Was there a joke?
Oui.
Was there urine?
Wee.
Was there a lot of it?
A wee bit.
Did it end up in my nintendo?
Wii.
Are we having fun?
Whee!
Were there pigs?
OOUIIIIIEEEEE
I know what you meant, however I also knew you were a filthy Eurapeein
I think its most commonly ascribed to scots as a stereotype.
It’s not a stereotype though.
My colleagues at work take amusement whenever I use the word to describe something small.
Just because it's a stereotype doesn't mean it's not true, hector
Same way you're unlikely to find someone using the word bairn elsewhere.
I beg to differ!I have literally never heard "draining the lizard" before. That must be a strictly aussey thing.
Nope! Used to be/is quite popular in parts of the US as well!
Norway's got a couple odd ones, such as "Slå lens"... So, what does "Slå lens" mean? Well, "Slå" is the verb to hit/to strike something, or the noun for basic military tattoo like marching in time/turning/standing to attention. It's also the verb to pitch something, in the sense of pitching a tent/pitching camp.
"Lens" is an archaic word derived from feudal times, where "Len" was a lease of land from a fiefholder to someone who would manage the fief and its holdings more directly, so that the fief's actual owner could focus on more important aspects. A "Lensmann" was someone the fiefholder trusted enough to give administrative control of the fief over to. The phrase "Lensmann" has since been used to refer to various government employee positions, and has in modern times mostly been relegated to being yet another name for policemen.
So, is the phrase "Slå lens" related to staking one's claim to a property? Sticking it to "the man"?
Absolutely fucking not. It's a nautical term meaning to pump out the bilgewater from a boat.
Kagus, those words are not related in any way --
lens as in "
lensvann" (just supposing what the Norwegian word might be here)/bilgewater comes from Dutch via sailor trade lingo/pidgin. It's not related to the "
len" that means land, as in "
lensmann", at least not directly. The original Dutch might have some connection to their word for land for all I know (but if I were to hazard a guess I'd say it's connected to their word for "along" since
lens-wind means wind that comes directly from behind, blowing along the sides of the ship) but it's usage in Norwegian sailor speak is separate.
We have it in Swedish too, as "
läns(-vatten)". You can tell the difference just from how in the meaning of land,
lens/läns is the possessive form of
len/län, whereas in the meanig of bilgewater, the s at the end of
lens/läns is not possessive, it's the base form of the noun.