With Covid19 affecting travel worldwide, we are all going online and reading about events in other countries so we are increasingly exposed to the varied vocabulary and different dialects or excruciating errors and misunderstandings and puzzlement resulting from translations from one language to another. Here are some of the language differences I have noticed, after living in the UK, USA and Singapore.
American English - British English
bell hop - porter
broil - grilling from the top (unlike grilling from underneath and BBQ from underneath)
diaper - nappy
Dish soap - washing up liquid (I though this was soap in dishes in bathrooms for months until I read about using dish soap to wash dishes.)
Garbage/trash/trash can - rubbish/rubbish bin/waste paper basket (even when it's a bin not a basket)
High guys - hello everybody
main street - high street
make a right - turn right
over easy - fried both sides
truck - lorry
movie - film
Plus (as in fifty plus) - more than (as in more than fifty) (Singaporeans say over as in fifty over)
American food and drink - English equivalent
grits (from Southern USA)
Hershey bar - Cadbury's chocolate bar/dark chocolate
hot dog - sausage in a bun, frankfurter in a bun
British English - American English
film - movie
fried both sides - over easy
high street - main street
hello everybody - hi guys (In the USA guys includes both sexes, in the UK only men)
lorry - truck
nappy - diaper
porter - bell hop
turn right - make a right
washing up liquid - dish soap (for washing dishes, not in a dish)
Scottish - English
bairn - child
bonny - beautiful (and loved one as in the song My bonny lies over the Ocian
kirk - church
loch - lake (Scottish loch pronounced not a voiced ch with front of tongue coming up as in church but like clearing your throat with back of tongue and tongue in a U shape)
nae - no
nicht - night
wee - small
English - Scottish
beautiful - bonny
child - bairn
church - kirk
lake - loch
night - nicht
no - nae
small - wee
Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_dog
Menti.com
Zoom
Toastmasters International Find a Club
https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club
learncool.sg
About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. (Not related to the actress.)
Author of twenty books including: Quick Quotations; Who Said What When.
See books and profiles on Lulu.com and Amazon, such as Wedding Speeches & Toasts. Also watch videos on YouTube.
If you want to learn to speak the Queen's English, or Received Pronunciation. join me at my online toastmasters club,
Braddell Heights Advanced. Wednesdays, 7-9 Singapore time which is seven hours ahead of London, England.
I am also a member of
Singapore Online.9-12 pm, Singapore time, Fridays. I am also a member of
Tampines Changkat Advanced.
Harrovians, London.
See other posts on speaking, singers, statues, languages and destinations.
Please share links to your favourite posts.
American English - British English
bell hop - porter
broil - grilling from the top (unlike grilling from underneath and BBQ from underneath)
diaper - nappy
Dish soap - washing up liquid (I though this was soap in dishes in bathrooms for months until I read about using dish soap to wash dishes.)
Garbage/trash/trash can - rubbish/rubbish bin/waste paper basket (even when it's a bin not a basket)
High guys - hello everybody
main street - high street
make a right - turn right
over easy - fried both sides
truck - lorry
movie - film
Plus (as in fifty plus) - more than (as in more than fifty) (Singaporeans say over as in fifty over)
American food and drink - English equivalent
grits (from Southern USA)
Hershey bar - Cadbury's chocolate bar/dark chocolate
hot dog - sausage in a bun, frankfurter in a bun
British English - American English
film - movie
fried both sides - over easy
high street - main street
hello everybody - hi guys (In the USA guys includes both sexes, in the UK only men)
lorry - truck
nappy - diaper
porter - bell hop
turn right - make a right
washing up liquid - dish soap (for washing dishes, not in a dish)
Scottish - English
bairn - child
bonny - beautiful (and loved one as in the song My bonny lies over the Ocian
kirk - church
loch - lake (Scottish loch pronounced not a voiced ch with front of tongue coming up as in church but like clearing your throat with back of tongue and tongue in a U shape)
nae - no
nicht - night
wee - small
English - Scottish
beautiful - bonny
child - bairn
church - kirk
lake - loch
night - nicht
no - nae
small - wee
Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_dog
Menti.com
Zoom
Toastmasters International Find a Club
https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club
learncool.sg
About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. (Not related to the actress.)
Author of twenty books including: Quick Quotations; Who Said What When.
See books and profiles on Lulu.com and Amazon, such as Wedding Speeches & Toasts. Also watch videos on YouTube.
If you want to learn to speak the Queen's English, or Received Pronunciation. join me at my online toastmasters club,
Braddell Heights Advanced. Wednesdays, 7-9 Singapore time which is seven hours ahead of London, England.
I am also a member of
Singapore Online.9-12 pm, Singapore time, Fridays. I am also a member of
Tampines Changkat Advanced.
Harrovians, London.
See other posts on speaking, singers, statues, languages and destinations.
Please share links to your favourite posts.
No comments:
Post a Comment