Does your country have any slang that has different meanings in different parts of the country?

16 comments

1. In my region (even in my city) we have words used only by us. But no words come to my mind that have one meaning here and other meaning in other parts of the country.

2. Seems pretty much the same as our “scunnerd”/”scunnert”. We use the non-Belfast definition.

   The word “chib” is generally used to refer to an improvised stabby object (so much the same as the American “shiv”) but in Falkirk it’s a blunt object.

3. Not within one country, but in the Netherlands ‘poepen’ means taking a shit while in Belgium it means fucking. Can be pretty confusing in certain situations…

4. Quite a few. In my region for example “ancora” (meaning *again* in Italian) means “just in case”. In Abruzzo “cimentare” (meaning *put to the test* in Italian) means *to bother*. In Trieste “volentieri” (meaning *gladly*, *with pleasure* in Italian) means “No, I’m sorry”.

   These are the first coming to my mind.

5. I know that the Bavarian word “Fotzn” means “a slap in the face” while in the rest of Germany “Fotze” basically means “cunt”.

6. “Kehdata” means “dare” as in “I dare not do that” but it also has this meaning of sort of propriety being broken. Like “I don’t dare walk around naked in my home”. This is the meaning in most of Finland.

   In Eastern Finland, however, it means more like “be bothered”. Like “I can’t be bothered to do that”. So when my cousin told me she doesn’t “kehtaa” get a bag for our groceries, I was so confused, like what is there to dare about getting a grocery bag?? But turns out she meant she can’t be bothered to do it.

7. In Skåne balle/ballarna means ass cheek/ass cheeks (like in denmark) but for some reason in the rest of Sweden there’s a difference what it means in singular and plural.

   *Balle* means dick but the plural *ballarna* means the testicles. weird.

   Also *grina* could mean either cry or laugh, also here I think in denmark means the same as in some parts of sweden and the rest it means pretty much the opposite

8. Feek can mean fuck or kiss depending on where you are, or even just who you ask. It makes for some awkward misunderstandings.

9. Unfortunately, I can’t think of any such words within Switzerland, especially no funny ones. But between Swiss and German, there are countless hilarious, false friends. I found a Swiss [newspaper article](https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/kann-ich-euch-beim-stuhlen-helfen-810891338659) that collected a lot of funny, real-life examples from the newspaper’s readership (confusing misunderstandings between Germans and Swiss in everyday life). Here are a few examples:

   – At a Monday morning meeting at a large, international company. Roughly half of the people present are Germans, the others are Swiss. One of the German employees is late and apologizes for his delay. One of his Swiss colleagues asks nonchalantly: “Hattest du Verkehr?” The German guy makes a very confused expression. The Swiss colleague asked whether there was a lot of traffic but in German, the way it was formulated it sounds like: “Did you have intercourse?” While the German guy is still confused, another Swiss colleagues asks: “Ah ja, war es wieder ein Puff?” In Swiss, the word “Puff” means mess or chaos. So he meant to ask if the traffic situation was chaotic again. But in German, “Puff” means brothel, so the questions sounds like: “Was it a brothel again?” Now the German guy is even more confused and before he can come up with an answer, the leader of the meeting, who is also Swiss, says: “Okay guys, let’s settle down everyone, we still have this problem from last week and we really need a final solution.” All the Germans make a shocked face while the Swiss don’t seem to be moved at all. Turns out, in Switzerland, “Endlösung” (final solution) really just means that, a real or permanent solution to a problem. In Germany, it’s a word you’re well advised to not ever use unless you’re talking about the holocaust.

   – During the morning round at a Swiss hospital, a Swiss nurse says to the German head physician: “Der Urin von Herrn X schmeckt etwas komisch heute.” The doctor gives her a confused stare. In Switzerland, the verb “schmecken” means both “to smell” and “to taste”. In German, schmecken exclusively refers to taste (“riechen” = “to smell”). So the nurse meant to say Mr. X’s urine smells a bit weird that day but to the doctor it sounded as though she actually drank it.

   – During an office meeting, a Swiss woman tells her German colleague that a document she sent him has a lot of “Beilagen”. He asks: “Peas or carrots?” After some back and forth, it is resolved that “Beilagen” in Switzerland mean attachments (to an email) but in Germany it means side dishes (in a meal). The German colleague explains that “attachments” are not “Beilagen” in Germany but “Anlagen”. Now a different Swiss colleague speaks up and says: “Well, since there are a lot of them, you should get quite rich!” In Switzerland, “Anlagen” are not attachments but rather financial assets such as stocks and bonds.

   – At a parent-teacher meeting, the German preschool teacher complains to a Swiss couple that their son uses really inappropriate language. She says he talks about “ficken” (fuck) and justifies his word choice by saying his parents talk like that, too. It later turns out that the teacher wanted the boy to clean up a mess on the floor and told him to kneel down to do this. The boy refused to kneel down, saying his pants would get “duregfiggt” (durchgefickt). In German, this is a very vulgar term, meaning roughly “get fucked hard” (in a clearly sexual sense). In Swiss, it also refers to the action of rubbing off/ripping holes into a fabric, though.

   – A German guy who visits his friend in Switzerland stares at the pedestrian walk, where it says in big letters on the street: “Warte. Luege. Lose.” In Swiss, this means “wait, look, listen” (what we teach our kids). In German, though, “luege” sounds like “lie” and “Lose” sounds like lots (lottery tickets etc.). He says to his Swiss friend: “I get the waiting part but why on Earth do I need to lie but what kind of lots are they talking about?!”

   – At a hospital, a Swiss nurse asks an old lady: “Woher haben Sie diese Möse??” Her German colleague gets a bit shocked. She later finds out that the word “Möse” has very different meanings. The Swiss nurse asked: “How did you get these bruises?” but in German it sounds like: “Where did you get this pussy?”

   And finally, now that I’ve written down all these examples, I can even think of a Swiss-exclusive one: In Zurich, the word “bölle” means onions. In the rest of Switzerland, it means balls (soccer balls etc.)

10. I can’t think of any words with two different meaning in different regions, although a lot of words have a different meaning in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries

11. Since the swedish, danish and norwegian language is almost equal, I take the freedom with a word that has different meaning in sweden, denmark and norway..

    Bärs = Beer (swedish)
    Bæsj = Poo (norwegian) (sounds equal when spoken, though different spelling)

    Bolle = to have sex/fuck (danish)
    Bolle = Bun (norwegian)

    There is a place in norway called “bolle-land” (land = country).. Gave some laughter for the [danes](https://ekstrabladet.dk/ferie/rejsetips/article4752583.ece).. Of course the newspaper put it under “holiday tips”.

12. Dont know about slang but people on mainland say “ei kõlba süüa” – unfit for eating/food gone bad.

    On the islands they say “ei aita süüa” – it doesnt help to eat. One understands it but it feels… as a deliberate language modification. 😀

13. The word patat. In the south it’s used properly, and it’s just a potato. In the north they decided that they should call fries patat.

    I also have a regional one: Neuken. In most of the country it just means to fuck. Where I grew up it means to throw or fall.

14. In the north, “kjerring” means wife.

    In the south, “kjerring” used to mean wife, but now means an old woman, a crone.

    In the south it’s also not unusual to use kjerring the same way you’d use “bitch”.

15. Pull: generally means kiss in Scotland, means seggs in England

16. Scunnered in Scots always means “fed up”.

    The one where we’ve had fun with Irish people is “giving out”, which means “to berate” in Ireland, but is understood as a synonym for “putting out” i.e. “willing to have sex” here.