what does fanny mean in Brit?

Fun post! I think I read it all, and no one mentioned one of my favorites: "whinging" (soft g). So much more than just "whining."<BR><BR>Does anyone know the derivation of "moggie" or "mog" for cat? One of my friends thought it was from "mongrel".

ok then, here goes.... 'fanny' in the uk is a fairly rude word for female genitalia, about as rude as calling breasts 'tits'! Sorry if this seems a little bit rude to discuss, but I am only answering the question above! so, dont call a bum bag a 'fanny pouch' here in the uk as it could cause a little offence or a lot of laughter!<BR>I think the brits enjoy the differences in language, its very cute. We know quite a few americanisms as we are used to listening to them on movies (films) and tv shows from the US.

I would Skip this if you have no particular interest..with regard to the above question on 'moggie'as applied to a pet cat, I did a little search for you (as I didnt know its origin - even though I do volunteer work for the Cats Protection and own 5 cats!) this is what I found: <BR><BR>'Moggie refers to a feline of undistinguished type and manners, the cat equivalent of a mongrel dog, but in general usage the former is just a pet name for any domesticated cat. It seems to be from Maggie, the affectionate short form of Margaret. In the eighteenth century, this was applied as a name for a cow or calf. In the nineteenth century it could refer to an untidily dressed woman or slattern. It was only in the twentieth century that it became a pet name for a cat. How or why the sense shifted in this way is not understood. Eric Partridge, in his Dictionary of Historical Slang implies that the cat sense may be Cockney rhyming slang, but I can find no evidence for that origin.' <BR>

How come you park your automobile on the driveway and drive on the parkway?

Derek... never heard of a parkway!!!?? what is that? we drive on the road, dual carriageway, or motorway!

On a recent visit to Peterborough in England the dual carriagway roads where all called "parkways" and each had a name like "Perkins Parkway".

Be careful using the word ginger beer. It is cockney ryhme for queer (eg a homosexual)

born and lived in uk all my life (37 years) and never come across this before. Was it just the name of the road? for example, 'Brielle Way'? We don't call our roads Parkways, (unless Peterborough local council have a good sense of humour) The M25 is like a Car Park (Parking Lot).. traffic just don't move! ;O)

No, they called the road system that runs in a circle around Peterborough "The parkway" perhaps it was just a local thing. They also called the road downtown "Boulevard"

maybe they are twinned with a town in the US as I would guess that 'Boulevard' is of US origin

Deniseb, I think any French person would tell you that you were indeed guessing....

Many of my husband's friends are ex-British military. Their pet phrases include: "we're in sh*t state" (self explanatory) and "everything's gone pear shaped but no drama" (things look pretty bad, but we're not going to get upset). And they never throw anything away, they "bin it."

I'd guess that the Parkway mentioned earlier probably comes from the fact that the road originally ran beside a park, or some such like.

Anna,<BR><BR>I'm from the South and I'd bet anything it was indeed corn bread. The few times I've had it, I've saved it for dessert bc it is so sweet and cake-like.<BR><BR>

There's a Parkway in Bury St Edmunds too actually. Boulevard is of US origin??!?! Please....!

surprised nobody has mentioned this one: when in London, don't say "thank you" or "thanks", but "cheers".<BR>don't know if it's a general UK thing, and I think it's mainly used by youngsters.<BR>this thread is indeed hilarious. never realised there were so many differences between UK and US english. we non-english speakers just mix it all, and have created our own euro-english.

We were in London recently and I purchased an American-English, English-American dictionary at (I believe) the British Library for 2 pounds.<BR><BR>Published by Abson Books of London. eMail: [email protected]<BR><BR>Very interesting little booklet.<BR><BR>

ok, don't get your 'knickers in a twist' over the boulevard origin! JEEZ<BR>(by the way, I have seen US folk say this as 'panties in a bunch!!) HOW CUTE is that!!