Americanisms and British English

US - UK

anyways - anyway

flashlight - torch

oftentimes - often

stove - oven

stove top - hob

waders - waterproof trousers and/or boots for fishing

UK _ USA 

anyway - anyways

hob - stove top

often - oftentimes

oven - stove

torch - flashlight

Wellington boots/Wellingtons - waterproof boots, rubber boots, waders

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English

See my other posts on this subject.

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Delights and Dangers of Wildlife - Safety in Northern Australia, South Africa and Singapore's Safari, and food, fur, and fashion in the USA and worldwide

 

Back garden in Hatch End, London, England, with two foxes. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Cahill crossing in Australia is notorious for its crocodiles. Just looking at the pictures puts me off. They are building a better crossing but meanwhile people are ignoring signs.

Looking closer, I see it is not a riverbank at all. It is a low crossing, a bit like stepping stones pushed together, enough for a tough car to drive acrosss, slowly.

Apparently one can got trapped in the river and the occupants had to swim past the cross to safety on dry land. Safety  from water the minute you are out of the water. But safety from crocodiles - only if you stand well back from the river!

In the UK earlier this year we received a parking fine, a sign hidden behind wheelie bins, in a road where other people parked. My husband had said: 'Everybody else is doing it.'

That doesn't defend one person from being endangered - or all of them.

Signs are not enough. Firstly, not everybody can read English. 

Secondly, not everybody can read. 

Thirdly, people think they can jump back, or believe crocodiles stay in the water and the edge. Children and adults don't realize the reptiles jump onto land. 

Fourthly, time to put up a barrier. If it is costly, find sponsors. 

It is natural to lean over water to have a look. Build viewing platforms with binoculars back from the edge. To make signs more effective, display statistics of people killed. Make fines for standing by the edge.

The signs don't protect you, if there is nowhere to retreat or stand safely. 

I walked along a boardwalk pier in Singapore. At intervals there were places where you could stop and look out. But crocodiles or other creatures could leap up. I never did that again. 

I can entertain myself, and grand children, eating ice cream or fruit and watching films. We don't need to run around crocodiles playing dare.

Eating Funny Food

I have eaten lots of funny food. Crocodile. In the USA . Was it the USA.  Yes, now I remember - they gave me a certificate to prove it!

Wichetty Grup In Australia

I tried wichetty grub soup  in a restaurant in Perth. Its selling point was the unusual foods.

South African Safari & Lion Park

I have been on a late evening Safaris (South Africa) where you see very little in the twilight.

At a lion park we were warned not to get out of our car. Afterwards, I researched.  I learned that a Japanese family had got out of their car to pose their children next to baby lions. Resulting in a human fatality.

Singapore farmed Crocodiles

I have been to a crocodile breeding farm in Singapore.

The Night Safari in Singapore is a compromise. The animals can roam freely. The pedestrian visitors are separated by a deep gorge. The travelling vehicle visitors are kept in moving and camouflaged trains. 

Camouflage clothes

Wearing Wild Animal Clothes

Useful Websites

Australian Museum Wichetty Grubs

Americanisms and British English

USA - UK

bill fold - wallet

check - bill

cookie - biscuit

cotton candy - candy floss

diaper - nappy

fall - autumn

faucet - tap 

first floor - ground floor

hood (car) - bonnet (car)

make a left - turn left

mail -  post

movies - films

purse - handbag

take out - take away

truck - lorry

trunk (car) - boot

vacation - holiday

zip code - postcode

zipper - zip

UK - USA

autumn - Fall

bill - check

biscuit - ccokie

bonnet - hood

boot (car) - trunk

candy floss - cotton candy

films - movies

ground floor - first floor

handbag - purse

holiday - vacation

lorry - truck

nappy - diaper

post mail

postcode - zip code

purse - change purse

tap - faucet

wallet - bill fold

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zip - zipper

Steak Restaurant, Hatch End, Pinner. Planning Before A Visit

Steak restaurant. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

The steak restaurant is to the right of Tanna's pharmacy.

It is interesting to compare what you expected of a restaurant before your visit, and what you discovered during a visit. Here is my before impression of the Steak Restaurant, Hatch End. 

I was not interested in the steak restaurant. Steak is expensive. I can stick a steak under a grill at home. 

Besides, grills tend to leave black strips of carbon. The burned stuff doesn't taste nice. It's reputed to give you cancer.

All steaks? They also offered what to me looked like overpriced hamburgers. No, I thought. 

Then I changed my mind.  

My friend, Lucinda, said, "It's one of our favourite restaurants.'

Her husband, Brian, echoed: "It's my favourite. I like steak. You can see what you are getting. The meat is not chopped up and hidden inside silly sauces."

"Okay,"  I said. "I haven't  been there before. I've tried everywhere else in Hatch End. Let's give it a try."

I looked at their website. They have a Sunday roast.

Also, a halal menu. The food choices are much the same, but certified meat, cooked in separate dishes.

Jews might choose the halal which has no pork, or sea bass. 

Desserts

I fancy the baked cheesecake. Or the warm chocolate pud. The set lunch is 15.95 for two courses. Plus seven for dessert. I wonder if you can have a main course and dessert instead of the starter. 

https://www.thesteakrestaurant.com/desserts/

https://www.thesteakrestaurant.com/drinks/

https://www.thesteakrestaurant.com/drinks/cocktails/

A photo I took a while back at night. Steak Restaurant on the right. Hatch End is quite lively at night with lots of restaurants.

 Useful Websites

https://www.thesteakrestaurant.com/

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g186338-d13370343-Reviews-The_Steak_Restaurant-London_England.html

https://www.mylondon.news/whats-on/food-drink-news/best-steaks-in-london-tripadvisor-24057105

https://www.opentable.co.uk/r/the-steak-restaurant-pinner

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Patara Thai Restaurant in Hampstead, London, England, passes the pescatarian and teething baby tests

Outside of restaurant in Patara Restaurant in Hampstead. Photo by Angela Lansbury

What does patara mean? It is the family name of the owner who you can see on their website.

This branch is in what looks like a converted house, with two tables in what was once the entrance hall, and a large room with tables, bustling by mid-evening on a Saturday night. The tables for 2/3 are small, barely large enough for plates and drinks. 

Their website mentions two floors, but I did not see another floor. If stairs are a problem, mention this when booking.

The Set Meal - Jasmine

We chose the set menu, Jasmine, one of two set menus which had less shellfish. (I am allergic to shellfish.) 

Two of us chose to opt for the set menu, Jasmine. It includes Jasmine rice. Jasmine is not a flavour but is a type of rice. The set menu includes several starters on a platter with sauces, followed by meats and vegetables with sauces.

Spice

Thai food is famous for being spicy. I went to a restaurant in Bushey, where the food was too spicy. They could not and would not adapt it. They went out of business. I avoided Thai restaurants for years. However, with lots of rice, and picking out the specks of bright red chilli pepper, I was able to cope with only the expected sniffle you get when you eat and salivate.

The set meal at 40, minimum of two people, seemed expensive, but it includes rice and dessert. But the time you pay nearly twenty pounds for a main dish, add rice and dessert, and starter, you get all of that and can try other dishes too which saves having to decide or making the wrong choice and is more fun and ensures you find something you like.

Starter Success

 I particularly enjoyed the dumplings with peanuts which add a crunch. 

Set menu starter of spring rolls, kebab and dumplings. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Pescatarian

Our pescatarian (eating fish but not meat) was happy with the battered fish. I think it was sea bass.

Her tofu and aubergine were also a success. They passed the grumpy mummy test. If a grumpy mummy doesn't like something, she won't remain silent. She is not too polite to mention it. If she concedes it's okay, that's praise indeed.

(Grumpy after teething baby gave everybody a sleepless night). Thinking about the design and development of a baby, I suppose that growing teeth means you can eat food for an expending in size tummy. Also, it's time to stop breastfeeding because nobody wants their nipples bitten. 

The rice passed the baby test. The baby ate lots of rice. The rice also passed the granny test. I ate all my white rice.

Dessert

The set meal ended with a dessert of cheesecake, with  a zigzag of caramelized syrup on the plate, and vanilla ice cream, was just right. The two portions were enough for three of us.

The a la carte menu has ice creams in three flavours. They were vanilla, or coconut or mango sorbet.

Prosecco 

Prosecco from the drinks menu I had chosen the prosecco which is cheaper at nine pounds than a glass of white or rose wine at ten. Funny, Prosecco in the early days used to be dearer in many restaurants. Since I prefer Prosecco, as well as the cheaper price, I ordered that.

Prosecco, which was okay, not strikingly bubbly or cold. I wished I had had my Prosecco from home. Three miniature bottles for five pounds in Tesco currently (July 2022). 

We went without coffee, which was on the separate drinks menu. 

The Teething Baby Test

Our baby is teething (hurray - more teeth, will soon start talking). She was already fretful without a dummy (which mummy is trying to wean her off and encourage her to talk instead of sucking). We spent most of the meal debating (I could have said arguing, but debating sounds better) over whether it was fairer to us and the restaurant staff and other customers to bring a dummy. You can always leave the dummy in the bag.

Service

Service was briskly efficient. We had booked.  As we drove towards the restaurant, we received a message reminding us about our booking and asking us to confirm we were on our way. The driver pulled in to check the message. The reply was to a premium rate number. He declined to respond to the message, declaring, 'That is the booking service, probably. I won't do it. We will be there well before the allotted arrival time."

After we arrived and in a trice we were at our table. The restaurant and toilets all seemed to be on the ground floor, which suited us.

The receptionist efficiently swept up the rice and toy parts dropped by baby.The receptionist/manager/server was efficient and swept up under baby half way though the meal. Not at the end, which most restaurants do. Half way though. We were near the door. It could have looked unsightly. Or even caused a customer to slip.

The staff member, despite the dropped food aggravation, gave the baby the occasional smile. Smiles are a magical distraction. Maybe a baby wails for attention. Maybe distraction distracts from any pains the baby is feeling. 

Smiles are mutual. The baby got more smiles than we did. Maybe we weren't smiling enough.

Toilets

Toilets are on the ground floor. In the Ladies, two cubicles. Good toilet paper. 

The Ladies basin is one big trough with only one soap dispenser on the far left. This meant I had to wait  until a mother and daughter had finished before I could reach the soap. 

A bit cramped for three of us. Not much social distancing. Time somebody created an instant opening door to exit for after you have washed your hands. I think it exists, a foot operated lever on the floor, like a pop up bin. I shall be glad when the price comes down and it exists everywhere - or even becomes mandatory in new and refurbished buildings.

Gosh - I just checked. Under forty pounds on ebay.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303657517969?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-134428-41853-0&mkcid=2&itemid=303657517969

foot operated door opener from franchionline store on ebay.co.uk

Directions and Parking

 Easy to find, near the Hampstead underground station, just downhill.

Other branches

London wide. Central London, trendy, Hampstead, Soho, and smart Knightsbridge and South Kensington.

Useful Websites

https://www.pataralondon.com/menu.php

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g186338-d10337606-Reviews-Patara_Hampstead-London_England.html

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Americanisms Again - with the Queen's English - the equivalents in the UK, Canada and Australia

I keep thinking I have seen them all, or everybody must know this by now. Then I see comments on news articles online, where the commentator is puzzled or outraged by the use of a strange word. So, to enlighten the frowning faces, and maybe make you smile or laugh, here are some equivalents.

American English - British English

attorney - lawyer

counselor - legal representative in court

first floor - ground floor (UK, Canada, Australia)

second floor - first floor

snap - press stud

story - story (a story is a tale) or storey (level in a building)

zipper - zip

British English - American English

first floor - second floor

ground floor - first floor

lawyer - attorney

press stud - snap

storey - story (level in a building) 

zip - zipper

Sholom Aleichem and where to see his memorials in Netanya in Israel and in the Ukraine

Sholom Aleichem created the characters such as Tevye featured in the film (movie) Fiddler on the Roof.

 USA

Ukraine

Israel

Sholom Aleichem statue in Netanya, near Tel Aviv, Israel. Photo from Wikipedia.

Sholom Aleichem memorial in Bohuslav, Kiev province, Ukraine

Netanya, near Tel Aviv, Israel. 

Picture from Wikipedia article on the man.

Sholom Aleichem In Hebrew

Sholom Aleichem was his pen name. It means peace be with you in Hebrew and Yiddish. Sholom, like salaam in Arabic, means peace. The capital city of Jerusalem also contains the word salem. The consonants are s, l, and m. The vowels change with time and place. 

The Moustache Fashion

I like to see the portrait of the man which shows the moustache which was the fashion of the day. Then clean water was not so abundant and people were poorer and could not necessarily afford to visit the barber and did not have electric razors. 

The clean shaven look came in during WWI. Then soldiers had short hair and not beards nor moustaches because they had to wear helmets or gas masks in the army. 

Later beards and moustaches became the bohemian, artistic look. Writers, songwriters, musicians, singers. Then in the nineteen sixties, the hippy look. 

Later still associated with primitives. On the one hand, this can be associated with good, simple, healthy and virtuous and honest, or uncultured. It could be associated with orthodox, traditional religious - or violent, aggressive terrorists. But in his era, it evokes a look which is artistic and romantic.  

Now let's look at the text. It is Cyrillic. Best known to most people outside Europe as Russian, which is almost the same as the lettering used in Bulgaria, I discovered on holiday in Bulgaria.

Unlike the earlier language of Hebrew, Cyrillic, named after Cyril, a priest, combines Greek and Hebrew letters. 

What looks like a W is the sound for Sh in Sholom. 

Once you recognize the Sh, it is easy to see the letters Sh-M A-L is his name, Sholom and Aleichem. 

The L looks a bit like you are starting to write a lower case l, in cursive or italic with an upward curve. Then you come down as if about to write a capital L, but you can't be bothered to finish it with the line across the bottom as you already have a line across the top, and Hebrew and Cyrillic have lots of letters which seem to be upside down or back to front or left to right. (Of course, our writing came later, so we are the ones who changed it.) 

The X is the sound like clearing your throat, like the Scottish ch in loch as in Loch Lomond.

I am a teacher of English and other languages, which I am always learning when I travel. 

Tel Aviv

Whilst I am on the subject of language, the word Tel Aviv means hill of spring, or springtime. You will see the word Tel on modern maps of the middle east. Aviv or Aviva is a girl's name. Like the word April, for the month, and the girl's name, April, for girls born in the month of April.  Tel Aviv has the old city up on the hill, and the suburbs spread along the sandy beach. The city was founded in 1909. 

Tel Aviv's Art Deco

Architecturally, many modern buildings, now historic, are from the nineteen thirties, which to me looks like art deco (deco short for decorative), but which is strictly speaking called Bauhaus. Haus is German for house.   

Netanya

Netanya is north of Tel Aviv. It is named after Nathan, the co-owner of Macys department store. Nathan's brother died on the Titanic. 

Useful Websites

Essential Americanisms which Brits need to know, such as American English and snap fastener

Angela Lansbury with the flag, of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, called the Union Jack. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

The first thing I discovered when I looked up Americanism in Wikipedia is that Americanism to Americans is the term for a political movement. What I call Americanism is what Wikipedia calls American Language.  Here are some other words which are sometimes called 'false friends'.

American English - British English

American English - Americanism

Americanism + political party's promotion of US first

closet - wardrobe

eraser - rubber

Jello (brand name) - jelly

Kleenex - tissues, paper hankies

mix, mixed breed, mutt - mongrel

pants - trousers

popsicle - ice lolly

real estate - property

underpants - pants

snap fastener / metal snap - press stud

British English - American English

Americanism - American English

condom/Durex (brand name) - rubber

ice lolly - popsicle

jelly - Jello

mongrel - mutt, mix, mixed breed

Mom and Pop store - family owned corner shop

pants - underpants

paper hankies/tissues - Kleenex (brand)

parking lot - car park

press stud - snap fastener

property - real estate

rubber - eraser

trousers - pants

wardrobe - closet

Americanisms and British equivalents: cots and cribs, dudes and guys and more

USA - UK

casket - coffin

crib - cot

dish soap - washing up liquid

dude - guy/man

guys - folks / people (of both sexes)

ice pop - ice lolly 

it sucks - it's a pain/a pain in the neck/a pain in the arse/enough to drive you nuts/a bummer/bad luck/a pity/a disaster/a drag/a nuisance/awful/dreadful/tiresome/it's nuts

medic - doctor

my bad - my mistake/my fault

redneck - yob/yokel

rest room - toilet / loo

You guys - all of you/mates

UK - USA

it's awful - it sucks

coffin - casket

cot - crib

doctor/GP - medic

ice lollies - ice pops

guys - boys/men (not women)

man/guy - dude

mates - you guys

my fault/mistake - my bad

toilet - rest room

washing up liquid - dish soap 

yob/yokel - redneck/hillbilly/white trash

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Coping with heat when travelling, umbrellas, water, diy ice cubes and ice lollies (popsicles)

Angela Lansbury with an umbrella as a parasol. Photo by Trevor Sharot.

Staying home

Ideas I have seen

Water bottles in fridge

Iced drinks

Hot drinks - Asians think whatever makes you perspire will cool you

Ice and iced water below ceiling fans or floor fans or near electric fans (but not near enough to mix electricity and water)

 Water bath for your feet

Inflatable water bath for feet in the garden

buy cheap sun umbrellas

Open opposite doors to create a draft early morning (but pull down insect screens and ensure no doors are open to intruders)

Shopping and shopping list<

Garden furniture

Fly screen

Ice

Action

Make iced drinks

Make ice in the freezer

 

When travelling

check you have

1 Water bottle with water

2 Paper or electric battery operated fan

3 Phone - to summon aid

4 Umbrella as parasol

When Preparing to travel>

Check cancellations of trains, 

local fires, 

road blocks due to roads or vehicles on fire

Check meeting is going ahead and not cancelled

Stay calm and cool. Cooler days ahead.

Suggestions for making extra ice without ice cube trays

Depends on whether you need to get the ice out easily and whether you want to put it into drinks so it must not be contaminated

Ideas include

Ziplock bags

Aluminium foil inside egg trays or plastic egg trays (cardboard fibre ones disintegrate and contaminate)

Silicone trays for making chocolate and baking small muffins

Cut tops off plastic cartons or use the plastic screw on tops

(Use hot water to melt ice so it slips out.)

Lego bricks

Chocolate boxes lined with aluminium foil

Order ice cube trays which are very cheap from Amazon for quick delivery or from a supermarket offering quick delivery

Useful Websites

https://bestcooler.reviews/diy-make-ice-cubes-without-tray/#:~:text=Ziploc%20Bags%20are%20excellent%20solutions,the%20freezer%20for%20several%20hours.

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Odd Americanism - bum's rush

Today's oddment is this one

 bum's rush - forcible charge (From the slang of a bum, meaning a tramp)

I have several longer posts on Americanisms and British English.

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Hot, hot, hot in the UK. Should we travel or cancel? What should we pack?

This week in London a Toastmasters club cancelled their in person meeting and made a Zoom meeting instead. 

The temperature in London was 30 Celcius, which is 86 Fahrenheit.

The temperatures predicted in London on the next two days were 30 OC which is in the high eighties.

Schools are sending home the children.

Other countries scoff at the UK. People commenting on forums, writing from countries outside the UK say that they have higher temperatures, and for weeks longer. They can cope.  They have air con systems. Just look at the buildings. New York buildings and Singapore buildings are festooned with air con appliances. 

Inside you see free standing fans, fans attached to lights. Companies give away paper fans. Shops sell gadgets to carry such as battery operated fans. 

What about the schools? The schools have glass windows. They are often more than two storeys high and the windows won't open for health and safety reasons. You would think they would have blinds and air cooling grilles for hot weather.

On the other hand, they have different holiday dates.

Poeple are also asking: How come  people can go to the beach at the weekend, but not to work on Monday? 

On the beach you can buy ice creams, shut your eyes and do nothing. You can snooze in the heat. 

You can take time off to apply sunblock, take a long lunch, go off early to do shopping. 

You are outdoors in the fresh air. You are cooling in the sea breeze. You are not breathing in other people's germs, from air con maybe circulating Covid.  

You can take a shower. You can cool off in the sea water.  

Why was the London in person meeting cancelled?

They said because of the Met office warning.

What are the implications and risks?

Somebody might faint at the meeting. You will be busy opening windows for one person who is too hot, closing them for somebody else in a draughts, calling the caretaker for the key. 

If anybody faints during the meeting, it will disrupt the meeting. The organizer could be blamed for the hot room.

The caretaker of the building might be staying at home so you cannot get in.

People will be hot and tired and lethargic and staying home, disinclined to travel.

Your insurance might refuse to cover you if you ignore official warnings.

What Are The Warnings?

I looked at the Met office warning page. It is red, which means that not just the elderly and young and pregnant are vulnerable but everybody.

They asked how to improve their website.

I said - add

Symptoms of being in danger from heat. Why children are better off at home than at school. Advisory on which groups of people should stay home. Does it affect public transport and why? How can I tell if somebody has heatstroke? What are the death figures due to the heat? 

Where can I get sun protection clothing online and what qualities should I look for? 

Which sunscreen should I wear? What is the cheapest place to get it? 

How will the health services be impacted. If other countries have these temperatures, how do they cope?

 Why can't we? Will it be just as hot in the middle of August? When should an organizer of a meeting or conference send people home? How do you cool a conference room? 

I have been reading the comments on the internet. 

How Do Other Countries Cope? 

Regarding the idea that others cope, many countries have cars with built in air conditioning.

I had air conditioning in my UK car, but I did not know. I had never previously had occasion to use it.

Can I drink from any tap?

Water in the UK from a drinking water tap is safe to drink. Not from the hot tap in bathrooms. Why not?

Beware Hot water kitchen taps and all household bathroom taps

1 The water stored for heating might be sitting on the roof or in the attic in a storage tank. All sorts of dead animals and insects and birds could crawl into the hot water tank and die there. Our plumber fished out of our tank some rusting metal

2 If the building has a water softener, this is directed through the hot water pipe, whilst it bypasses the cold water tap to the kitchen which is drinking water.

Where Can I find Water On Holiday?

On holiday, when looking for drinking water, you might find it here

In coffee bars - you might have to ask for it.

Gyms.

Hotels.

Stations.

Shopping malls.

Public toilets.

If in doubt, ask. If you ask do they have drinking water, they might simply reply no. So then you can ask them to tell you the nearest place where you can get some, or refill your bottle.

What About Insects?

In hot weather you are also exposed to insect bites. I looked up insects. I thought I was bitten by fleas. After I heard a buzzing sound, again, I saw the buzzer and it was not a fly nor a mosquito, which is higher pitched, but a bee or wasp.

Hot Weather Travel Checklist

1 Drinking water

2 Plan for a refill (eg location of Tesco Express), or free water fountain.

3 Sunhat with wide brim

4 Sunglasses

5 Sun cream. Calamine lotion. (Failing all else, Sudocream healing for nappy rash or heat rash.)

6 Insect repellent

7 Insect spray (working at home, you might prefer a vaccum cleaner, or open windows, and a bowl with a flat piece of card covering the opening to slide underneath.

Windows

8 Open window so insects can fly out. Keep window keys on a hook near the window but not visible from outside.

Window covering, net curtains, hanging bead curtains on doors, or fixed insect wire net.

9 If renting or buying to work overseas, check for outdoor access to keep the room cool and sit outside because of Covid because you or your visitors want protection from sitting at a distance.

10 Overseas, windows often have shutters to let in air but keep out intruders including intruding insects. Check how windows open and shut and any half way position.

Cars

Do not leave babies, children, adults, pets, food, chocolate, in a hot car.

Take a cool box for anything you want to eat or drink during the day or anything you buy. Put a cooling device in your fridge the day before travel and leave a note on the fridge door to remind yourself to put it in the cool box. Or set a timer to remind yourself to put the water and ice in the cool box before driving off for the day.

Make sure your backpack has a separate compartment for a water bottle to keep it away from precious papers and to allow easy access to the bottle. 

Pack a separate plastic glass, or two, in case you need to share the water bottle with somebody else, so you are not sharing germs from the bottle. Better safe than sorry.

Be a cool person. Have a cool day. 

Staying Cool At Home

11 Sliding glass patio doors might also have an air inlet at the top. Look for a little sliding section over a grille. (We had one for years and did not realise it was there.) If somebody closed this in winter, you might want to open it again in summer.

Travelling To A Conference

12 Pack a hand held fan, a battery operated fan, or make a paper fan.

What Is The Temperature

13 Write conversions of temperatures from C to Fahrenheit in your dairy, or find an old diary with such a page and add it to your current diary with sticky tape.

Celsius °C	Fahrenheit °F
-30 °C	-22 °F
-20 °C	-4.0 °F
-10 °C	14.0 °F
0 °C	32.0 °F
1 °C	33.8 °F
2 °C	35.6 °F
3 °C	37.4 °F
4 °C	39.2 °F
5 °C	41.0 °F
6 °C	42.8 °F
7 °C	44.6 °F
8 °C	46.4 °F
9 °C	48.2 °F
10 °C	50.0 °F
11 °C	51.8 °F
12 °C	53.6 °F
13 °C	55.4 °F
14 °C	57.2 °F
15 °C	59.0 °F
16 °C	60.8 °F
17 °C	62.6 °F
18 °C	64.4 °F
19 °C	66.2 °F
20 °C	68.0 °F
21 °C	69.8 °F
22 °C	71.6 °F
23 °C	73.4 °F
24 °C	75.2 °F
25 °C	77.0 °F
26 °C	78.8 °F
27 °C	80.6 °F
28 °C	82.4 °F
29 °C	84.2 °F
30 °C	86.0 °F
40 °C	104 °F
50 °C	122 °F
60 °C	140 °F

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Misunderstandings - Lost in Translation in New Zealand

New Zealand

My husband and I asked directions to our hotel in rural New Zealand. A passerby told us, 'It's just beyond the station, you can't miss it.' 

We missed it. 

We drove back, found the same man, and asked him to mark it on the map.

'You can't miss it,' he said again.

'But we did. We saw a lot of sheep, but no railway station.'

'There's no railway station. It's just beyond the sheep station.'

'Oh. You call it a sheep station!'

'Yes - what do you call it?'

'In England, trains are in stations, and sheep are on farms. Come on, we have to go, we\re now late for checking into our guesthouse.'

Have you had any misundertandings?

 Write and let me know on facebook. 

USA  see previous post.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and English teacher, tutor and trainer worldwide and online. Active English Language Evaluator at Toastmasters International Zoom meetings. Blog posts on the American continent, Europe, Asia, Australasia, and occasionally South Africa and Africa, Russia and surrounding countries, Cyrillic, and the Middle East including Hebrew, Israel, Arabic and Arabic speaking countries and cultures and restaurants, museums and homes of famous writers and linguists. With a touch of humour. And an eye for the amusing, entertaining and absurd and unusual. Pick up a few foreign words as you read about Angela's travels, and shopping successes and disasters.

Where next? If you are not travelling today, travel around my blog posts.

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My Bilingual Dream - Franglais - English words in France, and French words in English - and bilingual Canada

 Can you find the mot juste? (The right word.) A propos of what? (Regarding what?) Franglais is my bete noir (my nightmare, or at very least my sore point).

At school in England I learned French as a second language and wanted to learn Spanish and German (and the Greek, Russian and Hebrew alphabets, as well as shorthand) but the curriculum didn't allow it. 

At university, I was afraid of wasting and losing my French, so in my long summer holiday (which I learned the Americans called vacation, like the French vacances) I was keen to visit Montreal on a trip to the USA and Canada to keep up my French. (Also to find out if I would fall in love with Montreal and one day want to move to Canada to live and work there or marry there or retire there.) 

On the plus side, I kept up my French, and discovered that in the Canadian capital, Ottawa, government employees had to be able to converse and write in French and English to deal with their citizens.

Where can you go nowadays on business or holiday to learn or keep up with a second language? On continental America, you still have bilingual Canada, at least in the capital. We went to the Caribbean and stayed on St Martin/Sint Maarten where one half is french and the other half is Dutch. Dutch resembles German.

In Singapore, which has four official languages, I read the signs in English, Chinese and Malay. It is very slow going, and makes me realise how much easier it is for me to learn Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and German, which I have started on Duolingo.

Here are the countries where you can see, hear, learn or practise two (or more) languages.

BILINGUAL/MULTILINGUAL COUNTRIES (alphabetically)

Canada = French and English

Singapore

On the MRT (train system, mostly underground) you can read and hear announcements in the four recognized languages, English, Chinese (Mandarin), Malay, and Tamil.

UK

England

Government documents on health are often issued in several languages. To recognize words, use a learners dictionary, or for advanced speakers an etymological dictionary. 

For understanding and remembering surnames use use the Dictionary of Surnames (Penguin). For first names, I suggest a baby names book. The best for a desk is the huge thick reference work, 50,000 baby names from around the world. 

For a little lightweight book to dip into and out of on long train journeys, read, What's In A Name - the origin of station names.

Wales

Road signs and tourist boards information are written in Welsh and English. Railway stations have signs in Welsh and English, sometimes only in Welsh. Trains have information panels in both languages. Bookshops and supermarkets often sell books on Welsh and English, phrasebooks and dictionaries.

Scotland

We had a wee problem. Not a pee problem, a wee problem, a small problem.

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All you can eat at Brazilian style El Vaquero in London, grilled meat, delivered constantly, a perfect evening out

El Vaquero restaurant, Mill Hill, London, England. Photo by Angela Lansbury

 El Vaquero means the cowboy. The origin of the word is the Portuguese vaca meaning cow. (Portuguese being the language spoken in Brazil in South America.) The restauran'ts two selling points are all you can eat, and meat carved off the skewer onto your plate by perambulating serving staff.

El Vaquero restaurant in Mill Hill in North West London is very popular for birthday parties. We heard Happy Birthday being sung four times when we were there on a midweek evening, Thursday. For birthdays, the restaurant will give one piece of cake free to the birthday person. If you want a big birthday cake for everybody, such as a Caterpillar cake, Marks And Spencers is just around the corner, under the railway bridge. 

Drinks

You order your drinks - I had Prosecco. 

Drinks. Angela enjoying Prosecco. And boiled eggs from the vegetable counter. 

 Photo by Sharot family.

Decide whether to have the set meal or the completely vegetarian. If you go for the third option, fish, they need 48 hours notice, because otherwise it is first come, first served and they might run out of the sea bass or whatever is available.

Vegetables, Garlic bread.  Hard boiled eggs, halved Photo by Angela Lansbury.

The vegetable choice is attractive to the eye and tasty. I had cauliflower, corn (Americans say maize), cooked fresh, tasty. Boiled eggs, cut in half, were on teeny trays with mayonnaise. My favourite vegetables were the orange sweet potato and the parsnips. 

Meat

Waiters scurry around from table to table with long vertical skewers offering to cut you a slice or two of chicken, lamb, beef, sausages. Mustard is available on request. 

Chips

You get one free bowl of chips shared between a couple. You have to pay if you order a second helping of chips (known as French Fries to your American friends.).

We were lucky to get a table for two, giving them half an hour's notice. At weekends you must book.

Any Improvements?

Drinks

The driver cautiously ordered a Sprite. 

I was so intent on eating my food whilst it was still fresh, that I didn't start on my Prosecco, nor finish it, until towards the end of my meal. By then it was tepid.

Maybe in this heatwave, we should have been offered ice in the drink, or an ice bottle for any of the bottles.

El Vaquero had three branches, one  in Mill Hill, where we saw the jolly owner, racing from table to table. Occasionally he or another member of staff asked to ask is whether everything was all right. Another branch is owned by another member of his family, in Whetstone? A third more expensive version is run by another relative. The third one charges more so can afford to buy even better cuts of meat. 

I was very happy with what I had.

Desserts

Dessert marshmallow included, with grilled pineapple strips. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

You can have sorbets or ice creams, according to the menu. But included in the price are slices, strips, of grilled pineapple - which to my mind had lost its freshness, and a marshmallow, with a dry outside and inside a stretchy sugary concoction which wrapped around the cutlery challengingly like chewing gum or the tasteless dead cheese on pizza. Hm. I was so one hundred per cent sure every single dish was perfect until I reached dessert. What was wrong? Too dry. Too sugary. My son declined the dessert. Next time I shall, too. 

Without the dessert, the meal was perfect. Fast service. Tasty meat. Vegetables cooked just right.

Price? We paid for the set meal, a couple of drinks, mine being alcoholic, and the service charge.

The restaurant is very jolly, very noisy. For a birthday. For children and families. For men who are hearty meat eaters. For everybody.

Toilets are conveniently on the ground floor. We parked around the corner in the station car park which was free after 7 pm.

Useful Websites

elvaquero.co.uk

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American English and British English Translated - with our problems at Disney World and a hotel

American Flag

 When travelling, pack a list of Americanisms and British English. I was distressed in Disney, Florida, on hearing that our monorail would be stopping momentarily. I thought they meant briefly, and rushed my family with, our suitcases, to the door. Later I tried to check out of a hotel on the other side of the USA, the west coast, and asked for a porter. I was anxious to check out before the deadline so as not to risk being charged for another half day or day. The porter never arrived. The reciptionist told me to ring housekeeping. They thought I wanted some kind of drink and were in no hurry. Eventually, after ringing recption frantically for the missing porter, I discovered that my hotel receptionist understood only the word bellhop. The word porter is used in the USA, but only at railway stations.

USA - UK

automobile - car

autoroute - motorway

backpack - rucksack

baggage - luggage 

bellhop - porter (in a hotel) 

crib - cot

diaper - nappy

dummy - (depending on context) dimwit/pacifier/mannekin or clothes model

Fall - autumn 

faucet - tap

gas station - garage/petrol station

hood (automobile) - bonnet (car) 

make a right - turn right

Main street - high street

momentarily - in a moment, shortly, soon

pants - trousers 

pharmacy - chemist

truck - lorry trunk (of a car) - boot (of a car

underpants - pants

Take out - take away (food)

windshield  - windscreen

UK - USA

autumn - Fall

bonnet (car) - hood (automobile)

boot - trunk

car - automobile

chemist - pharmacy

cot - crib

garage - gas station

high street - main street

lorry - truck

luggage - baggage

momentarily - briefly

motorway - autoroute

nappy - diaper

pants - underpants

porter (in a hotel) - bellhop

rucksack - backpack

Take away - take out (food)

tap - faucet

trousers - pants

turn right - make a right

windscreen - windshield

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English

Read more posts by Angela Lansbury, travel writer, English teacher, tutor and trainer, fashionista. Everything you wanted to know and need to know for your fun trips. Read posts on destinations, travel clothes, packing, preparing to learn languages, famous authors' statues, travellers' homes, trails, museums, historical houses - plus fun food, and bargain shopping.

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How To Pack A Suitcase or Rucksack Efficiently - by Angela Lansbury and Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin monument, USA.

Emergency Exit Suitcase

In earthquake-prone Japan, the Japanese, with experience and foresight, keep an emergency bag by the front door to grab in the event of a quick evacuation. 

If the taxi to the airport arrives early (which it should, in case you have a last minute hunt for your passport and tickets) you are ready to go. (The Americans like to say, alliteratively, good to go.)

'A place for everything and everything in its place,' said a well organized and much travelled American, Benjamin Franklin. Another daying I like is: Don't put it down. Put it away.

Smaller seal-tight boxes can be used in suitcases or backpacks when packing for trips. On the outward journey to keep all your underwear or your swimsuit and swimming hat and goggles in one place. Or your night clothes quick to find when you land in the middle of the night. To protect clothes from rain when your suitcase is sitting in a pile on the runway waiting to be loaded.

For bringing home dirty laundry. Wet swimsuits. Washed items not quite dry. And things you need in a hurry which would be hard to locate in a suitcase, such as a sewing kit or toothbrush, face flannel, or small towel. Ideally packed in the inside pocket of the suitcase, far right. If there's no inner pocket in the suitcase, 

When I was a busy traveller and travel writer, before Covid-19, I often kept one small suitcase ready packed with a swimsuit and night dress and spare underwear and shoes and a reversible dress, ready to go in a hurry. Or ready to tell an impatient panicky spouse, "I have already packed!"

The secret to quick packing is to know where everything is. Your packing list can be pasted inside your door to the wardrobe or clothes closet. A second copy to pack so you pack quickly for the return journey and don't leave behind the slippers under the bed, the bathrobe behind the door, the hat in the top of the hotel bedroom wardrobe, the contraceptives under the pillow, the child's toy in the cot or in the empty drawer, your jewellery on the bedroom basin when you washed your hands, your jacket on the chair of the breakfast room in the hotel, your umbrella in the boot (Americans say trunk) of the taxi (whose lost and found number is on your packing list). Your valuables in the hotel bedroom safe, or at reception. Photos of all your suitcases to show the hotel porter (bellhop in the USA) or airport staff when you are hunting for the missing item, looking around the carousel for the fourth suitcase, or making an insurance claim, or showing that the item was not damaged before check-in.

The passport and tickets should be in a set place, always.

Your night dress and slippers, maybe a short light robe. Swimsuit and swimming hat (plus goggles and a tiny towel). Spare shoes or evening shoes or walking shoes or beach shoes. cosmetic kit. Medicine or prescription. Spare reading glasses.   

  Today I sorted a drawer. Underwear. First thing in the morning, when I have energy. And need to select underwear. 

If I sort one drawer a day, by the end of the week I shall have done 7. By the end of the month, one room will be completely sorted.

 If I did one drawer in each room each day, the whole house would be done by the end of the month. Make that, the end of three months or a year. 

Since I need to stand up from the computer, it's a welcome break. Instead of eating, I shall do sorting.

Sorting Underwear

I used to lay everything flat. I thought that saved space. When packing a suitcase. So the same applies to drawers.

But each time I pulled out an item, the whole lot got jumbled and would not fit back in the drawer. Urgh!

Then I saw Marie Kondo, folding things into a drawer on video, on Youtube. She rolls everything or folds it, folds it again, and again, and stands it vertically. Then you can see the colours. Her method looks neat.

Bought dividers - advantages and disadvantages

Dividers are the best thing. Many of them come flat packed and slot together. In theory, after buying a set, if it fits, or doesn't, you can copy the design on card. 

Where do you find card? Inside and behind a new shirt packaging. The reinforcement at the base of a paper tote bag which is falling apart and will be thrown away or used as a carrier for recycling.

But sometimes bought dividers are too small. Not everything fits into a tiny space. Oblongs or honeycomb, all the same size. 

Any divider is better than none. You can start with an empty Kleenex tissue box. Cut diagonally with scissors towards the four top corners. Fold down the four flaps. They reinforce the edge of the box. You now have easy access. You can see the contents better.

How To Cut Down A Box

If necessary, if your drawer is shallow, you can cut down the vertical seems an inch or two, and fold the flaps lower. You might want to measure the height of the drawer, mark the height, less a centimeter, on the box. Use a metal ruler to score a line with the tip of the scissors and make a neat horizontal crease in the cardboard, holding the metal ruler to keep your edge straight and prevent jagged tearing.

Advantages of dividers are that you see each item. You do not move anything else when you empty an item. 

You can sort by colours. Your favourite on the right. Unless you are left handed. 

So either black goes on the right, or red, or white. If black is on the far right, white is on the far left. Or vice versa. Intermediate colours go in the middle. If bright red is your favourite, and dull brown your least favourite, put the red on the right, the brown on the left. On the other hand, if you favour earth colours, put brown on the right, with orange and green for autumn, the luminous yellow and turquoise and summer colours on the left.

You can also sort from front to back by size. Thin and small thongs at the front, thicker and bigger granny knickers, corsets or pantaloons at the back, or vice versa.  

Seasonally - winter stuff goes at the back in summer. It moves to the front in winter. Or maybe an opportunity to put items into storage, on the top shelf, labelled in a suitcase, with an email to yourself in a folder labelled storage, or in the attic. 

Moths and Mould

You also want to add moth balls, and/or take things out and shake them out regularly.

Don't put clothes in the garage. They are likely to get dirty or mouldy. 

See-through Dividers

You might have see-through dividers or boxes sitting taking up space in your kitchen drawers. They can be moved to divide drawers.

Whilst travelling, you might like to see the memorials to Benjamin Franklin in Washington DC, Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; and Craven Street, London WC2, England, UK.

Finally, pack a list of Americanisms and British English.

UK - USA

autumn - Fall

bonnet (car) - hood (automobile)

boot - trunk

car - automobile

chemist - pharmacy

garage - gas station

high street - main street

lorry - truck

luggage - baggage

momentarily - briefly

motorway - autoroute

pants - underpants

porter (in a hotel) - bellhop

tap - faucet

trousers - pants

turn right - make a right

windscreen - windshield

Useful Websites (more will be added shortly)

www.fi.edu/exhibit/benjamin-franklin-memorial

Philadelphia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin_National_Memorial

Washington DC

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Benjamin_Franklin_(Washington,_D.C.)

Read more posts by Angela Lansbury, travel writer, English teacher, tutor and trainer, fashionista. Everything you wanted to know and need to know for your fun trips. Read posts on destinations, travel clothes, packing, preparing to learn languages and famous authors' statues, travellers' homes, trails, museums, historical houses - plus fun food, and bargain shopping.

Please bookmark and share links to your favourite posts with your favourite friends.

Rhyme day - write a rhyme today and every day about your travel or travel business

 Today I was sent the rhyme below promoting a map business. A reminder that today is rhyme day. You could write a rhyme about a destination you are in. I have also heard a prize winning poem about every country the author had visited, and the mini-dramas in each place. 

It's quite easy to to do, because lots of countries end in a. Australia, Austria, America, Malaysia, Canada. Then there's passport, thought, waterfall, baseball. Map and mishap. River and shiver. Fountain and mountain. Sea and Be and Free, degree, see, dee, fee, glee, he, she, Lee, me, pea, pee, tea, tee, wee (small), zee.

Many poets' lines are used to promote destinations and to encourage travellers on their journeys. One of the best lines is from Robert Frost's poem, The Road Not Taken.

It ends

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I

I took the one less travelled by

And that has made all the difference. 

For more pictures and quotations see wikipedia, wiki commons wikisource and wikiquote.

I have written a poem about travelling

 The Happy Traveller

A comic poem by Angela Lansbury

I'm the world's most happy traveller

I've travelled far and near

To the kitchen and the bathroom

Around the world with you, my dear

I've travelled to Australia

Austria, America, Malaysia

To places grander, and seedier

All through Wikipedia

....

The rest of the poem is on my blog on comic poetry.

Useful Websites

https://awesome-maps.com/

rhyming dictionary

https://www.rhymer.com/

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.myarx.placesbeen&hl=en_GB&gl=US

Simon from Awesome Maps <simon.j@awesome-maps.com> Unsubscribe	16:46 (1 hour ago)
to me

Hi , it's Rhyme Day!

Today we celebrate buying things
When nobody knows what the future even brings

Three years ago, the world was great and
yet we complained and quite a bit
Then by sh*t, the fan was hit

But that brings us to today - a special day
A day for you to make some serious hay

We’re giving you 30% off
But only for the next two days

But wait - for a map, is this the right time and place? 

Well, I say yes and yes, I’m biased,
But soon again you'll be the flyest,

But until then just grab your pen
30% off but just for two days

To get inspired and bring someone joy, our maps are one of the best ways

So stop what you're doing and just go to our page
and enter the code that makes you sage

the code is “SHARE” and this is a dare
to get a map for you and someone that you really care – about

this is your German map maker and I am out

Happy Rhyme Day!

Simon & the Awesome Maps Team 

......

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Angela Lansbury, travel expert and language teacher, comic and ironic writing, specialist in travel to see the quirky and unusual, and homes of famous authors and personalities. Food, fashion and fun with languages. With an eye for the unusual, and a bargain.