[QUOTE=An Gadaí]
Crack is actually an English dialectal term, adopted in Ireland and since died out (to the best of my knowledge) in England.
[/QUOTE]
No, indeed – I’m happy to report that it’s is still in full vigour in the North East of England, and that canny crack can be found here any night of the week.
This is possibly to do with accent (or just not hearing correctly) as much as words…
A friend of mine went to the US, and had his hire car valet parked at a hotel. When asked, “Where is your car, sir?” he said, “Oh, the BLOKE out front parked it for me.”
This was heard as “The BLACK out front…”
Nearly a very nasty incident.
[QUOTE=Martini Enfield]
In New Zealand and Australia (and presumably the UK), a “Rubber” is something used for erasing (“rubbing out”) mistakes when writing with pencil.
In the US, it’s got an entirely different meaning- apparently it’s the slang term for a condom. :eek:
[/QUOTE]
Rubber is eraser here too although the other meaning is not unknown.
There’s a parer/sharpener divide too. One I noticed from Nigerian customers in my shop is the term “fairly used” (i think) to mean secondhand.
[QUOTE=fishbicycle]
In England, "sideboards’ are what we on this side call “sideburns”. For us, in some areas, a “sideboard” is another name for an article of furniture usually found in the dining room, where the china and silverware are stored. In other places, it’s known as a buffet. That’s what my family called it.
[/QUOTE]
The usual British term for the facial hair is “sideburns”. “Sideboards” is a kind of affectedly old-fashioned word for the same thing, but generally a sideboard is an item of furniture, as you describe. We have a sideboard in the lounge.
[QUOTE=Nava]
No, a UK lolly is hard-ice-cream-on-a-stick.
[/QUOTE]
I was trying to explain what a lolly was in the US. And that we don’t really have them. As such. Just lollypops. You stupid bloody git.
Sorry, I didn’t mean that. 
Please don’t ban me.
[QUOTE=Colibri]
When I worked in New Zealand, I was a bit taken aback when the sweet-little-old-lady receptionist in my office asked me if I knew where to get rubbers if I needed them. It took me a moment to realize she was talking about erasers instead of condoms.
I also got some odd looks in Australia when I mentioned that I rooted for a certain baseball team. There you cheer for your team, while “rooting” refers to another activity entirely.
[/QUOTE]
I’m guessing any Australian going to their first baseball game in the U.S. would be shocked by “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” (“Do what for the home team?!”)
I must preface this with a caveat of “extensive, prolonged, and intimate cough contact with immigrant populations”:
“What was your address before that?”
“128 Bitch Street, [city], South Dakota.”
“… I’m sorry. 128 What street?”
“Bitch Street.”
“Bitch Street?”
“Haa, Bitch Street.”
“B I T C H Street?”
Furious translation ensues.
“Maya, no…B E A C H.”
[scribbling on note pad] “B E A C H - like this?”
“Nono. Like this: P E A C H.”
“Oooooooooooooooh, PEACH Street!!”
[More furious translation]
“Ok, look - bitch? That’s a very, very bad word. You meant PeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaTCH.”
“Peach is bad?”
“Yes, in English, very bad.”
“Like, son-ov-a-peach?”
“YES, EXACTLY!”
Yeah, ice block works in Australia for water-ice on a stick.
Knew a woman who found a French boyfriend and started learning the language. She eventually met the (quite formal) family of said boyfriend. For lunch. On a hot day. Undid a button on her blouse, and said in (literal) French “My God, I’m so hot”. She was puzzled by all the choking and gasping from the table until her boyfriend told her that in French, in that situation, one “has” heat. To “be” hot means something else entirely…
And most Australians now would understand now what was intended by saying someone is “rooting” for the home team. It’s just that the reflex to snigger is so ingrained as to be beyond suppression.