Hi, I just arrived! Yes, it is all true, except I wouldn't know about the last (post-watershed TV) although it would not surprise me. The only part that was not correct was in the sports metaphors -- I believe Bill is right to say they don't travel, but "touching base" is a bad example, it is universally used -- in Britain certainly. However, I work in a company with offices in US and UK, and I am well used to seeing blank faces when US colleagues use sporting metaphors (and probably vice versa). However, old savvy types like me have a sort of "sporting metaphor radar" so ew can tell when someone is making one, and look knowing. It's all you need to do. (Sporting metaphors being pretty easy to interpret without knowing about the sport, in my experience).
Other items for the list:
We say "white" coffee for coffee with milk or cream -- first time I visited Washington DC I was warned that this is equivalent to making a racist comment in the US.
We say courgette for zucchini and eggplant for aubergine.
Never ask the waiter in a restaurant what is especially good today. (I love US restaurants. Once I ordered something and was advised against by the waiter: "not one of the chef's better inspirations").
We don't have purses we have handbags. And we don't wear pants (they refer to underwear), we wear trousers.
If you ask for a glass of iced water in Britain you will get a glass of water with one ice cube in it.
And one for Dave Lull if he reads this: we don't know what a "stack" of pancakes is.
For some starnge reason, none of that surprises me!
ReplyDeleteHi, I just arrived!
ReplyDeleteYes, it is all true, except I wouldn't know about the last (post-watershed TV) although it would not surprise me.
The only part that was not correct was in the sports metaphors -- I believe Bill is right to say they don't travel, but "touching base" is a bad example, it is universally used -- in Britain certainly. However, I work in a company with offices in US and UK, and I am well used to seeing blank faces when US colleagues use sporting metaphors (and probably vice versa). However, old savvy types like me have a sort of "sporting metaphor radar" so ew can tell when someone is making one, and look knowing. It's all you need to do. (Sporting metaphors being pretty easy to interpret without knowing about the sport, in my experience).
Other items for the list:
We say "white" coffee for coffee with milk or cream -- first time I visited Washington DC I was warned that this is equivalent to making a racist comment in the US.
We say courgette for zucchini and eggplant for aubergine.
Never ask the waiter in a restaurant what is especially good today. (I love US restaurants. Once I ordered something and was advised against by the waiter: "not one of the chef's better inspirations").
We don't have purses we have handbags. And we don't wear pants (they refer to underwear), we wear trousers.
If you ask for a glass of iced water in Britain you will get a glass of water with one ice cube in it.
And one for Dave Lull if he reads this: we don't know what a "stack" of pancakes is.
I got the eggplant and the aubergine wrong way round, sorry. We don't know what eggplants are over here, but we do know what an aubergine is.
ReplyDelete