HarryTheSpider

Hi All

We've been here not quite a week - it's been great - and a little weird...

We've experienced things we never expected to, for example...

1 - Not only did we suffer jet lag - but so did our 3 dogs - still are, methinks!
2 - Shopping fun... Pickle, as in Branston, is actually 'relish', whereas pickle is pickles - as in 'gerkin'
3 - and don't get me started on 'squash' - I wanted something like Robinson's Barley Water, not a mini pumpkin!
4 - Lima beans? Why not just call them butter beans like everybody else - me & Mrs Harry The Arachnid looked high & low in Frys looking for these pesky critters!!
5 - Ham - is there any ham in the US that is NOT - bulked out by water, smoked in hickory, with added salt, sugar, vitamin X, Y and Z?
6 - Pavement/sidewalk - WTF?!
7 - Sloppy Joe's sauce - just who was Sloppy Joe and what was he sloppy with/about?
8 - 'Buttery taste' = not butter!!
9 - Bacon... made from beef?!

Don't get me wrong - we've had a giggle, and people have been very genuinely helpful and friendly. And I knew we had differences in language, but I hadn't expected this!!

I can't wait for my first day in the office - I may have to have fun with the usual suspect words, such as fag and fanny...

What other weird experiences have others had with language & meaning?

Cheers

H T S.

Kaffy Mintcake

I think we have butter beans and lima beans - at least I've seen both for sale. I won't attempt to explain the difference ... I don't like either so I avoid both.

Edited to add - confirmed. I have canned butter beans in my pantry right now (must have bought them by mistake). The brand is "Joan of Arc".

Kaffy Mintcake

Oh, as for Sloppy Joe's, that's a pretty common dish here. Gourmet it is not. Think of a messy, slightly sweet, loose meat sandwich on a hamburger bun. Commonly served with picnic fare.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloppy_joe

Mummy in the foothills

This one I can handle After all these years in the US I have finally found a decent Ham, no nitrates or all the rest of the rubbish, it's in the deli section of Winco and it's called Natural Ham and, (drumroll please) it's from Canada

Jerseygirl

I prefer to cook my own but I've never seen any here...it's all pre-cooked.

fatbrit

There's your problem!

Shop in Trader Joe's, Fresh & Easy, Sprouts or the sole Lee Lee's on Dobson & Warner. Everywhere else sells poison disguised as food.

(Note for those not living in Arizona - Fry's is what they call Kroger elsewhere)

traceym

Wait until you try to buy a swede!

Burn1911

or a bottle of water!!!!

here we go again!!!!

another bloody yank

And turkey.

My Mom gets turkey "bacon", but then she's of the attitude that if it's created in a lab, it must be better for you. I keep telling her turkeys having bacon is like pigs having eggs, but it falls on deaf ears.

Parents...

Rete

Do we have to go through this every time a Brit moves to the US???????

It is getting redundant and tedious.

We are separated by more than language, Harry.

I'm sure if I were to relocate to the UK I would be as much in glee with the provincal way Brits speak and knick name every thing. I'm sure that I would hate having a curry place on every corner since I detest Indian food and curry especially and Sunday dinners would seem uninspired and bland next to a varied Sunday dinner in the US for me.

And please do not go off on the Yanks with the use of the word FAG. It is derogatory and there will also someone who will not seem the humor in your rejoicing of using that word no matter that you mean a cigarette.


We do: Butter Beans are white[ish] and Lima Beans are green.

This explains the differences.

http://www.ochef.com/52.htm

Burn1911

I buy turkey bacon as it is yummy!! well I prefer it anyway!!

Yorkieabroad

Well there's your problem! Round our way Fry's is an electronics store...a bit like the offspring of an unholy alliance between Dixons and Comet on steroids ... next time you're back in Blighty go into Dixons and ask for a can of Beans and see what they do

Yorkieabroad

Probably - because its new to them...

I guess you could always skip the thread and go on to something more interesting?

But would you expect to get smacked down if you dared to mention any of that to other Americans?

Toontje

Proper quoting is an art.

Yorkieabroad

Never been able to work that multiquote thing....bit of a dinosaur....