottish 'tidy'.

<snip>
Anyway, I went for months merrily assuming a ball cap went on the lower balls, until I heard the term used by someone very respectable and I realised it was a ball cap like a ball game, ie a baseball cap...

(Is 'ball game always baseball, btw?)

Almost always. There's the classic song, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," from the early 1900s, that seems to have encoded it in American genes.

But, over my decades growing up and living in the US, the phrase "let's play some ball", was regularly applied to basketball as well as baseball. But I don't recall "ball game" applying to the sport.

 

[Emirus]

Bubba

Um, it depends. To 'outsiders', your definition is the general view of it. But, across much of the US South (mostly, and in a few other enclaves), it can be used as a term of endearment or have a positive connotation. I've also known folks, who, in professional settings, applied it to themselves to 'show the lie of it being derogatory.' Do an internet search for and read about "Head Bubba", onetime VP at Credit Suisse (or pull up his old profile on LinkedIn.)

As president, Bill Clinton accepted the 'bubba' nickname as a badge of authenticity of his working class southern (Arkansas) roots, when political foes tried to use it as a slur.

So, there can be plenty of subtleties around the term. .

I was using the term Bubba in the story to describe a police officer similar to the one who arrested Sidney Poitier in the film classic In The Heat Of The Night. Someone who makes a decision based on an assumption.

I’ve spent a lot of time in the southern states in the last 40 years, as a visitor principally Alabama and Mississippi and thought Bubba, in that context, fitted the character without having to use a longer explanation to show his character and attitude. Not using it, in the alternative you quite rightly say, as a term of endearment.

I thought every American citizen would understand it but I was obviously wrong. Just like the character I came to an erroneous conclusion based on an assumption.

 

[jehoram]

Um, it depends. To 'outsiders', your definition is the general view of it. But, across much of the US South (mostly, and in a few other enclaves), it can be used as a term of endearment or have a positive connotation.

Not to drag this too far off the subject of American speech, but there's a similar dichotomy for the Italian word "paisan." In the south of Italy, I'm told that it's a term of endearment, similar in meaning to "fellow countryman," whereas in the north, if you address somebody as "paisan," you're calling him a peasant.

Useful information if you're touring Italy, but not so useful in the US except among Italian-Americans.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Not to drag this too far off the subject of American speech, but there's a similar dichotomy for the Italian word "paisan." In the south of Italy, I'm told that it's a term of endearment, similar in meaning to "fellow countryman," whereas in the north, if you address somebody as "paisan," you're calling him a peasant.
.

Possibly more useful to know: there are parts of the UK (Glasgow and much of Scotland and the North) and social circles (men in those parts and younger laddy men beyond) where the word 'cunt' is a term of affection.

My Glaswegian housemate had to remember that 'hi, ya cunt' is not regarded the same way in London, and if she weren't female would possibly have been punched when using it in London. It's a dire insult generally for men here (you have to distinguish from the endearment by context), always based on bwhaviour, whereas I believe in America it's always a huge insult but rooted in misogyny more than actions?

 

[PennameWombat]

Possibly more useful to know: there are parts of the UK (Glasgow and much of Scotland and the North) and social circles (men in those parts and younger laddy men beyond) where the word 'cunt' is a term of affection.

My Glaswegian housemate had to remember that 'hi, ya cunt' is not regarded the same way in London, and if she weren't female would possibly have been punched when using it in London. It's a dire insult generally for men here (you have to distinguish from the endearment by context), always based on bwhaviour, whereas I believe in America it's always a huge insult but rooted in misogyny more than actions?

Oh, lordy! I lost count of the number of times when I lived in New York that I had to remind my own Glaswegian buddy "um, you know, I understand what you mean when you say 'hey, cunt,' but, um, NO ONE ELSE HERE DOES!"

As to the second point, in America it's rigorously misogynist. There aren't really any other subtleties to it. There are a small number of American women who try, or have tried, to 'reclaim' the word. But as a rule, don't use it in the US...

 

[oggbashan]

The use of 'cunt' has parallels in Australian English.

The word 'bastard' can have multiple meanings depending on the context, the person speaking, the person being spoken to and the emphasis.

"She's a right bastard' if said about a vehicle could mean 'she's a fantastic motor' or 'she is a piece of rusted shit that should never have been made'.

I would advise any non-Australian never to call someone a 'bastard', unless you are absolutely sure you are getting it right you could be assaulted.