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so, i stumbled on about some escaped chipmunks in the UK (ht to dave barry). and, um, i’m a bit confused about this line, referring to the missing furballs of death:
They are also known to scoff chicks and birds’ eggs.
maybe they meant scarf, as in eat? but the image of four renegade british chipmunks scoffing chicks and birds’ eggs — well, that has “the newest animated disney movie” written all over it.
chester (chipmunk #1, the tough one): ‘ey, blokes, look… chicks!
niles (chip #2, the follower): yeah, let’s scoff ‘em!
alfred (chip #3, the smart one — can you picture his tiny bow tie?): wait, chaps, are we supposed to scoff chicks, as in baby chickens? or are we supposed to scoff chicks, as in stylish human females?
simon (chip #4, the clueless one — all male foursomes in movies have one clueless one): i want tea?
the possibilities are just about endless. does posting this on my blog constitute my copyright of this cash-magnet of a script nexus?
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Two countries seperated by the same language! Scoff is slang for “eat” and Chicks tends to refer more to birds than girls in the UK. I hadn’t realised how different our vocabulary was until we had a friend from your side of the pond staying and at points in the conversation there would be complete misunderstanding. I remember said friend saying,
“Woaa, What’s a bloke and what does whinging mean?”
Still, you have the word “Discombobulate” (have I got that right?) which covers this level of misunderstanding well I think
Comment by Youthblog 11.29.05 @ 6:09 amAnd now Alvin and the Chipmunks sing the music of the David Crowder Band!
or better yet
David Crowder Band sings the music of Alvin and the Chipmunks.
Comment by steve 11.29.05 @ 6:18 amah, thanks for the clarification, youthblog. on my many, many trips to the UK, that’s not one i’d heard. so, do you use “scoff” to mean “make fun of, to look down on” also, as we do?
Comment by marko 11.29.05 @ 11:04 amHey,
Yes you can also scoff at things! It’s also worth noting that slang in the UK varies ENORMOUSLY depending on which bit of the country you are in.
I think someone once found over 30 different expressions for bunking off school for the day.
“bunking off school”! ha. i get the idea — but to us that sounds like something involving bunk-beds! we say “skipping school”.
Comment by marko 11.29.05 @ 2:54 pmWe used ‘wagging it’ for staying off school
and I just loved the ‘Im going outside for a fag’ misunderstanding when used in the states
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this is why curse of the were-rabbitt did not travel well across the pond
Comment by bob 11.29.05 @ 12:41 am