# What Britishisms most baffle Americans? What Americanisms most baffle Brits? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 18, 2024, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941 "2024-10-18T08:53:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2024, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/241 "2024-10-19T10:09:26Z")
For a three course meal menu in Britain, I would generally expect the menu to have the three categories Starters, Mains and Desserts. But after that, it gets really muddled depending on the restaurant’s cuisine, location, quirks of the owner, etc. For the first course, Appetisers is pretty common (sometimes Appetizers if the restaurant has an American theme). Occasionally Entrees, but that’s more likely in a European themed restaurant. Antipasti if it’s an Italian restaurant, but I’ve seen non-Italian places using that for starters. Then there’s Small Plates, menus with the sections separated by spaces with no headings, and menus that are just a list with no separation other than the price jumping before the mains and then shrinking for the desserts. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Entrees used for the second (Mains) course, even in American themed restaurants. Alternatives I’ve seen are Big Plates, or just listing categories, such as Meat, Fish, lots of others. Also, non-English headings such as Les Plats in French restaurants. Desserts course I’ve seen called Sweets and other whimsical headings that I’m not recalling right away. So really no course headings on a British menu that should baffle an American. The service charge listed at the bottom of the menu, on the other hand, is a different topic that does baffle many Americans. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2024, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/242 "2024-10-19T10:33:32Z")
Thanks y’all for enlightening me as to the UK meaning of “geezer.” An original member of the pioneering Midlands heavy metal band Black Sabbath was (is?) Geezer Butler, and I always thought that was a pathetic (nick?-)name for a rock star. Now I know better. ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2024, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/243 "2024-10-19T10:36:33Z")
Nope. In the UK, if you’re having jelly for dessert, it means a fruit gelatin dessert similar to the Jello brand. Hartley’s is a common brand. > **[Hartley's Strawberry Jelly Cubes](https://www.hartleysfruit.co.uk/our-range/hartleys-jelly/hartleys-jelly-cubes/hartleys-strawberry-jelly-cubes/)** > > Make fun and fruity jelly creations with Hartley’s Jelly Cubes, perfect for birthday parties and delicious with fruit for a mid week treat. If you’re having the seedless fruit spread in a jar that’s called jelly, it’s fruit juice, probably with added sugar, thickened with pectin as CalMeacham said. > **[Blackberry Jelly 340g](https://www.tiptree.com/collections/jellies/products/tiptree-blackberry-jelly)** > > Blackberries are brought to the boil and simmered gently.The juice and fruit is then transferred into our fruit press where it is squeezed slowly to extract the juice from the fruit.The Wilkin family have been farming at Tiptree, Essex, since 1757,... What is baffling is that grape jelly is/used to be the most popular spread jelly in the US, but has almost no popularity in Britain. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2024, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/244 "2024-10-19T10:39:53Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Grumble, grumble. I _still_ had to go through Ontario Grade 13, because I went through it before Ontario got rid of it. But just think how much smarter you are than those other pikers. A whole year’s worth! ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2024, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/245 "2024-10-19T10:49:01Z")
> [@Wrenching\_Spanners](#): > > What is baffling is that grape jelly is/used to be the most popular spread jelly in the US, but has almost no popularity in Britain. I don’t find that baffling at all. Preserves are typically made of fruit that you have a seasonal glut of. While I can see the US having a glut of gapes, that’s pretty unlikely in the UK. On scones: there are a variety of things that go by the name of scone in the UK, including Victoria Scones, Griddle Scones, Potato Scones, and probably some others that aren’t coming to mind. But if we’re talking about what most people think of as a scone there are two basic varieties: plain scones, which are essentially identical with US biscuits, and rich scones, which are similar, but include egg and sugar, and usually fruit. Cheese scones are rich scones, but replace the sugar (and some of the fat) with cheese. It seems that Americans, when adapting the recipe for rich scones, have (for reasons I won’t speculate on) doubled the quantities of fat and sugar, which has turned them into what we in the UK would call Rock Buns, or Rock Cakes. ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2024, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/246 "2024-10-19T11:02:50Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > International is hard. Always will be. 😉 > > Around the turn of the century I was working on software for government emergency management. I cannot tell you the hassles we had converting the UI language from US English to Australian English and, separately, New Zealand English. > > The technological obstacles were small. We’d designed for full internationalization from the git-go and our underlying platform was fully internationalized. > > The cultural & terminology obstacles were … huge. And this was just dialects of English. We later sold versions to other Eurpoean languages and somehow that wasn’t as bad. I guess they were used to English-first products being sorta flaky in their language. Whereas the Aussies and Kiwis wanted no sign it wasn’t bespoke for them from end to end. > > Such fun. Not. Makes for good stories in retirement though. Crikey! I’m a financial systems analyst, formerly a financial systems consultant, and my experience is completely different to yours. We would present software to clients that had multi-language capabilities, but only a single version of English - US English. They would ask for non-US English field labels, which we could explain were not delivered, but that we could implement their English dialect for a price. No one ever took us up on our offer. Stretching the American to North American, financial systems that deal with Value Added Tax (VAT) have VAT labels. That’s a UK/European thing. Canada has Goods and Services Tax (GST). So does Singapore, Australia, and other countries I don’t want to look up. When it comes to paying to change the field labelling, GST country companies don’t seem to have a problem accepting VAT labels. Moving the discussion back to Britishisms/Americanisms, I’ve encountered Americans who 1) don’t understand the concept that VAT is different than US sales tax, and 2) are stunned by how high the VAT rates are. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2024, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/247 "2024-10-19T11:04:37Z")
> [@veryfrank](#): > > I’d use “twat” for the same intent were I to refer to a woman. That said, I’ve also hear British comedians use “twat” as a verb meaning to hit/strike. In British English if someone is a jerk but not quite a cunt then they are a twat. Saying “I’m going to twat that twat” translates to “I’m going to hit that jerk”. Note that British “twat” rhymes with “fat” whilst American “twat” rhymes with “caught”. ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2024, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/248 "2024-10-19T11:04:38Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > I don’t find that baffling at all. Preserves are typically made of fruit that you have a seasonal glut of. While I can see the US having a glut of gapes, that’s pretty unlikely in the UK. Orange marmalade? ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2024, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/249 "2024-10-19T11:11:22Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > > [@Spoons](#): > > > > Grumble, grumble. I _still_ had to go through Ontario Grade 13, because I went through it before Ontario got rid of it. > > But just think how much smarter you are than those other pikers. A whole year’s worth! Absolutely! Year 13 in Canada had the essentials—“Advanced Moose Calling,” “Maple Syrup 101,” and, of course, “Eh? The Art of Polite Conversation.” Just kidding. 😀 ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2024, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/250 "2024-10-19T11:44:06Z")
> [@Wrenching\_Spanners](#): > > Orange marmalade? Citrus fruit store and travel well. They’ve been imported to Britain since the late Middle Ages and they’ve been cheap and plentiful for centuries. We do grow grapes in the UK, but not to the extent that we have an over-abundance that would require preserving. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2024, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/251 "2024-10-19T12:04:03Z")
> [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](#): > > If the ball goes over the perimeter rope the batting team get 4 runs without the batters having to move. 6 runs if the ball doesn’t bounce first You also get 5 runs awarded if the ball hits a hat or helmet. And 4 runs if the ball hits a tree in the field. Yes, some cricket fields have trees in the playing area. ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2024, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/252 "2024-10-19T12:12:13Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > Citrus fruit store and travel well. They’ve been imported to Britain since the late Middle Ages and they’ve been cheap and plentiful for centuries. > > We do grow grapes in the UK, but not to the extent that we have an over-abundance that would require preserving. Maybe we should turn this into its own thread although I’m not sure how far my interest carries. In London,I can find Welch’s grape juice, an American brand, but no British grape juice. Yet I can easily find four varieties of fresh grapes in my local supermarket. The answer is probably that grape jelly just never caught the public attention, for whatever reason. But stating that it’s reason of supply, given how much fresh produce Britain currently imports, seems an unlikely explanation. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2024, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/253 "2024-10-19T12:20:24Z")
Well - I’ve certainly been schooled on scones by many folks. Thank you all. > [@Alessan](#): > > Is the ramp the same as the apron area? Yes. Both are equivalent terms. ICAO defines it as: > APRON [ICAO]- A defined area, on a land aerodrome, intended to accommodate aircraft for purposes of loading or unloading passengers, mail or cargo, refueling, parking or maintenance. Per ICAO that’s the _only_ official term to use on the radio. Using carefully defined and standardized terminology is real important when the various participants don’t all have the same native language. And may both be speaking English which is not either of their native languages. FAA uses a similar definition for “apron” but also recognizes “ramp” as a synonym. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2024, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/254 "2024-10-19T12:27:46Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > We do grow grapes in the UK, but not to the extent that we have an over-abundance that would require preserving. Quite. Plus, grapes have a tendency to diminish in number quite remarkably between picking/acquisition and whatever you originally intended to do with them. ---
**Author:** ![slumtrimpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@slumtrimpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slumtrimpet)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2024, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/255 "2024-10-19T12:35:13Z")
Has the pronunciation of scone been discussed? Americans tend rhyme it with lone or bone, whereas in Britain it rhymes with run or fun. ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2024, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/256 "2024-10-19T12:37:44Z")
> [@slumtrimpet](#): > > whereas in Britain it rhymes with run or fun. No it doesn’t. Nobody says “scunn” There is a split between sk-own and sconn though. ---
**Author:** ![slumtrimpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@slumtrimpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slumtrimpet)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2024, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/257 "2024-10-19T12:41:18Z")
Probably a better translation. Never heard it rhyme with bone though. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2024, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/258 "2024-10-19T12:43:02Z")
> [@slumtrimpet](#): > > Never heard it rhyme with bone though. This is the standard US pronunciation (the word itself is less common than in the UK, though it’s gaining popularity.) ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2024, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/259 "2024-10-19T12:44:45Z")
" Middle school" , “intermediate school” and “junior high school” all refer to a school between elementary/primary school and high school. Depending on the district, these schools include some of grades 5-9 - in my area, they were typically called "junior high school "when they contained grades 7-9 and “middle school” or “intermediate school” when they covered grades 5 (or 6) - 8. High school is 9-12th grades which are also referred to as freshman, sophomore , junior , senior. When my district had high schools and junior high schools , they both had 9th grade to accommodate students from non-public schools that ended in 8th grade. In some districts, you will have a combined junior/senior high school with a single principal while in others they are two completely separate schools on the same campus. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2024, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/260 "2024-10-19T12:47:05Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > I used to be confused by the British usage of “to table a motion” as it mean the opposite of the American usage. > > > [@LSLGuy](#): > > > > Most (all?) of Latin America too. IME the USA is pretty much the sole outlier that confuses the ground floor with the first floor. Idjits 😉 . > > Japan and Taiwan follow American convention. Canada follows both. I have been in several meetings where someone says, “let’s table this” and I have to ask, “are we putting it on or taking it off the table?” which confuses everyone. As far as I can tell, it varies by institution: the places with a lot of interaction with Americans use the American meaning, the others don’t. The Wikpedia article on tabling explains: ## Use in Canada [[edit](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Table_(parliamentary_procedure)&action=edit§ion=11)] The Canadian meaning of to “table” in a parliamentary context is the British meaning to begin consideration of a proposal.[[26]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_(parliamentary_procedure)#cite_note-26) In a non-parliamentary context the British meaning is generally preferred but the American meaning of to “table” is also occasionally encountered; to prevent confusion over the contradictory meanings, the _Canadian Oxford Dictionary_ recommends using a different verb altogether in non-parliamentary contexts.[[27]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_(parliamentary_procedure)#cite_note-27) > **[Table (parliamentary procedure) | Use in Canada](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_(parliamentary_procedure)#Use_in_Canada)** > > The Canadian meaning of to "table" in a parliamentary context is the British meaning to begin consideration of a proposal. In a non-parliamentary context the British meaning is generally preferred but the American meaning of to "table" is also occasionally encountered; to prevent confusion over the contradictory meanings, the Canadian Oxford Dictionary recommends using a different verb altogether in non-parliamentary contexts. > 1."Table (verb)" in List of words having different meanings in Britis... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941.md?page=14)