Happy Mother's Day in UK?

[ghostman]

Really, I didn't know that they do say "Happy Mum's Day!" over there in England, is that true?

Well, Happy Mother's Day to everyone over there in UK!

Around here in USA, we always say "Happy Mother's Day!" on May only..... see the difference?

[JohnShaft]

Actually it's completely true Gman.

We don't say Mum's day though. In fact, as a Northerner (as opposed to a Southerner) I've never said Mum in my life. We all say Mam up here.

We're a funny, and very different breed, for such a tiny country.

I've always believed no country has as many different accents as we do in an area this size. I know that side of the pond you probably think we all just sound British. But the difference between a Manc, Geordie, Brummie, Cockney, etc, etc is huge linguistically.

[ghostman]

That's strange....

Anyway, do you know the actor Roger Moore? He was born and raised over there in UK. I do remember I saw a movie "Boat Trip. When he picked up the sausage link, and he said that in England we call it "banger". Is that correct?

[shadow]

Happy Mam's day!

[MystMoonstruck]

banger = a sausage. The English meal of sausages and mashed potato is traditionally called bangers and mash.

I knew that one without looking it up, but I did find a dictionary of British slang, just in case anyone is interested: http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/

Have fun reading! I did!

[JohnShaft]

Yeah we can call them bangers. But it's like anything, slang that is used way less than "sausages". I've probably hardly ever called them bangers. As MM said "bangers and mash" would likely be the only time most people would call them that.

I mean the perception of all of us English being quaint Mary Poppins type, saying things like "chuckie eggs", is just completely off base. So is the perception many of us live in big country homes, like you'd see in Sherlock Holmes.

Most of us are pretty damn ordinary working class people, and more like you'd see in Coronation Street (for the Northerners) or Eastenders (for the Southerners).

I can't help but crack a wry smile when I see us portrayed on something like Family Guy.

[ghostman]

I like bangers the best!

[MystMoonstruck]

Face it: Misconceptions abound on all sides. I've heard such outrageous descriptions of supposedly average Americans and how we live. Even here in the States, when I say I live in Illinois, they ask if I live in Chicago or near it, as if Chicago takes up most of the state. I actually live closer to St. Louis, Missouri, and Terre Haute, Indiana, than to Chicago or even our state capital, Springfield.

I really think that most Americans know that England is filled with various accents, just as we are. Even in Illinois, there is a vast difference between each third of our lengthy state. In my region, we speak in what is called the Southern Illinois Brogue. Thirty-five miles north of here is what is called the "greazy/greasy" line, where pronunciations have a very distinguishable change, even the words we use for various objects: skillet vs. frying pan, supper vs. dinner, the meaning of culvert, and much more. Chicagoans speak drastically different than the rest of us.

It's the same with slang. Some people use more of it than others.

Besides, we have BBCAmerica and other British programs and likely have a pretty good picture of levels of society there though I'm not sure the programming we send over there shows who we really are. I fear that the series selected falsely represent us. By the way: What U.S. shows are popular over there? In the past, I've heard that Baywatch and Dallas were hits. Those definitely do not represent most Americans! Talk about fantasies! At the other end, something like Roseanne made us cringe though I suppose there really are people like that. So, we probably do not fare too well at times in others' perception.