Ask Me Help Desk

Ask Me Help Desk (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/forum.php)
-   Language (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=405)
-   -   Need a killer word. In UK we say rumbled. In US you say? (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthread.php?t=732659)

  • Feb 6, 2013, 02:37 PM
    mrdavidkerr
    Need a killer word. In UK we say rumbled. In US you say?
    Imagine a situation at a party where a guy is claiming that he is a professional footballer but then a girl steps in and tells everyone the guy is actually a car salesman!

    In the UK we'd say the guy had been RUMBLED. But in the USA that would mean he'd been in a fight.

    So what SINGLE word would people in the US use to describe this situation?

    Thanks
  • Feb 6, 2013, 02:39 PM
    Curlyben
    BUSTED has a similar meaning in the USA.
  • Feb 6, 2013, 02:54 PM
    odinn7
    Busted

    Owned

    So tell me... what is wrong with being a used car salesman?
  • Feb 6, 2013, 03:23 PM
    Alty
    Dissed?
  • Feb 6, 2013, 03:24 PM
    Curlyben
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Alty View Post
    Dissed?

    Na, different meaning entirely..
    Dissed = Disrespected

    Rumbled is more Discovered or Found Out
  • Feb 6, 2013, 03:27 PM
    Alty
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Curlyben View Post
    Na, different meaning entirely..
    Dissed = Disrespected

    Rumbled is more Discovered or Found Out

    Darnit, and here I thought I was being so cool and hip.

    I'll go back to my knitting now. :(

    I can think of many phrases that would fit this, but not a single word that hasn't already been mentioned.
  • Feb 6, 2013, 03:37 PM
    mrdavidkerr
    Wondered about busted.
    It's what we brits would say swell.
    But reading online US dictionaries I got the impression Busted more referred to being apprehended by the police.
    So would older people use the term busted?
    I need to write something suitable for all US age groups.
  • Feb 6, 2013, 03:44 PM
    Wondergirl
    He was outed

    His cover was blown

    Used car salesmen are cool and darn cute!
  • Feb 6, 2013, 04:19 PM
    Alty
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mrdavidkerr View Post
    Wondered about busted.
    It's what we brits would say swell.
    But reading online US dictionaries I got the impression Busted more referred to being apprehended by the police.
    So would older people use the term busted?
    I need to write something suitable for all US age groups.

    I like busted. I'm 42, and I'd use busted in this situation.
  • Feb 6, 2013, 04:34 PM
    dontknownuthin
    Busted can mean arrested but that's a little outdated. These days we use busted in the US when we are talking about getting caught at something. For example, if a man walked in on his girlfriend having sex with someone else, she'd be busted. Or if a mom caught her son lying to him, he might tell his friends, "my mom found out I lied, I'm so busted!"

    Otherwise, we'd just say something like "caught in a lie".
  • Feb 6, 2013, 05:11 PM
    mrdavidkerr
    Thanks everyone. This has been my first post on this site and you've all been great! I'd started with busted days ago and the darn dictionaries had put me off. Should have come straight to you lot!

    If anyone comes up with another word I'd love to hear it.

    It's gone midnight over here, I'm off to bed!

    Cheers
  • Feb 6, 2013, 05:35 PM
    Alty
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mrdavidkerr View Post
    Thanks everyone. This has been my first post on this site and you've all been great! I'd started with busted days ago and the darn dictionaries had put me off. Should have come straight to you lot!

    If anyone comes up with another word I'd love to hear it.

    It's gone midnight over here, I'm off to bed!

    Cheers

    Welcome to the site. Stick around, you'll find we're a pretty great bunch, and the collective knowledge we have is unsurpassed. Ask anything, and someone will have an answer. :)
  • Feb 6, 2013, 08:18 PM
    Enigma1999
    He was "called out" for trying to bamboozle others.
  • Feb 7, 2013, 08:00 AM
    ebaines
    I agree with "busted" - and even though I'm a baby boomer I'm not tool old to understand it.

    To me the term "outed" is too closely linked with gay people who are forced "out of the closet" against their will - the phrase for this is "so-and-so was outed."
  • Feb 7, 2013, 08:34 AM
    Wondergirl
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ebaines View Post
    I agree with "busted" - and even though I'm a baby boomer I'm not tool old to understand it.

    To me the term "outed" is too closely linked with gay people who are forced "out of the closet" against their will - the phrase for this is "so-and-so was outed."

    I agree that the current way of thinking of it is the way you say, but in the olden days, the word was more generic.

    I like "cover blown." "Busted" is okay too.
  • Feb 7, 2013, 08:58 AM
    ebaines
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Wondergirl View Post
    I agree that the current way of thinking of it is the way you say, but in the olden days, the word was more generic.

    Yep - that's how language evolves. In the olden days if someone was described as "gay" it meant they were cheerful or happy.
  • Feb 7, 2013, 09:42 AM
    mrdavidkerr
    Going with all everyone has said I think busted is definitely the word.
    But just to probe a little further;

    In the states do you ever use the word sussed? And would you write he was sussed or he was suss'd?
  • Feb 7, 2013, 09:43 AM
    odinn7
    I never use it... what does it mean?

    I do overuse the F word though!
  • Feb 7, 2013, 09:44 AM
    Wondergirl
    No sussing going on in this country! (What does it mean?)

    Sounds like something with downhill skiing -- the sussing sounds that are made.
  • Feb 7, 2013, 09:58 AM
    mrdavidkerr
    This is so weird isn't it!

    It's like a python sketch.

    Sussed is such a standard word over here. If you suss someone it means you have figured him out. Sussed and rumbled are much the same though I think rumbled has come more from the London gangster films. Next time your watching any Guy Ritchie films (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch etc.. ) listen out for it.

    We don't use the F word - we're British you know!

    (presume your inferring Feet and inches!)

  • All times are GMT -7. The time now is 04:47 AM.