Thought I could try answer these for you outside the trainwreck that is the tube8 thread.
If you missed it, we had a pretty long thread before with DynaMo asking questions about the UK but I don't think your's came up so here we go. Let's try and get them answered.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MisterPeabody
(Post 18181706)
Yes but WHY is "wanker" that offensive?
Fuck is a swear word, universally considered a swear word. Can't say it, got it (although you DO hear it on British telly once in a while)
Cunt is a female vagina (as opposed to a male vagina). Okay, body part, got it.
Wanker?????????
A "wanker" is someone who masturbates. If someone said to me: You MASTURBATER!!!! You MASTURBATE? AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You MASTURBATER!" i would laugh and go, "Don't you? Thrice a day?"
So seriously, WHY is 'wanker' SOOOO offensive? Is it cultural? Not being snarky here, seriously curious.
(I've got tons of other questions, too, like why call an apartment a 'flat'? What, no duplexes in London? And why is a truck a "lorry"? Why is a bathroom a 'loo'? Why is a line of people a 'Q'? What, do they make Brits curl around into Q's while waiting on line? I understand why an elevater is called a 'lift' (they lift things/people) but why are FRENCH fries called 'chips'? Why is an argument a 'row' (pronouced rOW)? Oh, so confusing....)
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Wanker is like calling someone a fucking idiot aswell as the term of someone who likes to play with his tackle.
It could be used as if to say "you are a fucking idiot and you have to masturbate because nobody likes you and girls think you are a cunt" But put into 1 little word: Wanker
If you say it to a mate it could be like calling him an idiot.
"I dropped my phone and smashed the screen"
"You fucking wanker! haha"
But say it to someone you don't know and it probably wouldn't be in a funny context.
A flat is called a flat because it is one floor, i.e. it is "flat" a 2 storey place would be a house.
It also depends on when the building was built, these days they are calling them appartments more and more.
A duplex/triplex/whatever would probably be called maisonette. (small house or house split into smaller houses)
Why a truck is called a lorry?
Quote:
The word truck might have come from a back-formation of truckle with the meaning small wheel, pulley, from Middle English trokell, in turn from Latin trochlea. Another explanation is that it comes from Latin trochus with the meaning of iron hoop. In turn, both go back to Greek trokhos with the meaning wheel, from trekhein that meant "to run". The first known usage of "truck" was in 1611 when it referred to the small, strong wheels on ships' cannon carriages. In its extended usage it came to refer to carts for carrying heavy loads, a meaning known since 1771. With the meaning of motor-powered load carrier, it has been in usage since 1930, shortened from motor truck who dates back to 1916.[1][2] Lorry has a more uncertain origin, but probably has its roots in the railroad industry, where the word is known to have been used in 1838 to refer to a type of truck (a freight car as in British usage, not a bogie as in the American), specifically a large, flat wagon. It probably derives from the verb lurry (to pull, tug) of uncertain origin. With the meaning of self-propelled vehicle for carrying goods it has been in usage since 1911.[3][4]
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A cue, not Q is like being in line cued up, do you schedule anything?
Like when you are a DJ you cue the next track? It is next in line, hence cue is like being lined up.
Chips are big and chunky, fries are thin. and crisps are your chips.
I think crisps make far more sense, because they are crispy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_fries
I don't know where row comes from. But it is basically a verbal fight. I will have to look that up.
Hope this helps :thumbsup
