Porthos
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Regional Slang Translation!Let's play a little game. Take a slang word unique to your "dialect" (regional variety) and translate it in to a corresponding slang word of another dialect. I'll do California English to British English as an example:
Guy - Chap
Dude- Bloke
Friend - Mate
Chick - Bird
Shit - Bollicks
Fuck - Shag
Some words don't have an exact slang translation like "smashing".
Another example would be something like this:
In Mexico, a "pato" is just a duck, but in Puerto Rico, a "pato" = "maricon". 
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Julian
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Re: Regional Slang Translation! | Porthos wrote: | Let's play a little game. Take a slang word unique to your "dialect" (regional variety) and translate it in to a corresponding slang word of another dialect. I'll do California English to British English as an example:
Guy - Chap
Dude - Bloke
Friend - Mate
Chick - Bird
Shit - Bollocks
Fuck - Shag |
I think a better choice would be "buddy" since friend isn't slang. And, with the possible exception of dude, the other words aren't exclusively Californian English.
Sorry for nitpicking. Carry on. 
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Benjamin [inactive]
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Re: Regional Slang Translation! | Julian wrote: | | And, with the possible exception of dude, the other words aren't exclusively Californian English. |
'Dude' is actually quite common here, as are all the other supposedly 'Californian' slang words which Porthos listed.
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Daniel
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Re: Regional Slang Translation! | Benjamin wrote: | | Julian wrote: | | And, with the possible exception of dude, the other words aren't exclusively Californian English. |
'Dude' is actually quite common here, as are all the other supposedly 'Californian' slang words which Porthos listed. |
Yeah, they are all used here all the time.
Those words are also even used in Australia. So I would say that they are universal English...
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Porthos
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Well the only two on the list that originated in California were "dude" and "chick", although the rest are used all throughout America. I was just saying that these words are found in "California English", which is a recognized regional dialect. That doesn't necessarily mean that they're found exclusively in California.
The British words I listed seem to be alternative words for the same meanings as the American words listed, though the British words are exclusive to Britain for the most part.
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Loic
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I am trying to think of slang words that are indigeneous to Singapore and I admit that there aren't many. The majority of what we'd consider to be informal language are probably native to other English-speaking countries as well.
But here are a few slangs which I think would bemuse an outsider:
Being bad at something = Half-past Six
E.g. His English is very half-past six.
A malfunction = cockup (as a verb)
E.g. That stupid bugger cockuped again.
Getting lost = Going Hor Lan (Probably originally meant going to Holland Village which was once rather inaccessible from Singapore City in the days of yore)
Admit defeat in the face of a difficult situation = Suck thumb
E.g. Since your CO doesn't want to give you leave, just suck thumb then!
A long long time = donkey's years (don't ask me why it's a donkey)
E.g. Where were you? You were supposed to have met me at 2 pm sharp but you took donkey's years to arrive!
a light meal in the afternoon = tiffin
E.g. Shall we go for a tiffin at 4 o' clock?
Very = Damn/Bloody (pronounced as 'blahdy')
E.g. You take a damned/bloody long time to do your homework, don't you?
E.g. Things here are damned/bloody expensive.
Well, slang expressions just do not pop into my head at will. I might append a few more examples into this post in future if I suddenly think of a local expression that is informal in nature.
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Deborah
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I think it would be interesting to learn a lot of Latin American slang, since it differs from country to country. But I don't know any...
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Elaine
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| Deborah wrote: | | I think it would be interesting to learn a lot of Latin American slang, since it differs from country to country. But I don't know any... |
I can post some mejicanismos in the Castellano language forum if you'd like. I think we're supposed to be playing a game here.
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Deborah
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| Elaine wrote: | | Deborah wrote: | | I think it would be interesting to learn a lot of Latin American slang, since it differs from country to country. But I don't know any... |
I can post some mejicanismos in the Castellano language forum if you'd like. I think we're supposed to be playing a game here. |
OK. Maybe I can learn the Castellano equivalents and then post both here.
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Joanne
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| loic wrote: | I am trying to think of slang words that are indigeneous to Singapore and I admit that there aren't many. The majority of what we'd consider to be informal language are probably native to other English-speaking countries as well.
But here are a few slangs which I think would bemuse an outsider:
Being bad at something = Half-past Six
E.g. His English is very half-past six. |
I once saw a movie from Singapore called That's the Way I Like It, and there was a dinner scene (a send up of the famous dinner scene in Saturday Night Fever) in which the protagonist's father kept saying his job, his life, and everything about him was "half-past six, half-past six!" I suspected "half-past six" had some colloquial meaning, and now I know it does! It adds another layer of humor to that scene 
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