Re: WATER
 

Trunk? I can't think of a specifically American usage with trunk..??

Re: WATER
 

The thing at the back of your car you put groceries in?

Re: WATER
 

Ah OK! I'm going through elephants, tree trunks, subscriber trunk dialling, didn't think of the car one! Maybe because we've always owned hatchbacks ...

Re: WATER
 

No idea here either. Probably 'cos we're in Texas and we all have big bad ass Trucks;)

Re: WATER
 

Not seen many trunks on the back of bikes/trikes either

Re: WATER
 

Actually our trikes does have a trunk:o:o

Re: WATER
 

It's not us Tykes who have a problem with the Yanks. it's the southerners, especially the Londoners.

Who could understand anyone who asks for a "glarss of wo'ah"

Re: WATER
 

Having lived in the U.S. for half my life, I sometimes feel like giving up, and just keeping quiet, confining my communication to email etc.

I was in a college class yesterday, we were talking about Shakespeare plays quoted in Return to the Forbidden Planet. Various people offered King Lear, Julius Caesar, etc. I decided to chance it, and speak up. I raised my hand, and speaking slowly and clearly, enunciated "Merchant of Venice."

Teacher looked confused. I repeated my observation. She still had no idea what I was saying. One other person repeated my contribution, so the teacher, looking relieved, was able to say "Ah, Merchant of Venice."

I kept quiet for the rest of the class...

Re: WATER
 

I still have a British midlands accent but haven't had any problem making people understand me. I use American expressions which helps. I did cause some amusement by calling a flashlight a torch and a sling shot a catapult,

I had a couple of friends from France when I lived in Quebec, Canada. They couldn't understand about 3 words out of five the French spoken in that Province mainly due to pronunciation, They speak the dialect of that spoken in Normandy and Brittany back in the 17th century.

Much the same with Spanish. The Spanish spoken in Mexico sounds nothing like the lispy sounding Spanish of Spain,

Nations divided by a common language

Re: WATER
 

Another point also is the national heritage of Americans. Germany is by far the predominate country, followed by the Irish, with the British a distant third. Americans who can trace their ancestry to Germany is almost twice that of Britain. A non-English speaking German tourist to America would have every right to be a little miffed at what we have done to his language.

Re: WATER
 

Trunk you put things maybe?

a large, sturdy box or chest for holding or transporting clothes, personal effects, or other articles.

Re: WATER
 

Steamer trunk, cabin trunk? I think that's the origin of the American word for the storage area at the rear of a car. In early cars, it was actually a steamer trunk or similar, attached to the car...

Why the British call it a boot, I don't know.

DO the British call it a boot? I'm now starting to doubt my distant memory...

Re: WATER
 

Boot and bonnet, analogous to a person, one end of a person to the other.

Re: WATER
 

Yes, it is still called a boot in England and the lift up cover over the engine is called the bonnet 😃

Re: WATER
 

Like many things British, that make sense in a rather convoluted way that very few people know, or could even guess at.