| I moved from the UK to the USA in May 2006, and ever since it's been a continual discovery of obvious and more subtle differences between the two nations that are divided by the same language. When I say "I moved to the USA", it should be pointed out that I went to Charleston, South Carolina where I never appreciated how 'The South' was different to rest of the USA. And just as the UK has its been different regional dialects, so does the USA. Americans that I meet here though are never failed to be impressed with my ability to conjur up Scottish, Irish (both hard Belfast and soft Dublin), Welsh, Brummy (midlands), Manchunian, Liverpudlian, Geordie and West Country (Cornwall) based accents. Not to mention recieved pronounciation (Queens English) and some good old Cockney rhyming slang thrown in for good measure. For such a small country (compared to the USA) we beat them hands down for mix of dialects. Let's start you off easy in the USA though, and before you get too cocky (wheter you be a Yank or a Brit) see how good you are at your home nation. USA - Play the excellent 'Place the state' game:
UK - And once you think you've cracked that, try placing all the English counties in their proper place
When I first got here, it seemed inevitable that there would be some "Huh?" moments, when I said words that the local didn't understand and they used words that perhaps I knew but wouldn't necessarily have been my first choice. Now are there are obvious ones that people have know for year. Trousers are pants, a pavement becomes a sidewalk, a nappie is a diaper and at work I get into the elevator and not the lift anymore. But there are some more more subtle ones that you don't discover until you immerse yourself into their culture for a bit. For example, you don't hire a car here - you rent one. You can't get the sack from your job, you can only be fired. And My favourite trick is to be in a bar ordering food, and they say 'Would you like chips or fries with that?', to which I always say "Well that's the same thing!". They of course want to know if I want crisps or chips. And never fries. Which reminds me. You all know that biscuits become cookies, but to an American (especially a southerner) a biscuit is some pasty-scone-like cake thing to which I can think of no UK equivalent. Bovril, Marmite, Ribena and McVities biscuits are devoid from the shelves in any form. Their Bacon is weird. You can't get nicely thick and widely cut Danish. Think and streaky seems to be the order of the day. Their eggs are generally more white than brown. And whilst their bread seems to last longer before going mouldy, the slices are just that much smaller than your typical Mothers Pride loaf. Oh, and they have no idea what a crumpet is either, and I have no idea how to best describe it. (No, it's not the same as an English muffin. Incidentally, in the UK, English Muffins are just called 'Muffins'. That's a joke) The list
"I'm just gonna pop round and see Bob". They have no concept that this means to visit someone. You can't give someone a bell or a ring. You have to give them a call, or you get a funny look. The # key on the keyboard is called the pound. Nothing to do with the Uk pound sign. Calling # it's proper name hash gets them looking at you as if you're making a weird drug reference. Driving any where throws up so many, it's hard to know where to start. The bonnet becomes the hood, the boot becomes the trunk, even wing mirrors become side mirrors. You don't have indicators either, you now have turn signals. Traffic light? Don't be silly - they're the stop lights. Food Food, dining and eating throws up so many anomalies it's hard to know where to start. Crockery for one is more commonly known as flatware. Want a serviette to wipe your face after you've eaten? Tough - ask for a napkin or you'll get nowhere. An aubergine is known as an eggplant, corgette's as zuchinni's and even at the sweet fairground world candy floss transforms into cotton candy. If it's a cold winters day and you're taking coffee or tea to work, don't put it in your flask, because they'll think you're drinking liquor (spirts), call it your thermos instead. Giving it its full and proper name thermos flash just gets a confused name. If you do want to buy that beer though, Americans do not know what an off-licesne is. It's liquore store (or even package store) all the way. Treacle is for some reason known as molasses. No, I don't know why they had to change a perfectly good word either. Sports When at a football game (by which I mean American football, and not soccer which is real football), I totall confused someone by asking if I could walk across the pitch. I was of course referring to the field. Pitching is something that a punter does. But when I explained that to me a punter was someone who attended a concert or gig, this drew bizarre looks. Christmas They don't do Christmas Crackers. 'nuff said. And don't expect a batter/yorkshire pudding either with your gravy. You're going to get a wierd sweet potato and marshmellow combo mix. Duh. Numbers You'd think numbers would be easy, right? Wrong! You can't use 'double'. No siree, that's just to confusing. When giving out your phone number of 7688, you can't say "Double eight", oh no. You have to say "Eight, eight" , or their poor little brains get confused. Swearing American's can't say Bollocks properly. They just can't. It comes out as bullocks when they say it, and even when you've explained the concept of it being testicles, they still don't get it. Giving the V sign as well too means nothing here, nor does calling someone a wanker have any baring at all. I think i called someone a tosspot too once, and it went right over their head. Marvellous. Other Don't tell someone you won't see them for a fortnight becuase you're on holiday - what you really meant to say is that your taking fourteen days vacation. Envisage - duh! Envision please. Derusion was thrown at me when I tried that one in a meeting. An engaged tone becomes a busy signal (bang goes the "They're engaged", "Really? Who to?" gag, bastards) and the little dot here at the end of this sentence is a period. Not a full stop. And not a womans montly discharge either. (The woman that was probably wearing tights, sorry, I mean pantyhose btw) Challenge your friend to a game of not draughts, but checkers. Or maybe nought and crosses. What's that? Oh, sorry - Tic, Tac Toe of course! A a drawing pin is a thumb tack. You can't refer to your underwear as smalls. They won't know what you mean. Saying someone is a complete tart too doesn't translate as someone being slutty.
Words and phrases which totally confuse Americans, because they've never heard of them before There are then words and phrases which I've used where the locals here look at my with a strange look because they have no idea what I'm talking about. I'll often give something a dekko or sus out the SP on something - both of them meaning to check something out. If I want to pop round to your gaff later, it just means I want to come and visit you at your house. Unknown here! Don't try to cack your pants, buy a pair of kecks, or go and do a dump in the khazi, because they just don't know what you mean. (Shit in your underware, buy some pants, go to the toilet)
The Dollar vs. The Pound Mike Todd's excellent pages, showing a graphical history of the dollar vs. the pound since 1914 - see the periods of time when the dollar was stronger (strongest?) against the pound! Other websites http://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/
Same word, but pronounced differently "Two nations divided, by a common language". And so it would seem. Whilst there is a fantasticly comprehensive English2American word list that tells us of all the words that are different between British English and American English, what amuses me more is the fact that words that are the same, and spelt the same, can of course sound completely different. On the left, a regular word to me. On the right, the bizarre phonetic pronounciation that the Americans seem to use. To this day 'Oregano', 'Khaki' and especially 'Mauve' are my three favourites.
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