this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2023
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[–] [email protected] 29 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Genuinely curious what does fanny mean in Australia

[–] [email protected] 48 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It's slang for 'pussy'. It's the same in the UK.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (3 children)

So question for any language experts: why is it different?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

I'm not an expert, but "cunt" is related to similar Germanic words meaning "arse". Etymonline just says the American "fanny" came from the British: https://www.etymonline.com/word/fanny#etymonline_v_1119

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Because Australia is upside down.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And England, where we got it from?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Who knows why those limey bastards do anything.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Americans are obsessed with being different from England. See: Football / Soccer

There's a Christmas song that became a classic in the US largely because it was hated in England.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The English were the ones that created the term soccer. It grew in popularity in America as soccer, then eventually fell out of popularity in Britain. In fact, a lot of the differences between words in the US and Britain are that Brits started using a different version of the word and Americans kept using the old one. Not all, but a lot.

Source: https://time.com/5335799/soccer-word-origin-england/

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

So one American circa 1776 decided "know what, mate? I think 'fanny' should refer to ass, not pussy"

Why?

"Coz fuck da bri'ish!!"

🍻 🍻 👏🥂

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Sounds like the most American thing I've ever heard.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Same guy also had a hatred for useless letter "u"s.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Nah, that's just Americans being illiterate and obstinate about being corrected.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Naw we're just efficient 😁

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Do Americans spell 'island' with an 's'? Then it has nothing to do with efficiency.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

Well at least saying shove it up your fanny is indicating a similar location in both amarica and Australia

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Wait, what does fanny mean in America?

[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It's a word for butt. It sort of has a childish connotation, like a pre-school teacher might direct their class to "keep your fannys on the ground."

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Only in the US. In Commonwealth countries it's a slang for vulva

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Fanny was a nickname for Frances or Francesca.

Both the "buttocks" and "vulva" meanings may have originated from the scandalous 1748 novel Fanny Hill, or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Yanks get tetchy.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Not just the US. Canada too.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I worked for a UK based fashion retail business and they always found it blushingly charming when I referred to what they called a 'bum bag ' a 'Fanny pack'.

Also, 'Pardon me!' Doesn't mean excuse me in UK English. It's more an excuse for if you do something disgusting that you are ashamed of, like if you fart or burp.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but that was my take away the couple years I worked with British people.