# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2024, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/81 "2024-10-18T15:09:45Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > ‘Sketchy’ and ‘Mooch’ have tripped up a few Americans when I have used them; the most common meanings appear to be There is also dodgy roughly equivalent to sketchy (in the American sense of dubious quality or legality) ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2024, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/82 "2024-10-18T15:10:47Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I’ve learned of “kip” only recently, from Roger Daltrey’s memoir. I wouldn’t have expected Roger’s autobiography to be better than Pete’s, but… it is! – To obfuscate my hijack, I’ll mention that there’s a song by the UK band Squeeze with the lyric “sunlight on the lino” that mystified me for years. ---
**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:** [October 18, 2024, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/83 "2024-10-18T15:11:04Z")
“It’s muddy outside, best put on your trunks”, is equally relevant an example. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2024, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/84 "2024-10-18T15:12:14Z")
> [@Ponderoid](#): > > You needed to qualify that specifically with “British” because “public school” is another thing with two different meanings on either side of the pond That’s something that catches me out a lot as I have kids in American “public school”, but if I say that to my siblings in England it means the most elite private schools, so I need to say “state school” instead ---
**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:** [October 18, 2024, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/85 "2024-10-18T15:16:23Z")
Fruit flans often have a sponge base, but it’s not definitive; egg flan is pretty much a synonym for quiche, and there are fruit flans with a sweet shortcrust base (that it would also not be incorrect to call fruit tarts) ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2024, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/86 "2024-10-18T15:19:36Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > use it as a mild, slightly impolite word. I’d argue with how mild it is in the UK, but it is less of a taboo than the US definitely. Similarly is Cow as an insult which is a pretty mild insult equivalent to silly or slow on the uptake in the UK, and has no physical connotations. Not so much in the US, which a friend found out to his cost when he used it towards his American girlfriend. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2024, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/87 "2024-10-18T15:19:49Z")
One thing I’ve noticed recently which I haven’t noticed before in my decades of being an American consumer of British media is that everything below your feet is the floor. If you dropped it, it fell to the floor. Outside on pavement? Floor. In the middle of a field? Floor. Standing in a garden? Floor. To me, the floor is only inside. Everything outside is the ground (and usually ground is acceptable inside too). ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2024, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/88 "2024-10-18T15:24:35Z")
I’m British and I’d agreed with you. You’re right that a lot of Brits don’t distinguish, incorrectly in my opinion! ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2024, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/89 "2024-10-18T15:28:02Z")
well, in American urban youth culture, “it’s the bomb” signifies something great ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2024, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/90 "2024-10-18T15:29:35Z")
> [@Chad\_Sudan](#): > > there’s a song by the UK band Squeeze with the lyric “sunlight on the lino” that mystified me for years. “Lino” is linoleum, a type of floor covering. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2024, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/91 "2024-10-18T15:31:04Z")
> [@fedman1](#): > > well, in American urban youth culture, “it’s the bomb” signifies something great Does it? I think the kids that said that are approaching middle age 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2024, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/92 "2024-10-18T15:33:24Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Outside on pavement? Floor. In the middle of a field? Floor. Standing in a garden? Floor. “Pavement” and “garden” have different meanings too, but in this case it doesn’t matter because regardless of which side of the pond you’re on, they’re both outside things. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2024, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/93 "2024-10-18T15:35:13Z")
Yes that’s our next topic lol ---
**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 18, 2024, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/94 "2024-10-18T15:36:56Z")
> In the US, jelly is a fruit spread made of fruit juice and jam is a fruit spread made of whole crushed fruit. Jam is the same with us. The fruit is boiled with sugar till its pectin sets in. Jelly is set with gelatin. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/aKziA4MGUJc/hqdefault.jpg "1944 HITS ARCHIVE: It Must Be Jelly (‘Cause Jam Don’t Shake Like That) - Glenn Miller (Modernaires)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKziA4MGUJc) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2024, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/95 "2024-10-18T15:37:20Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > One thing I’ve noticed recently which I haven’t noticed before in my decades of being an American consumer of British media is that everything below your feet is the floor. If you dropped it, it fell to the floor. Outside on pavement? Floor. In the middle of a field? Floor. Standing in a garden? Floor. That usage isn’t universal. In Scotland anything of those outdoor surfaces would be the “ground”, and people would find calling them the “floor” just as weird as you do. I think it’s not even part of standard British English. I think the reason you haven’t noticed it until recently is that it’s an English dialect term of the type which script writers would often have shunned until quite recently. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2024, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/96 "2024-10-18T15:38:45Z")
> [@Chad\_Sudan](#): > > sunlight on the lino I’m in the Northeast -( NYC to be specific) and “pastries” covers a whole lot more than “sticky bun” , which is something similar to a cinnamon roll but instead of having a cream cheese or sugar icing applied after baking, it is baked in a pan which has been lined with the “sticky ingredients” (some combinations of butter/sugar/nuts/honey) before the dough goes in. ---
**Author:** ![Oswald\_Bastable](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oswald_bastable/32/214_2.png) [@Oswald\_Bastable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oswald_Bastable)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2024, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/97 "2024-10-18T15:39:20Z")
> [@Ponderoid](#): > > “garden” Please explain to my British brain. Is a garden not an outside space attached to house in the US? Admittedly, in the UK, garden may still be used even if it’s not a green space where not much in the way of gardening happens. OB ---
**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 18, 2024, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/98 "2024-10-18T15:39:47Z")
It was definitely drilled into me as a child in the 50s that “floor” to mean the ground outside was yet another marker that the speaker was “common as muck”. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2024, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/99 "2024-10-18T15:40:31Z")
The whole area outside your house in the UK is a garden. Grass or flower beds, garden. In the US the whole outside part is the yard. The grassy part is the lawn. Actual beds of flowers or veggies is a garden. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2024, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941/100 "2024-10-18T15:41:01Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Don’t ask Brits where the bathroom is unless you actually intend to take a bath. IME (lived in London for about six years) they have no trouble understanding “bathroom”, and many even use this term themselves. “Washroom”, on the other hand, sometimes elicits confusion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-britishisms-most-baffle-americans-what-americanisms-most-baffle-brits/1008941.md?page=6)