What are some words/phrases that are unique to your country?

[RedRobin]

In New Zealand:
Kumara (if you know German, the Maori and German vowels are the same) = Sweet Potato
Bach = Holiday Home
"I can't be bothered" = "I'm too tired" (not "I'm lazy" lol)
Jandals = flip flops

Updates

+1 y

Oh, I forgot.
Mozzie = a mosquito or a Maori born in Australia.
Auzzie = Australia/Australian.

Updates

+1 y

Kiwi = New Zealander or the bird
Kiwi fruit = the fruit

[BlueCoyote]

It would of course make no sense to give you slang words because my native tongue isn't English. But here are some very Swiss words that are special in the sense that they only exist in Switzerland and contain a significant amount of cultural background:

1. Bünzli
Swiss people love to make rules and contrary to other cultures we also love to follow them (both social and legal ones). Not in an authoritarian style but more in a... neurotic way, I would say ;-). Swiss people just like everything VERY orderly, clean, tidy, structured... you get it. And for that, you need rules of course. And here comes the Bünzli into play. Ironically, "Bünzli" derives from a real Swiss surname but nowadays it's mostly used as a mild insult for an overtly uptight and very boring person who loves rules so much they will not only follow them all the time but also make sure that everyone else follows them too. So a Bünzli never crosses the street when the light is red (even in the middle of nowhere), never comes home too late and never gets too drunk. More importantly, a Bünzli is also the type of person who will complain to the landlord if his neighbors do laundry on a Sunday (forbidden in Switzerland), mow their lawn on a Sunday (forbidden in Switzerland) or who would call the police if somebody dares to park their car in front of a fire hydrant. Bünzli people is something everyone comes across when living in Switzerland, particularly in Swiss apartment buildings.

2. Abfallsackgebühr:
The matter of garbage is a serious business in Switzerland and local councils have come up with all sorts of innovative ways to make people reduce their household waste. Among these is the so-called Abfallsackgebühr, or rubbish bag fee. Basically, in Switzerland you have to use very expensive council-approved rubbish bags to dispose of your waste. The idea is that you won’t produce as much garbage if you are paying through the nose to do so.
And don't even think of trying to dump your rubbish illegally, or in a non-approved garbage bag. There are rubbish detectives who rifle through illegally dumped garbage to track down offenders and disposing of garbage illegally can cost you thousands of dollars.

3. Kantönligeist
This one is a bit of a political one. Similarly to the US, Switzerland is structured in an extremely federalistic way. The word "Kantönligeist" literally means "spirit of the cantons" and it refers to the individualistic, sometimes almost separatist feelings all the (cont.).

[BlueCoyote]

cantons (states) have towards the federal government. For many Swiss people this small-mindedness sums up everything that is wrong with politics in Switzerland as cantons often refuse to cede even an inch of ground to the government because they believe they are best placed to know what their regions need. Of course federalism is not just a bad thing. There are also clear advantages to centralism like in France for instance. However, there are also disadvantages, such as the fact that every Swiss region has its own tax laws, its own education system etc. Plus, moving from one canton to the other can be an administrative nightmare.

4. Znüni/Zvieri
Both these things are cultural rituals for almost everyone in Switzerland. "Znüni" is kind of like a small, second breakfast that people eat around 9 a. m. (no later than 10 a. m.). It usually consists of a croissant and a cup of coffee. "Zvieri" is the equivalent for a snack at precisely 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Here, people (cont.)

[BlueCoyote]

usually eat an apple or a banana. Of course eating snacks isn't something particular to Switzerland. However, Swiss people do it with their inborn passion to habitual behavior and precision. When you sit on a bus or on a train in Switzerland (or you walk through the city) and the clocks show 4 p. m., you will suddenly see everyone around you take an apple out of their purse, backpack or business suitcase, almost like in a kind of flash mob ;-). Since Swiss people love staying fit, especially the Zvieri break is considered "holy". Swiss schools even give their students a break around this time to run around and eat some fruits ;-).

[Alexious]

I'm from London, so we have a fucktonne.

Fam, cuz, donnie, g - Means respect to someone
Yard - means like someone's house
Man like - means someone reps someone or likes them
Safe - means respect for someone

[Rainie_]

Swedish has a lot of words similar to Norwegian and Danish but there's one word in particular that doesn't exist in those countries but Sweden which is possibly the most Swedish word EVER lol:
Lagom = Moderate / Just right

Slut (pronounced with a long u) = End / Final (I don't know if this is true or not but the reason Sweden changed the endings of movies from "Slut" to "Fin" is because well in English it isn't such a nice word is it lol)

Slutspurt = Final sale (I crack up every time I see this word at the mall LOL)

Farthinder = Speed Bump (yes I burst out laughing every time I see this word too when we drive on the road) "fart" means speed in Swedish and and "hinder" is basically obstacle.

Other words with funny/odd translations:
Tandkött = gums (although the word actually translates to "teeth meat" as "kött" means meat)

Bröstvårta = Nipples (the word actually translates to nipple warts) 😂

Gift = Married / Poison (the word means either married or poison depending on the context, although considering the high amount of divorces in Sweden I have to say its leaning more towards poison than anything LOL)

Phrases -
Att ana ugglor i mossen (Suspecting owls in the bog) = Suspecting mischief. The phrase actually comes from the 16th century, the story is that murdered children that were buried in the woods turned into bog/moss owls. (phrase is used in other Scandinavian parts too though)

Få sina fiskar varma (Get your fish warm) = be scolded. Also a 16th century phrase.

Ha eld i baken (Have fire in the ass) = Be in a hurry (another very very old phrase from 16th century)

I don't think all the phrases are completely Swedish though, some may be of dutch or danish origins. I don't know, still swedish phrases are quite funny though.

[LaFemmeFatale]

*Gamarjoba - გამარჯობა- Hello, It is very strange cause It means victory in Georgian, but when we meet each other we say Gamarjoba as hello.
*Zeg- ზეგ - The day after tomorrow.
*Gaumarjos- გაუმარჯოს!- It can't be exactly translated, the most closest translation is ''Cheers" when you say it during drink a wine.
On a special occasion, one Georgian starts to shout ,, Gaumar" and ohers add " jos" :D It means we are very enthusiastic about somrthing and we support something with whole heart.
Usually we say it like that " Sakartvelos gaumarjos" - საქართველოს გაუმარჯოს , It means - cheers to Georgia.
Menatrebi- მენატრები - I miss you but If I translate it word by word it means " I wish of you".
Shemomechama - შემომეჭამა - You should say it with guilty expression :DThat one word means "I know I should not have eaten it, but I was tempted and ate it" :D
Actually, Here are many other unique words in Georgian, It has no correlations with other languages and it is wholly unique.

[mooky06]

Um the ones I use (Australia)
Arvo- Afternoon
Stoked- very pleased
Porky Pies- lies
Barbie- Barbecue
Cuppa- A hot beverage (tea)
Footy- Australian Rules Football
Maccas- McDonalds
Mates Rates- Discount price (work service) for a friend
Mozzies- Mosquitoes
Prezzy- Present (gift)
Servo- Gas station
Woop Woop- Tiny town in the middle of nowhere

Lol I think that's it for me :P

[Shawn58]

Do you use all these lol hold on are your parent's natives to Asia do they have like do they have accent lol

[mooky06]

@Shawn58 Yeah i use all of them. Parents were born and raised in Asia. I was born and raised in Australia

[mooky06]

yeah they have the Asian Accent, I don't

[RedRobin]

We say Maccas and Mates Rates too haha

[mooky06]

ahaha I always say mates rates XP (Example: oh yeah those purple neons under my car? Mates rates got one for $40 and the other free) lmfao

[Shawn58]

Oh ok lol so your Asian with an Australian accent that's cool lol if you were to come to the u. s. people would think that is cool

[mooky06]

@Shawn58 I've already been to Cali and Washington. Yeah that's what a lot of people told me. They asked me to say certain words, then laughed and said how cool it was

[mooky06]

Thank you for MH lovely :)

[BlueEyedHipsta]

Chur: awesome/good/thanks
Sweet as: good/ okay
She'll be right : it will be alright/ OK / not a problem
Cuzzie/cuz: cousin or in place of bro
Kaka: shit
Ta: thank you/ give it to me (for babies)
Minted: broken/ not working/ damaged
Chocka: full
Togs: swimsuit (togs togs togs, undies 😉)

[RedRobin]

Hahaha that last one

[RJGraveyTrain]

Keener - Brown noser
Pitter patter - Get motivated, get moving.
Darts - Cigarettes
Deke out - Fake out

[OlderAndWiser]

lickety split = immediately
catheads = grits

[Phoenix98]

I'll name a few for you.

absquatulate
run away, taking something or somebody along
This word dates to the 1830s, when making up new words was all the rage. It's fake Latin, part of an American tradition of poking fun at classical language.

barbecue
a cookout in which food is cooked over an open fire
American colonists borrowed barbecue from the barbacoa of Haiti's Taino Indians and proceeded to make it their own. These days the meaning of the word depends a lot on where you live.

boss
a person who exercises control and makes decisions
Boss is a fine old Americanism from the Dutch word baas meaning "master, foreman." Over time it became a verb and an adjective, and also gave rise to the petulant expression, " You're not the boss of me!"

cool
fashionable and attractive at the time
An old word with many overlapping meanings, cool became a general term of approval (as in "That's cool," "He's cool," or simply "Cool!") in jazz circles in the early '40s. Sax player Lester "Pres" Young gets the credit.

copacetic
completely satisfactory
This mysterious word first appeared in a 1919 biography of Lincoln: "Now there’s the kind of a man! Stout as a buffalo an’ as to looks I’d call him, as ye might say, real copasetic." It took off in the mid-20th century, and its unknown origin has provoked endless etymological speculation.

jazz
genre of American music that developed in the 20th century
Is there any word more American than jazz? Before it named the musical style, jazz meant "pep" or "vigor" in West Coast baseball circles. A banjoist named Bert Kelly is said to have brought the word from San Francisco to Chicago.

maverick
someone who exhibits independence in thought and action
Calling someone rebellious a maverick goes back to the nineteenth-century Texas lawyer and politician Samuel Maverick who bucked the system by refusing to brand his cattle. The unbranded cattle took on the eponym, which eventually got applied to free spirits of the human variety -- especially in politics.

mojo
a magic power or magic spell
A staple of blues lyrics, mojo probably had an African origin. It might be related to moco'o ("medicine man") in the west African language of Fulani, or moco ("witchcraft, magic") in Gullah, a creolized language spoken off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia.

[Phoenix98]

moxie
fortitude and determination
Moxie entered the language through a soft drink of that name, first sold in the 1880s by the Massachusetts doctor Augustin Thompson. Thompson's concoction had started off as a medicine called "Moxie Nerve Food," which he claimed contained an extract from a rare South American plant discovered by his friend Lieutenant Moxie. Getting people to believe that story took a lot of moxie.

[ThisDudeHere]

As someone who knows Russian, I am willing to bet that your "bach" quite possible has it's origins in the aforementioned language. In Russia, holiday home is "dacha." See the similarities? Far too coinsidental.

As for Latvian. Dunno but I found a few:

Čubināties (chubinaaties) - nobody's exactly sure about the context. Basically it means to do something small with someone else - either have small friendly chat, lightly play with them, cuddlle or even lightly make out with them.

Naģis - a navigator spirit that leads people astray (you watch out for those)

Grumata - a really big gathering of people.

Īberīgi - funny, weird, interesting all in one.

[sp33d]

You have saldejums over there :D

[ThisDudeHere]

@sp33d Saldejums is icecream. Literally.

Sald is like ice, except it's more like frost, and ējums is a part of krējums which means cream.

HOLY SHIT, you're also from the Baltics!! Is it true you guys think we have 12 toes?

[sp33d]

Not sure about 12, I have heard variations. Like Latvians have 6 fingers or 6 toes or something :D

[ThisDudeHere]

@sp33d well there's this running joke that you guys are really slow to understand things because you're further up North (kind of like Giraffes have longer necks so information takes longer to reach them lol)

[sp33d]

Generally speaking, that's not entirely inaccurate :D

[ThisDudeHere]

@sp33d lol I learned something new about my neighbours xD

[WhiteSteve]

Had two rando NZ bros roll up on me when I was hanging out in Central Park in New York City last year asking if they could film me for some YouTube video. So they taped my reaction of "uhhhh... what?" to some New Zealand slang expression. I wish I remember what the phrase was or what I was told to ask them, but it just sounded like a noise followed by "bro", like "awwwruuu, broooo", or something😂 I just looked confused as fuck and they were like "thanks, that's perfect!", haha. It was some sort of expression of affirmation or enthusiasm I think.

[Jager66]

Canada:

Homo Milk: (whole milk)
Toque: (a knit hat for cold weather)
Hydro: (electric bill)
Robertson Screwdrive: (best kind of screw head, it's square)
Double Double: (Coffee with 2 cream and 2 sugar)
Loonie: (1 dollar coin)
Twonie: (two dollar coin)
Donair: (A Canadian food)
Mickey: (small liquor container like roughly 10ish Oz. I think)
Give'r: (put all your effort into something)
Hooped: (broken)
Rotten Ronnie's: (McDonalds)
Snowbird: (Canadians who go south, usually to the U. S., for the winter)
Head'r: (I need to get going)
Kerfuffle: (a disturbance, like people yelling at each other)
a Klick: (1 kilometer)
Two-Four: (case of 24 beer)
Pablum: (bonemeal, vitamins, cornmeal, grains, mix it's baby food)
Pencil Crayon: (colouring pencils)

[helloitsmethere]

Gyal - girl/gal
Gyalist - Jamaican definition of a player or fuckboy
Nuh date Trevor, him a gyalist. Look pon di amount a gyal him play... kmt.

Crosses (pronounced 'craw-sis' in Jamaican Patois) - a troll/useless person or thing
Look pon Keisha, yuh know seh she a crosses from long time? Di gyal neva have ar priorities set!

Bumboclaat (abbreviated as 'bbc') - used instead of 'fuck' in this context.
Standard English: What the fuck is wrong with you?
Jamaican Patois: A weh di bumboclaat wrong wid yuh?
'Bloodclaat' (bc) and 'Rassclaat' (rc) can also be used.

Yute - youth, child or a young adult or person. Commonly used among Jamaican male teens and young adults.
Look pon di yute dem a stand up in di middle a di road and a block traffic. Weh dem a do?

Wah gwan - Most popular Jamaican phrase. It means 'what's up?'
Wah gwan my yute?

I bet y'all don't understand what the fuck I'm saying :D

[danirblade]

here are some goldies from israel (hebrew):
"phonatic translation" (literal translation)
"ein li zain" (i dont have a dick) - i can't be bothered (to do something)
"kol ha zain" (all of the dick) - when something bad happens
"mesarsep" - playing with something (like a key or a pen) in your hand for a long time
"kapara" (a young chicken) - a cutsie name to call a female
"litfor" (to saw) - to make someone wait for you
"lifrom" (to unstich) - the opposite of litfor

and a good one from mama russia:
"musar[ra]" (garbage bin[s]) - a general name for cops

[Anonymous]

Real rap- for real
Dub- 20 dollar bill
Jawn- every noun. You can use Jawn to refer to anything (Example: Pass me that jawn)
Stop frauding- stop lying (obviously)
Drawlin- acting annoying (Like if a teacher takes your phone in school she's drawlin)
That's anything- that's some crazy shit
You're any boul- you're crazy asf; you're irrelevant
Ocky- fake brand named products; a muscular person
Ard- ok
Water ice- itialin ice (You gotta pronounce the "t" like a "d" though)
Slida- an easy girl (she'll slide onto anybody's dick)

I'm pretty sure there's tons more philly slang but I'm tired of typing.

[anonman32]

in dutch we use the same word for teaching and learning. leren is the word.

some phrases we say:
t'zal wel zijn. it means it will be.
t'is niet waar he. its not true he?
voor niks gaat de zon op. the sun rises for nothing.
eentje is geentje. one is nothing (we use it for when some says they will only drink one beer lol.
de russen zijn in't land. the russians are in the country.

we can also take words and make them smaller like kabouter which means leprechaun, we can turn into a small leprechaun by saying kaboutertje. we can do that with almost words.

we also use the word little treasure (shatje) often to refer to our partner.

[sp33d]

Nokk kinni, saba lahti. Nokk lahti, saba kinni. Directly translated: Free the tail, the beak gets stuck. Free the beak, the tail gets stuck. (Estonian)
Haven't noticed this figure of speech using the analogy of a bird.

It means that there are only two courses of action available in some situation, but if you take the first one, you have a problem. Take the second one, again, you have a problem.

как ау́кнется, так и откли́кнется (Kak auknetsja, tak i otliknetsja)
The Russian version of "You reap what you sow". Translates as: "You hear the same you shout" or more accurately: "As you shout, so shall you hear".

[redeyemindtricks]

The most common English version of the first one is "... between a rock and a hard place".

__

As for the second one -- Not as long as I never shut up! :*

[sp33d]

@redeyemindtricks I have heard "between the devil and the deep blue sea" as an equivalent to the first one. Might be archaic :D

[redeyemindtricks]

Yep, that too. Also between Scylla and Charybdis, if you're a mythology nerd (although that has nothing to do with any specifc country).

[Luci92]

The two most educational videos you'll ever watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNZIJmEZ91ghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG0v9tZStAk

[SuperGamingLady]

I'm from Australia, sooo here goes:

Maccas= McDonald's. Eg "Let's go for a maccas run" (go to McDonalds)
Bathers= swimmers/swimming trunks, etc. Different states have different words for it, eg: "togs", "bathers", and "swimmers".
"bangers and mash"= sausages and mashed potato.
"Footy"= football (NOT soccer).

[SuperNovaRoyalty]

Yay, aussie!

[ElissaDido]

Behi: OK
Barcha: A lot
Aychek: Thank you
Sfenerya: carrot
Ksss : we say it to cat but it means pussy in other Middle Eastern Arab countries
Tabouna: type of bread but it means... Pussy, again, in Morocco..
These are specific to us in the Arab speaking countries.

[Darkfairie17]

People say Canadians say "Eh" a lot. But I've only met one person who does that.

I guess you could say "Timmies" is a Canadian thing. We always say "Going to Timmies" which means we are going to Tim Hortons. Which is a coffee shop. They're literally everywhere in Canada.

Some people also say that Canadians say "Aboot" but I've never heard anyone say that.

[Schrodingerscat]

-Tu rendeh (when spoken quickly) /rehne de- depends on context. For ex. If I say something shocking/unbelievable, the other person may reply -tu rendeh which means he doesn't believe me.
Or,
If I say that 'I will do this task in time's, the other person may reply- tu rendeh which means he believes that I can't do it
-'Out of station '=Out of town

[Jude_Wills]

Jugad means 😊

[ChocoLada]

"Ada" - Short phrase meaning "Oh Really" (in Montenegrin language).
"Izvanjac" - Literally, it means "Outlander" (person who is not from Montenegro).
"Avetinja" - Ignorant or delusional person.
"Ćutan" - Very naive person
"Jado" - Poor person (not financially, but poor in knowledge, or very stupid).

[pooper89]

Ketchup. For tomato sauce. I think that's unique. We haven't strayed very far from the British. We say condo. Short for condominium, which is a small aprtment house but a little bigger than a standard apartment. That's all i can think of. We aren't necessarily strict about word usage

[pooper89]

I haven't been to another English speaking country so it's hard for me to answer. We don't call it a 'handy' or a 'mobile.' we just call it a 'phone.'

[Winter_Storm_Guy]

Where i live in Southwestern Pennsylvania in the United States
We use words such as :
Nebby - A person who wants to know all your business

Youns - What are you all doing later tonight
What are youns doing tonight

Weed the good from the bad- Choose
good friends over the bad friends

[OrdinaryGentleman]

Mmmm well im from the US but hawaii is vastly different.
Ohana-Family
Pau-done like we pau with work

Hawaiian Word English Translation
Aloha au ia 'oe I love you
Aloha kakahiaka Good morning
Aloha nui loa Very much love
'A'ole pilikia No problem, no trouble.