Ski Terminology Translation thread

I thought maybe a bit of help for us "Queens English" challenged Americans over here

1st: I Googled "piste" found that means "Trail".

2nd: Wanderer said "I practically started a row on the forum last year" I don't know if "row" is a typo or means something like "riot". Over here "row" means "to row a boat" or "place objects in a row"

3rd: "Credit Crunch Caution - or Sod It I'm going skiing?" I would guess "sod it" means something like "screw it", but I am just guessing.

I watch enough Red Dwarf to know what "Git" and "Smeg Head" mean but I need a little help for some of the rest

Thanks,
Brad

I read somewhere that Brits have about 1/3 greater "in use" vocabulary than Americans. It certainly seemed that way when I moved to the US. I often used a word that was not understood, but was in Webster's. It was often a more specific term, where in the US, a more generic word would be used.

The hardest US grammatical error to overcome was the use of the word "bring". Bring is used for the word "take" as well and so looses it's location specific meaning. Someone might say "can you bring this", meaning "can you take this". I was left wondering, do they mean take something there or bring something here.

Sorry, got into a little rant there , back to skiing

When it comes to Euro ski jargon, I'm in the same boat as Brad. I learned to ski and board in the US. Much harder to understand than the jargon, is the fundemental concept of skiing in the Alps. Normally in the US, a resort is a confined area and skiing between resorts is rare.

Trencher

brad1138 wrote:

I watch enough Red Dwarf to know what "Git" and "Smeg Head" mean but I need a little help for some of the rest

Thanks,
Brad 

Hehe, you may recognise my signature then!

brad1138 wrote:

I thought maybe a bit of help for us "Queens English" challenged Americans over here

1st: I Googled "piste" found that means "Trail".

2nd: Wanderer said "I practically started a row on the forum last year" I don't know if "row" is a typo or means something like "riot". Over here "row" means "to row a boat" or "place objects in a row"

3rd: "Credit Crunch Caution - or Sod It I'm going skiing?" I would guess "sod it" means something like "screw it", but I am just guessing.

I watch enough Red Dwarf to know what "Git" and "Smeg Head" mean but I need a little help for some of the rest

Thanks,
Brad 

Oh dear....brings to mind the phrase "Lost in Translation"

1. Yes, a piste is a trail.
2. A row, is an argument, which may be between 2 or more folks and may be virtual or face to face.
3. Sod it! To me this means, regardless of the dire situation I'm in, or the crisis looming in my life I'm still going to do (it)....., or
I dropped my lunch on the floor....sod it!..or
My laptop has finally died...sod it, I'll have to buy another.

Hmmm, a Red Dwarf fan. Do you get Mutton Vindaloo take away's (to go) in the US

Ah Trencher......you are missing out. Fancy being confined to resort area "in bounds" off piste. I have skied in the US and went OP at Jackson Hole, through a little gate Very tame, a little bit theme park.

Europe does it a little differently Mostly all we get is a sign saying OP at your own risk. Occasionally the sign will be replaced with one to indicate danger of imminent death if you go beyond it We are expected to make our own judgements, it makes the gene pool stronger.

tino_11 wrote:

brad1138 wrote:

I watch enough Red Dwarf to know what "Git" and "Smeg Head" mean but I need a little help for some of the rest

Thanks,
Brad 

Hehe, you may recognise my signature then! 

Yes I do, just watched that episode last week. Love that show. You can only see it on PBS (Public Broadcasting System) Thats the best/only channel for older British comedy such as Monty Python (yes we still watch that over here), Faulty Towers, and the like. While I am on the subject, one other show I loved and haven't seen in 20+ years was "The Young Ones" That was a funny show, to bad it only lasted 2 seasons.

About the Vindaloo, (just watched the "Chicken Vindaloo" altered DNA monster episode last night) I know it is a food, no I don't think you could get it over here if you tried, but I figure it has some satirical meaning over there that is a bit lost on us (at least me). Maybe it is a bit of a joke food like "spam" or something.

Brad

brad1138. A Chicken Vindaloo is a curry. A very hot curry. The normal process followed by a northern english male on a Friday night used to be.....

Go out for at least 10 pints of beer, then.....

Stagger round to a curry house on the high street to get a takeaway, because all that drinking made you really hungry, then......

Order the hottest curry on the menu, after a dare from your mates, then.....

Fall asleep face first in the curry. Wake up eventually with no recollection of buying the curry, and try and get the dog to eat it

It does qualify as food, but as in Red Dwarf, would likely be classed as a life form if only it could shake off the rice

Curry eating requires regular practice!

To try and recover from a huge off topic thread drift....I'm not sure if eating curries is a good thing when skiing

Seriously

You call it a tram....we call it a cable car, or telepherique.

You call it a lift line...we call it a queue (well in europe it more closely resembles a large group of people on a mission to be first)

You call it a surface lift...we call it a T-bar, a Poma or a draglift.

Anyone else want to add to this, please....

bandit wrote:

brad1138. A Chicken Vindaloo is a curry. A very hot curry. The normal process followed by a northern english male on a Friday night used to be.....

Go out for at least 10 pints of beer, then.....

Stagger round to a curry house on the high street to get a takeaway, because all that drinking made you really hungry, then......

Order the hottest curry on the menu, after a dare from your mates, then.....

Fall asleep face first in the curry. Wake up eventually with no recollection of buying the curry, and try and get the dog to eat it

 

Have you been spying on me?

Coming from Newcastle, this made me giggle!

On a similar theme, if you get told your cv looks "interesting", you are not going to get the job.

tino_11 wrote:

Have you been spying on me?

Coming from Newcastle, this made me giggle!

 

So you could add, only wearing a shirt with the sleeves rolled up in mid winter to Bandits "out on a Saturday night" description.

Brad, There are a lot more Indian restaurants in the US now, so give one a try. You'll see why the British are addicted to Indian food.

Also u-tube has a lot of Brit commedy that PBS didn't get. Try searching "Rutland Weekend Television", "The Goodies"

You must have seen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZvG-0Y7GCg

Trencher

I wonder if Tino_11 is a Newcastle Brown Ale drinker. 10 pints of that would see off most blokes

nah, had one here in germany for the first time in 4 years last week!

i am far classier, a bottle or 3 of decent spanish red, a warm fire and a good woman is more my style