vic_vega66 (vic_vega66) wrote in linguaphiles,
2012-10-19 13:38:00
  • Mood: busy

Meaning of a phrase

I was thinking today that I need to get some thermostatic radiator valves for the radiators, its getting near winter and its cold. I checked online for instructions on how to fit these and my eyes glazed over when it started talking about draining the central heating system and using X widget and Y screwdriver to do Z and W.

Hmmmmmmm, anyway, I decided to ask a plumber friend if he would do it for me as 'a foreigner' (cash on completion, no pesky VAT or invoices.) It suddenly came to me, where does the term 'a foreigner' come from? Is it common in other countries? Is it a regional UK thing?

I'm a Brit and I live in the north of england (if that makes any differance)
Tags: phrases
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  • 30 comments

stacyinthecity

October 19 2012, 13:10:48 UTC 7 months ago

I'm only familiar with the usage of foreigner as a description of someone who is from another country.

biascut

October 19 2012, 13:16:39 UTC 7 months ago

I'm from Nottingham and have lived in York and Manchester, and I've never heard it! Where in the north are you from?

vic_vega66

October 19 2012, 13:20:54 UTC 7 months ago

I live in the Peak District, Derbyshire, it's a fairly common term here.

biascut

October 19 2012, 13:26:18 UTC 7 months ago

Huh! I would have thought that was close enough to have most of the same idioms, but I've not come across it. I might ask around and see whether anyone else has come across it and whether it's just me being oblivious.

hoyland54

October 19 2012, 13:33:04 UTC 7 months ago

Dare I suggest one's political persuasion (or that of the people one hangs out with) may be a factor in hearing such a phrase?

biascut

October 19 2012, 13:35:52 UTC 7 months ago

Not really, because it's not particularly pejorative. There's no insult to foreigners.

The idea of people doing jobs like this cash-in-hand is a pretty familiar one - it's just the term I've not come across.

hoyland54

7 months ago

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biascut

7 months ago

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di_glossia

7 months ago

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dorsetgirl

7 months ago

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doire

7 months ago

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carmy_w

October 19 2012, 13:51:45 UTC 7 months ago

Does the "as a foreigner" part denote you as a foreigner, or the plumber?

The reason why I'm asking is it sort of sounds like what people in the US would pay an illegal immigrant (such as housekeeping or menial labor services, which was what I was thinking of), or pay a contractor under the table, in order to keep the transaction completely off the books.

Sorry-I know that doesn't really help with your question, but it may give you another way of looking at it.

stormdog

October 19 2012, 16:59:31 UTC 7 months ago

I live in the US, and have never heard the phrase "as a foreigner" used in that way (as the original poster does). But I agree that this is what it would suggest is happening to me (that there's some kind of under-the-table payment happening).

carmy_w

October 19 2012, 17:06:07 UTC 7 months ago

Sorry-I should have added that I'm a US resident also, hence my statement. ;)

someoneingrey

October 19 2012, 14:38:05 UTC 7 months ago

My ex is from Manchester, and the first time he said he'd been 'doing foreigners' I was entirely miffed and as this usage isn't common at all in the States, thought he was telling me he'd been having sex with women of other nationalities.

He meant that he'd been taking side jobs outside of the company he worked for.


Here it's usually 'off the books' or 'under the table.'

laudre

October 19 2012, 15:43:29 UTC 7 months ago

As an American, the above context/definition still wasn't quite enough for me to grok the idiom's meaning. (But I haven't had lunch yet.) I probably would've made the same sort of assumption if someone told me they'd been "doing foreigners."

shizuku_san

October 20 2012, 00:49:07 UTC 7 months ago Edited:  October 20 2012, 00:50:06 UTC

Yeah, I would think the same as you if I heard someone say that! (Seattle, US.)

Edited to add: "under the table" is how I would describe it.

dorsetgirl

October 19 2012, 15:23:26 UTC 7 months ago

I'm in the South of England and I've never heard "as a foreigner". I would always use "cash in hand" if being blunt, or the more common phrase for the tradesman to use is "...will you be needing an invoice?"

standrewsfall

October 19 2012, 16:04:32 UTC 7 months ago

I use that phrase, along with moonlighter or under the table for what you describe. From South Island New Zealand. Lived in Canada, Holland, North Island of New Zealand.

sambeth

October 19 2012, 16:25:20 UTC 7 months ago

I'm from Sheffield, near to you, and I've never heard it! Only 'cash in hand', etc.

ningloreth

October 19 2012, 17:10:57 UTC 7 months ago

I'm from Manchester, and my brother, who's in the building trade, does 'foreigners'. They are cash-in-hand jobs for someone other than the company he works for (though possibly for someone who owns or manages the company he works for, since building companies are often small or family owned), and they are generally done at the weekend. As doire says above, it's the job that's 'foreign' (or possibly the customer), but only in the sense of 'not company business'. I don't know why the term 'foreigner' is used, and doubt that my brother does, either, but it has nothing to do with non-native people, and is not pejorative. A foreigner is always welcome.

hkitsune

October 20 2012, 01:49:08 UTC 7 months ago

Seems Manchester-specific, then, judging by the other comments. Ah, British dialects...

provencepuss

October 19 2012, 19:02:33 UTC 7 months ago

I've never heard 'foreigner' used like that but I wonder if it has anything to do with the old term 'on the black'....maybe it isn't PC anymore!

vanatoomas

October 24 2012, 14:02:59 UTC 6 months ago

My first thought was the same (but I did not know should I voice it - after all, English is not my native language)

otana

October 19 2012, 21:01:41 UTC 7 months ago

As an ex-Londoner and a current California resident, I haven't heard this used in either place.

provencepuss

October 20 2012, 06:11:09 UTC 7 months ago

I forgot to add 'ex Londoner' :) I've been away from England for 25 years and sometimes when I go back I feel I'm in a foreign country!

otana

October 20 2012, 07:31:04 UTC 7 months ago

Haha, only seven here but they've built a whole high school by my old house and just looking on Google Maps everything is so different! I'm half dreading when I go to visit!

provencepuss

October 20 2012, 11:31:49 UTC 7 months ago

I play safe - I hardly go out of London if I go back ;) but last time I raised many eyebrows because I couldn't see the coins in my purse without my glasses and there I was with my 'purrrfect' RP English saying to the guy in the paper shop 'is this a 20p?"

fluffyblanket

October 20 2012, 08:12:40 UTC 7 months ago

I wondered where you came from.I live in Spain and haven't heard the equivalent in Castillian.

goluath

November 3 2012, 03:22:49 UTC 6 months ago

That's a funny expression, I have never heard it before. In Ireland we call that kind of work "doing a nixer".