Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

[quote author=Celest link=topic=758.msg20819#msg20819 date=1291837246]
I had a chuckle last summer when a visiting girl from England said she couldn't go swimming because she didn't have her "swimming costume", and then her mom said she could go in in her "bloomers".
[/quote]

And in my part of the world we also call them 'bathers.'

[cesara]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

Had to chime in on the fries/chips condiments.... you guys have covered all of them but one that is popular here in Canada....we call it 'Poutine' (originates in Quebec) and it's fries with cheese curds and gravy over top...the cheese melts with the hot gravy and.....yum!




And this is how most people in Canada feel about Poutine....

[Ophidia]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

[quote author=ThorsSon link=topic=758.msg11863#msg11863 date=1289467204]
... back off topic:
As far as room names, I have never been fully able to understand what the difference between a "den" and a "living room" is. The den and the living room are both rooms with comfortable places to sit and converse. In the last 50 or 60 years, one will probably have a television, while the other does not, and as such, it is the one that is used by the family, while the other is used while entertaining guests... but no one seems to agree which is the living room and which is the den... then, if you introduce family room, sitting room, parlor and such, my little brain just gets completely lost.
[/quote]

A 'living room' or 'sitting room' is where you'd entertain more formal company. If you were the type of person to serve tea and finger sandwiches to a bunch of old ladies, you'd do so in the living room. In my aunt's house in Tennessee, the living room was the large main room at the front of the house. The furniture was old, stuffy & largely obscured by dust covers and doilies.

While the ladies were socializing and eating their cucumber sandwiches, the menfolk would gather in the den, which was in the back of the house, with the t.v., where they could feel comfortable drinking liquor and smoking their pipes/cigars/cigarettes/ or chewing their chew. Some people had 'dens', other people had 'family rooms', where it was ok for the kids to crawl around on the floor, spill juice and fingerpaint the dog - activities that were definitely NOT allowed in the 'living room'.

The kitchen had the stove, sink, fridge, pantry - all the necessities for cooking, and a kitchen table, where the family sat for every day dining. Arts & crafts, homework, illicit teenaged sex - all that took place on the kitchen table. The dining room was separated off by a sliding door & had a big fancy table, a sideboard that housed the china and was only utilized for weddings, funerals, Thanksgivings, Easters & Christmases.

My husband, who came from upstate New York, calls the living room a den. Weird. He also says he's going to stand 'on line' when he means 'in line'. I've found myself, since entering the technological world, using 'queue' more & more, only instead of being in queue in person, there are 5 calls in queue on the phone and you've got 20 backlogged work orders rotting in the queue. Spools also aren't for thread any more, they're for print jobs... and populating means waiting for your report to finish building so it can get stuck in the print spool because someone changed your default printer to one that doesn't actually exist.

[quote author=Tylluan Penry link=topic=758.msg14961#msg14961 date=1290192832]
One thing used in my part of the world is a girdle/griddle/bakestone (I call it bakestone). It's a large flat cast iron pan for cooking over a fire (or on the cooker) - you can use it to make welsh cakes, scones, singing hinnie, etc.
[/quote]

See, 'round here I'd use a cast iron griddle to make flapjacks (pancakes) or fritters, which are things deep fried in cornmeal batter - like green tomatoes or squash blossoms.

[magusphredde]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

Just went thru the post and didn't see anything about (altho I might have missed it):

Loo, WC, sitter, shi**er, crapper, one-holer, two-holer, pisser, urinal, outhouse, half-moon, toilet, toitie, bathroom, lavatory, john, head, number one, number two ...


As for fish and chips ... I like cider vinegar or lemon on my fish, ketchup (catsup) or tartar sauce on my chips (not to be confused with french fries) which are potato wedges ...

Wait ... Am I really in the USA? ... Must be that Kiwi influence from my god-daughter and her family ...

[magusphredde]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

What is this? ... You go out behind the bushes? ... I though that was France ...


Ok ... Here in the States the room for "doing one's business" is just one room ... Generally known as a bath room ... Nice polite name ... A full bath has a seat, sink and a tub or tub/shower combination ... 3/4 bath usually has a shower, seat and sink ... 1/2 bath has a seat and a sink ...

Tradition in our family is that men are to lift the lid before use and leave the seat down after they are done ... And when you leave the bathroom, leave the door open a bit so others know it is available ... And ALWAYS close the door during use ...

[FantasyWitch]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

[quote author=magusjinx link=topic=758.msg22928#msg22928 date=1292530259]
What is this? ... You go out behind the bushes? ... I though that was France ...


Ok ... Here in the States the room for "doing one's business" is just one room ... Generally known as a bath room ... Nice polite name ... A full bath has a seat, sink and a tub or tub/shower combination ... 3/4 bath usually has a shower, seat and sink ... 1/2 bath has a seat and a sink ...

Tradition in our family is that men are to lift the lid before use and leave the seat down after they are done ... And when you leave the bathroom, leave the door open a bit so others know it is available ... And ALWAYS close the door during use ...
[/quote]

We are the same lol.

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

Valleys boys will also use the outside drain..... yeeeuuuuwwww!

[Sitnamorcen]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

My native language isn't English and I learned it as a kid (7 years old +) through movie subtitles and school later on (School taught UK English).
So if I don't concentrate on my words I'd be speaking an odd mixture of American and UK English (and probably some regional words I've picked up somewhere but I couldn't tell what words).

Anyways my question is, do any Americans use the word "biscuit(s)" or does anyone from the UK use "cookie(s)"? I think the latter is the more likely.

[Ophidia]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

[quote author=Sitnamorcen link=topic=758.msg23173#msg23173 date=1292625799]
Anyways my question is, do any Americans use the word "biscuit(s)" or does anyone from the UK use "cookie(s)"? I think the latter is the more likely.
[/quote]

For us, biscuits are buns or rolls, made w/very few ingredients. They have a golden brown top & a flaky, fluffy, tender interior. They can be served w/butter, jam, honey... or smothered in country gravy, om nom nom! Sometimes people add extra ingredients for a more savory biscuit, like grated cheese, onions or herbs. I don't think I've ever had a sweet biscuit, but you could probably add tiny chocolate chips, cinnamon, berries, etc. to them.



We do say 'dog biscuits', which are more like the thing we know as cookie and less like actual biscuits. They're usually hard and crunchy. Not all cookies are hard & crunchy, but you get the idea.



Do you even have biscuits in England?

[Almost_lost]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

[quote author=perzephone link=topic=758.msg23180#msg23180 date=1292627928]
For us, biscuits are buns or rolls, made w/very few ingredients. They have a golden brown top & a flaky, fluffy, tender interior. They can be served w/butter, jam, honey... or smothered in country gravy, om nom nom! Sometimes people add extra ingredients for a more savory biscuit, like grated cheese, onions or herbs. I don't think I've ever had a sweet biscuit, but you could probably add tiny chocolate chips, cinnamon, berries, etc. to them.



[/quote]

That looks and sounds very much like a Scone to me, usually made with fruit, sometimes sultansa sometimes cherries, sometimes even chocolate chips.


As for biscuits, they are generally crunchy and sweet, and are generally anything that isnt a cookie when it comes to biscuits.


Bourbon biscuits are my favourite! (no alcohol in them)


Oh and cookies are cookies

[Ophidia]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

^

Your 'biscuits' look like our 'shortbread'



The scones I find here don't have the same kind of interior that biscuits do. They tend to be coarser & drier.

[Almost_lost]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

[quote author=perzephone link=topic=758.msg23212#msg23212 date=1292638660]
^

Your 'biscuits' look like our 'shortbread'



The scones I find here don't have the same kind of interior that biscuits do. They tend to be coarser & drier.
[/quote]
We have shortbread too lol, which is the same, however you cant really beat a good scottish all butter shortbread

And the scones here are fairly soft and moist inside, people have butter, cream, jam on them too (forgot to mention it in the post before)

[magusphredde]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

Lollies? ... ;D 8) : :P :-* LOL ... ROFL ... ROFLMOAO ...

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

[quote author=magusjinx link=topic=758.msg23234#msg23234 date=1292643756]
Lollies? ... ;D 8) : :P :-* LOL ... ROFL ... ROFLMOAO ...
[/quote]

I get sinking feeling that lollies means something different in the US.... what about Mivvies?

[thalassa]

Re: Differences between US and UK English (and others....)

OOOH!!!

just last night in chat us US peeps learned that the trunk door counts as a car door!