What Americanism and Britishisms mean

US flag

American - British English
Band-aid - elastoplast/sticking plaster
chit-chat - natter
clothes pin - clothes peg
diaper - nappy
eraser - rubber
good catch - (well done?)
funeral parlor - motuary, morque
Kleenex - paper hanky/tissue
mail - post
napkin -sanitary towel
Onesie - Babygrow
pacifier - dummy
pavement - road surface
period - full stop
plimsol - sneaker
pudding - blancmange
rubber - contraceptive/Durex

British English - American
Babygrow - Onesie
blancmange - pudding
clothes peg - clothes pin
dummy - pacifier
Durex - rubber
Elastoplast /sticking plaster - Band-Aid
full stop - period
jelly - Jello
nappy - diaper
natter - chitchat
paper hankie - Kleenex
post - mail
road surface - pavement
rubber - eraser
sneaker - plimsol

Quiz
Test yourself
British English - American
Babygrow -
blancmange -
clothes peg -
dummy -
Durex -
Elastoplast /sticking plaster -
full stop -
jelly -
nappy -
natter -
paper hankie -
post -
road surface -
rubber -
sneaker -

Useful websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_words_having_different_meanings_in_American_and_British_English
https://context.reverso.net/translation/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/polyglotcommunity
https://translate.google.com/

About the author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

I and my family have lived in the UK, Spain, the USA and Singapore. I am a travel writer and photographer and teacher of English A level and English as a foreign language.

Please come to a Toastmasters International Club where the English clubs have a language evaluator or grammarian.  We also have French, German, Mandarin Chinese, Tamil and other language clubs based in Singapore and many more online around the world which because of Covid-19 are now meeting online.

I am Immediate Past President of Braddell Heights Advanced, meeting on Zoom the first Wednesday of the month but  the third Saturday afternoon and occasionally on other Wednesdays our workshops are on app learncool.sg 

Incoming president Faith from July 1st 2020 could change dates and platforms so please contact the club.

learncool.sg

Or quicker to type and easier to remember: 

 tinyurl.com/BHACOOL

For language lovers:Useful Websites

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

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

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

https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogs
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2019/04/how-to-say-thank-you-in-several.html
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2019/05/introducing-yourself-in-english-spanish.html
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2020/01/second-set-of-portuguese-words.html Please share links to your favourite posts
https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club
translate.google.c

Singlish - Kleenex - Lim Kopi Bojio

Problem

What does Lim Kopi Bojio mean?

Answers

Kleenex box in Singapore featuring Singlish. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

On Facebook's Kleenex Singapore page you can watch a video showing their boxes with various Singlish expressions:

sedap nasi lemak

makan - 

kopio-o

kueh - Malay cake

ondeh ondeh

shiok

bojio

Angela Lansbury

Travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Singapore Singlish - chope - reserving tables

Problem
What is chope? It is on my Kleenex box.

Chope is putting down a pack of tissues or other item to reserve a table or chair when queing at a hawker center (food court).

When I first arrived in Singapore and saw tissues on the table I thought they were left there by the management of the hawker centre for customers to wipe their hands clean!

British people from Europe are familiar with the idea of Germans putting towels on loungers by hotel swimming pools to reserve convenient loungers - or all loungers - which is the source of much indignant or amused comment.

Chope is a Singlish word. Singlish is like pigeon English, using the grammar and vocabulary
of Chinese (Mandarin) or Malay or the local dialects spoken by the Chinese from Southern China.

Author
Angela Lansbury