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Language differences

PrincessRobbo

By PrincessRobbo,
in Oceania Cruises

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PrincessRobbo

PrincessRobbo

Posted
Posted

I have enjoyed reading all of the posts on the CC board, but it has bought home to me that the US and the UK are 'two nations divided by a common language'. I have had to ask for clarifaction on a couple of thing such as what are Capris and are pumps high heeled shoes. I'm sure that this works both ways and Americans will fail to understand the UK English meaning of some words.

 

I read an article recently where an American marketing executive working in London was at great pains to make clear the dress code for an important function. It was stated that ladies were not allowed to wear pants. This caused great hilarity as in the UK pants mean underwear not trousers.

 

Has anyone got any examples of the differences?

 

PS. What is flatware?

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Jancruz

Jancruz

Posted
Posted
I have enjoyed reading all of the posts on the CC board, but it has bought home to me that the US and the UK are 'two nations divided by a common language'. I have had to ask for clarifaction on a couple of thing such as what are Capris and are pumps high heeled shoes. I'm sure that this works both ways and Americans will fail to understand the UK English meaning of some words.

 

I read an article recently where an American marketing executive working in London was at great pains to make clear the dress code for an important function. It was stated that ladies were not allowed to wear pants. This caused great hilarity as in the UK pants mean underwear not trousers.

 

Has anyone got any examples of the differences?

 

PS. What is flatware?

 

Flatware ... the utensils you eat with ie silverware

Jancruz1

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JimandStan

JimandStan

Posted
Posted
PS. What is flatware?

 

PrincessRobbo,

 

Flatware is cutlery

 

Regarding the language differences, when we were on the old Royal Princess (circa 1990) , a rather famous American singer brought the house down by telling how she almost missed the ship because she had been "blocked" in traffic. She had no idea why they were laughing.

 

Hmm, stuffed, blocked, I'm sensing a theme here....

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Leonid

Leonid

Posted
Posted

flatware = eating utensils.

 

cutlery = knives.

Have never,ever heard of eating utensils referred to as cutlery.

 

The difference in the English language is not confined to the US & UK. Here in the US, soda as we know it is referred to as "tonic" in eastern Massachusetts. When I was very young and growing up in western Mass.,I was always amazed with the language usage and accent of my eastern Mass. relatives.

And if you think that interesting, try living in Alabama and Georgia as an outsider and understanding half of what you hear.

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JimandStan

JimandStan

Posted
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flatware = eating utensils.

 

cutlery = knives.

Have never,ever heard of eating utensils referred to as cutlery.

 

 

Leonid-

 

You may think that the word is being misused, but I'm sure that you have heard of flatware being referred to as cutlery.

In the Northeast US, where we live, it is common parlance.

 

According to Wikipedia:

 

Cutlery refers to any hand implement used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food in the Western world. It is more usually known as silverware or flatware in the United States, where cutlery can have the more specific meaning of knives and other cutting instruments. This is probably the original meaning of the word. Since silverware suggests the presence of silver, the term tableware has come into use.

 

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

 

Now, back to the serious business of finding new synonyms for all things ribald......you cheeky monkey ;-)

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orchestrapal

orchestrapal

Posted
Posted

Some fun on this topic. Written by someone else. Enjoy!

 

1) Buns. You know what these are. You're probably sitting on them now. Over here buns are either bread or cake rolls. Asking for a couple of sticky buns in a bakery here will mean Mr Crusty the baker will give you two cake buns with icing (frosting) on the top. If I went into a deli in Manhattan and asked for a couple of sticky buns I'd probably get arrested...

 

2) Fag. A goody but an oldie. Over here a 'fag' is a cigarette. So in the song 'It's a long way to Tipperary' the line 'As long as you have a Lucifer to light your fag' is not a fundamentalists Christian's statement that all homosexuals will burn for eternity in hell, but saying that 'if you always have a match to light your cigarette...'

3) ******s. Meat balls made from offal (chopped liver) in gravy. Also a small bundle of logs suitable to burn on a fire.

4) Pants. You call pants what we call trousers; pants are the things that go underneath.

5) Rubber. In this country a pencil eraser. Don't be shocked if the mild mannered new Englishman in your office asks for a pencil with a rubber on the end. Especially when he says that he enjoys chewing it when he is thinking.

6) ****. To us, bodily waste. To you, practically everything as far as I could figure, good or bad (and you certainly don't want us to touch yours...)

7) Fanny. To us the front bottom; to you the back one. In Britain, the fanny pack is known as a bum bag for obvious reasons...

8) Muffler. To us what you call a muffler is called a silencer. In the UK a muffler is a long scarf a la Dickensian Novels. A muffler was also a derogatory name for a certain part of the female anatomy at my school, though this was probably unique to us. Try explaining THAT to a upstanding American when you are standing at the petrol (gas) station in fits of laughter...

9) Pavement. Sidewalk to you. I couldn't think of anything smutty to go with this.

10) Pissed. To you it's quite legal to be pissed in a car in a traffic jam. In fact, in large cities sometimes you cannot help it. For us, it means that you have been over doing it 'down the boozer' (pub) and a kindly policeman will shortly flag you down and arrest you.

11) Shag. To you a dance. To us sexual congress. In other words you may have to summon up the courage to have a shag with someone, before you might have a shag with them later on. Also a sea bird similar to a cormorant and a type of rough tobacco.

12) Fancy. To be sexually attracted to or to desire. Also a tea cake.

13) Ass. To us a quadruped of the horse family or a stupid person. The word you guys are looking for in English English is 'arse'.

14) Sneakers. We call these 'trainers' for some reason.

15) Waistcoat. You call them vests.

16) Football. A classic example of our culture gap. To us football is what you call soccer. To you football is what we call pointless. You probably think the same way about cricket...

17) Baseball. In England we play a game called 'Rounders' which has identical rules bar the bat being a short baton designed to be used with only one hand. It's only played in schools. In the US, it's a PROPER game...

18) Some food differences

english american ------------------------ courgette zucchini mars bar milky way milky way three musketeers opal fruits starburst chips french fries crisps chips

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Bollinge

Bollinge

Posted
Posted
PrincessRobbo,

 

she had been "blocked" in traffic. She had no idea why they were laughing.

 

Despite visiting America forty-two times since 1980, and living there in 1984 for a while, as a "wetback", I still don't have any idea why they were laughing.

 

Can you enlighten me?

 

Moreover, I have watched dozens of football games as well, and that remains a mystery!

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merryecho

merryecho

Posted
Posted

When I worked in Europe, I drove my British secretary crazy one day asking for a tablet (a pad of paper). She understood me to be looking for a pill.

"where can I find a tablet?"

"What kind of tablet?"

"Oh, anything will do, I prefer yellow ones though"

"Yellow ones? For what?"

"I need one for an interview I am going to - I like the yellow legal sized ones though".

"Legal sized? I don't know what that means, but we keep all of the tablets in the loo."

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Leonid

Leonid

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Best responses in any thread for a long time! Glad there still is a sense of humor in the world; we in the colonies sometime lose perspective, especially out here on the frontier! The world would not survive without British humor. May the memory of TW3 & Monty Python live forever!!;)

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hondorner

hondorner

Posted
Posted

You can wear a hood on your head, or you can wear a bonnet on your head --- they are clearly different things.

 

On your car, however, a bonnet is a hood is a bonnet -- both are the body panel that covers the engine.

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JimandStan

JimandStan

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Despite visiting America forty-two times since 1980, and living there in 1984 for a while, as a "wetback", I still don't have any idea why they were laughing.

 

Can you enlighten me?

 

Moreover, I have watched dozens of football games as well, and that remains a mystery!

 

Bollinge,

 

Don't worry about it, Football is a mystery to us too.

It's like our electoral college.... those who understand why it's necessary, would never be bothered explaining it.

 

It was the British on the Royal Princess who were laughing at the "Blocked in Traffic" thing.

 

Apparently, "getting blocked" is yet ANOTHER Brit synonym for "making love".

 

So, "getting blocked in traffic" is a very good, if racey, reason to be late getting to the ship.

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cruisetowin

cruisetowin

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Posted

Thank you for bringing me all the good laugh and it also reminded me the English that I had learned in Hong Kong (still a British's Colony that time). After being sent to Canada for college and moving to California with my Chinese-American husband, my English has transformed to 90% American. Thanks to your thread, I suddenly recalled all the frustration when I was first introduced to American English (didn't count the English that I learned from Hollywood movies).:p

 

I also shared the stories with my 10-year-old (totally Americanized) daughter. She finds it so amusing to see the difference between the two (English vs English):D.

 

A salute to the one who initiated the good thread!!!!

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Penzance

Penzance

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Posted

Well, forty odd years ago, during an interview for a job, my boss seemd very proud to tell me that he was an ex "Green Bay Packer" I was totally perplexed why anyone would want to boast about being a fish packer on a dock. It wasn't until years later, when I saw the history of American football, that he had been part of a famous football team.

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