# American Living In Other Countries: Picking Up The Lingo Question

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-living-in-other-countries-picking-up-the-lingo-question/570586>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [February 7, 2011, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-living-in-other-countries-picking-up-the-lingo-question/570586 "2011-02-07T23:04:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\
**Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-living-in-other-countries-picking-up-the-lingo-question/570586/21 "2011-02-08T16:38:33Z")

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I lived in Singapore when I was 24-25. We picked up a fair number of Britishisms and some Aussie expressions, but also some distinctly Singaporean linguistic habits. “Can, lah?” which basically means, “Can/shall we/you do that?” It’s been twelve years and that one still shows up from time to time. “Air-con” instead of “air conditioner” or “AC” is a regular. I’m sure there are others.

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**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-living-in-other-countries-picking-up-the-lingo-question/570586/22 "2011-02-09T03:27:37Z")

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My Indian friend speaks more proper British English than my English S.O. She claims it is her Catholic schooling. He speaks something called “Bristle” and he slides right into it when he gets comfortable with people so I end up becoming his interpreter sometimes. He has picked up a whole lot of American and Canadian slang though. His kids give him grief over it.

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**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-living-in-other-countries-picking-up-the-lingo-question/570586/23 "2011-02-09T04:04:59Z")

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Happened in Hawaii, too. Not only did I start sprinkling Hawaiian words into my everyday conversations the same as everyone else, the newspaper headlines would use them too. _Keiki_ instead of “children.” Etc.

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**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-living-in-other-countries-picking-up-the-lingo-question/570586/24 "2011-02-09T23:45:30Z")

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> [@wheresgeorge04](#):
>
> Washing up powder? Is that what Brits actually say?

It’s pretty unusual. The usual term for laundry detergent is “washing powder”. Perhaps **even sven** was confusing this with “washing up liquid”, which is dish soap.

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**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-living-in-other-countries-picking-up-the-lingo-question/570586/25 "2011-02-10T03:04:11Z")

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What drives me nuts are the products we use here that have different names there. That’s not “Vanish,” it’s “Shout”! Vanish is a toilet bowl cleaner here and a clothing spot remover there.

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