What is the description even talking about? Beat off means the same thing in both variants of the language... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS_yzpYhvyc

It may mean the same thing, but it's not a term that's commonly used here, if it was, Susanna Reid would've known that & not used it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SGbxFmK_LA

Ok? British man Chris Morris knows about it. British man Dan Stevens obviously knows about it. I don't think it's a US vs UK thing but a prude vs crude thing. Prudes don't get it and crude people do.

Yes, that's better, put a label on him. Could it not simply be that it struck him as funny, and he couldn't regain composure? You're such a dick. (now, do I mean 'dick = penis' or 'dick = investigator employed in gaining / exposing information through reasoned deduction'... hmmmm)

Tags for this video have been changed from 'UK, Breakfast Television, Interview, Blooper, LOLs' to 'UK, Breakfast Television, Interview, Blooper, LOLs, Dan Stevens' - edited by bareboards2

whu... now, what are YOU even talking about? What label? On who? On British men? Chris Morris, Dan Stevens and I all immediately understood what beating off meant. Because we're fairly crude. The two first are British men. I'm not. What label are you even talking about? How high are you, even?

One would think beat back, not beat off, would have been the right term.

In Australian English, in that context, beat off would unambiguously mean "fend off" as she intended... at least the first time she used it. Doesn't it still have that meaning in US English?

As an American (who hasn't lived there for almost 10 years), I think that in US English "beat off" is synonymous with "fend off", but that usage is old-fashioned almost to the point of being archaic within the US, and many people especially those under 20 years of age would likely not know the "fend off" definition (or even what "fend off" means, honestly).

The colloquial definition that he reacted to would be the intended definition 99% of the times that you heard the phrase used in the US.

My guess is that the situation is somewhat reversed in British English -- it would mean "fend off" 90% of the times it is said, with the other 10% talking about masturbation and knowing the slang definition from US media. I make that guess as someone who has been to the UK a few times and has British friends that I work with every day, but I wouldn't claim to be an expert about British vs US English.

Sounds like the ratio might be similar in Australia, or maybe even more in favor of the "fend off" meaning like 95/5? Interesting how those things vary so much from place to place.

From the video, I also assume that Australia and Britain are very similar... but I have only been to the UK once, so I'm far from an expert.

Cock

Beat off as far as used here only means one thing. Technically could mean two, but no one would assume to use it for it's original intent. It's similar to the word Gay. We all know it was originally a term to mean one thing, and now it's just not.
*when the meaning over-shadows and outranks the original meaning.

Oh my.

Gets it = crude - usually a negative connotation
Doesn't get it = prude

How about "smart, understands both uses, but something tripped his giggles and he was gone". I don't know Dan Stevens, I guess you do if you know he is fairly crude. In some countries / regions, saying someone is crude is quite the insult. Especially in regions where there are lots of prudes.

Anyway, must dash, pizza man is here man, and I'm completely shagged.

(ooh, another one - is it shagged = fucked, or shagged = tired? Discuss.)

Have fun. Man.

I meant to answer this point...

One thing that I've found interesting, after watching a vid here on regional variations within the U.S., is that a lot of times there will be one part of the U.S. that says things the same way we do, even if the majority don't.

Simply from observing the U.S. via tv and movies, and even after visiting NYC, that was completely non-obvious.

The correct phrase is "beat out". This is commonly used when describing the winner/winning of an audition. Examples from Google: "She eventually beat out 3000 other girls for the role" and "Here's a look at the actresses she beat out".

To quote the great Wittgenstein "meaning is use". Language and meaning are nuanced and complicated, but most of all, subjective and instrumental (by which I mean something we make up). This is why we frequently use otherwise restrictive and oversimplified analogies to illustrate specific points, and sometimes arbitrary (and always artificial) terms to sum up otherwise much more expansive phenomena.

In this case @Babymech used one to quite neatly surmise the different ways we interpret accidental puns and double meanings. Crude vs Prude was just a succinct way of labelling the two predominant archetypical responses to a potential double entendre.

One is to tend to overlook or ignore it (Prude)
One is to recognise and even call attention to it (Crude)

There were no value judgements implicit in the way @Babymech did this. You brought those yourself, projected them outwards and rather rudely set about insulting Babymech for the perceived slight/prejudicial remark.

The fact you got a rude response back was not validation, it was retaliation. You called him/her a dick basically without provocation!

"In some countries / regions, saying someone is crude is quite the insult."

A term charged with historical prejudicial hatred indeed! Absolutely no room for interpretation or innocent intention there. (And God forbid anyone anywhere ever be offended by something because they might have different associations with a words meanings and associations)

But let's just assume @Babymech was making a value judgement anyway. "Prude" and "Crude" create wildly varying emotional responses. From pride to shame. Who takes prescient? Who's right to not be offended counts most?

Much like considerably more sensitive words (like ones beginning with N and F for instance), context is absolutely everything. Words have no meaning outside of their context, they are entirely relativistic things. Even the cold hard definition in a dictionary is a contextual arrangement (in this case the dictionary & the linguistic paradigm which is documents).

If there was hatred in Babymech's heart when he/she made their comment I certainly did not recognise it. The same point made in a different way might have raised my ire too, but here I can only see a slight you brought to the table yourself so to speak.

I've done it myself before, but then I've also apologised for starting shit that wasn't really there before too

You would be correct if you detected a slightly snotty attitude in my reply, it pops up mostly when people start throwing around unsolicited abuse (or say unspeakably dumb things but I'm certainly not accusing you of that here, just a needless conflict). You'd be amazed how fast it can disappear though!

Much love.