Tag Archives: british

Lost in Translation: Brits v. Americans, Whose Language is it Anyway?

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Our cousins across the pond may have invented the English language, but over the past 240 years or so, Americans have made some … shall we say … “improvements.” Often, people travel from the U.S. to England wrapped in a sense of comfort, thinking, “Well, they speak the same language, so I’ll be able to get by just fine.”

Lost in Translation: Brits v. Americans — Whose Language Is It, Anyway?

We aren’t as similar to our British cousins as we tend to think. (Photo: Thinkstock)

Or will you?

There are a few very significant differences. Want to wear a fanny pack? That’s cool; they’re making a comeback, after all. Just don’t call it a “fanny” pack. The word means something very different over there. Interested in having a cigarette? Don’t freak out when someone offers you a “fag.” And get used to weird rhymes that have no overt meaning whatsoever. I’m here to help, so watch this video in full before you even think of booking your ticket to Britain.

Related: An Idiot-Proof Guide to an Epic British Pub Crawl

Thanks to Visit Britain.

How To Piss Off The Brits (It’s Fun and Easy!)

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The No. 1 rule of travel is pretty simple: Don’t p*ss off the locals. Most people know this — or at least they think they do, and they usually give it the old college try when it comes to not stepping on the toes of the people around them in another city or country.

Related: How to P*ss Off the Locals in Mexico

But what if you don’t know? What if you have no idea what irks the heck out of the locals? No worries; Yahoo Travel is here to help. With our How to P*ss Off series, we help you navigate those crazy cultural differences that can get you in so much trouble. So instead of getting bad karma and dirty looks, you can make friends and have a great time.

WATCH: How to Really Irk the Locals in England

Grrr…don’t annoy the locals. (Getty Images)

This week we are in England — home of the queen, crumpets, and … apparently, a lot of people who want you to get out of their way. Think England is just like America but with a funny accent? Wrong. The English are all about their rules (Stand to the right! No stopping for photos! Get the street pronunciation right!), and they get really super cheesed off if you break them. So watch the video (above) and know before you go!

Are Americans Really The Worst? Five Other Countries Whose Tourists Make Us Look Good

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We’ve all heard it before. The “Ugly American”; The clueless dingdong who travels other countries doing the following: talking too loud; complaining about everything – especially cigarette smoke and the lack of a decaffeinated coffee; traveling with their own peanut butter to live on lest the local food poison them; wearing funny looking clothes; ignoring the personal space of anyone around them.

Now, in all honesty, some of these stereotypes are true. Take Daddy for example. My old man has a strict summer uniform of ecru Rockport Walkers, long white knee socks, tan pressed khaki short, belted at the waist, a short sleeve button down/golf shirt with a pen in the neck, sunglasses and a sweatband or fishing hat.

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Daddy also has an endearing habit of going to European countries and talking “local like” – for example in Italy, a typical sentence would be, “Excuse-ay me-o, where-o can i get-o some damned pizza?” Or randomly saying things like, “Mamma Mia!” “Mangia, mangia!”

But he means well. He doesn’t complain. Much. There was that time in Italy where, while watching a pigeon defecate down the face of a statue of Mary. “Look at that!” he said. “That damned pigeon just taking a crap all over Mary’s face! Now if these damned Eye-talians had honored my good old American gun permit, I could’ve brought my Walther PPK over here and shot that heretic and we’d be having what they call squab-o for dinner! But nope – over here law abiding citizens can’t own their own damned guns. So the pigeons can just dump anywhere.”

No, my friends, after traveling the world, I have decided we Americans get a bad rap. Especially as there are other countries that deserve so much more vitriol! Find out which ones after the jump:

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