Differences

November 9, 2010

There are many differences between England and America, although you wouldn’t think it because they both speak English. However, the English spoken over here is like a whole different language. Not only are some words completely different, some are spelled differently. I will make a list of the different words and their meanings at the end of this blog. But for now I want to skip the language and talk about everything else. One thing of course would be the drinking age. Over here it is 18. You also have to be over 18 to buy any kind of knife….even butter knives. The eggs over here are not refrigerated and that creeps me out so I probably won’t ever buy eggs. There are meat shops with the whole chicken/pig just hanging in the window. I even saw one with a pig head hanging in the window….needless to say I’ll never go there. There are also meat stands like that as well. Tea is offered with everything and all throughout the day. Religious education is taught in schools (apparently it is about all religions not just one). There is a holiday called Guy Fawkes day which remembers when a guy tried blowing up parliament but failed. And also Veteran’s Day is called Remembrance Day. Math is called Maths. All the children must sit up nicely. In Math the ones column is called the units column. The children have to take the public transportation to school there are no school buses. Internet and phones cost a lot more. Food is a lot cheaper which is nice. There is free healthcare to everyone so you can just walk into a health care provider and get service. Phone numbers are really long and hard to remember. Dryers don’t do much and most places don’t even have them and the electricity over here is more powerful (p.s. don’t try to use the curling irons from America over here, it kills them). The plugs are different so you need an adapter. Military time is the time on alarm clocks so when it says 0.00 it is midnight (which I still can’t get used to, I always think my alarm clock is broken lol). They do not understand sarcasm. Overall there are small differences between America and Great Britain, however the word differences are a lot greater…..

Different words:

Bin- garbage

Full stop- period

Trousers- pants

Pants- underwear

Jumper- sweatshirt

Rubber- eraser

Rub off- erase

Toilets/loo- bathroom

Tuck in- push in (ex: tuck in your chairs)

Sensible- respectful

Silly- rude/miss-behaving

Dodgy- sketchy

Zed- letter Z

Medical Office- Nurse

Register- attendance

Corridor- Hallway

Cross- Mad

Playtime- recess

Are you alright?- How are you?

Investigation- Experiment

Mind out- Watch out

Tick- Checkmark

Biscuit- cookie

Bloody- Damn

Blow Off- Fart

Bobby- policeman

Bonnet- car hood

Boot- car trunk

Candy floss- cotton candy

Car park- parking lot

Cheers- goodbye

Chemist- pharmacist

Chips- French fries

Crisps- potato chips

Dummy- pacifier

Fag- cigarette

Faggot- meatball

Fairy cake- cupcake

Fizzy drink- soda

Flat- apartment

Football-soccer

Fringe- bangs

Fruit machine- slot machine

Give way- yield

Hob- stove burner

Holiday- vacation

Ice lolly- popsicle

Lolly- lollipop

Jelly- Jell-O

Knackered- exhausted

Knickers- ladies panties

Knock-up- wake up

Mental- wild

Nappy- diaper

Petrol- gas

Pillar box- mailbox

Pissed- drunk

Plaster- band-aid

Pram- baby carriage

Public school- private school (ironic huh)

Pushchair- stroller

Queue- line

Randy- horny

Fanny- Vagina

Rubbish- bad

Settee- couch

Shag- intercourse

Snogging- kissing

Soda- soda water (not pop)

Spend a penny- urinate

Starkers- buck naked

Stone- 14 pounds (weight)

State School- public school

Telly- TV

Tight as a fish’s bum- cheapskate

Tin- can

Torch- flashlight

Wee- urinate

Whinge- wine

Wind up- tease

Yob- hooligan

Zebra crossing- crosswalk

Now can you see how an American can get really confused or really confuse a British person over here??

Words spelled differently:

Favourite

Tyre

Mummy

Colours

Labelled

Programme

Centre

Therefore, living in a different country, even if it speaks the same language as you can be a bit difficult! But I will figure things out as I go along.

Until next time,

~D~