Anyone who’s an Anglophile or a world traveler will relate to this guest blog from Cancer Bats singer Liam Cormier about the linguistic differences between American English and UK English. We still remember how befuddled we were the first time we found out elevators are called lifts, the subway is the tube, friends are mates and, most surprising of all, cigarettes are called fags. Now here’s Cormier to describe his most dramatic faux pas from the band’s UK tour.
We recently got back from spending some time over in the UK, and one of the things we noticed in England is that we all speak English but there are so many different expressions and phrases that we use that mean so many different things between England and North America. When we went over, I was trying to be a good crust kid with my fanny pack and tight jeans and I was telling someone in England how in the UK and Europe kids rock fanny packs but that in North America it was still made fun of and not that accepted. The girl I was talking to to was like, “You rock a what!!!???!!” and I said, “a fanny pack, like this,” pointing at the bag around my waist.
She started laughing out loud and was like, “Do know what the word fanny means?” I wasn’t sure what she meant and I sheepishly told her, “I guess it’s like a cute word for someone’s bum?”
“Not to us!” she exclaimed. “Over here, the word fanny is another word for a girl’s vagina.”
At this point we were both laughing at the fact that I had been talking about my vagina bag for the past week.
Another funny situation I found myself in was when I found an amazing pair of acid washed girls jeans that were super tight. I was really excited with how rad they were, and I was telling some British friends about them. I’m like, “Yo, you gotta check out these amazing girls pants I have on!” and they’re looking at me with strange looks on their faces. I’m kind of confused, so I say it again, pointing this time. “I’m really excited about these girls pants, they’re so tight and they rule!” Still, strange looks and no response. I try one last time. “Do people not wear acid wash jeans? what’s the deal?”
Finally, my friends understood and they filled me in on the confusion. It turns out, in England they call underwear “pants,” I’m guessing from the word underpants. So, I’m trying to tell them about my jeans and they thought I was really excited about wearing girls underwear. They still make fun of me for that. Now, I make a point of talking about my “jeans” or “bag” so people don’t think I’m running around town with my vagina bag in girls undies. I hope this helps as a heads-up to future England travelers to learn from my mistakes.
