Well, Virgil's thoroughly confused now..... Don't worry about it too much; the rhyming slang experts can talk for ages with nobody else able to understand a "dickie bird" (word).

WireWrestler:
I've only ever been through Lancashire a couple of times. It's northern England, where most of the poeple don't speak real English! (No kidding folks: With some of the "accents" up there, us southerners should take an interpreter with us!) The local accents from Newcastle, Glasgow (Scotland) and Belfast (N. Ireland) are also impossible to understand.

Seriously though, just imagine some of the problems that could arise through someone not realizing certain differences in terminology, like going to the wrong floor in a building.

Another example: You might hear a British mother telling a young child to "Stay on the pavement." Just think what could happen if that was said in all innocence to an American kid. Most people here know that what they call the pavement is a sidewalk in America, but very few of them are aware of the American usage of "pavement."

I'll always remember explaining the food terminology to a girl of about 13 down in Tifton, Ga. She looked kind of puzzled, and said [Southern Drawl], "Gee, I thought y'all spoke English over there!"

Had some good fun brewing up sugar cane down there as well. [Linked Image]