h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

the other thread is just about spelling, but i want to know about different words that mean the same thing. it took me a whole book to figure out what a lorry is.

US / UK
eraser = rubber
muffin = American muffin
English muffin = muffin (haha)
truck = lorry
cookie = biscuit

and then there's the total misunderstandings... "fag" means a cigarette in the UK but in the states it's a derogatory term for a gay man... i went to international schools.

sidewalk = pavement
bathroom = toilet
school = college

thought of some more

hallway = corridor
vacation = holiday (so... what do you call a holiday then?)

does that mean that you call school "college" for regular kids?

college = university (uni)

Jeenius, what a clever identity. Welcome to the wonderful world of h2g2

Here we go matey! matey = buddy

UK/US

snogging/kissing

naff/uncool

arse/ass

loo/toilet

bloke/guy

cheerio/goodbye

Flame

It seems most of these are made up and do not reflect US/UK differences at all. There are many words with the same meaning kissing and snogging for instance are merely 2 different levels. I personally have never said cheerio in my life, is that meant to be US or UK? As for goodbye, not many people say that now eiether.

*does that mean that you call school "college" for regular kids?*

No, just whenever I hear Americans talking about being in higher or further education they say they're 'at school', whereas we would say we were 'at college (or Uni)'.

Jules

How about:

Storey/floor

i'm american and i've never heard anyone say "snogging," so i believe that is a cultural difference. if it's a "different level" of kissing you want to describe, i'd say "making out." is that a term you use?

"snogging" sounds kind of... gross

I'd say snogging is the Brit equivilent of "making out", making out used to mean anything from kissing to heavy petting or full on sex here until our young impressionable youth adopted the US meaning alone.

It's only in certain contexts that we use the word corridor in instead of hallway. What in the US would be called a hallway between different apartments in a building we would use corridor but a a hallway between different rooms in a house would be just that, a hallway.

same goes for "floor" and "story," you'd get out on the fourth floor to get to your fourth story office.

some of these words are really only used in one culture, while some just have slightly different conventions. (an american may not be expecting you to say corridor, but he'll know what it is.) we could make a distinction between slang and "real" words...

What about "foyer" or "spanner" or "flannel"?

Don't Americans call Foyer the lobby?

chips to us are fries.

what does the word crisps mean in American?

fried apple slices

How much difference is there between American and Canadian English? I used to know a Canadian girl who once asked a member of the RAF if he was wearing suspenders. After the hysteria had subsided, it turned out that what she called suspenders is what we in Britain refer to as braces, that is to say an elasticated device for holding up a mans trousers (or pants as I believe they are called in the US). What Brits call suspenders are an item of womens underwear for securing stockings.

What are stockings called in America?

Here are some different word uses that I have come across.

UK 'Tights' = US 'Panty Hose'
UK 'Bonnet' = US 'Hood' (I'm talking cars here, not headwear)
UK 'Boot' = US 'Trunk'

Liz
~

you can call them stockings or tights, but yes, they're generally called pantyhose in the states.

"crisps" does not mean anything as far as i know. i've only heard that word in books or other media.

what does "foyer" mean to you? to me, a lobby is the entrance to a big building, and a foyer is the tiny little room in a house before you get to any of the real rooms.

what is "spanner"?

"flannel" -- the soft warm material stereotypically worn by lumberjacks? we call that flannel. does it mean anything else?

oh, so
US/UK
suspenders = braces
pants = trousers
garters = suspenders

what do you call the things you use to straighten your teeth? oh wait...

UK 'Spanner' = US 'Monkey Wrench' (I think)

A flannel to me is a soft cloth for washing your face, the label on which usuall says 'face cloth', so maybe that's what you call it in the states?

Oh - can I just add that a garter over here is a little elasticated thing that one wears around a stocking, whereas suspenders hold up ones stockings by attaching them to an item of underwear, either a suspender belt or a basque.

That was Lizzbett's underwear news!

US/UK
washcloth = flannel
garter belt = suspender belt/basque

we call that other thing a garter as well, although we don't really use either type of garter for the original purpose anymore. oh yeah, you can call them "nylons" as well.

you can also hang garters off of a womanly thing called a corset, teddy, merrywidow, or bustier (there are differences between these things but i sure can't tell what they are), if you want to talk underwear.