Ghosts UK is heading to CBS and as a big fan of the British series and being British myself, I'm hugely looking forward to seeing what the US makes of the original version which inspired the US remake. (And good news CBS's Ghosts season 3 finally has a premiere date!).
I'm also fascinated to see how it translates because although we share the same language, there are some crucial cultural differences! So I rewatched the first episode of UK Ghosts, which follows the adventures of Alison (Charlotte Ritchie) and Mike (Kiell Smith-Bynoe), and jotted down several words/phrases that I thought might not make much sense to an American viewer. And, after double-checking with an American colleague, Terrell, I was often proved correct!
Having watched the UK and US versions they're both wonderful fun and also quite distinct.
So, to help US watchers here's an explanation of what those words and phrases mean…
Let's talk about Fanny…
So one of the ghosts is called Fanny Button, a previous owner of Button House, the grand country house Alison inherits. I asked my US colleague whether he knew what fanny meant and Terrell replied "Butt!" I'm like "No, that's not what it means in the UK!" Now, how do we put this politely… erm, well, fanny in the UK is slang for a lady’s private parts shall we say. It's probably the rudest gag in the UK version — mind you the US version has the phrase "Sucked off" when a ghost departs, which also seems pretty rude!
'Tremendous innings'
In the opening scene of the first episode, we see the ghosts gather around the bedside of the dying current owner of Button House. The Captain says she's had a "Tremendous innings." Now, I was fairly confident this wouldn’t translate and Terrell asked if it had something to do with baseball. No, it's actually a reference to the game cricket, which like baseball sees a player enjoy an innings, although unlike baseball, these can go on for a day or more (yes, a game of cricket can go on for five days!). If someone says "Tremendous innings" in Britain, it means leading a long and happy life.
'Lucky cow'
Still in the opening scene, when the woman dies and goes to heaven, rather than hanging around as a ghost, Mary says "Lucky cow." A bit of background first on Mary, she's a 16th-century English peasant woman who was burned for being a witch. Anyway back to "lucky cow," it simply means being lucky. It's normally meant quite affectionately.
'Beyond the pale'
The Captain tells Fanny that her actions are "beyond the pale" when she keeps jumping out of his window. When I said "beyond the pale" to Terrell he said he didn’t have a clue what it meant. Well, "beyond the pale" is quite commonly used in Britain and simply means unacceptable behavior.
'Tush'
In the same conversation, Mary says "Tush," which is an old expression of disapproval. And no, Terrell, it doesn't mean butt in this context! To be fair this isn't actually used that much anymore in the UK either.
We hope this helps!
Ghosts UK begins on November 16 at 9.00 pm ET/PT. The first two episodes will be shown back to back.
