Fairytale of New York

[DinaTheCat]

Hi, this is a question for Americans.

Do you have the Christmas song Fairytale of New York by the Pogues over there? It's a very common Christmas song in the UK, but I noticed it never seems to be referenced by Americans.

Please let me know, it's been bothering me for years lol

[BronxWench]

Actually, the song's not a common Christmas song here, but if you look at the first appearance of the NYPD Emerald Society band in the official video of the tune, the fellow playing the large drum with the band logo is my Uncle Tommy.

Edited December 4, 2015 by BronxWench

[JayDee]

That's an awesome claim to fame! Me, I wouldn't want to be in the same room as Shane McGowan's teeth.

a

[DirtyAngel]

Those are teeth?

so having grown up in Brooklyn, never heard it, such a cheerful song to

[JayDee]

Nothing says spirit of the season like Shane and the late Kirsty MacColl singing

"You're a bum

You're a punk

You're an old slut on junk

Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed

You scumbag, you maggot

You cheap lousy faggot

Happy Christmas your arse

I pray God it's our last"

Quite why this hasn't made it into a Snoopy holiday special I just don't know.

[DinaTheCat]

the fellow playing the large drum with the band logo is my Uncle Tommy.

Wow!

Now whenever I watch the music video (approximately 1000 times per Christmas) I will always point and say "Hey, look! It's Uncle Tommy!"

It's so bizarre that something so iconic in the UK is unheard of in the US. Because a lot of popular TV shows are American, we understand a lot of 'Americanisms' even if they don't make sense if you said them in England ('fanny pack', and 'pants' for example)

I do have a few other questions about things I see on American television that seem a bit strange to me:

Do people not say 'bye' at the end of phone conversations, or is that just a TV thing? No one ever seems to say 'bye' before they hang up :/

How big are the houses and flats (apartments)? Whenever I see people on a show complain about the size of their home, I'm like "Huh?? That bedroom room is twice the size of my entire flat!"

On a related note: All houses seem to be detached (obviously I'm not counting apartment buildings). Do you not have semi-detached or terraced houses?

[DirtyAngel]

no we say bye, or see ya, or love ya or something to indicate we are done, unless we're pissed off, then we just hang up

there are semi-detached and terraced homes, we call them townhouses and usually only find them in large towns and cities. small towns usually have just free standing homes, and the country as well. as for size, it depends. what you see in movies isn't typical and city dwellers tend to live in smaller homes. Mostly it has to do with taxes, bigger home more taxes but it also has to do with how much room they have to build. Again homes tend to run larger in rural areas.

as for pants and panties, they were a slang term for pantaloon, an 18th century garment. pants for men since male pantaloons were an exterior garment analogous to trousers. femal pantaloons were worn under dresses and were more akin to knickers, the nickname stood so trousers are pants and knickers are panties...things you learn as a country school ma'rm

[CL Mustafic]

I do have a few other questions about things I see on American television that seem a bit strange to me:

Do people not say 'bye' at the end of phone conversations, or is that just a TV thing? No one ever seems to say 'bye' before they hang up :/

How big are the houses and flats (apartments)? Whenever I see people on a show complain about the size of their home, I'm like "Huh?? That bedroom room is twice the size of my entire flat!"

On a related note: All houses seem to be detached (obviously I'm not counting apartment buildings). Do you not have semi-detached or terraced houses?

I find this funny because it reminds me of when I first met my husband (he's from Bosnia) he was amazed by the fact that we built our houses out of wood. He told me whenever they threw a grenade in a house in the American movies he and his friends always laughed at how they blew up but after seeing how they were built he could see that it was more plausible. Houses here are built of brick and it takes a lot more than a grenade to do that much damage.

On a side note, whenever I talk to someone here that speaks English, they always tell me they don't understand most of what I'm saying because they learned British English not American. I just laugh and tell them that since I understand British English, I'm going to count it as knowing another language so my total is up to five now.

[BronxWench]

Wow!

Now whenever I watch the music video (approximately 1000 times per Christmas) I will always point and say "Hey, look! It's Uncle Tommy!"

It's so bizarre that something so iconic in the UK is unheard of in the US. Because a lot of popular TV shows are American, we understand a lot of 'Americanisms' even if they don't make sense if you said them in England ('fanny pack', and 'pants' for example)

I do have a few other questions about things I see on American television that seem a bit strange to me:

Do people not say 'bye' at the end of phone conversations, or is that just a TV thing? No one ever seems to say 'bye' before they hang up :/

How big are the houses and flats (apartments)? Whenever I see people on a show complain about the size of their home, I'm like "Huh?? That bedroom room is twice the size of my entire flat!"

On a related note: All houses seem to be detached (obviously I'm not counting apartment buildings). Do you not have semi-detached or terraced houses?

My uncle was a true character, the gods love him.

My sister actually lives in Hertfordshire, so I consider myself bilingual in both English and American, and you're right. There are so many things that don't translate, like a friend of mine offering to knock someone up, which is NOT taken the same way here at all.

I live in a flat,and also have a semi-detached lake bungalow for summer. Both are roughly 93 square meters, which is family-sized, really. My neighborhood is largely detached houses and terraced houses. And I tend to say some sore of farewell at the end of phone conversations, particularly for business. Otherwise I wouldn't get much business, would I?

Fanny packs should actually not even exist, being something best left to those tourists who wear white socks with their sandals, and want to know why they can't get McDonald's everywhere. But pants are trousers, and often come complete with suspenders, which is what we call bracers. And it just gets worse from there...

[DirtyAngel]

Magus laughing at you, he says bracers are what he drinks before we have to visit Lizzie's family

And while he doesn't wear socks with sandals, he does like butt bags (the term fanny pack makes him wince), though usually just when he works.

and this is me, 93 sq meters is family sized? Our old house was over 300 square meters and it was tiny The lake house is 700 square meters (7500+ sq feet) and it feels crowded at times

Ya all talk funny up there in the north

[BronxWench]

Well, real estate's more expensive up here in carpetbagger country.

Tell magus that his bracers are ducky with me. And we call those tool belts up here, not fanny packs.

[DirtyAngel]

ahhh, not that kinda work, I think he kept grenades in one

[magusfang]

this is a butt bag

[BronxWench]

ahhh, not that kinda work, I think he kept grenades in one

He just always has to be different, doesn't he?

[DirtyAngel]

he's different alright...strange even...sorry, eccentric

[magusfang]

I don't know what you're talking about.

[BronxWench]

Just sit him on the porch with a glass of sweet tea and let him chat to the neighbors...

[DirtyAngel]

he scares the fish away if we do that