[Marge Simpson]
“Remember, an elevator is called a ‘lift,’ a mile is called a ‘kilometer,’ and botulism is called ‘steak and kidney pie.’”
[/Marge Simpson]
Is a jumper a particular kind of sweater, like a pullover?
Hence, Americans say “fanny-pack,” whilst the Anglo-Irish version is “bum-bag.”
Being a stranger in a strange land once, I saw a young girl fall on her keister on wet grass. “Whoa! Down goes Orla on her fanny!”
Her brother almost killed me! :rolleyes:
US: Spotted Dick = An unpleasant affliction
UK: Spotted Dick = A pleasant confection
you brits suffer from schizophrenia over your Mothers, so let me explain it :
- A mommy is who kisses you at bedtime
- A mummy is a wrapped up corpse.
My grandfather (on dad’s side) was from England, and my dad regularly kept in touch with the English relatives and tried, I think, to embrace his English heritage and pass it on to his kids.
A few of these English terms were used by our family. (My dad always pronounced “herb” with the H, for instance.) My friends have told me that a few of my turns of phrase are uniquely British and they attribute that to my (somewhat tenuous, at this point) English heritage. I’m not totally convinced, but then, it might be true and I just don’t see it.
Regarding ** Rayne Man’s** post, I’ve inferred from watching “World’s Wildest Police Videos” that in the US, ‘pavement’ refers to any surfaced road (as opposed to eg. a dirt track). Is that the case? Do Americans ever use ‘Tarmac’ to refer to the road surface itself?
pd
UK > US
knackered > really tired
gobsmacked > surprised
wheeliebin > trash can on wheels
Tarmac is usually reserved for airport runways.
IIRC, in *Murder on the Orient Express * the character played by Lauren Bacall slips up and shows that she has an American background by saying “I can always call my lawyer long distance” instead of “I can always place a trunk call to my solicitor,” something noted by Albert Finney’s Hercule Poirot.
Never heard that one. How about “concrete” or “asphalt” or (perhaps incorrect, but used anyway) “cement”?
In the U.S., “pavement” = paved surface. I think what Brits call the “pavement,” Americans call the “sidewalk”?
And Americans park their cars in a parking lot. The British use “car parks,” which to an American like me sounds like a park for cars. After all, city parks, amusement parks, water parks, and national parks are all particular kinds of parks—why wouldn’t a “car park” be one too?
The Default meaning of ‘Park’ here is what you (seem to) call a city park; there are also industrial/business ‘parks’ (AKA industrial/business/trading estates)
Boobtasticismallyised I am for missing the birth of this thread.
Faggots - a tasty foodstuff in gravy.
Duff - not very good/broken
Per my Webster’s Random House Unabridged… “6. A space where vehicles, esp. automobiles. may be assembled or stationed.”
Yesterday 05:26 PM
Mr. Blue Sky Quote:
Originally Posted by primer_dimer
Regarding Rayne Man’s post, I’ve inferred from watching “World’s Wildest Police Videos” that in the US, ‘pavement’ refers to any surfaced road (as opposed to eg. a dirt track). Is that the case? Do Americans ever use ‘Tarmac’ to refer to the road surface itself?
pd
Tarmac is usually reserved for airport runways."
And sometimes the broad asphalt area used for marching new recruits at US military training centers-also more often called “grinders”, which term is lso used, among others, for submarine (!) sandwiches (gyros, etc.)
“Bloody” by Brits as a common adjectival invective vs. (in some circles) “f***ing” in US.
I’ve never known “fanny” to mean anything but ass (arse). I don’t understand. What are you saying it means in the US?
Fanny means ass in the US, but I think it’s a reference to the female genitalia in the UK.
What’s wrong with that? No seriously, I’m off to San Francisco tomorrow morning and I don’t want to look stupid!
Are those really words?
We generally refer to it as either “take-out” or “to go”. Take away is rarely heard over here.
And yes, those are really words 
A couple more ,
Multi-story car park = GB
Parking garage = US
Skip = GB
Dumpster = US