[Rob S.]

In England, Australian soaps are very popular, especially Neighbours and Home and Away. But Australian school girls in them often say "Oh, that guy is a spunk" when they tell their mates that they think a guy they see is good-looking. It makes me laugh when I hear that, as you Australians apparently do not know what the word "spunk" means in England. It does not mean a good-looker.

Hulk Hogan once appeared on the Des O'Conner show in England, and he said "Mr. Nanny wants some fanny." Now "fanny" does not mean "backside" in England. It means the female genital area. Are Australians aware that these slang words have different meanings in England?

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Name : Rob S., Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 26, City : Poole, State : NA Country : United Kingdom, 

[Trust no manager]

Gidday. I'm a New Zealander, but Australia and New Zealand's slang is often similar so I feel qualified to reply. I've known for sometime that the term 'spunk' means something different in England, i.e. semen. But 'spunk' is a commonly known and accepted term for (male) 'good looker' in Australia and New Zealand so I also use the term as it's commonly used here. I don't know how commonly known the English meaning is 'down under'. The term 'fanny' means the same in New Zealand as it does in England, we also laugh/gasp/growl when we hear Americans use the term. I think it means the same in Australia as it does in England. I think the term 'fanny' used to refer to the backside is an American usage. I have an example of how strangely diverse regional slang can be. In Australia to call someone a 'dag' (an unpleasant person) is a serious insult, but in New Zealand to call someone a 'dag' (a funny, fun person) is quite a complement. Slang's a funny thing isn't it?

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Name : Trust no manager, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 35, City : Wellington, State : NA Country : New Zealand, Occupation : Librarian, Education level : Technical School, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Jill]

I don't think that Austrailians have a corner on that market. An English bloke (guy) told me that he was pissed (drunk) - he'd been over in the states for a while and either a) thought that I knew the translation b) thought we used the same term or c) was too pissed to care! Check out the following site for some cultural translations and terms http://www.notam.uio.no/~hcholm/altlang/stat.html -----------Beware! This site gets a little saucy!

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Name : Jill, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 35, City : Chicago, State : IL Country : United States, Occupation : engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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