To me, one of the big cultural hurdles is the education system, which is very different to what we have here. Terms like “first grade”, “sixth grade” etc. are so ingrained in American culture that they are used as bywords for children of those ages. We do have similar terms in the education system here, but they are not so ingrained that they are used generally. I always have to do mental arithmetic when I see a reference to a “grade”, in the US context.
Secondly, the whole system of pre-university education in the US seems different. We don’t have high school diplomas or SATs. Instead, we have subject-specific qualifications from about age sixteen.
They’re only on a raft if they’re on toast. I don’t know how widely used these are now, but when I was working in restaurants (say 15 years ago), we used a lot of the action-oriented ones for sure: “all day”, “in the weeds”, “on a rail”/“on the fly”, “marry” (as in ketchup), and of course, “86”. The overly-cute names for food and prep instructions, not so much, although a few of those are just what those things are called now, like “pigs in a blanket” and “sunny-side up”. But I did occasionally hear “burn it” for “well-done” (or “still mooing” for “rare”, which isn’t even listed), a sandwich or salad without any dressing was “dry”, and unduly lingering customers were definitely “campers”.
My great-grandmother’s given name was Fanny. She died in the mid-1980’s, and I believe she was born sometime around 1900. I believe she was born in West Virginia, which is certainly where she lived the bulk of her life.
I’m an American and have found the British practice of independent pre-university qualifications (e.g. A Levels) interesting. It seems that the British qualifications are taken in the later years of secondary school by tradition only, and there’s nothing that says that you can’t come back and do more at age 20, 35, or even 60. In the US, once you have earned any high school diploma or equivalency, you are generally considered done with high school and can’t go back and add endorsements or improve your GPA. If you finished high school but your transcript, GPA, etc. is too low to get into the university you want, there are “Community Colleges” that cover (roughly) the first two years of a US university education that you can go to, and if you do well, transfer to a good university, but you can’t go back to 12th grade English and rewrite that paper on MacBeth for a better grade or retake the Algebra II final exam.
A partial list of greasy spoon terminology, courtesy of one of Montana’s finest* dive bars.
*Although my father, on whom be peace, swore that the place was never the same after they swept up the sawdust, removed the spittoons and let wimmin in.
I guess I used the wrong TLA (three-letter acronym). I said SAT when I perhaps should have said GPA. America is truly the land of the TLA. It’s hard for us foreigners to keep up.
Anyway, when I said “from sixteen” I meant the age at which students receive the qualifications. That is, all students study specific subjects from about 14 to 16 years of age, and get separate qualifications in those subjects. They can then leave school, or continue studying a smaller number of subjects at a more advanced level, subject to earlier grades. Entry to university depends on grades at the advanced level.
It was my server - or, more correctly, my husband’s - and no apology necessary. I didn’t know what ‘to go’ meant when I ordered hamburgers. Which reminds me of another linguistic mess I got myself into. The spouse wanted a burger with cheese and something else which escapes me. I wanted no cheese, just a normal burger. So I asked for a cheeseburger and a plain burger. Plain is what I got - two halves of a bun and the meat in between. Having grown up watching Leave it to Beaver, Ozzy and Harriet and Gidget, among others, I thought I would be able to communicate adequately with our US allies. How wrong I was.
Yeah, this happens regardless of cultural differences. We’ve tried ordering a cheeseburger at McDonalds with only lettuce and onions. Sometimes we have gotten a hamburger with only lettuce and onions. A couple of times we got a bun with only lettuce and onions. And sometimes a bun with lettuce, onions and cheese.
We found out that ordering a burger with only lettuce, onions and cheese seemed to resolve the confusion.
ETA: And I really can’t imagine how “to go” could be confusing in any way at all. What the heck else could “Would you like that to go?” possibly mean? How else is it phrased elsewhere? Would you like carry out? Would you like a bag?
Well, not to beat a dead horse, but I’m pretty sure everyone here would understand “Would you like that to eat here or to take away?” Why on earth someone couldn’t comprehend “Would you like that to eat here or to go?” is a mystery.
And her name is actually Patricia Neal. She uses Fannie Flagg as a stage name because it fits in with her public persona which plays up on her southern roots.
There are still a few women being named Fanny: Columbian singer Fanny Lu Buenaventura (born 1973); German skier Fanny Chmelar (born 1985); German canoe racer Fanny Fischer (born 1986); Canadian swimmer Fanny Letourneau (born 1979); German hockey player Fanny Rinne (born 1980); Swiss skier Fanny Smith (born 1982), and Hungarian soccer player Fanny Vago (born 1991).
There are a few of us in North America, who feel eggs are not a part of any breakfast; indeed, not a part of any meal at all. I cannot eat eggs, and it bothers me that every truck stop, every 24-hour diner, every single blankety-blank place where one can eat in the wee hours seems to feel that eggs are a part of a complete menu.
Scene: 0500, my buddy and I are driving a semi-rig. We pull into an all-night diner. They have a “trucker’s special breakfast”: two eggs any style, toast with butter and jam, hash brown potatoes, bottomless coffee, and juice; all for $2.95 (between 0500 and 0700 only). Buddy orders just fine, but me?
Me: I’ll have the special, but skip the eggs.
Waitress: We can’t skip the eggs on the special.
Me: Huh?
Waitesss: You have to order eggs.
Me: I can’t eat eggs.
Waitress: Then we’ll have to do everything separately. That would be about 8 for coffee, juice, hash browns, and toast.
Me: @#%@#. You gotta be @##$% kidding me.
Buddy (interrupting): Give him the trucker’s special, with two eggs over easy, on a separate plate.
Waitress: Coming right up.
Buddy (who loved eggs over easy) ate “my” eggs, off the separate plate; and I got a good meal on my own. But it felt a little like the scene in “Five Easy Pieces.” Seriously, in this day and age, when much is made of kids who cannot bring peanut butter sandwiches to school, do people not understand that some of us cannot eat eggs? Why must breakfasts in North American diners always include eggs?
