UK/US Translation, Please

[LucyJane]

Lately I have been watching BBC America, and I have decided that I love Kim and Aggie! (You know, the How Clean is Your House ladies?) The short season they filmed in the US was awful, because it was nothing but an infomercial for commercial cleaning products. I like the BBC version especially because of their homemade cleaners. My problem is, I have no idea what some of the ingredients are?

Would any of you over there across the pond know what they might be called in the US?

"Bicarb of soda" is just baking soda, right?

What are "washing soda crystals"?

How about "bological washing powder?"

Is "Houseold Borax" the same stuff that is sold here in the laundry section?

Thanks!

 

[jabberwock]

Washing soda crystals are sodium carbonate (cf baking soda which is sodium bicarbonate). They are a water softener in laundry or as a washing powder supplement or, as Aggie and Kim show, are useful in many other cleaning situations.

Biological washing powder contains enzymes to break down proteins. They generally clean better than non-biological powders but are more likely to irritate sensitive skin.

 

[LucyJane]

Thanks, guys. I'll look for them when I go shopping.

Don't you wish you could hire KIm and Aggie for the weekend?

 

[i-love-nev]

Don't you wish you could hire KIm and Aggie for the weekend?

To clean the house yes, but in a strange way I enjoy cleaning out the piggies because I know I am taking the responsablity for them! :cheerful:

 

[cavywench]

I've been corresponding with some folks from UK and have had fun with translation of slang. One lady got the biggest kick out of the word "bangs", in reference to hair. So every time she writes something about having a hair cut and her "fringe" going wonkers, she says BANGS. She's a hoot.

Got the bottle was another one that I had to look up. Boat race was another.

I found this site kind of fun. Dictionary of English slang and colloquialisms of the UK

 

[LucyJane]

After a run-in with my former (mumblegrumble) boss, I once said "I'm so pissed!" in front of a Brittish coworker. He was shocked!
Drinking on the job, how scandalous!lol

 

[muffin]

I loooove Kim and Aggie. They are soo cool. I never fail to recoil in horror at the disgusting homes they go to. The people they help have no shame! I wish Kim wouldn't sniff stuff that is obviously minging (disgusting- that's a bit of Scottish slang for you).

I saw one episode filmed in America, it wasn't so great. I saw the one with the cat vomit all over this woman's apartment. Her excuse was that poo didn't bother her! Eeew.

Another show that seems to be popular on BBC America is Ground Force (gardening). I have to admit I love that show too!

Oh, and if it interests you, you can buy a book full of all their tips. It's a really good motivator to get scrubbing in all the nooks and crannies. Yes I own a copy. I like the way they avoid using chamicals too.

 

[Maisiepaisie]

Muffin whats the name of that book? I need some motivation to clean my house.

 

[daftscotslass]

I have to say out of the Americanisms, "fanny" was the one that got me the most. I remember being in California on holiday when I was 14 and a tour driver told a passenger that if she didn't hurry up she'd get a slap on the fanny. I nearly died of shock.

The link above has a translation of what it means here in the UK - something a wee bit different!

 

[muffin]

Amazon.co.uk: how clean is your house: Books

There are so many more books on that list! Drat, now I want them too.

Daft that one got me too! Fannypack is another good one. We call them bum bags. I always thought that was bizarre as they're worn on the front? Fanny is also an old-fashioned woman's name. Weird.

US/UK translation can be tricky. You guys have some odd spellings - like nucular ( it's nuclear) and you have faucets. We just have plain old taps this side of the pond. But don't get me started, there's a whole old thread on this topic.

Your crazy spellings are fine and dandy - for you. It really bugs me though that British publishers are starting to use American spelling in their books. And yet students are penalised for spelling using American spellings. Aaargh.

 

[LucyJane]

My girlfriend (a friend who is a girl, not a romantic partner) in nursing school once told a little old lady from Australia that she was getting a shot in the fanny. Oops! And if you are a teacher with children in your class from over there, it's best not to tell them to sit on their fannies!

Thanks for the book idea, Muffin. I'll look for it.

 

[piggly wiggly]

In canada we spell things the British way, but our school text books are made in the U.S. I once had a teacher try to tell me I wasn't spelling things correctly because they were not the same as the text book. Such things as, colour ( in the book it was color) or centre ( in the book it was center). Things like that.

 

[Maisiepaisie]

Daft that one got me too! Fannypack is another good one. We call them bum bags. I always thought that was bizarre as they're worn on the front? Fanny is also an old-fashioned woman's name. Weird.

So they actually call them fannypacks in the states? Thats so funny. It reminded me of a couple of years ago when a woman knocked on my door saying my son had been teasing her son by saying he had a fannypack. She was quite annoyed and said "Its not a fannypack, its a bumbag" lol