# British, American different turns of phrase **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 22, 2010, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070 "2010-12-22T13:58:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/261 "2011-01-03T01:07:24Z")
> [@tetranz](#): > > In the US my address might be _on_ ABC Street. In NZ and I think UK it would be _in_ ABC Street. > > In the US it might simply be “on ABC” since it seems common to the drop the street, road or whatever suffix when talking if the name is unique. > > Don’t forget fanny 🙂 No, it would be on ABC Street. > [@Candyman74](#): > > To be honest, I haven’t used a pencil and/or pencil-erasing-object in many, many years. I _assume_ they’re still called rubbers, but I’m not sure. > > I’ve never used the word “rubber” to refer to a condom. But, again, I don’t know what the kids these days call things. > > I’m 36, and to me a rubber still means pencil-erasing-object and “eraser” sounds very American. Perhaps some people with teenage kids could let us know what they call them? They definitely are still called rubbers. (Parent of twelve-year-old and former secondary school teacher). You’d usually say whiteboard rubber too, but most of the classrooms I’ve been in have had interactive whiteboards, so you don’t have a rubber for those. Lots of people here seem to have been taken for a ride by British speakers. I mean, if anyone laughed at the Watergate bugging scandal then they were just indulging in Beavis and Butthead humour because it sounds similar to bugger; we have the same word bug with the same meaning, so it’s not like anyone would be confused about the meaning in any way. However, ‘bug’ meaning insect is a word that is known in the UK, certainly, but it’s not as ordinary as in the US. It’s being used more and more, but still strikes me as an Americanism. US: To wash up = to wash your hands. UK To wash up = wash the dishes. So when I was a kid I thought it was common for Americans to wash their dishes before dinner instead of after. Then again, I was also confused as to how, exactly, they were eating squash instead of drinking it. (UK squash = cordial that you add water to to get a flavoured drink. Like Kool Aid but not powdered). The only single word that could cause some real difficulties if used without explanation is solicitor. Quite a respected profession in the UK, being a type of lawyer (but they’d never be called a lawyer), and, in the US, either a door-to-door salesman or a prostitute; not sure which of those is respected less. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/262 "2011-01-03T02:51:24Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > US: To wash up = to wash your hands. > UK To wash up = wash the dishes. > > So when I was a kid I thought it was common for Americans to wash their dishes before dinner instead of after. Then again, I was also confused as to how, exactly, they were eating squash instead of drinking it. > > (UK squash = cordial that you add water to to get a flavoured drink. Like Kool Aid but not powdered). 🙂 Whereas on the other side of the pond, a lot of us **finally** figured out why the HP kids ate so much pudding after the second movie/fourth book - up until they showed one at the beginning of COS, we imagined each big fancy meal described in the books ended with [this](http://www.kosher.com/kosher/items/KosherDairyPudding-SwissMissChocolateVanillaSwirlPudding_zoom_image1_25962.jpg)…which is mighty strange considering how nice the rest of the food sounds. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/263 "2011-01-03T08:58:34Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > When I was at school it was blackboards and they were wiped with cloths. The few white boards around were also wiped with cloths, even more so than the black boards. but, but, but…how can teachers throw a cloth at pupils? That isn’t going to work. Surely the only approved erasing/projectile device is the previously mentioned “block of wood covered with felt” It also gives a 50/50 chance of concussion or a “flumf” of chalk dust. fair odds. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/264 "2011-01-03T10:52:41Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > US: To wash up = to wash your hands. > UK To wash up = wash the dishes. Worth noting that automatic dishwashers were long regarded as an unnecessary luxury, or an unreliable gadget in the UK. I don’t know what percentage of homes have them now. I’ve never used one. > [@](#): > > So when I was a kid I thought it was common for Americans to wash their dishes before dinner instead of after. Then again, I was also confused as to how, exactly, they were eating squash instead of drinking it. > > (UK squash = cordial that you add water to to get a flavoured drink. Like Kool Aid but not powdered). I was surprised at how squash (the drink) is so rarely available outside the UK. I couldn’t find it at all on a recent trip to Spain (well, outside of the British expat minimarts. Even the international supermarkets like Lidl/Aldi. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070/265 "2011-01-03T15:19:44Z")
Growing up in NE Ohio in the Seventies, we had blackboards, and we used erasers to get the chalk off. From context we’d know the difference between a [pencil] eraser (a little piece of shaped rubber) and a [blackboard] eraser (small block of wood or plastic with nubbly felt wrapped around it). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-american-different-turns-of-phrase/565070.md?page=13)