UK English

Ok, well....

"Funnily enough" is an ironic prefix...
"I fell pregnant" comes from the old fashioned notion that pregnancy is a sin, and getting pregnant makes you "fall" (Like the "Fall" of Eden).
"Whilst". This word from hell has survived too many language reforms.
"mum". Same as "mom" but in the UK we spell it how it sounds.
"was out at a do". A do is a party or a social gathering. Used A LOT in UK English, i.e, "Oh hi! Didn't we meet at Sheila's do last Xmas?" or "They're having a do down at No.15.."

So the sentence "translated" would be....

"Ironically/As it happens, I became pregnant while my mother was out at a party/social gathering"

Any US English sentences which would wash over the head of a British person????

I've heard that some threads on ILM can be fairly inpenetrable to UKers.

What I mean is, "funnily enough" /= "ironically". Isn't it more "coincidentally"? Or just, er, funnily (in a "strangely" way, as opposed to "hilariously"). It makes enough sense on its own anyway doesn't it?

xpost

I don't agree with JTS about the origins of "fall pregnant". I don't think it has anything to do with sin and the Fall. How can pregnancy be sinful? Adulterous pregnancy, maybe, but not pregnancy in general.

I think that in "fall pregnant" and "fall ill" the word "fall" is a form of the verb "befall" - as in whatever befalls you, ie whatever happens to you.

"piles" is not used as a term for "haemmeroids"in the US and "made redundant" isn't used to refer to when someone gets told be their employer that their services are no longer required. "Redundant" can only refer to an object in the US AFAIK.

I remember Kim Deal being interviewed by Gary Crowley in the early nineties and Crowley made some comment about the "Pixies going from strength to strength" and Deal didn't know what he meant.

I always thought "Funnily enough" could denote irony though, something like "The store had a security system. Funnily enough the day it wasn't working they had a burglary", and I think the context of that quote from Eastenders was "Mum tried her best to protect me, funnily enough I fell pregnant whilst she was out at a do" (or something like that). Is that irony?

And it was Kat Slater who said it, for the benefit of Eastneders fans reading this.....Considering she has a broad cockney accent and doesn't pronounce her Ts and pronounces her Ls like the French do (as in "famille"), and is also drunk 95% of the time, no wonder my girlfirend couldn't understand....

That doesn't seem ironic to me, more, er, opportunistic? Are we straying into Alanis Morrisette territory here?

On her gravestone maybe she'll have "Oooh, I died. How ironic!"

Did I mention that Kat was supposed to be 13 when she got pregnant, by her pervert uncle, and the person she was confessing this to, was the daughter resulting from the pregnancy (!!). You're right, it is hideously bad writing and the storylines get worse and worse... (not from "stength to strength".... LOL)

Yeah exactly, Tracer. Look at you, oversexed, overpaid and over here.

UH???

If you *could* care less, then you care at least a little bit, sort of defeating the point of the phrase, no?

In the US we spell it how it sounds, too. Rhymes with "bomb."

A friend of mine who lives in the US says she causes some surprise with her constant use of the word "fortnight". Apparently it's not a partivualrly commonly used word. It may be known but rarely used. In the uk everyone pretty much says fortnight all the time and "two weeks" not so much.

Also everyone in my family would use "fall pregnant"/ "fell pregnant".

think that in "fall pregnant" and "fall ill" the word "fall" is a form of the verb "befall" - as in whatever befalls you, ie whatever happens to you.

befall/befell itself has mainly negative connotations so im sure J_T_H was pretty OTM in his first coment. whatever befalls you doesnt really mean whatever happens to you but whatever bad thing that happens to you, no?

SYLLABICATION:
be·fall

PRONUNCIATION:
  b-fôl

VERB:
Inflected forms: be·fell (-fl), be·fall·en (-fôln), be·fall·ing, be·falls

INTRANSITIVE VERB:
To come to pass; happen.

TRANSITIVE VERB:
To happen to. See synonyms at happen.

ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English bifallen, from Old English befeallan, to fall.

I find it strange how Americans say "I could care less" instead of "I couldn't..."

If you *could* care less, then you care at least a little bit, sort of defeating the point of the phrase, no?

I'm actually glad to hear this brought up. Speaking as an American, I remember trying to understand this phrase as a child, and this paradox made me very confused.

OK, I know I'm not an English speaker and I always laugh at the BBC's use of "more soon!" in the scrolling headlines thing (as in "200 dead - more soon!" (woohoo!), but I'm really not convinced that "satisfied" is the best choice here.

What you say?

The former is definitely not right -- I've heard "piles" used in that manner countless times. (Well, not countless, but you know.) And I'm certain I've heard the latter a few times, at least in that annoying business-buzzphrase way (along with "repurpose" and the annoying non-technical use of "bandwidth").

A lot of value-neutral words have gotten turned around like that. Cf "awesome" and "terrific," which should have much more distinct meanings than the superlative/"good" category we put them in. "Satisfied" still carries that whole "sufficient" meaning in a lot of our usage, but it's collapsing into meaning "sufficiently pleasing to me," which it shouldn't, necessarily.

It's also a popular dueling word!

What figure of speech do I use in English to describe someone who is under scrutiny, receiving criticism (whether justified or not) or who has bad luck several times in a short space of time?

Ie. in Dutch we say someone like that is "in the damned corner", or "the corner where the punches are being dealt". Is there an English equivalent for this?

you can be "dogged by misfortune" or if there's a more active campaign of criticism you might be being "hounded" by the Press etc.

something like that?

a boxing analogy like the Dutch one might be "on the ropes"?

maybe 'behind the eight ball'? (NB I like this expression but have never heard it used in real life)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_pool#.22Behind_the_eight_ball.22

'under the cosh'?

Thanks for the suggestions! Daphnis, I think 'hounded' is a bit too strong, too active. What I mean more is someone you might feel sorry for, like : boy, he's really getting his share lately.

I love under the cosh! Good one!

Beleaguered?

'in the shit'

fucked in the butthole

I considered beleaguered but it's a bit too strong, too forceful, 'under attack'-like. While it should contain a tad bit of empathy, or at least be neutral, if that makes sense?

xxp

reduced to idly giving phrases away for free on the internet

heart u for it mattress <3

UK English shd be "fucked in the bumhole" shurely?

I'd say "can't catch a break" but that may not be operative in UK English.

i suppose 'having a rough time' would be the boring answer

could talk about people waiting for them to slip up or being under the microscope, perhaps. there's room for a better phrase for this.

"(drinking) in the Last Chance Saloon"?

being put through the wringer?

Can't catch a break a bit too general, and having a rough time - while true - indeed a bit boring.

Under the cosh feels right, that pretty much nails what I meant. Put through the wringer sounds like the Bukowski version of it, but could still apply.

Ps you are all great, ilx delivers when needed so <3's to all of you

sounds lime he's having a cuntish time

Cosh may refer to:

Hyperbolic cosine, a mathematical function with notation cosh(x)
A type of blunt weapon
Slang for chlorpromazine, an antipsychotic drug
Harry and Cosh, a British children's television series
Cosh Boy, a 1953 British film
Chrome OS Shell
People
Chris Cosh (born 1959), American football coach
Colby Cosh (born 1971), Canadian writer
John Cosh (1915–2005), British rheumatologist
See also[edit]
COSHH, Control of Substances Hazardous to Health, a set of UK regulations

uk version of put through the wringer would be 'been through the mill'