Americanisms that might seem strange to us

[countessalmirena]

There’s a thread in the Seller Discussion Board about new wording sent to sellers to inform them of a sale. It’s now “You made the sale for [$xxxx]”.

That’s quite bizarre wording; as has been mentioned in that thread, it doesn’t seem natural, and not the way that an Australian would express himself/herself.

What other US wording or expressions just seem a little odd to Australians?

(Of course, some of our Australianisms are equally odd to Americans…)

1. “I’ll fix you a meal.” (To me, this seems to be an admission that the steak is charcoal, the eggs are rubbery, the potatoes are burned, the sauce has separated, and the soufflé has collapsed… and the unfortunate cook is going to attempt a culinary repair.)

[papermoon.lady]

Now, this is funny, but there are also Aussie expressions *they* don't like. Once I heard an au pair girl say her American family was furious when she called the kids "little b*uggers". 😂🤣😂

[countessalmirena]

I can see the literal meaning being non-child-friendly…

2. “I could care less.” It actually doesn’t make sense as it’s supposed to mean its literal opposite.

[springyzone]

Bingo, Countess! (You were keen for me to use that word & it just popped into my head as very appropriate.😁)

That one has been grating me lately. It literally means they care more, they haven't hit rock bottom in the caring stakes.

Many years ago, I had an American penpal (they were a thing back in the 1960s when I was young and we started writing) visit me. I asked if they would like to eat some bananas as if we left them too many days, they would go off.

To them, it meant explode.

They didn't know where the boot was in a car either.

And I have just discovered really that they don't refer to time off as holidays, to them it is vacation.

[springyzone]

Oh and this thread reminds me of years ago when I was on an English board. It also had quite a few Australians and a resident Texan. I hesitate to call him typical American as he a bit of a character but good value.

We all absorbed a lot over the years in the way of different expressions, almost without realising it.

But one that shocked the Texan was when I talked about changing nappies on a baby and he said that was very racist and would get me in trouble in USA.

[papermoon.lady]

Yes, Countess and Springy. It really does not make sense. It literally means "I could care less because I care too much, and this is really affecting me". 🙄🤔😂

[papermoon.lady]

Wow, Springy. I had to look up why this would be considered racist in the USA. 😮

Just copied and pasted:

Nappy's history is tangled up in the arrival of the first slave ships on the coastlines of the Americas in the 17th century. The likely origin of the term is the word nap, which was used to describe the frizzled threads raising from a piece of fabric.

[twyngwyn]

Where does this stuff come from???

[papermoon.lady]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4959318/Hilarious-Australian-slag-sheet-confuses-tourists.h...

[springyzone]

Apart from the first one in your list, the rest are all a bit strange. Would confuse even the average Aussie.