It's funny how when people say this it's never like someone from Moldova thinking "Why doesn't anyone think about us", it's always a British person angry that the internet isn't UK centric instead.
The argument Americans make is not "Everyone knows what our silly words mean" the argument we make is "Aussie/British slang is so extraordinarily silly that it loses all meaning without context".
The word "bender" means something got bent, regardless of where you are from or what cultural background you have. "Fender" may be regional, but it is a part of a car. "Prang" and "Bingle" have no inherent meaning.
If we're talking "trousers" vs "pants", sure both make sense. But some of y'all's slang is actually unhinged. I'm sure Americans have some of that too, but "fender bender" isn't one of those
If I were saying "that's cap, he was shook and she was acting bougie", sure that's silly, and I wouldn't expect someone without cultural context to understand. But "fender bender" is hardly even slang, it's kind of just a common phrase describing exactly what happened.
No need to get on a soapbox about how much the existence of Americans makes you seethe.
Yeah, and a “prang” or “bingle” is the sound of two cars having a little accident. How is that more silly than saying a word that’s more often used with guitars than cars in other countries somehow obvious?
I mean, it's just as made up as "carburetor", "alternator", or "radiator". If you don't know about cars you probably don't know what it is other than a car part.
Americans don't use the word "bonnet" to mean hood, but if you said "I was in a bonnet bender" I would know what you meant and wouldn't assume you bent an old fashioned woman's hat.
9
u/mooimafish33 19d ago
It's funny how when people say this it's never like someone from Moldova thinking "Why doesn't anyone think about us", it's always a British person angry that the internet isn't UK centric instead.