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Off topic: Good old English sarcasm...
Thread poster: patyjs
Silvestro De Falco
Silvestro De Falco  Identity Verified
Local time: 03:33
Italian to English
+ ...
Sign posted in a laundromat in New York City Jul 25, 2007

When you shoot your mouth off make sure your brain is loaded
Silvestro


 
Jennifer Forbes
Jennifer Forbes  Identity Verified
Local time: 02:33
French to English
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In memoriam
From Lancashire Jul 25, 2007

patyjs wrote:

I've been living in Mexico for many years and while most of the time I feel like I've landed in paradise, there are one or two things I really miss. English humour is a biggy.

While many comedy shows and movies are available on DVD what I miss most is the day to day banter. The witticisms which you just don't find anywhere else. Sarcasm is a big part of English humor, and although it's not everyone's cup of tea, I have to admit I like it....a lot!

Watching something the other day I started to remember some put-downers I used to hear regularly and wondered if anyone would like to contribute by adding their own. Here are some from my days in the north of England...

He's (got) about as much brains as a rockin' horse.
I've seen more hair on a pork pie.
He's a few bricks short of a full load.
He's not playing with a full deck.
If he can do that I'll knit fog.

I know there are hundreds of these...I've forgotten them because I don't get to use them any more...shame.

I need to hear more!


A Lancashire expression to indicate lack of amazement or shock at something supposed to induce same:

Well, I'll go to the foot of our stairs !

(Often used in Coronation Street).

Many of my favourites have already been quoted.
Love,
Jenny.


 
Orla Ryan
Orla Ryan  Identity Verified
Ireland
Local time: 02:33
some more... Jul 25, 2007

"If you had brains, you'd be dangerous"
(I like that one! )

The lights are on, but nobody's home / Not the full shilling


 
patyjs
patyjs  Identity Verified
Mexico
Local time: 20:33
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Aaaah, it's all coming back to me now... Jul 25, 2007

A few bob short of a full pound.

A bob is an old shilling from the days when there were twelve pennies in a shilling, and twenty shillings in a pound. Now I'm showing my age!!


the flying duck had me howling...


 
tazdog (X)
tazdog (X)
Spain
Local time: 03:33
Spanish to English
+ ...
how ugly? Jul 25, 2007

My son just said this about someone on TV, and it immediately reminded me of this thread:

"She looks like she fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down".


 
NancyLynn
NancyLynn
Canada
Local time: 22:33
Member (2002)
French to English
+ ...

MODERATOR
that's pretty ugly Jul 25, 2007

In the schoolyard I heard a boy exclaim, "Your face is like lips on a camel's (female genitalia)"

I like your son's version better, Cindy

Nancy


 
Marie-Hélène Hayles
Marie-Hélène Hayles  Identity Verified
Local time: 03:33
Italian to English
+ ...
another: Jul 25, 2007

Laugh? I nearly did.

For non-natives, this is an extrapolation of "Laugh? I nearly cried", and its variant "Laugh? I nearly died", and of course is used when something actually isn't that funny. Or the speaker just wants to be sarcastic (and that's where we came in...)


 
LJC (X)
LJC (X)
France
Local time: 03:33
French to English
+ ...
Sarcasm Jul 25, 2007

My sister would say: Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.

I would say: Better the lowest than none at all.



My sister would say: Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.

I would say: And the highest form of intelligence.


 
mediamatrix (X)
mediamatrix (X)
Local time: 23:33
Spanish to English
+ ...
Not aimed at anyone here, of course, but ... Jul 25, 2007

... speaking as an outsider, what do you think of the Human race?

MediaMatrix


 
Orla Ryan
Orla Ryan  Identity Verified
Ireland
Local time: 02:33
Corrie Jul 26, 2007

Jenny Forbes wrote:

(Often used in Coronation Street).

Many of my favourites have already been quoted.
Love,
Jenny.


I do enjoy Corrie.
I love the way that the women in the show puff themselves up and say "Listen, lady" (Or should I say "lay-deh") before they give someone a right old tongue-lashing.
It is rather like the way you see women on Jerry Springer click and waggle their fingers "Yo, don't even GO there, girlfriend!"


 
Branka Stankovic McCarthy
Branka Stankovic McCarthy  Identity Verified
Serbia
Local time: 03:33
English to Serbian
+ ...
Love this thread! Jul 26, 2007

One of my favs:

He's built like a brick shithouse.


 
Elizabeth Sumner
Elizabeth Sumner
Local time: 02:33
Russian to English
+ ...
This one's a bit cheeky... Jul 26, 2007

"I'd rather eat shit in the trees!"

I'd rather not think about the image it conjures up


 
Melzie
Melzie
Local time: 03:33
French to English
+ ...
right to reply... Jul 26, 2007

her tongue's so sharp she'll cut herself one of these days

 
mediamatrix (X)
mediamatrix (X)
Local time: 23:33
Spanish to English
+ ...
On British sarcasm... Jul 26, 2007

patyjs wrote:

I've been living in Mexico for many years and while most of the time I feel like I've landed in paradise, there are one or two things I really miss. English humour is a biggy.

While many comedy shows and movies are available on DVD what I miss most is the day to day banter. The witticisms which you just don't find anywhere else. Sarcasm is a big part of English humor, and although it's not everyone's cup of tea, I have to admit I like it....a lot!

...


Like patyjs, I too miss the quick off-the-cuff cut and thrust of British conversation and in particular the sarcastic quips and other features that are integral parts of 'British humour'. That was true when I lived in Belgium (although some Belgians can at least see the funny side of it...) - it far got worse when I moved to puritan Switzerland - and now, living in Chile, the withdrawal symptoms are close to life-threatening!

So I've been following this thread from the start, hoping to refresh my memory of an ill-spent youth propping up the bar down at' pub.

Curiously (or not, perhaps, seeing as this is an international community...) many of the phrases quoted here do not, IMHO, fall into the category of 'classic British humour', or even 'plain sarcasm' as defined by language experts ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm ).*

Sadly, many of the phrases here are mere insults, devoid of humour and flavoured (tainted, even) with foul language which is not in line with the traditions of British humour - the best British sarcasm can be quoted in the presence of your grandmother without fear of reprisal. Indeed, my own grandmother was an expert practicioner of British humour - and often used sarcasm to good effect in response to my behaviour as a kid.

So, sorry to say, I'm agog with apathy! Pass me the pills, doc!

MediaMatrix

* See here, too: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4384734.stm


 
patyjs
patyjs  Identity Verified
Mexico
Local time: 20:33
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Great link... Jul 26, 2007

MediaMatrix. Thanks.

I agree that many of these are more like insults. The way I always remember using the ones I quoted is when talking about a third party. You would rarely say something like this to someone's face unless they were either a VERY close friend or family, and we all know how rude we can sometimes be to the people we love most.

It's about wit, really, and the essence of wit is brevity and speed. The English language lends itself more readily to wit th
... See more
MediaMatrix. Thanks.

I agree that many of these are more like insults. The way I always remember using the ones I quoted is when talking about a third party. You would rarely say something like this to someone's face unless they were either a VERY close friend or family, and we all know how rude we can sometimes be to the people we love most.

It's about wit, really, and the essence of wit is brevity and speed. The English language lends itself more readily to wit than Spanish, for example. (Spanish, though, is much more effective for romance.)

Many of the examples are simply more colorful ways of making an observation: not the brightest crayon in the box (not very smart). Hardly insulting, but still not something you'd say to the person's face.
I've seen more hair on a pork pie (the person is bald). Baldness is a sensitive subject, nevertheless, bald is bald.

I wonder if anyone remembers anything from "Absolutely Fabulous" ? Now there's a source...

Here's another I just remembered:

more faces than Big Ben (someone who is insincere).

Anyway, thanks for all the contributions. I've been laughing my socks off....

Paty
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Good old English sarcasm...






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