British and American English: Like chalk and cheese

Last week I wrote about the seemingly small but significant communication gap that exists between British English and American English. I’m planning to devote my Wednesday posts to this topic for the next few weeks. I’ve been thinking about how best to condense the information because whole dictionaries have been written attempting to do just that and once I really got to thinking about it all I felt just a tad bit overwhelmed.

I mean, do I want to write about words we both use that have completely different meanings depending which side of the pond you stand on? Take the word pants for example. The first time I stepped into my local dry cleaners there was a young man working behind the counter and the shopkeeper was also there but was busy tagging laundry. I was just another anonymous customer until I said, ‘I’d like to leave four pair of pants for dry cleaning please.’ That certainly got their attention. I knew instantly I’d said or done something wrong but what??? As I eventually learned pants are always called trousers here. If you use the word pants then you’re talking about underwear (pants is short for underpants). It took me a while but I can now walk into my cleaners with confidence and say ‘I have four pair of trousers and two jumpers to be cleaned.’ The words just roll right off my tongue. And, oh by the way, jumper is another one of those words. What I call a sweater in the states I would call a jumper here. At least I would if I wanted to be understood.

You might say British English and American English are as different as chalk and cheese. Or you might not if you’re an American reading this because that isn’t an expression used in the states. So, do I want to write about phrases used here that you never hear in America? That has real possibilities too. I love the phrase ‘spot on’. As in, ‘wow, your post on this topic is spot on!’ In other words, exactly right. I didn’t need to explain that one did I?

I’ve decided the easiest route will be to go topic by topic…words and phrases used in different parts of everyday life. So if you want to know how I would answer commonly asked questions relating to eating, food shopping, and cooking such as ‘Would you like a white coffee?’ or ‘Would you like salad on that sandwich? and ‘Did you want it on a bap?’ then your curiosity will be satisfied next Wednesday when I’ll blog about all things food related. If you’d like to know why rocking up to a restaurant for a Ruby Murray is one of our favourite things to do here then I’ll explain that too. And, if you think a digestive biscuit has something to with settling your stomach or you think jelly is jelly and pudding is pudding then you definitely need to stay tuned.


And about these Wednesday posts… I do realize this one is a bit dodgy, filled with bits and bobs. But please don’t get your knickers in a twist. I’ll have it sorted Wednesday week.


And one more thing…I often sign my posts with the word Cheers and I know some of you are thinking she drinks when she blogs. I know I have always associated the word Cheers with clinking glasses. But the word Cheers in the UK is also used as an informal way of saying thanks or goodbye. I hear it at least 5 or 6 times a day here and using the word has become automatic. Do I ever get a funny look when I say it? Only when I’m on that side of the pond!