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The fantastically talented Hugh Laurie (Dr House) paid a house call to Ellen, and they played an exciting game of American slang versus English slang -- and the game was bloody brilliant!
- Now, I’m gonna give you some slangs, some American slang. We’re gonna take turns, we'll see how much you know and how much I know.
- OK.
- OK? The first one I’m gonna give you is flossing. Do you know what flossing means?
- You mean actually flossing?
- No! It's slang.
- It’s slang.
- I...you... I mean, You do know what actual flossing is.
- I know. I know the American’s opinion of British dental practice. But yes, I do know what that is.
- Flossing.
- That would be something close-fitting and...uh… no. I know. I don’t know…
- No. Oh, there was...
- That would be...
- That was to really show you how wrong you were!
- Wait. That’s kind of rubbing it in, that's sort of aggressive.
- Yeah, really, it was aggressive. I’m sorry, 'cause I could’ve just say no. But we just... in America we like to really rub it in.
- With a Claxon!
- Ah, it’s showing off, flossing.
- Really?
- Yeah, showing off is flossing!
- OK.
- Yes!
- All right! What sound does it make when you’re right? It’s a... it's buzz...
- Ding! Like that! Yea. Which is... it's probably a different sound in England.
- It is, yeah. Well, whatever right’s in England…
- Shin Wag! shin wag! ++++ say again.
- Shin Wag?
- Yeah!
- That would be… uh.. uh.. a blundering idiot! A shin wag. You shin wag! No?
- No! It's... it’s actually, it's... it's a verb, and it means to chat, literally to-to wag your chin. It's actually very literal... it’s not very...
- Shin wag!
- Chin, chin, chin wag. Did I mispronounce it?
- I think that’s why... I would’ve never gotten it wrong.
- Oooh….
- I just couldn’t understand the thick British accent.
- Should we look at that in slow motion?
- Yeah. chin wag, of course!
- Yes.
- That does sound like.., all right!
- So we’re tied?
- Yes! Tied at nothing.
- Ba-donka-donk!
- Means to pass someone on a motorcycle and then see a police car and brake suddenly, right?... No.
- It’s an extremely curvaceous female behind.
- Right!
- Ba-donka-donk!
- Right. We definitively don’t have those in ++++.
- You don’t have?
- No, Is it Ba...Ba-donk-…. Ba-donka-donk!
- Ba-donka-donk.
- It’s a fantastic word!
- Ain't it great? You'll use it from now on! … I enjoy your Ba-donka-donk, honey! All right?
- That’s fantastic.
- Shuffed to bits!
- Chuft...?
- Shuffed to bits.
- Shuft to bits.
- Chuffed.
- Chuffed.
- Yeah.
- Like "chin"?
- Yes, if you like...
- Chuffed to bits.
- Yeah.
- Oh, just exhausted!
- No, no! It’s-it's to be really pleased, to be really pleased by..., to be thrilled by something. I’m chuffed to bits!
- That’s what I meant.
- I’m really delight by...
- Fine.
- Chuffed to bits by...
- Alright.
- I would be chuffed to bits by your ba-donka-donk, for example.
- Yes… we’re gonna end on this one because everyone has learned this watching the show cause I’ve helped them.
- Shawty.
- Shawdy?
- Shawty.
- Uh...
- Shawty. Shawty had them Apple Bottom jeans, boots with the fur.
- Uhm...
- Shawty had them baggy sweat pants, Reeboks with the straps... turn around and give them…
- Is this all one word?
- Shawty.
- Right.
- She hit the floor, she hit the floor…
- Yeah, none of this is helping!
- Shawty got low low low low...
- No. I'm not gonna...
- Shawty is a young kid or a woman.
- Really?
- Yep
- I wouldn't know.
- No.
SLANG= Extremely colloquial language used only by certain groups of people (like teenagers, gangsters, etc.)
FLOSSING= The act of using a thread covered with wax (called "dental floss) to clean the in-between parts of your teeth.
ACTUALLY= Real, literal.
CLOSE-FITTING= Tight.
RUBBING IT IN= If you rub something in, you tell someone about their mistakes or defects in a very obvious, direct and probably repeatedly manner.
SHOWING OFF= When you show off, you say or do something to impress someone else.
BLUNDERING= Who makes mistakes.
YOU SHIN WAG!= It is very common in English to insult somebody using "YOU + noun", for example: "shut up, you idiot!". It makes the insult sound stronger. (He is mispronouncing the word "chin" and saying "chin", probably because he's pretending to put on an exaggerated British accent)
WAG= To move something from side to side, like a dog wagging its tale when it's happy.
CHIN= The lowest part of your face, under your mouth.
CHAT= Talk to someone in a casual relaxed conversation.
MISPRONOUNCE= Pronounce wrongly.
GOTTEN= AmE: got-got-gotten / BrE: got-got-got (but still, American people say "I've got" when it means "I have", though they can say "I've gotten" when they mean "I have obtained").
- I would have never gotten it wrong= I would have said the correct answer. If you get something wrong, you make a mistake or you get the wrong idea.
WE'RE TIED?= In a competition, "a tie" is when both teams have the same score, so no one is winning.
BRAKE= If you are driving or riding a motorbike and you brake, you reduce speed or stop your vehicle.
CURVACEOUS= (formal) With a lot of curves.
BEHIND= (euphemism) Bottom. The part of your body where you sit. The end of your back. The part where your back suddenly loses its decent name :)
THRILLED= Very excited.
FINE= OK.
SHAWTY= (AmE slang) Also spelled "Shorty" because this word originally comes from American black English, and American blacks don't pronounce the R if it's not followed by a vowel (the same as British), but if white American people read "shorty" they would pronounce the R, so now it's more common to spell it "shawty" so that blacks and whites alike pronounce it in the same way.
Ellen is trying to help by singing bits from the song "Apple Bottom Jeans".
YEP= (coll.) Yes.
Official → Cool
