# Different things that have the same name (where you live) and nobody gets confused **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 17, 2021, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-things-that-have-the-same-name-where-you-live-and-nobody-gets-confused/930739 "2021-01-17T16:33:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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 18, 2021, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-things-that-have-the-same-name-where-you-live-and-nobody-gets-confused/930739/41 "2021-01-18T08:48:31Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > See, for me crackers and cookies are two completely different things. I don’t see a need for a category that encompasses both. A cracker is a savory snack. It goes with cheese or soup. A cookie is dessert (sweet or pudding in British terms I guess). It goes with a glass of milk. > > If I want a cracker specifically and not a cookie, what do I ask for? A non-sweet biscuit? In the UK, you’d ask for a cracker. Crackers here are any kind of savoury/neutral dry baked item, most commonly eaten with cheese. ---
**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 18, 2021, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-things-that-have-the-same-name-where-you-live-and-nobody-gets-confused/930739/42 "2021-01-18T08:53:10Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Yes. British crisps are potato chips. British chips are French-fried potatoes, or French fries, or fries. > > Pringles are labeled “potato crisps” on the can, but I’ve never heard anyone actually refer to them with that term. In the UK, Pringles are labelled ‘savoury snack’. Also to apparently to confuse everyone (except actually confusing nobody), some crispy snacks are called ‘chips’ - corn tortilla snacks are most often labelled ‘chips’, and it’s fairly common to find the term on other crunchy snack products that are not actual slices of potato, such as pitta chips ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-things-that-have-the-same-name-where-you-live-and-nobody-gets-confused/930739/43 "2021-01-18T09:01:49Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > The first such word that occurs to me in American English that seems to confuse English people is trailer. It can be (1) a relatively large “mobile home” intended for permanent habitation (which is mobile in theory but usually installed in permanent location), or (2) a relatively small camper towed behind a powered vehicle (caravan). There are other uses that are less likely to be confused, like the movie preview. Yes, we’d call your first example a mobile home, or a static caravan. [Trailer](https://www.google.com/search?q=trailer&rlz=1C5CHFA_enGB869GB869&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiuoqS8j6XuAhWXi1wKHdAIANMQ_AUoAnoECAMQBA&biw=1640&bih=857) is something that’s pulled behind a car and holds ‘stuff’. A caravan that is pulled behind a car is just that, a caravan. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-things-that-have-the-same-name-where-you-live-and-nobody-gets-confused/930739/44 "2021-01-18T09:05:19Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > A “trunk” can be a storage compartment in an automobile or a large piece of luggage. And yet it’s rarely confusing when someone says “That item is in the trunk”. Good example, Brits would call that the boot (also not confused with the things you put on your feet). ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-things-that-have-the-same-name-where-you-live-and-nobody-gets-confused/930739/45 "2021-01-18T10:37:39Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Good example, Brits would call that the boot (also not confused with the things you put on your feet). There is a reason for that. On a horse-drawn conveyance, it was a storage compartment for boots. The dashboard was a screen to stop mud from being ‘dashed’ up from the horses’ hooves. Guess what they kept in the glove compartment. ---
**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 18, 2021, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-things-that-have-the-same-name-where-you-live-and-nobody-gets-confused/930739/46 "2021-01-18T11:50:13Z")
I think the same might be true of ‘trunk’ - it was a luggage trunk lashed to the back end of the vehicle. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-things-that-have-the-same-name-where-you-live-and-nobody-gets-confused/930739/47 "2021-01-18T13:19:10Z")
“Lemonade” in North America is generally a non-carbonated beverage consisting of water flavored with lemon and sugar. If you order “lemonade” in the UK or Australia, you get a carbonated lemon-flavored beverage similar to 7-Up. You need to order a “lemon squash” to get the desired non-carbonated version. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-things-that-have-the-same-name-where-you-live-and-nobody-gets-confused/930739/48 "2021-01-18T13:53:26Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > Beans must be a candidate. You’ve got the green ones for your Thanksgiving casserole, but the baked type which are a different animal altogether. They are both beans because they are the same plant. A green bean is literally a green (young or immature) bean. If you let it mature, it takes the other form. So it is actually, literally the same vegetable, and “not a different animal altogether.” ---
**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 18, 2021, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-things-that-have-the-same-name-where-you-live-and-nobody-gets-confused/930739/49 "2021-01-18T13:56:16Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > “Lemonade” in North America is generally a non-carbonated beverage consisting of water flavored with lemon and sugar. If you order “lemonade” in the UK or Australia, you get a carbonated lemon-flavored beverage similar to 7-Up. You need to order a “lemon squash” to get the desired non-carbonated version. If you order lemon squash, you’ll get something that’s made up from a concentrated syrup. Lemonade made from fresh lemons, sugar and water isn’t really a thing here in the UK ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-things-that-have-the-same-name-where-you-live-and-nobody-gets-confused/930739/50 "2021-01-18T14:01:11Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > > [@bibliophage](#): > > > > The first such word that occurs to me in American English that seems to confuse English people is trailer. It can be (1) a relatively large “mobile home” intended for permanent habitation (which is mobile in theory but usually installed in permanent location), or (2) a relatively small camper towed behind a powered vehicle (caravan). There are other uses that are less likely to be confused, like the movie preview. > > Yes, we’d call your first example a mobile home, or a static caravan. [Trailer](https://www.google.com/search?q=trailer&rlz=1C5CHFA_enGB869GB869&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiuoqS8j6XuAhWXi1wKHdAIANMQ_AUoAnoECAMQBA&biw=1640&bih=857) is something that’s pulled behind a car and holds ‘stuff’. A caravan that is pulled behind a car is just that, a caravan. In the U.S. we never call something pulled behind a car a “caravan.” We use “caravan” only to mean a convoy or train of (not physically connected) vehicles, animals, and people, or combination thereof, traveling together, usually for safety or to share resources. Think a line of camels in the desert. That’s a caravan to Americans, not something you attach to a car. And there’s also the brand name for a minivan, the Dodge Caravan, whose name evokes that line of camels in the desert. Funny that in Britain that brand name seems much more literal, whereas in America it’s romantic and exotic. ---
**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 18, 2021, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-things-that-have-the-same-name-where-you-live-and-nobody-gets-confused/930739/51 "2021-01-18T14:04:20Z")
Just to note, I’m perfectly happy for this thread to evolve into a more general ‘separated by a common language’ type of theme, but if anyone has any more examples of pairs-by-name-not-by-nature, I’d love to hear about them ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-things-that-have-the-same-name-where-you-live-and-nobody-gets-confused/930739/52 "2021-01-18T14:06:24Z")
> [@UDS1](#): > > It may help to be aware that, in BrE, while crackers and cookies are both kinds of biscuit; they are not exhaustive of the kinds of biscuit that are to be had; there are many biscuits which are neither crackers nor cookies. Cookies have a soft, chewy texture and crumble easily; they will usually contain chocolate chips, nut chips or similar. But something like a digestive biscuit, a layered biscuit or a shortbread biscuit is not a cookie; it’s just a biscuit. For us those are cookies. Everything is either a cookie or a cracker (except the aforementioned Graham cracker, which is an animal unto itself). So we don’t have an equivalent category of biscuits that are neither cookies not crackers. American Cookies don’t have to be soft and chewy. Were I to guess, I believe that the majority of what we consider cookes are in fact hard and crumbly rather than soft and chewy. So “cookie” in Britain seems to Ben a much narrower category. Like “candy.” My understanding is that in Britain only hard boiled sugar sweets are called candy. In America, chocolate is also candy. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-things-that-have-the-same-name-where-you-live-and-nobody-gets-confused/930739/53 "2021-01-18T14:12:44Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > > [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > > > “Lemonade” in North America is generally a non-carbonated beverage consisting of water flavored with lemon and sugar. If you order “lemonade” in the UK or Australia, you get a carbonated lemon-flavored beverage similar to 7-Up. You need to order a “lemon squash” to get the desired non-carbonated version. > > If you order lemon squash, you’ll get something that’s made up from a concentrated syrup. Lemonade made from fresh lemons, sugar and water isn’t really a thing here in the UK Isn’t that a prime business opportunity? Fresh lemonade is one of the greatest things ever, especially on a hot summer day. I would think someone could make a killing on it by introducing it to the British. It’s far better than either lemon-lime soda pop or diluted lemon syrup. ---
**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 18, 2021, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-things-that-have-the-same-name-where-you-live-and-nobody-gets-confused/930739/54 "2021-01-18T14:15:49Z")
That’s correct on both terms - cookies in the UK are chewy or crumbly, often irregular, and usually contain chocolate pieces, raisins, nuts etc, and (with exceptions) most often eaten fairly fresh - within a day or two of baking. Candy refers to confectionery primarily made from cooked sugar - hard boiled, or sometimes chewy (but not toffee) ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-things-that-have-the-same-name-where-you-live-and-nobody-gets-confused/930739/55 "2021-01-18T14:16:33Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > They are both beans because they are the same plant. A green bean is literally a green (young or immature) bean. If you let it mature, it takes the other form. So it is actually, literally the same vegetable, and “not a different animal altogether.” Ignorance fought, thanks! ---
**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 18, 2021, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-things-that-have-the-same-name-where-you-live-and-nobody-gets-confused/930739/56 "2021-01-18T14:17:27Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Fresh lemonade is one of the greatest things ever, especially on a hot summer day. I would think someone could make a killing on it by introducing it to the British. ‘especially on a hot summer day’ - drink it up kids, before the rain dilutes it too much! ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-things-that-have-the-same-name-where-you-live-and-nobody-gets-confused/930739/57 "2021-01-18T14:20:27Z")
I don’t know about you, but I do most of my beverage consumption indoors anyway. Maybe Britain won’t have kids sitting on the curb selling lemonade for five (cents/pence), but I can’t recall the last time I saw that in real life anyway. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-things-that-have-the-same-name-where-you-live-and-nobody-gets-confused/930739/58 "2021-01-18T15:04:23Z")
I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone in the US call an actual mobile home a trailer. [These](https://www.jayco.com/tools/archive/2020-jay-flight/floorplans-and-prices/) are called “trailers” (although I wouldn’t call it relatively small) and I suppose they can be permanently parked at one location , but I’ve never heard [something](https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/520-Washington-St_Eatontown_NJ_07724_M94365-65071) like this called a trailer -although the places where they are permanently parked are sometimes called “trailer parks” \* - Although whether it’s called a “trailer park” has a lot to do with who lives there - if it’s fairly well-off, retired people living in double or triple-wides during the winter, it tends to be called something different. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-things-that-have-the-same-name-where-you-live-and-nobody-gets-confused/930739/59 "2021-01-18T15:09:52Z")
Maybe it’s regional. I lived in a rented single-wide mobile home for two or three years in college. I called it “the trailer” as did all my family. My sister lived in a different single-wide mobile home for a year or two when she was first married. We all called it a trailer. My aunt has lived in a mobile home most of her adult life, and she calls hers a trailer. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-things-that-have-the-same-name-where-you-live-and-nobody-gets-confused/930739/60 "2021-01-18T15:20:21Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > > [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > > > Beans must be a candidate. You’ve got the green ones for your Thanksgiving casserole, but the baked type which are a different animal altogether. > > They are both beans because they are the same plant. A green bean is literally a green (young or immature) bean. If you let it mature, it takes the other form. So it is actually, literally the same vegetable, and “not a different animal altogether.” According to Walmart they’re two different things. Our Walmart was recently revamped and the aisles were moved around and re-organized. I went to buy kidney and cannellini beans so I went to the aisle marked canned vegetables - nope not there. I wandered around until I found them 4 aisles down with baked beans. I wish I could remember what the aisle was marked and what else was on the shelves. I want to say peanut butter but could be wrong. Whatever was there, it didn’t make sense to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-things-that-have-the-same-name-where-you-live-and-nobody-gets-confused/930739.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-things-that-have-the-same-name-where-you-live-and-nobody-gets-confused/930739.md?page=4)