Do you understand English?

[Robby Barlow]

You might think you do, but English is a languages spoken on at least 3 continents - Europe, America & Australia/New Zealand, and although us ignorant foreigners assume it to be the same, it is not so.
Unfortunately, this means that a simple phrase pronounced for example by an Englishman, will not be correctly understood or interpreted by either of the other 2, or us.
For example : A Brit says "I'm pissed" Short, simple and to the point, but what does he mean?
The American would assume that he has had too much drink and that he was feeling slightly the worse in consequence.
The Ossie or Kiwi, if they were able to think, well I couldn't imagine their reaction due to lack of experience.
Europeans, on the other hand, wouldn't give a hoot 1/2 the time no matter what a Brit says.

But, what the Brit was really trying to convey was that, even though he was stone sober, he was unhappy with the current situation. Or more precisely : "If you c*?§ don't shut your *?!%§ing mouth right now I'm going to beat the S*** out of you, you *?!%ing S.O.B."!
Now if a simple misinterpretation between people who supposedly speak the same language can lead to a major punch-up, does it still surprise you that we have so many wars in this world of ours?

[AjariBonten]

Originally Posted by Robby Barlow

For example : A Brit says "I'm pissed" Short, simple and to the point, but what does he mean?
The American would assume that he has had too much drink and that he was feeling slightly the worse in consequence.

Actually, that's not right, at least in my corner of the world. We never use pissed to mean drunk. Here we use that phrase to mean extremely angry. NOT a mistake you want to make in a bar!! LOLOL

I thought the Brits used that to mean drunk?

Vie Geht es Dier, RB?

[JohnRPollard]

Originally Posted by Robby Barlow

You might think you do, but English is a languages spoken on at least 3 continents - Europe, America & Australia/New Zealand, and although us ignorant foreigners assume it to be the same, it is not so.
Unfortunately, this means that a simple phrase pronounced for example by an Englishman, will not be correctly understood or interpreted by either of the other 2, or us.
For example : A Brit says "I'm pissed" Short, simple and to the point, but what does he mean?
The American would assume that he has had too much drink and that he was feeling slightly the worse in consequence.
The Ossie or Kiwi, if they were able to think, well I couldn't imagine their reaction due to lack of experience.
Europeans, on the other hand, wouldn't give a hoot 1/2 the time no matter what a Brit says.

But, what the Brit was really trying to convey was that, even though he was stone sober, he was unhappy with the current situation. Or more precisely : "If you c*?§ don't shut your *?!%§ing mouth right now I'm going to beat the S*** out of you, you *?!%ing S.O.B."!
Now if a simple misinterpretation between people who supposedly speak the same language can lead to a major punch-up, does it still surprise you that we have so many wars in this world of ours?

Hey Robby,

I think you may have confused the meaning of that term for North Americans and Brits. I understand that term to mean "very drunk" to folks from the British Isles, and "very angry" to those of us in N. America. Nevertheless, you make a good point....

[Robby Barlow]

Originally Posted by AjariBonten

Actually, that's not right, at least in my corner of the world. We never use pissed to mean drunk. Here we use that phrase to mean extremely angry. NOT a mistake you want to make in a bar!! LOLOL

I thought the Brits used that to mean drunk?

Vie Geht es Dier, RB?

Here we go again, another bloody foreigner who got things mixed up.

Mir geht es sehr gut, Danke.
Should have been : Wie geht es Dir? But don't worry I've been called worse.

[k1vsk]

We can't even speak the same language in the U.S, never mind elsewhere. I just heard some Texan, who apparently is here on a visa, tell his friend those [.....] Russians don't speak English "too good".

[Rockter]

Robbie...

Wrong way round...

"Pissed"...???...

British: drunk... unambiguously !!!

American : angry, discontent

If the British are angry, or discontent, it becomes "pissed off", don't forget the "off", it changes the entire meaning.

Rockter.

[AjariBonten]

Danke RB, Mein Deutsch ist nicht sehr gut. Mein English ist nicht sehr gut, auch!
Mienen Frau verstehen Deustsch viel besser!

Even after 45 years as a native speaker I often don't get Enlgish! LOLOL

[Robby Barlow]

See that's what I mean - how the "pagans paradise" are we supposed to understand you - if you don't ?

[AjariBonten]

Just go with the flow; and talk to people who don't have thin skin or a chip on their shoulder!!!!!

[Robby Barlow]

Originally Posted by AjariBonten

Danke RB, Mein Deutsch ist nicht sehr gut. Mein English ist nicht sehr gut, auch!
Mienen Frau verstehen Deustsch viel besser!

Even after 45 years as a native speaker I often don't get Enlgish! LOLOL

At least you're a native speaker, I still haven't got that far yet! I'm torn between 5 countries, and I can't speak any of the languages properly yet.