Really, it’s a bit of a red herring to think of this as a problem for words that mean two very different things, because it happens all the time with words that mean several not so different things. For example:
Fork. Do I mean an item of cutlery, or a garden implement?
Knife. Again, cutlery, or a kitchen knife, a craft knife or an outdoorsman’s knife? Sure, they’re all knives, but the wrong kind of knife is as wrong as a flaming torch when you wanted an electric one.
Spoon. Am I stirring my tea, or serving a trifle?
And so on. In many cases, the wrong type of object is still completely wrong. Context is everything.
The same way British distinguish between the metal covering for their car’s engine and the cloth covering for their head. However, the American metal engine cover seems a little less wimpy to me than the British version.
It’s just an easier way of saying ‘half past [hour]’. The ‘past’ is filled in by the brain, thus it isn’t necessary to say (unless you haven’t grown up with people saying that).
Nobody up here says “half two,” or indeed “a quarter of six,” that I’ve ever heard. To this day I am not quite certain whether “a quarter of six” means 5:45 or 6:15.
I think one difference between some examples above is that context would seperate them because they are very different objects - a hood for your hat and the hood of a car, say. Whereas electric torches and flaming branch torches are more or less used in the same circumstances. Context does help - if we’re talking about plane crash survivors or an angry mob, I’ll assume branch on fire. If we’re talking about what going down to the cellar, I’ll assume electric torch.
But give it a few hundred years and it’ll be something that will confuse future school children, I bet. “Where would they get batteries on a desserted island?”
In American meetings, to ‘table’ something means to ‘lay it on the table’ (for later consideration) – in effect, to postpone discussing it until later (maybe never). The British meaning is almost exactly the opposite; to ‘table’ means to make it the top item on the table and discuss it immediately.
I remember reading that this created confusion & arguments at some of the early meeting between British & American staff during WWII.
No, it just means to raise a topic for discussion, to put it on the agenda. It doesn’t mean that it must be discussed now. And it is not particularly common usage. I’m sure there are many British people who wouldn’t understand the verb “table” in that context. But you’re right that it doesn’t mean “postpone”.
I agree that it means to ‘put something on the agenda’ - not for later or for now just ‘there’. I think most British people would recognise the verb in the context of parliamentary activity, as in ‘to table a motion’, i.e. to put forward a proposal for discussion in the House.
I guess it compares with “always-on” gas / oil lamps. A flashlight could be used to create a short burst of light and then turn off again, rather than a lamp that’s always illuminated.
Americans seldom use “rubber” as a count noun, with any meaning. Someone talking about “a rubber” would seem odd to an American. Depending on how well-read the American is, and depending on the context, e might guess that it refers to a pencil eraser, a condom, a raincoat, or a boot (the kind you wear on your foot in inclement weather, not the storage compartment of a car), but an American probably wouldn’t use that word emself to refer to any of those things.
There wouldn’t be any potential ambiguity in the United States, because we call them “jigsaw puzzles.” A jigsaw is just a saw that can be used to make a jigsaw puzzle.
Or, rather, a “risk-reducing item of contraception for adults,” eh?
