Americanisms that amaze the Brits and British words that baffle Americans

 When we Brits went on holiday to Disney World in Florida we took the monorail, with our heavy bags. I was shocked to hear the announcement, "We will be stopping momentarily ..." 

I shouted to my family, "Quick - pick up your bags and stand by the door. It's a very quick stop."

In a hotel I phoned reception for a porter. The Receptionist said I should ring housekeeping. I left a message.

Nobody appeared. 

I phoned down to reception and asked again. 

The second time the receptionist answered, "Ma-am, we'll gladly send you one, if you can describe what it is."

I replied, "A man with a trolley, to move our suitcases. Luggage. Baggage. Carry bags?"

"Ah, ma-am, I believe you are seeking a bell-hop?"

My husband emerged from the bathroom and demanded, "What's taking so long?"

I replied, "Lost in translation. Sounds like they thought a porter was some king of cocktail. What we want is a bellhop or bellboy."

American - English

argue - row (rhyming with how)

bangs - fringe (hairstyle)

bell hop, bell boy - porter (in a hotel)

drug store - chemist

drunk - pissed (slang)

fanny pack - bum bag / waist pouch

good / I am good - well / I am well 

good to go - (ready to go)

goose bumps - goose pimples

lawyer - solicitor (in an office doing paperwork, not in court) 

math - maths

momentarily - soon, shortly, in a moment

oftentimes - often

period - full stop

pleased with yourself/proud/delighted - chuffed (slang)

raise (a child) - bring up

real estate - property

real estate agent - estate agent

regular - medium size

shopping cart - (shopping) trolley

take out - take away

zee - zed

English - American

bring up (a child) - raise

bum bag / waist pouch - fanny pack

chemist's - drug store

chuffed - pleased with yourself

estate agent - real estate agent

fringe - bangs

full stop - period

goose pimples - goose bumps

maths - math

medium size - regular

momentarily - briefly, only for a moment

my mistake, my fault - my bad

often - oftentimes

row (rhyming with now) - argue

pissed (slang) - drunk

shopping trolley - shopping cart

solicitor (in an office doing legal paperwork, not speaking in court) - lawyer

take away - take out

well (I am well) - good (I am good)

zed - zee

Useful Websites

Americanisms

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-14201796

General Language

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Language

About The Author

Angela Lansbury was born in london, England and is British. She has lived in the USA. She teaches English and runs workshops. 

About the Author

Angela Lansbury is Vice President Public Relations of Braddell Heights Advanced, and Tampines Changkat Advanced,  speakers training club which are part of Toastmasters International. The USA has several Spanish speaking as well as the English speaking clubs. You can pick up Spanish from buying or reading online their Spanish clubs welcome pages and manuals. 

In The USA, UK, Singapore and worldwide, there are many clubs which are English speaking, as well as Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, French, Tamil, Malay.

The inauguration of Tampines Changkat Advanced was Tuesday 29 2021, online on  zoom. Their meetings are on the fourth Tuesday evening of the month. They hope to hold meetings with a few people meeting physically, the others online, as soon as the Covid-19 conditions allow.

You can find the club through their facebook page as well as through Toastmasters International find a club. 

https://www.facebook.com/tampineschangkatadvTMC

The meetings are free for visitors. Visitors can watch, and join in speaking by introducing themselves and volunteering to do a 2 minutes impromptu  speech in table topics.

If you wish to join for a year, it costs about 190 US dollars, to have monthly meetings online, a mentor, a magazine, and one of the 11  Pathways, consisting of 14 projects. Each project starts with 3 speeches of your choice of subject, lasting 4 to 6 minutes, then 5 to 7 minutes. The Pathways include the most popular Presentation Mastery. I chose  humorous speaking as my second Pathway, costing 20 dollars. Then my third was a leadership course. Come and see for free.

The club also has meetings in person in Singapore

You can also contact my other club, smaller Braddell Heights Advanced, which is a cosy little club with more chances to speak.

Login through bha.learncool.sg/meet/bha 

That will link you through to Zoom or googlemeet. 2 pm to 5 pm.

BHA meets the first Wednesday evening each month, starting at 7 pm Singapore time. 

Then an extra meeting on the 3rd Saturday afternoon, starting at 2 pm Singapore time.

To check your time zone,  

https://24timezones.com/difference/singapore/ 

Meetings will be on Wed July 7th and  Saturday July 17th.

Contact either of these or other clubs through Toastmasters International Find a Club.

American English and British English - How I was confused by words you read, see on signs and hear

Flag of the UK

Same language? Mostly. George Bernard Shaw, playwright, and wit, described, American and Britain as ,'two countries separated by a common language'.

My long lists are at the end but I shall start by entertaining you with some stories of problems I had with American English.

I was brought up (raised) in England. As a student, I went on holiday all round the USA on a Greyhound bus. I had a special ticket, not just for students, 99 dollars for 99 days. The Greyhound buses still go from city to city, carrying passengers from station to station, and you can send parcels. the buses carry the logo of the greyhound, symbol of speed.

In America, the first difference was the use of the word bus. Greyhound bus? The bus was what we in England call a coach. A long-distance coach. The Vehicle was a one-decker, going from one city to the next.






Greyhound company symbol

 
Greyhound bus.

When we got off the bus, sometimes at dawn, when I was not at my brightest, I faced the challenges of language.

At the city stops, I could not see any signs for toilets. They were labelled rest rooms.

Sometimes we stopped long enough for a snack. The menus offered apple pie a la mode. That meant with a dollop of ice cream on top.

I soon learned that a lorry was called a truck in the USA, and even Canada, which often uses British English.

.
Might-E Truck, Canadian company vehicle.

After I married, we went to the USA again. At Disney world on a monorail we heard that the vehicle would be stopping 'momentarily'. We rushed to the exit, fearing the monorail would be making only a brief stop. No. They meant, in a moment.

Food
Later, when we lived in the USA, I still found some of the vocabulary challenging. We soon discovered that biscuits were called cookies.

Clothes
In shops, nobody understood when I wanted to buy a nappy. I didn't understand the word diaper.

Pants were a constant cause of confusion. Now, I can usually work out what is meant. But the unintended double entendre is embarrassing.

Erase
When I asked for "a rubber" in a department store's stationery department, the assistant told me, "We don't stock them, You need a drug store."

Whilst I continued shopping, looking for a ruler, I soon found a rubber. I asked the assistant, "What do you call this?"
She replied, "An eraser."

I popped into the nearby drug store and asked, "Do you have rubbers?" She showed me to a shelf displaying Durex. Ah. Condoms.

Right
In the car, I did not understand a passener's request for me to, "Make a right!"

Put what right? Correct what?

He meant a right turn.

I asked, "Are you in a hurry to get home?"

"No hurry,"  my passenger replied. "I'm not expected until 'a quarter after'."
"What's that? You mean a quarter past."

"Sure, do."

Hm. I would have said, that's certainly right.

Garage
I said, "Than you dont mind if we stop. I need to fill up with petrol." I asked the American passenger, "Is there a garage near here?"

He told me, "Nothing nearby."

A few yards later, around that next corner, was a garage. I demanded, "What's this, then?"

"A gas station."

To him, in America, a garage was a place or business which did repairs (and stored cars).

Food
We stopped for food, looking for a take away. It was called a take out.

Worldwide, the words differ for Take Away

A take-out or takeout (U.S., Canada, & the Philippines); carry-out or to-go (Scotland and some dialects in the U.S. & Canada); take-away (U.K., Australia, South Africa, & Ireland, and occasionally in North America);takeaways (New Zealand); grab-n-go; and parcel (India & Bangladesh Pakistan) is a prepared meal or other food items, purchased at a restaurant or fast food outlet that the purchaser intends to eat elsewhere.

In America, when we drove through West Virginia in the Nineteen Eighties we wanted a restaurant. But we saw only fast food, and clubs.

Eventually we saw a passer-by and asked him for a restaurant. He pointed.

I objected, "But it says Club!"

He explained, "The clubs are restaurants. Because they serve alcohol, diners have to join a club, by paying one dollar and giving their identity and age, in order to enter a premise serving alcohol and to be served alcohol."

We went to the restaurant and were asked to fill out the forms. We did so. Then we were asked to pay three dollars, one dollar each.

My husband objected to the three dollar charge,"I can't drink because I'm driving. Our son is too young to drink.  My wife doesn't want to drink."

The restaurant owner chewed for a moment, then said, " The law requires me to charge you, a membership fee. But I can reduce the price of your meal, by three dollars. Because, it's late at night, and I'm about to close, and I've no other customers, so I'm sure happy to have your business.  How's that? Great. I'm so glad to see you. Where are you guys from?"





Websites
wiki - American English
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_American_and_British_English#Vocabulary
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyhound_Lines
Terminology worldwide for Filling Stations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filling_station
https://www.sweet2eatbaking.com/uk-us-conversion/

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author, speaker and speech trainer, was born and educated in England and lived in the USA.

I have several more posts on Americanisms and learning languages.
Please share your favourite posts.

Plantar Fasciitis - heel problems and solutions

Problem
I had bad heel pain. The odd thing was, it was worse first thing in the morning.

Answers
First I looked at my shoes to see if they were causing the problem. Flat shoes were not offering me much protection when my heel hit a flat surface.

The Drug Store
I went to a drug store in Singapore and looked for cushioned insoles. The price was huge. The trouble was, the insoles fell out of my sandals which had open toes and open heels.

Back in the UK, I spoke to another woman who had the same problem. Her doctor gave her a pain relieving gel.

My next thoughts were:
1) ask the pharmacist, and
2 ) Phone the NHS helpline.

However, I needed to see a doctor about some pills so I booked an appointment.

My Doctor's Advice
My doctor told me to use a rolling pin to rock under the centre of my foot.

Tennis ball for exercising the foot. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Physio
When I did an aqua class, it occurred to me that my teacher there knew a lot about physiotherapy having done a training course as part of her qualification. So I asked her. She recommended using a tennis ball.

The other reassuring thing was that she said her son had the same problem at the start of the football season. So it's not just being old or overweight and female or not getting enough exercise. You could by a younger male getting exercise and still have the problem.

In fact, my running up and down hills in Singapore to the MRT station seemed to be making the problem worse.

Ironically, the problem is worse first thing in the morning, after sleeping all night. The sudden movement after rest seems to make things worse. This was confirmed after I read an article on the internet.

My gym and aqua class lady also suggested putting your foot on a step and lifting it up and down to pull gently on the muscle to strengthen it.

The good news is, I didn't have to go straight into a hospital for an x-ray or an operation. I didn't need expensive medicine. I was likely to get better.

Tennis Balls
I asked my son if I should buy a new tennis ball or if it was OK for me to use an old tennis ball if I was given one by a tennis player or found one seemingly abandoned or lost in the bushes.

He said, not to worry about taking lost balls. He knows a keen tennis player. She had looked for a tennis ball to throw to a dog. She did not want to open a new tennis ball set because they are sold pressurised and fresh. Even opening the packet reduced the bounce of a ball.

A really old ball has lost a lot of its bounce and might well be abandoned by a keen player towards the end of a game or match.

A tennis ball would be easier for me to carry when travelling than a rolling pin.

Of course, my problem might be different to your problem. You must consult your own doctor and other experts and do your own research. However, I hope my pointers will offer you possibilities to explore, and enable you to be fit to walk when travelling.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

Christmas Day Chemist in Harrow and nationwide in UK

If you are taking any regular medicine, count the pills or doses to be sure it does not run out over a holiday.

On Christmas day in the UK the regulatory body decides which chemist (for Americans this means drug store) must open on Christmas Day. In Harrow the designated chemist is Tanna's in Hatch End. But they are open only two hours noon until two. The notice of the times is on their door.

So if you have to call out a doctor or need a prescription remember that the chemist is open only for a couple of hours and you'll need time to get there. (The roads will be empty but don't expect a busy bus service!)

They are open to sell all kinds of goods, not just prescriptions. So if Aunt Agatha is coming to lunch and you need a bar of perfumed soap or perfume, try this place. Or even stop for a snack and a chat in the warm because you got locked out and everybody else is out in church or elsewhere, this is the place.

Check the doors of your nearby chemist to find out which chemist is open in your area. You are also likely to find this information in local free newspapers which drop through the door.

The emergency services number in the UK is 999 for police, fire and ambulance. However, ring 111 for help if it is not an emergency.