this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2023
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[–] OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca 47 points 1 year ago (2 children)

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

[–] GreenMario@lemm.ee 15 points 1 year ago (3 children)

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

[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Because Australia is upside down.

[–] Thisfox@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And England, where we got it from?

[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Who knows why those limey bastards do anything.

[–] MadBob@feddit.nl 3 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

[–] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 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.

[–] Virual@lemmy.dbzer0.com 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/

[–] GreenMario@lemm.ee 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!!"

🍻 🍻 👏🥂

[–] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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

[–] GreenMario@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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

[–] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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

[–] GreenMario@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Naw we're just efficient 😁

[–] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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

[–] GreenMario@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago
[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago
[–] creditCrazy@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

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