Whenever I hear someone say "X% of people die of Y, and that is terrible" I always think: So, what do you want those people to die of then?

Actually, I was given to understand that "fanny" is far more vulgar than "vagina," which is a clinical term. If I understand correctly, the Brits use "fanny" the way Americans use, um, er . . .

the c-word.

Bill

Ha... I wonder what Fannie Flagg would have to say about that...

There is a word in Spanish for condom which is similar to the French word you used. But, they also use condon, at least in this region.

brn: Whenever I hear someone say "X% of people die of Y, and that is terrible" I always think: So, what do you want those people to die of then?

Old age?

Your statement makes me think of a sagacious observation made by the philosopher of the age, Archie Bunker, offering his profound insight on the subject of gun control.

This reminds me of a review a woman left for "The Secret Garden" at Amazon. She was appalled that the term "queer" was used, and none of the comments reminding her that in the late 1800's/early 1900's, the word was innocent and not used as an epithet would persuade her that it was really a cute book for little kids to read. "I won't give this author any more of my money!"

So I wonder what Brits think of us when we talk about fanny packs?

They must think we shove our wallets and cell phones into cute little cunts, conveniently wrapped around our waists like some kind of Silence of the Lambs pervert exhibitionists.

My grandmother immigrated from Germany and she screwed up a lot of phrases. Of course I can't think of them right now. But I grew up saying a lot of things that were just a little bit "off". I was 23 when I realized it was "play it by ear" not "year".

"Two countries separated by a common language".

"So I wonder what Brits think of us when we talk about fanny packs?"

Same thing I think of when I see a guy wearing one: Pussy.
Remember back in , like, '88 when they were cool?

fanny packs? You mean bum bags. And no, I don't ever remember them being cool...maybe some place other than the US.

I think most all of them know the american use of fanny and fagot (fag for short). I believe fagot has the dual meaning.

When I was on tour last year, there was a group of uptight American women. One morning one of the British guys is saying how much he had enjoyed a fagot the night before. There was nothing like a fagot to help you get to sleep, etc. He was clearly playing on the double meaning and the Americans were freaking out. The guide explained the double meaning to them.

It's been a long time, but wasn't fag used in TOM BROWN'S SCHOOL DAYS to describe a younger kid who had to run errands for an older kid?

Saw this on Learn From My Fail today:

"If the majority of your Halls of Residence neighbours are not-British, do not go to door to door asking for a rubber*, you’ll get disgusted looks from the girls and cheesy jealous grins from the boys.
*Rubber = Eraser #LFMF"

http://tinyurl.com/237dl2o

"They must think we shove our wallets and cell phones into cute little cunts,..."

I've seen fanny packs that do sort of look like one. Except that they're purple.

"Fag", as in cigarettes in Great Britain, is precisely where the derogatory term "fag" comes from. The idea is "real men" smoke cigars, "prissy men" smoke fags.

I once heard a comment about how in Britain it would not be a good idea to comment about women not wearing "pants" (as opposed to skirts). In Britain the meaning is underwear.

About the meaning of fag we get from Wikipedia

Fagging was a traditional educational practice in British boarding private schools (nearly all "public schools" in the English sense) and also many other boarding schools, whereby younger pupils were required to some extent to act as personal servants to the most senior boys. While domestic servants were common in family households, the custom reflected household task distribution and taught pupils about service from both ends of the relationship.

Whenever I see the phrase "the probability of death went up" or something similar, it always makes me think "more than 100%?". Many people forget to add the appropriate qualifier.

Old age?

People don't die of old age. People die of something they've lived long enough to acquire.

I've got a nurse in the family who once reported this gem of "duh"ness: If men didn't die of anything else, they'd all die from prostate cancer.

So what would you rather have people die from?