You say - I say

[Pacion]

The differences between UK English and American English can be amusing. Anyone care to help compile a list? :wink: Some of the stuff is absolute and others are "interchangible" but the first option is most common, which I have indicated by using an asterix (*) :lol:

(The American English, is what I think/gather rather than what I absolutely know, so any "corrections" would be appreciated :wink: )

American English - UK English
sidewalk - pavement
car truck - boot
pants - trousers
cell phone - mobile phone
apartment - flat*
zuccini - courgette
soccer - football*
panty hose - tights (or stockings if they are holdups/require suspenders)
cologne - aftershave* (for the men)
ATM - Cashpoint machine
taxi - cab*

[SDsalsaguy]

car truck - boot
I think you meant:
car trunk - boot

Which also suggests...

car hood - bonnet

And then tehirs

trash - rubish (slosely related to: trash can - rubbish bin)

[pygmalion]

truck -- lorry
dinner -- high tea
(There are a bunch more. I used to be a UK TV-show addict. I'm swamped today, so I'll think about this and post more later. )

[Pacion]

car truck - boot
I think you meant:
car trunk - boot

I did :oops: I guess the chances of such things happening increase when you are a member of IRU :wink:

[goldfish]

US = UK

lunch = dinner
breakfast = brekky/brekkers
pal/buddy = mate, china (but china is antiquated by now)
ass = arse
sex = shag
mom = mum
dude = bloke
dumb = daft
candy = sweet
fries = chips
chips = crisps
elevator = lift

oh and there's pronunciation... in the US i can never figure out if someone's saying 'can' or 'can't', cos Brit pronunciation for 'can't' is "cahhnt"...which some people mistook for something .. less G-rated than i intended :wink:

[MapleLeaf Salsero]

USA - UK

Subway - Underground
Picky - Demanding
George Bush - Tony Blair :wink: :wink:

And then there are also differences in spelling example:
color - colour (British/Canadian English)
favorite - favourite (British/Canadian English)
center - centre
realize - realise

[MapleLeaf Salsero]

truck -- lorry
High tea -- dinner


I knew the first one but what is "High tea" , supper????

[Swing Kitten]

how about chips?

[TemptressToo]

The most amusing one...a friend of mine, an exchange student from Cambridge finishing her masters in architecture was interning at the firm on the floor below my office in Pensacola, FL.

She walked up to one of her male coworkers (in an almost entirely male office) and asked him, "Excuse me, but do you have a rubber?"

The poor guy balked and turned red and then my friend got extremely embarassed when she discovered that an "eraser" is what she should have asked for.

You see...in England... Rubber = Eraser

[jon]

US = UK

sex = shag


I wonder if the various Shag dances have caught on in the UK, at least under their US names?

[Swing Kitten]

another exchange student story.

My classmate took an exchange student friend of his to dinner and the waiter come to take their orders and says "Hello I'm Randy and I'll be your server tonight..."

the exchange student turned red and doubled over in suppressed laughter, she was shocked that people would name a child such a way.

Same classmate same exchange student where staying over at someone elses house and at the end of the night she asked him "Will you knock me up tomorrow at ten?" He says yes and after she leaves explains to the hostess what she actually meant.

:lol:

[tsb]

windbreaker = someone who had beans & cabbage the night before
petrol = gasoline

[pygmalion]

catsup= sauce
lawyer = solicitor
chips = crisps
principal = headmaster

[pygmalion]

truck -- lorry
High tea -- dinner


I knew the first one but what is "High tea" , supper????

In the UK, tea, or high tea, is a fairly substantial meal. In the US, tea is a thin liquid in a cup.

UK biscuits= US cookies

[pygmalion]

I forgot.

US TV = UK telly
UK lads (not sure there is a US equivalent, maybe guys?)
US or = UK our (i.e. UK colour = US color)

Then there's the whole pluralisation (zation US) thing. In the UK, an entity that is implied to have multiple members is considered plural. In the US, it's considered a singular entity, no matter how many members there are.
Example:
UK "The class have danced ..."
US "The class has danced ..."

[pygmalion]

US "in THE hospital" = UK "in hospital"
US "sleep late" = UK "lie in"

[pygmalion]

And one question for our UK contingent. Actually, two questions. What is a blancmange? And a sponge? Both desserts, I think, but describe please.

[salsachinita]

US "sleep late" = UK "lie in"

Oz = "sleep-in"

Hey, don't forget about us Aussies 8) .......we are somewhere between the two I think.

[SDsalsaguy]

Hey, don't forget about us Aussies 8) .......we are somewhere between the two I think.
Depends how one does one's geography... :lol:

[pygmalion]

OK, since we're talking Aussie, here.

UK - marmite= Aussie - vegemite = US "Why would anybody eat that yucky stuff? :shock: "


LOL.


UK --milo = US Ovaltine

[pygmalion]

UK motorway US highway

[Spitfire]

Flashlight - Torch
Socket Wrench - Spanner
American - Yank

[MadamSamba]

And the situations becomes more complex when you compare UK English to American English to Aussie English...thought more often than not, it's the same of discernably similar to the UK equivalent...

Oh, my "exchange student" story is with the Aussie term "top up", which means to re-fill a drink. When I was in the US, I asked my cousins if they'd like a "top up" on their cold drinks (softdrinks in the US, eh). Unable to understand what the hell I was saying, they cracked up laughing and spent the night asking people if they'd like their "top off".

Very strange...

[pygmalion]

Nobody willing to tackle blancmange, huh? LOL. Don't you folks remember the episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus that featured a giant, terrifying blancmange? What a hilarious episode that was. Second only to the fish-slapping contest. But I digress.

I had a feeling I knew what it was. Blancmange is a molded gelatinous pudding dessert. Sheesh. I still have to rely on google, even with UK buddies about. I guess everybody's out dancing. LOL.

[pygmalion]

UK the loo, or the ladies US the bathroom (or restroom), or the ladies room
UK spotty US pimply

[Spitfire]

US - Senior Citizen

UK - Mature Person

[MapleLeaf Salsero]

Just remembered one more:

US/Canada - UK
Theater - Cinema

[MapleLeaf Salsero]

US "sleep late" = UK "lie in"

Oz = "sleep-in"

Hey, don't forget about us Aussies 8) .......we are somewhere between the two I think.

I think the Americans also use the term "sleep-in" (Canadians also).

[SDsalsaguy]

US "sleep late" = UK "lie in"

Oz = "sleep-in"

Hey, don't forget about us Aussies 8) .......we are somewhere between the two I think.

I think the Americans also use the term "sleep-in" (Canadians also).
Yup, I'll confirm this... especially as it is what I wish I could do every morning! :lol:

[salsachinita]

yup, I'll confirm this... especially as it is what I wish I could do every morning! :lol:

I can do this everyday if I want to........but I am getting bored out of my brain.

I need something to get up for :shock: .......at the moment it's been DF.

*how healthy is addiction :? :lol: ?*

[SDsalsaguy]

*how healthy is addiction :? :lol: ?*
It all depends to what, now doesn't it? :lol:

[Pacion]

Just remembered one more:

US/Canada - UK
Theater - Cinema

Hmmm, so what do you call the buildings where musicals/live performances are held? How do you differentiate between theatre to see a movie and theatre to see a play/musical?

I think I read somewhere that theaters were converted to cinemas, which is why the use of the word theatre has remained.

[pygmalion]

Where I am, people will say movie theater or movies (as in "I'm going to the movies") . And yes, a lot of old theaters (ala vaudeville) were converted to movie theaters.

Speaking of which:

US: movie star UK: film star

[pygmalion]

Oh yeah: US mail UK post

[Pacion]

And one question for our UK contingent. Actually, two questions. What is a blancmange? And a sponge? Both desserts, I think, but describe please.

No Pygmalion, not ignoring you on this one :wink: just need to do some more research so that I can explain it. I know what sponge is :( I have even made it but to try and describe it?

:idea: It is a type of cake, and it the mixture of eggs, milk (?) and flour that gives it the appearance/slight feel of a sponge.

There is less flour than in a "normal" cake (and not 100% sure whether it has milk in it hence the question mark) so that when it comes out of the oven, the texture is like a sponge (springs back into shape when pressed gently with the fingers), it is golden in colour and it can be delicious :wink: It is often the basis for something else, for instance, it can be cut in half, along the middle (on the side, rather than through the top) and then a jam or cream spread on the cut side, the two halves rejoined and either served like that (depending on how well it came out) or with icing or a fruit topping. Will try and find a photo or two so that you can see and you will probably recognise it.

:idea: Have you come across something called the swiss roll? (And no, I don't mean a dance step :wink: )

[SDsalsaguy]

So sponge just =s sponge cake( although typically served with something on/in it), no?

[Pacion]

So sponge just =s sponge cake( although typically served with something on/in it), no?

Two S's SD :wink: Getting hungry are we :lol:

To my knowledge, yes. Here is a receipe and a photo :!: of a sponge cake. I think (trying to remember my Home Economics classes here!) that the main difference between sponge cake and other types of cakes is either the lack of milk or ratio of the butter/margarine, eggs and sugar to the flour.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/largespongecake_14561.shtml

The pineapple upsidedown cake has the "sponge cake" as its foundation also.

[pygmalion]

Holy cow! And all the eggs. :shock: Twelve is a lot, btw. And what is greaseproof paper? Waxed paper?

[SDsalsaguy]

So sponge just =s sponge cake( although typically served with something on/in it), no?

Two S's SD :wink: Getting hungry are we :lol:

No, no, no :lol:
"=s" as "eaqals"

[Pacion]

So sponge just =s sponge cake( although typically served with something on/in it), no?

Two S's SD :wink: Getting hungry are we :lol:

No, no, no :lol:
"=s" as "eaqals"

:lol: I rest my case, Your Honour :wink: :D

I say/You say

= / =s :lol:

[Pacion]

lawyer = solicitor

We say lawyer also, but there is a "qualification"/distinction that needs to be made as the legal profession is split here. The rules have changed slightly so the information I am giving here may be slightly out of date.

Solicitor = a lawyer who up until recently could not appear in court on behalf of his/her client. Yes, he/she would be in the courtroom, but could not speak to the judge :oops: (I am suddenly feeling embarassed for a system that I have not control over and all of a sudden seems very "old fashioned" :oops: ). He/she could only talk through the barrister.

I don't know the exact changes but the rules were changing so that solicitors were supposed to be able to represent their client in court, for certain types of cases - I think just the minor ones.

Barrister = lawyer who is "briefed"/"instructed" (which basically means hired!) by the solicitor to represent the client in court. They tend to be very expensive, charge by the hour etc etc and wear the black capes/gowns and white wigs you may have seen on television/english movies

When doing the legal training the student has to decide whether he/she wants to become a barrister/solicitor but at the end of the day, they are both lawyers.

For instance, with respect to say OJ Simpson or Michael Jackson (the only two cases I have seen on television and therefore could try and give you some sort of comparison) - Johnny Cochrane would probably have been the barrister (lead counsel) and the others, solicitors.

In terms of salary, it used to be the case that junior/trainee solicitors earnt more than their equivalents as barristers. I believe this was mainly because solicitors had more corporate clients. However, once a barrister has earned a reputation, he/she could go on to earn more than a solicitor, unless that solicitor was especially renowned in their field.

So basically, US lawyers do both the "office" and "court" work whereas here, due to the split, solicitors do the "office" work and if the case goes to trial, then a barrister is instructed (hired) and he/she then does the talking in court.

Phew!

[Larinda McRaven]

US: request a wake-up call
UK: request to be knocked up
:shock: !!!!!!

[Pacion]

:lol: that one is new to me :lol:

[pygmalion]

Yikes! It took me a billion years to find this thread. :x

What is tomato sauce, in UK speak?

In the US, tomato sauce is pure tomatoes, that have been peeled and simmered slowly, until they're at a consistency you can pour -- they're thick, but pourable, and usually contain only tomatoes, no seasonings. It's used in cooking, and usually sold in a can.

Ketchup is also mainly simmered tomatoes, but also contains sugar, salt, and lots of other spices. It has a mild flavor, and is used as a condiment on things like French fries (chips) and burgers. It's sold in a medium-sized plastic bottle.

I believe in UK-speak, ketchup is "sauce." So what do you call tomato sauce that you cook with?

[Joe]

usually sold in a tin.
FTFY. ;)

[bordertangoman]

blancmange is a cold dessert that sets in the fridge; like jelly (Jello -US)
made with milk and flavouring and a setting agent- cornflour.

[pygmalion]

usually sold in a tin.
FTFY. ;)

Believe it or not, I thought about that.

UK tin = US can. :wink: :)

[pygmalion]

blancmange is a cold dessert that sets in the fridge; like jelly (Jello -US)
made with milk and flavouring and a setting agent- cornflour.

Hmm. Interesting.

I guess UK cornflour = US cornstarch (The things you learn in these threads. 8) :D )

My first and only introduction to blancmange was seeing a giant one chase people around on an old BBC episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Hilarious.

[Pacion]

Hmm. Interesting.

I guess UK cornflour = US cornstarch (The things you learn in these threads. 8) :D )

My first and only introduction to blancmange was seeing a giant one chase people around on an old BBC episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Hilarious.

:doh: :lol: Yes, Monty Python and the various "Carry On" movies were very good.

[cornutt]

You see...in England... Rubber = Eraser

The other one that always throws Americans is the British usage of "fag" to mean "cigarette". :shock:

[cornutt]

Hmmm, so what do you call the buildings where musicals/live performances are held? How do you differentiate between theatre to see a movie and theatre to see a play/musical?


In the U.S. these days, live theater is largely confined to a few large cities, so generally when most people say "theater" they mean a movie theater. The only exception to this would probably be New York, which is the epicenter of U.S. live theater. A lot of other cities do often have small venues where plays are presented by local groups (often on college campuses). Such a venue is generally called a "playhouse".


I think I read somewhere that theaters were converted to cinemas, which is why the use of the word theatre has remained.

I can recall that an old theater in my town, where our parents used to take us to Saturday matinees, had a stage area behind its movie screen. It was a regular game for the young kids to try to sneak into that area without getting caught by the ushers. I recall that there were old stage lights and stuff back there that apparently hadn't been used in decades. There was a big old lighting console in the wings that had a bunch of the old rheostat-type lighting dimmers with gigantic handles that sort of looked like car gear shifts. They didn't work, of course, but kids had great fun getting back there and moving them back and forth.

The theater went out of business in the mid-'70s and the building just sat there for years. In 1982, while I was in college, one day a potential buyer wanted to inspect the building. An agent took them in, and apparently they went into the stage area and turned on some of the lights. A few hours later, the building burned down. :x

[cornutt]

Okay, one more:

One that threw me off for a long time is the British use of the phrase "public school", which means the exact opposite of what it means in the U.S.

Here's a few engineering ones:

US -- UK
ground (in the electrical sense) -- earth
tube -- valve
afterburner -- reheat

It also intrigues me that both the spelling and the pronounciation of "aluminum" is different in Britian:

U.S.:
aluminum -- "uh-LUUM-uh-num"

UK:
aluminium -- "al-u-MIN-ee-um"

Also, I think there are still people in Britian who use the German word "wolfram" to mean tungsten (the metallic element that light-bulb filaments are made of).

[DWise1]

Along the lines of theaters being converted into cinemas, I think the old Fox cinema in downtown Fullerton, Calif., was recently declared a historical landmark and saved from demolition. 15 years ago we went for lunch to the Italian restaurant right behind the theatre. Apparently the cinema is a converted live theater in which they had constructed a wall for the screen at the front of the stage. I think that some of the restaurant seating was up on the stage and the owners had set up the area under that stage (think of stages having trap doors) as a dungeon with mannikins dressed up humorously as the prisoners (I think one was a gorilla in a prisoner's suit).

There was an old, old theater one block north of the traffic circle in downtown Orange, Calif., that seems to have been there forever (or at least since very early in the 20th century, I think). I went there a couple times for movies around 1970 and was surprised to see the old organ there from, I surmised, the silent-movie days. Then in the mid-70's it converted back to a live theater and for the past 15 years or so it's been a church.


Back to the thread topic:
A US trash can is a UK "dust bin", I think.

I noticed that "knocking up" has already been mentioned.

Some of the British food names seem awfully strange. There's a British grocery vendor at our local Scotish Highland Games and while looking at the desert mixes we saw one for "spotted dick". We didn't want to ask.

Many years ago when I was a language major (German), a girl at school spent her childhood in England and was talking about the names they had for things, but I don't remember what they were. Like for what we in the US would call "bangs" (girl's hair in front combed straight down and cut in a straight line just above the eyebrows), sneakers ("tennis" shoes), and various articles of young girls' clothing that I don't even know the names of in the US.

[DWise1]

Differences in pronounciation. I remember hearing one British actor saying "si-mul-TAN-eous" (with a short "i"), instead of the US "SI-multaneous" (long "i").

And when Nicaragua was in the news a lot, National Public Radio used BBC sources a lot, so I heard something like "Nicuragrura" a lot. Rather grated, because the US pretty much follows Spanish pronunciation, besides which I also speak some Spanish.

[lolita]

a british friend was spending holidays in Ny, staying with me home
and we were about to go shopping, and then she got all furious and mad, she was looking for her JUMPER...!!!!

it took me a while to realize that a jumer is a SWEATER.:D

US-UK
windshield- windscreen
period-fullstop
muffler-silencer
license plate-number plate
hood-bonnet.
gas-petrol.

[chandra]

Dwise1:
us-uk
bangs-fringe

[yola]

i don't live in UK or US or Oz,
but i remember a distinction from school, that i still can't remember which is correct:

second floor = first storey (?) or second storey = first floor?

[chachachacat]

Most Baffling
Sweater = jumper

[DWise1]

i don't live in UK or US or Oz,
but i remember a distinction from school, that i still can't remember:

second floor = first storey (?) or second storey = first floor?

That may be more of a European thing vs the US way. I know that in Germany, you have the ground floor, then you go up to the first story, etc, whereas in the US the ground floor is the first story and you go up to the second story. I think I saw the same thing in France as in Germany. I didn't ride any elevators in Belgium and I forget what I saw in Switzerland, but I think it was the same as in Germany. Those were the only countries I have visited, so I'm just assuming that the rest of Europe is the same.

[hepcat]

US - UK
jello - jelly
the letter z ('zee') - the letter zed
the letter h ('aitch') - the letter haitch
panties - pants
bar - pub
pool - billiards


Also, a pronunciation thing that threw me off once... I asked my brittish roommate what time he wanted to head out and I heard "off pist nine". When he saw my confused look, he said very slowly "nine thirty".

[DWise1]

Most Baffling
Sweater = jumper

Never having been one to pay attention to fashion, the only jumper I'm familiar with is the top of the Navy junior enlisted dress uniforms, the traditional "sailor shirt". I'm guessing that her "jumper" was named for having that same basic cut, whereas we say "sweater" for all forms of knit upper outer garments. I assume that her "jumper" was a pullover (single piece, no buttons) with long sleeves, a large "V" neck (ie, not just a small token "V", but one that extends down to about the "two-T line" (a film term I was once taught), and either no collar or a flap hanging down the upper back.

[DWise1]

Ooh! I just remembered one from Monty Python.

(I just Google'd because I was sure I had gotten the spelling wrong, but I had guessed right):

Perambulator
What we in the US call "baby carriage" or "stroller".

I think I've also heard it in UK productions refered to as a "pram".


BTW, speaking of Monty, I saw the one where the British Dental Association agents were acting as spies, as the various agents would come into the bookstore with bigger and bigger weapons and get the drop on all the agents already there. Then the head bad guy (Graham Chapman) comes out of the wall in a dental chair, but somebody notices the time and they all break for their evil-doing to go have lunch.

The thing that struck me, was that Graham's character acted an awful lot like Mike Myers' "Dr Evil", down to the extended pinky being placed to the cormer of his mouth. I assume that's were Myers got it from.

---------------------------
"We have a piper down! I repeat, a piper is down!"
Myers (as the dad) in So I Married an Axe Murderer

[DWise1]

What about food names?

When a friend was in Australia, she went into a shop to get some cookies and they all thought it hilarious what she called "biscuits" (I seem to recall from 30 years ago).

And there was some odd main dish being baked in "1900's House": a large sausage in a much larger pan partially filled with some kind of sauce. I think I remember a "and squeak" in the name.

In the book, "The Germans", the American author related an incident from when he had remained in England after WWII to attend university. Their meal one day was introduced with a little speech: "It has been said that the only food worse than English food is that of the Eskimo. Today, we are attempting to do the Eskimo one better." And I think there was a "and squeak" in that name too.

I still get nightmares over "spotted dick".


PS
A favorite scene from "A Year in Province." It's Xmas time, so their strange hunter/poacher neighbor presents them with a present, a jar of fox's blood that he tells them is delicious with certain foods. Obviously sickened by the very thought, the British couple picks up a pudding that had been sent to them from England that give it to him as his present. When they tell him what it is, he looks at it obviously sickened by the very thought.

[Joe]

trainers=sneakers

Edit: bubble and squeak?

[DWise1]

trainers=sneakers

Edit: bubble and squeak?

I'm sure. What is it?

[chandra]

When I moved to the USA from canada, there were a few things I thought were odd

US/canada
ruff/roof (why do we pronounce the roof of a house like a dog bark?)
whats her face?/whats her name? (it sounds rude to not remember someones name by "whats her face?" but I use it all the time now ;) )
I new there were more... I cant rememeber now though!

[africana]

how about curse words?

I had to learn to stop using certain words because they are American curse words. For example "ewww that looks like bird sh%t!" would get the other kids gasping and laughing with/at me until I learned it was better to substitute the word "poop" for "sh%t", otherwise I was a bad person haha!

how about "I want to pee" versus "I want to piss"

makes one think curse words are kinda arbitrary

[africana]

cookie/crackers (US) - biscuit (UK)

I had to learn that biscuits are for dogs in the US :lol:

[cornutt]

makes one think curse words are kinda arbitrary

They are, to at least some extent. I know that the French equivalent of s**t, "merde", is regarded as a mild exclamation in France -- about like saying "damn" in the U.S.

But of course, we all know what the worst curse word in the entire universe is, only to be spoken in Serious Works of Art...

















































Belgium!

(I am now condemmed to hell for having typed it...)

[Pacion]

Ooh! I just remembered one from Monty Python.

Perambulator
What we in the US call "baby carriage" or "stroller".

I think I've also heard it in UK productions refered to as a "pram".

Never heard of perambulator but pram is quite commonly used. Stroller might be used, especially as that is the name given to some of the products made by Maclaren, a British company that makes prams. I have had the pleasure of racing along in the park with my nephew strapped into one. According to his parents, they are not sure who enjoyed it most! :? :doh: :lol: :lol:

[Merrylegs]

US Dishwashing liquid = UK Washing Up liquid

It made no sense to me when visiting a friend in Brighton, England when my friend's flatmate asked me to pass it to him. Washing up liquid seemed too vague a term.

[Joe]

I'm sure. What is it?
Wiki sez:

Bubble and squeak (sometimes just called bubble) is a traditional British (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom) dish made with the shallow-fried leftover vegetables from a roast dinner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roast_dinner). The chief ingredients are potato (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato) and cabbage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabbage), but carrots (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrot), peas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pea), brussels sprouts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brussels_sprout), and other vegetables can be added. It is traditionally served with cold meat from the Sunday roast (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunday_roast), and pickles. Traditionally the meat was added to the bubble and squeak itself, although nowadays the vegetarian version is more common. The cold chopped vegetables (and cold chopped meat if used) are fried in a pan together with mashed potato until the mixture is well-cooked and brown on the sides. The name is a description of the action and sound made during the cooking process.

[cl5814]

That may be more of a European thing vs the US way. I know that in Germany, you have the ground floor, then you go up to the first story, etc, whereas in the US the ground floor is the first story and you go up to the second story. I think I saw the same thing in France as in Germany. I didn't ride any elevators in Belgium and I forget what I saw in Switzerland, but I think it was the same as in Germany. Those were the only countries I have visited, so I'm just assuming that the rest of Europe is the same.

South Africa also follows the European convention for counting floors.