Aug 7, 2006
Just wrong
I know that in the US, the phrase means something entirely different, but every time I see/hear it used, I can’t help thinking something very, very bad.
That headline reads very differently from this side of the pond. That’s some serious gossip, there, if the headline is anything to go by. And then you realise that no, it doesn’t mean that after all, it just means two bits of gossip. Oh.
(don’t want to mention the phrase here, because I get enough pr0n spam already, thankyewverymuch)
Fantastic!
Reminds me of the time I heard a couple of Aussie girls on the beach eagerly entreating their mother to ‘check out the spunk in the thongs’
Eeeuuw.
LOL. If the spam bots see comment #1 your not mentioning your headline was in vain :)
In Aussie slang, "rooting" means something quite different from what you or I would be thinking of if we said "I’m rooting for him".
As for the link you give, we use the term "ham fisted" which could be open to all sorts of interpretation by a non-native reader.
Friends in the US use the term “double fisting” (oops, I said it) to mean two-for-one, or two at the same time. In fact, the most common usage is when bringing beer back from the bar – DF means carrying two drinks in one hand.
Either it’s one of those phrases that universally means something filthy but everyone uses it anyway in a very boring context (trying to think of an example, failing) or it’s genuinely not got the double meaning that I think it has.
In which case, I am teh filth, not the ‘merkins. Apologies.
I used it because, yes, it means that dirty meaning, so it’s also used to mean holding two drinks — making two fists. It’s totally filthy, but it’s become vaguely acceptable to ironically use it in innocent circumstances.
My favorite cultural misunderstanding was the Aussie at work who told us “I’ve got the shits today.”
Apparently it just means you’re having a bad day, in Melbourne. He didn’t quite grasp why we had such looks of horror on…
I think the tagline on this site falls right into the same category:
http://www.studyabroad.com/
Just spotted it today, cracked me up – but perhaps that says more about me!
That’s fantastic.
Other contenders – Americans getting pissed (i.e. cross), Brits getting pissed (i.e. drunk). And my favourite, that essential feature of the Australian office, the Durex dispenser (we Brits call it Sellotape).