 |
| Our pussies |
I’ve been in the US for so long now that I hardly notice the differences in language anymore. In case you are unaware, American English is quite different from British, Irish, or Australian English. Not just the accent is different, word meanings vary, as do pronunciations.
I think I have adapted well. Most people here have no idea where I’m from. I have learned to say ‘tomato’ and ‘water’ in a manner in which a waitress can understand me. Some words still come out the old way, though, such as the name ‘Peter’- people always give me weird looks when they hear me say it.
Thankfully, there are still situations in which I am reminded of my origin, often in a comic way. I have been known to talk about a pair of ‘trousers’ by mistake, puzzling my fellow conversationalists who only know the garment in question as ‘pants’. Now, ‘pants’ refer to underwear in GB and Ireland, so when I go back to Europe I have to remember to switch back to ‘trousers’ to avoid complications.
My parents are visiting from Europe at the moment. It is hilarious! People gawk at them everywhere we go, trying to figure out their accent. And my parents try hard to understand the southern American accent people here have. It works out, for the most part. Until they start talking about pussies. Of course, what they mean are cats. And of course what everyone else thinks of when they hear this is something a little less innocent.
My husband has had to leave the room before because he was about to burst out laughing at all the pussy talk. My mother doesn’t shy away from saying things like: “Isn’t Feebee a lovely pussy? Why don’t you give the pussy a cuddle…” And unfortunately, over thirty years ago my parents decided that ‘pussy’ would be a good pet name for my mother. Are you laughing yet? If not, I’m afraid it gets worse… My father’s pet name is- brace yourselves- ‘beaver’. Pussy and beaver have very interesting conversations, as you can imagine.
Something that puzzled me greatly for a long time was the word ‘fanny’. In Europe, it refers to the private parts of a lady, basically the equivalent of ‘pussy’. When I got to the states, people were very lax with this word, using it freely in conversation. Even the theme song of an annoying TV series talks about someone being kicked out and landing on her fanny. I always thought of this as extremely inappropriate. Especially the fanny pack was a mystery to me… Until I found out the meaning of the word here; it eased my mind greatly.
Dear Americans, if you’re in Europe and someone asks you for a fag, they don’t want you to give them a homosexual. And, if you’re in Ireland and you’re asked if you would like to come out and have some ‘good crack’, they are not referring to the cocaine but rather ‘craic’, which is an Irish word for fun…
In the mean time, I will try to prevent my child from starting to use the word 'pussy'. It's a shame, really- who doesn't like cats?
No comments:
Post a Comment