Terms People Say About You, But What Do They Mean?

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Doesn’t “cymru” mean “Welsh”?

you have about an extensive knowledge as me but here are some lifesavers

oes gennych cigarette sbar

rhyd y yn hoffi llyfu p****

You should of given my door a knock - I wouldn't of answered

It does , Gymru is the mutated form of Cymru - used in certain situations ( lenition ).

Edit:

Just read back , my bad, 'cymru' means 'Wales'

'Cymraeg' means Welsh - siarad Cymraeg = speak Welsh ?

That makes sense, of course.

Many languages have many more inflections than English.

Here's another for you Rachiepie

'iawn cont' means alright mate in North Wales ( funny looks if you use it in the South ) pronounced yown c**t

I've never heard the phrase "dark horse" before. Everyday you learn something new.

I thought it would be similar to being a "black sheep". No one has actually called me that, and I think I'm more of a grey sheep, anyway.

One of my most hated little idioms was in the news very recently - when Boris Johnson accused Jeremy Corbyn of being a "big girl's blouse".

Like most nerdy, wimpy kids at school, misogynistic and homophobic slurs were thrown at me loads during my childhood - but that phrase always makes me cringe the most because it was my Dad's favourite one to use whenever he thought I wasn't being "manly" enough to meet his expectations.

And, if IIRC, the root word that it comes from means something like "us people". OTOH, the English word "Welsh" originally meant "outsider" or "foreigner" - and for much of its history it was a pretty strong racial slur ("f***ing sheep-sh***ing peasants!"), and could even mean "slave" at one time! Because it was a Germanic word brought by the Saxon invaders, you can find it elsewhere in Europe, too - Wallonia is the "Wales" of Belgium, Wallachia is the "Wales" of Romania, etc...

No wonder you guys like a bit of word-play at the expense of the English language - we've been doing it to you for centuries!

Last edited by Trogluddite on 14 Sep 2019, 11:49 am, edited 1 time in total.

That’s fascinating. I mean that.

Lots of replies.....

Here is a strange one. Someone said "If I want to buy one I will have to get my skates on". Now I know what that means. But why skates, as by the time one laces the things up, and also tries to learn how to use the things without falling over (Never have been able to use skates) then they would have missed whatever they wanted to get. And some of the people that say that have never owned skates to begin with so they have greater imaginations then me! Haha! People are funny!

Never heard that "put my skates on" thing. Must be a Brit expression. If I were to hear it I wouldn't be sure what it meant either.

They could be ice skates (which are a job to put on in the first place, and a job to learn how to use), or it could mean "roller skates". So the expression could mean "that would take a lot of extra effort for me" (as you're saying),or it could mean "I would have to move a lot faster than I normally move to do that"(because either kinda skates cause you to move fast). Either way it implies that doing the thing "would take a lot of extra effort". I suppose.

^ It just means "Hurry up!" - once you've got your skates on, you can go faster (well, some people can, I just get bruised faster!) You're right that it's noted as a British idiom that hasn't made it over to the US.

Other steange terms like statements which are not complete. Like "Take a hike". But they don't say where to go!

Here in the UK there is a very wierd type of English where they ask you a question in a TV advert,but they never give you an answer so it makes you feel bad about the product they are advertizing... Like subconciously there is something wrong with their product...
The say questions like "How good is that?" but as they never tell you how good it is... Well. How can one then take the advert seriously? Is like "How do you keep an idiot in suspense? I will tell you later" sort of question where they never say the answer.

"take a hike" is the same as "on your bike" which is the same as "take a long walk off a short pier" which is the same as "hop it" which is basically f**k off

I think the "How good is that?" in an advert expects you to look at the product ( or it's results ) and make up your own mind.

Yes. I guessed what they mean by it, but it is soo much easier when people are more specific.

There is a breed of cat called the Cymric.

Be a smartarse, MG----if somebody tell you to "take a hike," ask him/her: Where?