This forum has altered my English

[Takashi96 1,068]

Ever since joining this forum I've noticed myself writing in an English accent. I suppose it's the influence of the large number of UK based users here. For instance, I once used the term "wee" in a comment. I'm from the United States, we don't "wee" here. I've also made several perfectly natural references to "naughty" peeing on this forum. A word I've never heard used out loud by anyone besides elderly school teacher. Am I the only North American experiencing these symptoms?

[Peenicks 864]

I have adopted the word 'naughty" more frequently. Not out loud, but I like using it in my writing now, I never associated it with an English accent I suppose. 

I've never used the word "wee" or "loo" tho, still feels too unnatural and bizarre to me. I caught myself using the words like "snatch" and "cunt" in my early stories which I always imagine being read in an English accent. Guess I was trying to blend in, lol

[Takashi96 1,068]

8 hours ago, Peenicks said:

I have adopted the word 'naughty" more frequently. Not out loud, but I like using it in my writing now, I never associated it with an English accent I suppose. 

I've never used the word "wee" or "loo" tho, still feels too unnatural and bizarre to me. I caught myself using the words like "snatch" and "cunt" in my early stories which I always imagine being read in an English accent. Guess I was trying to blend in, lol

Cunt is only tolerable in an English accent. And even then, I probably wouldn't risk it on this side of the pond. 

[MC Cumzy 1,637]

1 hour ago, Takashi96 said:

Cunt is only tolerable in an English accent. And even then, I probably wouldn't risk it on this side of the pond. 

If you ask me it's only the Scottish and the Australians that can really pull it off

[Takashi96 1,068]

So then coont or cint? 

[Dr.P 1,473]

@Takashi96, I have also lived in the United States, since birth, but I am well aware that many of the members here reside in the UK. So I often include UK equivalent words, parenthetically, in my posts, "bum" for butt, "knickers" for panties, "suspenders" for garters, etc., just for clarity. I have tried to avoid the use of the word "cunt" because many people, especially women, find it offensive, both in the US and UK.

Although the single word "wee" is not widely used in the States, The hyphenated word, "wee-wee" was very popular and widely used, in my mother's generation (roughly 1920-1960). So I often use it in stories of my family and my youth, as appropriate.  Interestingly, a type of public drinking fountain, fabricated of ceramic, like a toilet or urinal, and popular in the US, in the 1940's and 1950's, was commonly called a "wee-wee fountain," since it produced a single stream, angling upward, in a neat arc, very similar to a urine stream from a woman peeing from a supine position, or seated, and leaning far back. My mother used this term all the time, although I rarely heard her use the word "pee," and never heard her say "piss."

Dr.P

[Johnboy777 3,884]

Wee is the only English word which has been added to my vocabulary. In the states we say gasoline station, and I know in Great Britain I would stop to fill up with Petrol. And when peeing outside I  always said I was doing a "naughty piss."  Incidentally, my grandfather emigrated from England. Right now I  can't remember the area.

Edited September 4, 2022 by Johnboy777

[Takashi96 1,068]

5 hours ago, Dr.P said:

@Takashi96, I have also lived in the United States, since birth, but I am well aware that many of the members here reside in the UK. So I often include UK equivalent words, parenthetically, in my posts, "bum" for butt, "knickers" for panties, "suspenders" for garters, etc., just for clarity. I have tried to avoid the use of the word "cunt" because many people, especially women, find it offensive, both in the US and UK.

Although the single word "wee" is not widely used in the States, The hyphenated word, "wee-wee" was very popular and widely used, in my mother's generation (roughly 1920-1960). So I often use it in stories of my family and my youth, as appropriate.  Interestingly, a type of public drinking fountain, fabricated of ceramic, like a toilet or urinal, and popular in the US, in the 1940's and 1950's, was commonly called a "wee-wee fountain," since it produced a single stream, angling upward, in a neat arc, very similar to a urine stream from a woman peeing from a supine position, or seated, and leaning far back. My mother used this term all the time, although I rarely heard her use the word "pee," and never heard her say "piss."

Dr.P

Be mindful of fannies and pants. After studying in England for a year my friend warned me that what we refer to as underwear in the states are known as pants in the UK. She learned this when an English girl in her dorm asked her why American guys were so open about private matters? Apparently a fellow American student had asked her out and recommended she wear pants due to the weather. She was so offended that she cancelled the date. Until my American friend explained the confusion. 

[Carb0nBased 643]

5 hours ago, Dr.P said:

Although the single word "wee" is not widely used in the States, The hyphenated word, "wee-wee" was very popular and widely used, in my mother's generation (roughly 1920-1960). So I often use it in stories of my family and my youth, as appropriate.  Interestingly, a type of public drinking fountain, fabricated of ceramic, like a toilet or urinal, and popular in the US, in the 1940's and 1950's, was commonly called a "wee-wee fountain," since it produced a single stream, angling upward, in a neat arc, very similar to a urine stream from a woman peeing from a supine position, or seated, and leaning far back. My mother used this term all the time, although I rarely heard her use the word "pee," and never heard her say "piss."

I know "wee-wee" almost entirely as a word that children use, or adults use when talking to children. I wasn't aware that it once was common among adults as well. And I've never heard of a "wee-wee fountain"--that's interesting to hear that female peeing was referenced so openly when describing something that is in itself totally "clean" and everyday. If I had heard the term "wee-wee fountain", I would have assumed it referred to one of the many decorative outdoor fountains (NOT drinking fountains), common particularly in Europe, where an arc emerges from a horizontal tap or nozzle sticking out from a central column and falls into a basin below, sort of like a guy urinating. Well, either that or an actual peeing boy statue like Manneken Pis. Those both seem much more deserving of the term.

Edited September 4, 2022 by Carb0nBased

[oliver2 4,408]

3 hours ago, Takashi96 said:

Be mindful of fannies and pants. After studying in England for a year my friend warned me that what we refer to as underwear in the states are known as pants in the UK. She learned this when an English girl in her dorm asked her why American guys were so open about private matters? Apparently a fellow American student had asked her out and recommended she wear pants due to the weather. She was so offended that she cancelled the date. Until my American friend explained the confusion. 

Speaking as a Brit, I think we’ve absorbed a lot of American English from movies, so if driving with an American and they say they’re out of gas, we’ll know what they mean. Also panties are fine. But using “fanny” to mean “butt” is gonna result in confusion, and “pants” sounds a layer lower than it is, as confused the English student girl above

Edited September 4, 2022 by oliver2

[Carb0nBased 643]

On 9/3/2022 at 9:51 PM, Takashi96 said:

Be mindful of fannies and pants. After studying in England for a year my friend warned me that what we refer to as underwear in the states are known as pants in the UK. She learned this when an English girl in her dorm asked her why American guys were so open about private matters? Apparently a fellow American student had asked her out and recommended she wear pants due to the weather. She was so offended that she cancelled the date. Until my American friend explained the confusion. 

Though on both sides of the pond you should try to keep your fanny in your pants...

[Eliminature 5,209]

Not just on this forum, I have a lot of American friends who I talk to online. British English is obviously what comes naturally to me, but I find when I'm speaking directly to an American friend, I will often use American terms to avoid confusion. It probably sounds  jarring coming from me, though! I've been told that you can't help but read my posts in an English accent. 😆

Most British women I have heard talk about it really don't care for the word "panties" to refer to women's underwear. They say it sounds both over sexualised and infantilising; which to adult women, is very off putting. The term doesn't bother me, you understand. Indeed, I've used it myself. Mainly because I understand that it gives men hard ons at the very mention of the word! However, I am mindful that most women don't like it and as such, I try to be sparing with the use of that word. 

[laughingbeast 414]

Because I am not a native English speaker and my English is a mixture of what I learned in school, what I see in movies (normal and porn), how people from international companies and other institutions I work with speak and write, and what the automatic translator tells me, I don't really notice a difference in my case.

It's not like I talk to a lot of people in real life outside of this forum about peeing and panties and stuff. 😀

[Dr.P 1,473]

@Takashi96, and Eliminature, Thanks for the tip on the Brit meaning of "pants," and women's feelings about "panties." I was not aware of those.

@CarbOnBased, "I know "wee-wee" almost entirely as a word that children use, or adults use when talking to children. I wasn't aware that it once was common among adults as well. And I've never heard of a "wee-wee fountain"--that's interesting to hear that female peeing was referenced so openly when describing something that is in itself totally "clean" and everyday."

Yes, "wee-wee" was used among adult women, when talking among themselves, even joking, or when talking to children, in the 1940's and 1950's, which are now viewed as sexually repressed times, at least here, in the States. But this reference of drinking fountains to female urine streams was very open and intentional. My mother and other adult women didn't seem the least bit embarrassed by its use, in that context, although they were very reticent when referring to their own excretory habits. My mother even explained the term to me, when I was very young, and asked questions. This may be telling us that previous societal attitudes were not as repressed as we consider them to be, today. 

[Peenicks 864]

15 hours ago, Eliminature said:

Most British women I have heard talk about it really don't care for the word "panties" to refer to women's underwear. They say it sounds both over sexualised and infantilising; which to adult women, is very off putting. The term doesn't bother me, you understand. Indeed, I've used it myself. Mainly because I understand that it gives men hard ons at the very mention of the word! However, I am mindful that most women don't like it and as such, I try to be sparing with the use of that word.

Yeah, I think it's largely the same with women in the States. Most other women I've talked to on the matter have mentioned hating "panties" or thinking it sounds creepy at one point or another, and when I think about it for too long I can't really blame em'. Maybe my growing up AMAB and overexposure to porn has something to do with it but I was never really bothered by the word. But it is one of those words you have a better time reading than you do saying it.

Honestly, I really like "bum". It's cute and delicate in a way that "butt" or "ass" can't match and it's more precise and succinct than "bottom". I just wish I felt more natural using it, it's not really in the wheelhouse of common slang here in the US so I can't help but read it in an English accent, and trying to read my own works in an accent that's not my own feels weird. 

Edited September 6, 2022 by Peenicks

[Takashi96 1,068]

2 hours ago, Peenicks said:

Yeah, I think it's largely the same with women in the States. Most other women I've talked to on the matter have mentioned hating "panties" or thinking it sounds creepy at one point or another, and when I think about it for too long I can't really blame em'. Maybe my growing up AMAB and overexposure to porn has something to do with it but I was never really bothered by the word. But it is one of those words you have a better time reading than you do saying it.

Honestly, I really like "bum". It's cute and delicate in a way that "butt" or "ass" can't match and it's more precise and succinct than "bottom". I just wish I felt more natural using it, it's not really in the wheelhouse of common slang here in the US so I can't help but read it in an English accent, and trying to read my own works in an accent that's not my own feels weird. 

Hard agree on the bum thing. Hold on, that was not meant to sound even remotely sexual. I never particularly cared for the harshness of the word butt. The double t at the end is just too harsh. Too Teutonic maybe? 

I've been using bum since my teens. I picked it up from a movie or TV show at some point. Ass has always sounded either sexual or vulgar to me. I only find the term bottom useful in the presence of children. Like if I'm telling my friend about how I slipped on the ice, and their kids are around, then I'll say I "fell on my bottom." 

Panties is a perplexing word to me.  And apparently I have more of an issue with it than many of my friends. 

[Takashi96 1,068]

19 hours ago, Eliminature said:

Not just on this forum, I have a lot of American friends who I talk to online. British English is obviously what comes naturally to me, but I find when I'm speaking directly to an American friend, I will often use American terms to avoid confusion. It probably sounds  jarring coming from me, though! I've been told that you can't help but read my posts in an English accent. 😆

Most British women I have heard talk about it really don't care for the word "panties" to refer to women's underwear. They say it sounds both over sexualised and infantilising; which to adult women, is very off putting. The term doesn't bother me, you understand. Indeed, I've used it myself. Mainly because I understand that it gives men hard ons at the very mention of the word! However, I am mindful that most women don't like it and as such, I try to be sparing with the use of that word. 

I read your posts in a very specific, borderline posh (a word rarely used in the States), English accent. This doesn't apply to everyone on the forum. But the users who I've come across the most all have their own distinct accents and voices in my head. I'm trying to recast one of them because I mistook him for American early on. And why should it matter? Because apparently my goddamn head ain't right. 

Moving on. I believe the most common word for women's underwear bottoms in the UK is knickers? Maybe? I agree there is something inherently oversexual sounding about the word panties. And yes, the "ies" at the end has infantilizing connotations. Still, I didn't know that British women were generally averse to it. Your observation regarding its effects on the male member was an astute one. In fact, I associate it with sexting, sex scenes in movies/TV or porn. Where women will say "I'm not wearing any panties" rather than underwear. Occasionally I've heard friends refer to a moment when they were caught in their bra and panties. Which always seems to me  like a longer way of describing their underwear. I mean, most people know what 2 items make up female underwear, right?

Maybe ten years ago I put a post up on Facebook asking if the word panties had overly sexual connotations? Or if I was just a weirdo reading too deep into it. The reason being that over the years I noticed my male friends mostly used panties in reference to women's undergarments. Usually in descriptions of sexual situations. Whereas my female friends almost always used underwear. Unless they were referring  to lingerie. So I put this question up on Facebook, and to my surprise, a number of my female friends said they used panties more than underwear. Once more, they didn't hear it as anymore sexual than underwear. It was less than half but still well more than I expected. 

 

 

[Eliminature 5,209]

5 hours ago, Takashi96 said:

I read your posts in a very specific, borderline posh (a word rarely used in the States), English accent. This doesn't apply to everyone on the forum. But the users who I've come across the most all have their own distinct accents and voices in my head. I'm trying to recast one of them because I mistook him for American early on. And why should it matter? Because apparently my goddamn head ain't right. 

"Dou I SOUUNND like Katherine Hepburn, Daaaahling??" 😉

I speak nothing like that in real life, though. I grew up in the North of England but I've lived in various towns/cities the Midlands all my adult life. There's little trace of my Northern accent or dialect now. 

[Eliminature 5,209]

Interestingly, many British women use the word "pants" to describe female underwear, just as they would with male underwear. I do get this; it's supposed to be a unisex, catch all term without sexual connotations. However, I just can't bring myself to call women's underwear "pants." It feels too much the opposite way - unsexy and mildly nauseating. I'm fine with the word "knickers," though. 

I tend to refer to underwear by style rather than dividing it into male/female garments. Boxers, briefs, French cut, g string, bloomies* etc. 

*bloomers are rarely worn nowadays, but I remember my late grandma referring to them when I was a child. 

[Kupar 13,320]

1 hour ago, Eliminature said:

There's little trace of my Northern accent or dialect now

😞 Tell me about it. I have nothing left of my Hull accent ... I moved around so much when I was younger, and since, that I just have a generic, though definitely 'short a', accent now. In the south I probably sound northern. In the north I probably sound southern. 'Nowhere Man', That should be my theme song.

[MidoriLemonade85 2,351]

On 9/3/2022 at 1:11 PM, Takashi96 said:

Ever since joining this forum I've noticed myself writing in an English accent. I suppose it's the influence of the large number of UK based users here. For instance, I once used the term "wee" in a comment. I'm from the United States, we don't "wee" here. I've also made several perfectly natural references to "naughty" peeing on this forum. A word I've never heard used out loud by anyone besides elderly school teacher. Am I the only North American experiencing these symptoms?

Oh me too, So much, I feel like I am half British now!! 🇬🇧❤️

[MidoriLemonade85 2,351]

6 hours ago, Kupar said:

😞 Tell me about it. I have nothing left of my Hull accent ... I moved around so much when I was younger, and since, that I just have a generic, though definitely 'short a', accent now. In the south I probably sound northern. In the north I probably sound southern. 'Nowhere Man', That should be my theme song.

I (and likely others who have heard your voice), adore your accent. “Nowhere Man” is a good song. Hey, it means you blend in anywhere! You are easier to understand than Northern…..they need subtitles! 

[Kupar 13,320]

42 minutes ago, MidoriLemonade85 said:

You are easier to understand than Northern…..they need subtitles! 

Be careful 😉. Very many of my best friends are from the North!

[MidoriLemonade85 2,351]

1 hour ago, Kupar said:

Be careful 😉. Very many of my best friends are from the North!

My boss is Northern and I can’t understand a word of what she says!

[Dr.P 1,473]

I will add my 2 cents worth to the knickers, panties, pants, discussion, from an ancient US perspective, the Midwestern US, in the late 1940's, when I was a boy, in elementary school. In that environment, I sometimes wore outer pants, which reached below the knee, to the tops of my boots, as snow gear, in winter. They were only worn by males, to the best of my knowledge, and were called "knickers," probably because they had elastic bands or straps, below the knees, to hold them in place. So the use of the same term as a name for short, female undergarments has always seemed strange and puzzling to me, and not the least bit feminine, or sexual, in that sense. 

In the same environment, girls and women usually wore skirts or dresses, until the late 1950's, in the States. If they did wear long pants, as they might, in some occupations, the garments were called "slacks," "jeans," or "pants," and much later, in the 1970's and beyond, "pant suits," or "leisure suits," when combined with matching, tailored jackets. If the pants were shorter than ankle length, they were given other names, like "Capri pants," "pedal pushers," "Bermuda shorts," or "short shorts." So the use of the term "pants" for an outer garment worn by women, seems perfectly natural, and consistent with other uses of the term, in the US.

But another term was needed to describe an item of women's underwear, and "panties" came into wide use. My personal opinion is that it is more precise and esthetic than simply "underwear," which is ambiguous, since it does not differentiate the panty from the brassiere. It also sounds gender-ambiguous, since it can apply to garments worn by males, such as "long johns" and "jock straps," and is thus unattractive to me, as a straight male.