USA/UK

Post Reply New Topic

Do you find some of the terms we use funny? I mean... What in the USA you call pants we have a totally different thing in our minds her in the UK.
Any other different sayings where ones mind boggles!

fanny

Before supper my English host asked, "Do you fancy fa***ts?" I didn't know how to respond as fa***t is a derogatory term for homosexuals here. I found out later that fa***ts are a kind of meatball with onions.

My last girlfriend was banned from a USA Christian site because they were talking about food and she said she liked fa***ts. They banned her straight away. She was puzzled.

USA: Chips -> UK: Crisps.
UK: Chips -> USA: (French) Fries.

It can get even more complicated when you add Australian to the mix. Sometimes they use the UK meaning, sometimes the US...and sometimes its unique to Australia.

Even within the US there are a lot of regional differences... A soft-drink might be pop or soda or a coke (even if its not coca-cola)

'Sidewalk' for 'Pavement' is quite funny, as is 'Zee' for the letter 'Z'.

Some of the pronunciation also makes me smile, eg of the word 'lever'.

Or when those "I am not a robot" things come up they say "Click on the pictures witn a crosswalk in them" and I was puzzling... "What's a crosswalk?"

I was pleased to be offered a cheese and pickle sandwich when I was a student in London, but I was shocked that the pickle was BROWN. Very unappetizing! Then I tasted it and it was divine. About ten years ago Branston pickle became available in the US. I was excited. I eat it all the time. I just bought four jars. I'm going to eat some right now.

Dang!

Got a look for a Branston pickle, and eat it with some fa***ts (the Welsh style meatballs).

Yeah Brits call "math" "maths". We just call it singular "math" ( like "sociology", or "biology").

But we Americans stick an "s" on the end of: physics, economics, electronics, ceramics.

Branston pickle is the food of the gods.

American English - vacation, British English - holiday
American English - shopping cart, British English - trolley (In America trolley was a streetcar)
American English - cell phone, British English - mobile
American English - line, British English - queue
American English - sneaker, British English - trainer
American English - truck, British English - lorry
American English - highway, British English - motorway
American English - bathroom, British English - toilets

In the South a buggy is a shopping cart.