Englishtart

Yep, busy lady! good for you MsE...keep 'those' posters honest

Madelina

my Man was talking about driving on the pavement, which confused the hell out of me until I realized He was calling the road the pavement... which er, in the UK means that bit on the side where people walk, which in the U.S is a sidewalk... which seems a much more sensible name

other words we argue over... herbs vs 'erbs.... aluminIUM vs aluminum.... oh and the laughter over my 3yr old son pointing out a "bin lorry" in the street, neither word being understood when a garbage truck went by

notacrime

Easy.

"Monday is a holiday!"
vs.
"I'm off on my holidays next week."

Floridared

Be careful of the Aluminum Aluminium one, both words were invented my an English Chemist!! So both are English words!!

http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/aluminium.htm

At the end of the day, who cares? Its irrelevant, the English use a lot of old words, that are not pronounced anything like they read, and so do Americans. Italians have different words too, as do the French, but most of us only speak one language, so cannot ask why?

Sally Redux

"Keep death off the roads"

orangemirror

Yeah I love that we have different words and it cause all sorts of laughter and confusion. I really do.
My wife always pisses herself when i mention my "dressing gown'. it does sound a bit ridiculous when you think about. Especially for a guy.

Floridared

Be careful not to make a fool of oneself over the Aluminium. Aluminum debate. Both English words, invented by an English Chemist!!

http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/aluminium.htm

Anyway, what does it matter what different words are used? How boring if everything was the same? I'm guessing in France, Italy and many other countries, they use different words to describe different things, good on em I say!!

Lothianlad

Here in the United Kingdom a Vacation is strictly considered to be a medical term.....meaning the emptying of the bowels....a bowel movement in other words. Not a wholesome topic of convo admittedly but the American lady did ask.

Edinburgh has many American visitors to the city and I have been asked for directions to "the restroom"......I always think of a bedroom when I hear that word but I do know what Americans mean by it. Why do they call it a "rest" room? You just pop in there, do what you need to do, quick wash and dry and then it's out through the door again smartish...hardly a "rest" is it? As Judi Dench said in the film "Mrs Henderson Presents: "Americans...strange people but very polite!"

Sally Redux

The first time an American asked me where the restroom was in London, I started directing them to a restaurant before a colleague intervened.

cindyabs

underpants is the one that cracks me up when DH uses it.

cindyabs

I've heard of evacuating your bowels or even an evacuation in that sense. Then that brings to mind refugees and that really, really doesn't bear thinking of.

Cape Blue

Aluminum is used a lot where I work - I've gone fully native on that

The double negative - "he didn't do nothing.." so he did do something?

The somewhat positive "I could care less" instead of "I couldn't care less"

the rest seems to be around the use of language

"I take it personal" - personally
"travel safe" - safely
"my son got bit" - bitten
"real good" - really

Sounds perfectly normal to me now, but when I was last in the UK and accidentally popped out a "real good", everyone looked at me as though I was retarded. Fortunately I just explained that I lived in the US and they seemed to accept it

Bluegrass Lass

In medical speech here, I've always heard that referred to as an evacuation.

Damn, I should have kept reading and I would have seen Cindy already beat me to this!

lisag8070

you should call them his thunder gruds..

meauxna

So is that a piss take fail or down the nose fail?