SimonTrew

I was born in Welwyn. Now you try telling that to a Hungarian. No, not a Volvo, not a vulva, I was not born in a Volvo, although came out through a vulva, I was born in Welwyn. It is look this is not difficult it is... I took my missus once to ... Read More

The thing I like about Fluffy is that he is not very stuffy He will chat about things be it angles or strings And it always turns out to be bluffy Hmmm that is more a limerick than a clerihew but it will have to do. Read More

And of course, the British flag is - in a small way - also flying over the place... State Flag of Hawaii In my time wasting/thumb twiddling today, I checked the Eastern boundary of Asia and it seems to stop near Malaysia as part of the continent ... Read More

I also worked in pubs for many years as a sideline and donated all my wages from Christmas Eve to New Year's Day to the RBL. That was another 87 pounds, coincidentally, that could have been in my pocket but went to the RBL, every shift I worked ... Read More

When I lived in a small village in England, I did the poppy collection appeal, was asked to do it by a Legionaire. I tell you it is an absolute delight. Everyone wants a poppy and puts money in your pot. It was quite a posh village I suppose, and ... Read More

In the UK, there is something called the Charities Commission which is super ineffective at monitoring charities, but charities self-report and say that they only take 3% in administration fees, or whatever. They do actually run on fumes, and with ... Read More

I am not sure what time I should celebrate Remembrance Sunday. The British are an hour behind us, so do I celebrate it at 11am British time, or 11am Hungarian time? It is not that important, as the main thing is to remember. It is not that important ... Read More

The thing is I know what poverty is like, and it is not pretty. I have been unemployed for months and I don't get social security or unemployment benefit, I am all right at the moment, because of my wife working, and our agreement was she does ... Read More

What did it for the US was prohibition... the US had lots of little breweries before that, then it was banned of course, then afterwards the huge companies like Anheuser-Busch just took over before the small breweries could get established again. ... Read More

I think in Aldi or Lidl they do a kriek, that is raspberry flavoured beer. In the Netherlands it is kinda the traditional woman's drink, it is a bit sweet for my taste, I like very bitter beer. My wife doesn't drink so there is no point ... Read More

ű You can lead a horticulture but you can't make her think :) - Dorothy parker if I remember correctly. The Netherlands do some very nice beers, they, the Belgians and British have still retained kinda this traditional brewing style where ... Read More

I thought I was the only person who said that... I edited my parish church newsletter for eight years and would say that I was "butchering the copy", I thought I was the only person who said that. Yeah, you butcher it, although presumably ... Read More

Blimey, Marilyn, I was not expecting you to start quoting Shakespeare.... I like a nice rose, I have not found good varieties for around here, English ones don't seem to do so well. I got some a couple of years ago but they failed, so I think I ... Read More

There is more to remembrance Sunday than remembering the dead. We have to remember the living as well. Now my passion is for homeless people, but whatever yours is, just donate a bit into the pot for that cause. You can't do everything, I am ... Read More

My mate Charlie,Karoly, came to live with us for six months in England which he successfully completed an engineering course and got a job with the railways. He swallowed his pride and asked to borrow some money so they could move up north. He ... Read More

They stole the pot. But I get the point. Every pub in UK tends to have a charity pot, and it is usually chained to the bar in some way so people can't half-inch it. Sorry rhyming slang, pinch it. But they will get a pair of snips or something ... Read More

Now I am getting adverts for learning German. This is because I mentioned that I don't speak German. My neighbour Barnus is deaf but for some reason thinks it is better to talk to me in German than in Hungarian. Although I am English, I can ... Read More

Marilyn, you can come with me when we go. I have been building a stairway to heaven but I haven't quite got it finished yet, and need permission from Air Traffic Control to get it much farther. I am C of E so I am straight in, obviously. Blessed ... Read More

I am always amazed by what adverts you get on this site. There is an upside down tortoise now for some reason. I didn't mention tortoises. A tortoise taught us tort, tort ought, as tort is ought to be, taught by a tortoise as a tortoise taught ... Read More

My mate Barnus from across the street, asked to borrow twenty the other day, which I was glad to lend him. He is a lovely man, although rather deaf and for some reason talks to me in German, which I don't understand. He paid it back Sunday, ... Read More

That is good, I have never been to the British Embassy in Hungary, so I did not know that. My wife is in the UK this week so can no doubt get poppies, but we found some simulacra if I can put it that way, I am not sure that they are poppies but ... Read More

Oh, I have that. It is called a wife. Read More

I cannot stand smartphones. I am actually capable of writing sentences in English, and I am typing on a Hungarian layout, I have been touch typing since I was seven years old, I am now forty-six, because my aunt was a typist for ICI at Barons Court ... Read More

I should also like a old fashioned millionaire. Read More

I wonder what other people get for ads on here. We come here for free so we have to accept ads, I have no problem with that. I get loads for currency transfers at the moment. I have no currency to transfer, but that is what they advertise to me. And ... Read More

We found somewhere a couple of poppy badges and they are on our lapels. I also donated some money to the Royal British Legion, and got a nice reply back on email, not a printout, a personal reply. WE WILL REMEMBER THEM. Read More

And then just for the fun of it, let's have Ontario in California, Ontario, CA. And CA is the booking code for flights to Canada. Well that is extremely helpful, or not. JUST STOP NAMING THINGS AFTER OTHER PLACES. I mean, you are not short of ... Read More

And of course, the British flag is - in a small way - also flying over the place... State Flag of Hawaii .Hehehe yes. WE DESIGNED YOUR FLAG. GET A NEW ONE IF YOU DONT LIKE IT. It is also, the Union Jack, on the Australian flag that we designed, ... Read More

And of course, the British flag is - in a small way - also flying over the place... State Flag of Hawaii In my time wasting/thumb twiddling today, I checked the Eastern boundary of Asia and it seems to stop near Malaysia as part of the continent ... Read More

By me in XV district there is a nice cenotaph, with lots of names of Hungarians who fought on the "wrong" side in WW1. Maybe that is where we go to say thank you for all of these people who fought for freedom. I don't really know how ... Read More

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. But at the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM. Read More

Fred, I can play the Last Post and the Reveille on a bugle, and can also observe two minute's silence. Now, the tricky bit is, if I get my bugle and play it, where am I going to play it? There is a cenotaph or memorial near me, I have brassod ... Read More

For example Dennis Skinner, the "Beast of Bolsover" who has sat in the UK parliament for God knows how long and makes a bit of a stir, does a good job by being irritating, he was a "Bevin Boy". He was sent down the mines during ... Read More

Everything, all across Europe, is moving to the Right, politically. It is a bit worrying, and I only get one vote, and I use it. It is a worrying trend though, Orban Viktor is extremely right wing, but it is not just him, all across Europe it is ... Read More

One of the annoying things about my name is that Hungarians have no idea how to pronounce it. I am usually "Trev Shimon'" or something, sometimes they realise I am not Hungarian and go with Western Name Order and go for Shimon Trev, ... Read More

I was mentioning along these lines to the missus the other day. Every government building in Hungary, will have red white and green flag, it does make it quite easy to find them. In Britain we don't do that, we might put up a flag on the ... Read More

They also serve. For conscientious onbjectors, that was fiddly, they also served. They were put to work in coalmines or steel factories or atever, instead of going to prison, they still served. God let us pray we never see a war like that again. ... Read More

Yeah I have not been there that long bur you do see them close down a bit sharpish. I am sure I could make a better go if it. What it requires is something called dedication, which Hungarians seem to lack. The just cannot be bothered, everytbing is ... Read More

I can never understand this site. My wife and I bought poppies or the nearest we could get to them in Hungary and have them on our lapels. We donated what is for us a large chunk of money to the Royal British Legion. We attend a remembrance ... Read More

I don't think he looks, or is, stupid. Demagogues are rarely stupid people. He has actually got things done, which is more than a lot of politicians do.Name them. That he actually did himself. That really has real long term value to the ... Read More

I don't know what that is. What i was trying to say in public is that there is a distinction in Hungarian, fagyi is handmade ice cream and jegycrém is factory made. For myself I like a lemon sorbet althugh the word sorbet does not seem to ... Read More

i'd run it as I want a change of career, fed up with being a software engineer after thirty two years of doing it very successfully, just fed up with it. You have to know the difference, in Hungarian between fagyi, home made ice cream and ... Read More

One of the you learn, when you learn Hungarian, is that Liszt is just the word for flour. Not even Miller, like Arthur Miller who married Marilyn Monroe, no, it is just flour, even though it is milled. So you have streets named Liszt Ferenc utca ... Read More

Yes, Japan produce a lot of these cheap anime cartoons, that are computer generated animation. To me they have no "feeling" to them, I mean the pictures themselves, if you watch a Bugs Bunny or other Warner Brothers classics, Daffy Duck or ... Read More

My missus is at the airport, off to the UK for a week's work leaving me in Hungaryland. This is just completely the wrong way round, I am English and should be in England, and she is Hungarian and should be in Hungary. What a strange life we ... Read More

Started typing a more extensive reply and then lost it by not paying attention by pressing the wrong buttons and trying to do too much at once. The anime thing is a bit strange - exaggerated eye sizes and squeaky voices, like caricatures of little ... Read More

One thing I liked about the US when I lived there was that sales tax is kinda declared up front. You think, here in Hungary it is 27% but is kinda hidden in the price, the AFA, yes if you sit and do your long division you can work out how much tax ... Read More

There you go. Proof. Donald was right. The world is laughing at the USA. Now.... Ironically, because of his decisions. Or, to quote him: "Sad". :(Trump is not as stupid as he looks, although that is not difficult for him. He has ... Read More

Is Hawaii in Asia? I really don't know technically or tectonically, obviously it politically is part of the US, but geographically, would it be in Asia? That is a really tricky one as it is right on the edge of a tectonic plate... I suppose half ... Read More

One of my bad habits is singing jazz and blues standards in French. I make it up as I go along, so it is not as if it is going to be particularly good French, usually the tune goes, the words go, or both. I am quite proud of my "Lune ... Read More

Marilyn, I think that is a very American attitude - no other country in the world is as casual as to gun ownership as the US. In the UK you would have to have a gun cabinet, secured, to keep your rifle etc to shoot pigeons, you would not be ... Read More

I was looking for the sanity clause... but there ain't no sanity clause. Read More

I am never sure withHungarian wines, they are cheap enough etc but some of the grape varieties like chardonnay or merlot don't seem to do so well in the Hungarian climate, so I tend to stick to the local varieties which do much better. As with ... Read More

ATM a "lazy cooker" around here is my DIL. My husband has picked up the habit of calling her Lazy....Ideally your DIL should be called Sue or Suzanna, then of course she would be a lazy Susan Read More

WE gave my sister in law a birthday present which is a slow cooker, she has kinda translated that into Hungarian as a "lazy cooker". I think that is very funny. She likes it very much. Read More

Like, in British English we call a ballpoint pen a biro. A HUNGARIAN INVENTED IT. But Hungarians don't call it a biro, they call it a golyóstoll. Named after Biró Laszlo, you think it would be possible that Hungarians would call it a ... Read More

Like, I know what a beadle is, it is sort of a policeman, before the days of the Bow Street Runners, I have no idea where Brodhead as a name comes from, quite unusual name.... the missus and I were saying this over a game of cribbage, you realise ... Read More

That is very interesting to know. I have dictionaries but they are not of the kind that would tell you this. I know who Mark Twain, Samuel Clemens, was, but have not heard of Beadle or Brodhead, so that is all good learning for me. So this then is ... Read More

I am somewhat nocturnal and I get addicted to the "infomercials" that go on overnight, I just love them. I never buy anything off them, I just love kinda the adman who writes the prose, and cons. We now have a copper pan of some kind, I ... Read More

Off the top of my head, I believe the expression of well heeled comes from the times when the ultra rich wore high heeled shoes while the poor wore whatever they could to protect their feet, hand made wrappings etc. I know the traditional footwear ... Read More

Sweden seeems to have a very honourable history of taking in immigrants, I have never been there myself but always on the news when there is some incident, Sweden is the first to offer immigrants a welcome, and thank them for that. There were a ... Read More

I can speak French reasonably well, comme une vache espanol, as well as Hungarian, a bit of Japanese, Arabic, Spanish, and even occasionally English. Today I was speaking German, Hungarian, and Roma with my good friend and neighbour who asked me a ... Read More

This has never occurred to me before, why do we call people "well heeled" this is on the news. I mean, I live in poverty and fix my heels with a bit of epoxy rosin and some tin tacks, but then I cobble everything together. How can you be ... Read More

Strtange, this tragic accident at leicester city FC they are going to move the wreckage "to Farnborough" according to BBC. That is all they said. Now I happen to know as I worked there, that will be British Wasteospace or BAE Systems or ... Read More

Jump leads in UK English. Strange, a jumper in Candian English is a dress, so I don't know why you would put cables on that :) Perhaps it is the latest fashion... I have my, I just call them "blues", my mechanics overalls, got a new ... Read More

Welcome to Hungary! I suggest you contact the Opera, which is on Andrassy utca in Budapest, I don't know right now but a couple of years ago they were looking for "staff" if I can put it that way, as a classical musician you should ... Read More

I had two Australians staying with me for a week, they happen to be gay, no problem for me. Put them up for a week here and then explored Hungary, as his grandfather is Hungarian so he can become a Hungarian citizen. My wife just this morning said ... Read More

It is not closed-minded, my ex was from Ontario, Canada and I have been there many times. So you are pudding the carp before d"oeuvres hors. You are assuming, as people do, that I am some kinda racist living in Hungary. I have been with my ... Read More

Mind you there are tools that will help you "Encheferize" computer text into Swedish Chef... A question here. I think it is called "Mock Swedish". It is a bit unflattering really to the Swedes but is quite funny in English, and ... Read More

My Hungarian relatives took a trip to the UK, I think twice, to visit us, and Istvan was kinda scared of flying so I gave him a drop of whisky and we got some kinda tablets, to calm him. Coming back to Budapest, they landed and did a ... Read More

Mind you, when I lived in Houston, we did used to slip and any menial job would say, "oh, get a Spaniard to do it". You can get into bad habits like that. Read More

There is a lot of racism in Europe, but it is in different ways. Here in Hungary, there is a lot of racism against the Roma (Gypsy) community. Now I have a Roma living opposite me who is the nicest man in the world, lends me his lawnmower. I also ... Read More

Yes I know that one, although have never been in there. It has a big anchor on the outside, if we are thinking of the same one... I have always wondered about it because it is not as if Hungary has a coastline... Read More

I tend to walk quite early in the morning, just about dawn, just have a mooch and walk around, and people keep their places nice around here, also I pick litter up so I tend to come back with some beer cans or coffee cups or whatever to put in my ... Read More

considering the A stands for airways you are being redundant there. More hypocritically, they are not even British. they are owned by some consortium that includes Iberia, I think the Italian airline Alitaliam, the one with the hairs under its ... Read More

They are building a new block of flats around the corner from me and I asked them, do you want those bricks, no help yourself, went back with my sackbarrow picked up about sixty, now my clothes horse doesn't actually fall down in the wind as it ... Read More

Now that is sweet. I also, the word which I hate the word but what I do, is "upcycle", that I am not sure what an inversion table is, oh I am looking at Amazon and completely wrong, I thought it was some kind of folding table or gate-leg ... Read More

Tut tut, "would have" not "would of", please try to learn English :) It is the subjunctive mood, it is "would have" or "should have", now write it out twenty times :) It is not a particularly American ... Read More

Well, you and I tend to spiel a bit. I am very good with a blue pencil, editing and cutting, and for many years edited my parish newsletter - it is just here, or on other chatsites if I can call them that, there is a much more conversational ... Read More

One of the odd things of being a twin is that I know my exact time of birth, it was 12.10pm. My brother was born at 11.47am if I remember correctly. I don't think birth certificates usually have that, but they do it for multiple births so that ... Read More

The problem with the BA economy class is that one has to pay for the drinks/food now. So I guess the crew has been told to prioritise the food purchasers rather than the free glass of water drinkers. They also don't have much time. I suspect ... Read More

I suppose so, Marilyn, and often people post and you never hear from them again. But the information we gave acts as a kinda store of knowledge, so is not entirely useless, someone else will look it up and read it.... Read More

Or that is another good example, that in American "gas" (gasoline) is what you stick in the back of your car, in "Brit" it is petrol, or in Hungarian it is benzin, now benzene is a fairly simple gas that has not much to do with ... Read More

My ex was from Ontaria, Canada (not Ontario, CA) and she said purse to mean her handbag. She would ask me to fetch her purse and of course I would get the thing you put the billfolds in, a wallet, we wouldn't call them billfolds but folding ... Read More

The OP is a EU citizen based on her expat path, which says she is Maltese.. I had assumed they are British...There is no need to assume. Simply check a person's expat path.That is OK if someone has updated their expat path, but many ... Read More

I just went for a walk, my morning walk, and there must be ten dogs barking at me from people's gardens. It is quite annoying as it is a quiet Sunday morning and I just want to walk around the block. It is not as if I am going equipped or ... Read More

I remember what I was rambling towards and it was antiques. The trouble with antiques, or collectables, is that everyone collects the same thing, so there is no point. I will bet you that Beany Babies will be worth nothing as they were sold as ... Read More

That is a weird one, I don't know why I just thought of this, but whenever I say something the adverts change to whatever I am waffling on about... will probably get adverts for waffles (gaufre, the Hungarian is similar) now... I have been ... Read More

Marilyn you are so old-fashioned in your language, "ladies", I think we are supposed to call them "women" nowadays :) See, that is one of the hard things with teaching language... apart from the "ladies" being the WC / ... Read More

Marilyn, i quite believe you. As an EU citizen you have the right to live and work in any country in the European Union, so i don't have to get visas etc like that. Your advice is good, but I believe the questioner was British, so will not have ... Read More

I have lost it, but Fluffster said he wanted a totem pole (respectfully of course) in his garden.í Get a telegraph pole, which you can find on any street, usually covered in vermicelli in a Hungarian manner of wiring, and then use that as your ... Read More

All the other replies here are good and honest. I will just add my two forints worth. The salaries here are very low compared to UK, but living here is much cheaper. Students love to learn English and TEFL is very much in demand, you would get any ... Read More

That is very nice of you. If you can help, you must. You can't always, but if you can, and don't, you are just an a-hole. That is very nice of you to do that, I thank you sincerely. I get asked for help a lot around Keleti and do the best I ... Read More

I walk a lot and I meet dog walkers or just whoever, who are walking too. I wanted to know the expression for "going around the block" and there is one, just there and back to see how far it is. I "go around the block" all the ... Read More

If you want to learn that a garden , ,is a kert, you just have to learn it. There are no shortcuts, I do not know the Hungarian for shortcut, even though I take plenty of shortcuts. I get by with about six verbs, and have done for five years, my ... Read More

The English, er, slogan was "Make do and mend", and I have always done that. My mother was born in 39 and evacuated to Yorkshire from London, as about I think a million evacuee children were taken out of London because of the bombing, ... Read More

The English, er, slogan was "Make do and mend", and I have always done that. My mother was born in 39 and evacuated to Yorkshire from London, as about I think a million evacuee children were taken out of London because of the German ... Read More

We went to Vésprem for a day out, and in the pub=hotel where we stayed, they were playing games in the warm. They were chess nuts roosting over an open foyer. Read More

There is a guy who carries his guiitar to school I assume every day and I say to the missus, oh look, midget with a violin. She seems never to get the joke. Read More

Dreadlocks on me would I don't think be cultural appropriation but I would have to get a wig. I do not think really it is appropriate to say cultural appropriation. I am Engliish, so why should people approprite my culture? I see around here so ... Read More