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Follow us. Choose a dictionary. Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English. Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English. Grammar Thesaurus. Yes of course it is and it's on a par with fuck, if not worse.
On the milder end but it's not something I would say. Of course it is. It's a specific form of fucking. I always wondered why my mother gave out to me for saying it until she handed me a dictionary and told me to look it up! Wiki Bugger is a slang word. There is a real puritanical streak in America that is much discussed — but little understood — by the British.
For example, Americans consider it a big deal when a public figure is caught swearing. No matter what age they start, the British seem far more fluent at swearing than Americans.
They are more likely to link colourful language with having a sense of humour than with coarseness or vulgarity. Here they are:. Even without making up new words, the British definitely have, and make use of, a larger vocabulary of swear words than Americans. The stronger your friendship, the more you can lay into each other and still come away with a warm feeling. This is not how Americans roll. Indeed, there are some words the British use casually that are considered more offensive or insulting by Americans.
I don't like him he's a total bellend. Well, in the UK, they use the word 'fag' for a cigarette. About equal with the 'N' word. So, it's fair to say that you guys, across the pond, have terminology that we wouldn't deem acceptable here in the States.
We Americans do use the word bugger, but it has a totally different meaning. As a child growing up in the Western states, many used the word to mean something irritating like, "those little buggers got into my garbage again last night" or, "you little bugger! I was not allowed to use the word though because my parents said it also had a vulgar meaning which I was not allowed to know.
It's pretty commonly used by Americans though, just not for the same purpose as the British. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. I'm wondering what words are very mild that are used by teenagers for the same purpose as swear words, but a little more acceptable - words our parents would tell us they would rather we not use, but we were not forbidden to use. Are there any? Life wouldn't be worth living without British humor. Thanks for brightening my day.
Right you are, Mystery!! What are your favorites?? French and Saunders are my all time favorites.. I had always wondered what those words meant! Thanks for the interesting article. Visiting England is a lifelong dream I hope to achieve someday soon!! I used to be a Londoner. Some words and phrases were not rude but not socially used.
Like when didn't win 'fuck all nothing', naughty kids 'little buggers, homosexual 'queer', idiot 'twit', get lost 'bugger off' or 'fuck off', mean and miserly or small time bettor 'wanker', Chinese person 'tid' short for tidly wink, Asian 'wog', Greek 'bubble', insulting reference to an older person 'old fart', rubbish! These were used some 20 odd years but may have evolved or forgotten. I use bugger like, - " It was a real bugger, getting that old couch out of the house. Pain in the neck, ie.
Am I the only one who uses it this way, because I've been using it that way for some time, not realizing it's original meanings! I just adore all of your work, Laurence!! I just subscribed to your brilliant "Lost in the Pond" YouTube channel. I am a complete and total Anglophile!! I'm a dedicated comedy lover.. Thank you SO much for the gift of your talent..
My partner, Judy lived there for 6 years while in the Air Force.. Right, I'm off, but I am looking forward to enjoying all of your informational videos on YouTube!!!
I'm West Coast American and I hear a total of none of these words in American vocabulary circulation. I could imagine it more of a New England trend.
Hell, half the swear words were made up on the spot in five seconds between Boston and Jersey. Those guys don't like to lose arguments, lol. The word "bollix," which I believe began as a variant of "bollocks," has been in use in America for well over a century. It's usually but not always used with up. Our brilliant plan got all bollixed up. Yet I bet ever Brit knows American swear words, what they mean, what context to use them in. Six years later At least two 'anonymous' commenters questioned your use of the shortcut 'N-word' You replied to one of them Which made their thoughts applicable Great article and comment thread responses.
Glad to find it and your blog all these years later. There are considerable differences between Britain and America when it comes to houses. The buildings in which we live drop subtle and not Who Am I? Professional British YouTuber, writer, and humorist who somehow convinced you to let him do this full-time.
Perennially on a quest to uncover all of the memos that Britain and America lost in the Pond, something he tackles with reckless abandon over on his YouTube Channel.
Author Social Links Twitter. Finding America. Me and Tarah. Post Page Advertisement [Top]. American vs. Laurence Brown. Bollocks Pl n. Testicles 2. Nonsense; Rubbish Interj.
Exclamation of annoyance, disbelief. In America recently, the word "bollocks" featured prominently in a televised ad campaign for the British beverage Newcastle Brown Ale. Given the perceived shock value of the word back home, the advert would not have seen the light of day in the UK.
So why was it aired so readily in the United States, where swearing on television is so heavily censored that the film Die Hard is listed under the silent movie genre? The simple explanation is that the majority of Americans at least those who are familiar with the word have no idea what "bollocks" means.
Those I have conversed with on the matter often seem to be under the impression that it is solely an alternative to "rubbish", apparently unaware that a study found the word to be the 7th most severe in the British vernacular - ahead of "shit", "twat", and "Paki". That said, there is something wholly comical about listening to an American - a knowing grin usually plastered on his or her face - pronouncing a word that is, let's face it, utterly unnatural to them.
They place little-to-no emphasis on what linguists refer to as the voiced bilabial stop 'b' and the voiceless velar stop 'k'. In others words, Americans haven't learned yet to enunciate the hell out of the 'b' and 'ck' sounds, a compulsory action if one is to fully convey the meaning of this particular swear word. Bugger Verb. Sodemize Interj. Just recently, I've heard more and more Americans utter the word bugger , and mostly in a correct context - that is, as a display of agitation.
Again it is difficult to determine if utterances of the word are more common around an Englishman such as myself or whether, through British popular culture, it is truly being embraced by the people who say it. While a small selection of Americans use this word in the aforementioned context, few would ever be heard incorporating it into phrases like bugger-all or the imperative form bugger off. Curiously, however, in a drunken stupour, Americans - on admittedly very rare occasions - complain about feeling buggered , which - coming from them - sounds both hilarious and odd at the same time.
Wanker Insult: An extremely disagreeable person There is much confusion stateside over the definition of the word wanker. A lot of Americans I speak to are of the impression that it simply means idiot , unaware that its true usage - though still an insult - is much harsher than that. So harsh is it, in fact, that the study referenced earlier found it be the fourth-most severe word in the British lexicon - one place above the N-word.
Meanwhile, once you explain that the root word wank is a synonym of masturbate , Americans falsely make the connection that wanker must mean someone who masturbates. Hint: the English language is odd and doesn't always adhere to logic. But the word is in fairly common usage in certain parts of the United States, though the majority of users haven't yet learned to place true emphasis on the first syllable, as in WANKer!
If you found this article useful, my YouTube series, Distant Words, will take you to a happy place. Click play to get started. Tags: American vs. British English , Articles , bloody , bollocks , bugger , swear words , wanker , words. Expat mum 12 September at Unknown 21 August at Laurence Brown 12 September at
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