Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Slang

So, I was chatting online with a Scottish friend of mine, and I used the words "rock on" in response to a conversation about us meeting up before we head back across the pond. And then it occurred to me as I washed my face later: does that even make sense? I know much Scottish slang makes absolutely no sense to me. How does "rock on" compute? And when I use the word "uber" (as I am known to do) to put emphasis on something, does that connotation get translated?

I have determined that Scotland is a land full of kind of American things.
They all speak an English kind of like they do in the US.
They have "sweet meal digestives" which are kind of like graham crackers.
They have emo kids kind of like they do in the States, only here, everybody under the age of 20 is an emo kid.
They stand in lines kind of like they do in the States, only here, EVERYTHING is a line.
The drive small Fords which are kind of like Focuses.
They have Highlands which are kind of like real mountains.

See what I mean? And this list goes on. Sometimes it's easier to communicate across languages than it is to do so across international English; sometimes the Scottish are way more different from Americans than anybody else I've ever met.

No comments: