NYspeak

Posted by Bob May 12, 2000In reply to NYspeak posted by Gary Martin on May 12, 2000

A new series of NYPD Blue is running in the UK. I quite like the programme - but feel the need for subtitles. Can anyone help me out with a couple of phrases from last night's episode? 'Heads up' & 'you can take that to the bank'. Also, dumpsters seem to be everywhere. What are they? From the context I would guess they are what, in the UK, we call skips, i.e. large metallic rubbish containers that are moved around on lorries (sorry, trucks)..

Gary

all three are more general American, not specifically NY. Dumpster was originally, I believe, a brand name for what you descibe as a skip. (Interesting name, that.) I'll give you a heads up: NY is the dirtiest large city in America, and you can take that to the bank.