A Conversation for Advice to British Visitors to Germany and Vice Versa

Great Entry - Some treminology notes

Post 1

de_hash

Just wanted to mention that this is a very well written and open-minded entry.

In case any country wants to change sides (while driving, I mean), how about starting with the lorrys (For those Germans who don't know what lorrys are - since most Germans speak american english - they are also called trucks.

Here some more British Terminology


British Terminology - Explanation

FOOD

Aubergine - Eggplant
Bangers - Sausages
Biscuits - Cookies
Chips - French Fries
Chippy - Fish & chip shop
Corn - Wheat/barley
Courgette - Zucchini (small)
Crackling - Pork rinds
Crisps - Potato chips
Doner (kebabs) - Gyro
Lemonade - Any 7-Up type of soda
Maize - Corn
Marrow - Zucchini (large)
Minerals - Soda (use brand names instead)
Mousse - A specific sort of pudding
Muffin - Muffin/cupcake
Pinta - A pint of milk
Pudding - Dessert
Swede - Rutabaga, treat as a potato

BEER

Beer - Beer does not usually mean lager, but ale, bitter, porter, and the like. The term tea can mean an afternoon snack at 4PM or a light evening meal. A cream tea is a treat of tea and scones with clotted cream and jam. The Devon area is well known for its clotted cream.


TRAVEL

Bonnet - Car hood
Boot - Car trunk
Bureau de Change - Foreign Exchange
Coach - A bus like a greyhound
Lorry - Truck
Manual transmission - Stick shift
Motorway - Highway (e.g. the M25, which goes in a circle around London)
Railway - Railroad
Return - Round-trip (e.g. return ticket")"
Silencer - Muffler
Single - One way ticket
Tram - Streetcar
Underground/Tube - Subway
Windscreen - Windshield

HOUSES

Ground floor - First floor
First floor - Second floor
Flat - Apartment
Lift - Elevator
Semi-detached - 2-4 houses built as one big one
Settee - Sofa/couch
Terraced house - Townhouse
WC/Loo - Toilet

Bathroom - The word bathroom is never used to mean toilet. A bathroom always has a bathtub in it.

POLITICS

Brussels - Often used by the media to mean EU
The City - London's financial district (within the confines of the old Roman city)
Bank Holiday - State holiday (e.g. Dec. 26)

ENTERTAINMENT

BBC Radio 1 - Pop music
BBC Radio 2 - Pop from 50's to 80's
BBC Radio 3 - Classical
BBC Radio 4 - Current events, mainly talk and discussions
BBC Radio 5 - Talk and sports
Cinema - Movie theater
Disco - Nightclub
Film - Movie
Football - Soccer
Holiday - Vacation
Panto(mime) - A children's farcical play
Rave - a (sometimes illegal) dance
Sport - Sports
Telly - Television
Wireless - Radio


CLOTHING -
Braces - Suspenders
Jumper - Sweater
Pants - Underpants
Suspenders - Garter/garter belt
Trainers - Gym shoes
Trousers - Slacks/pants (not jeans)
Vest - Sleeveless undershirt
Wellies - Wellington boots
-
MISCELLANEOUS -
A short - A shot (of liquor)
Call - Visit (not a phone call)
Car boot sale - A type of flea market
Chemist - Drugstore/pharmacy
Cockney - One from the east end of London, also a rhyming slang (e.g. 'dog and bone'=phone)
CV (Curriculum Vitae) - Resume
Fags - Cigarettes
Ironmongers - Hardware store
Kilo - 2.2 lbs.
Naught - Zero/nothing
Newsagents - A local shop selling newspapers, magazines, etc.
Nil - Zero
Off-License - Liquor store
Ring/phone (verb) - To call someone on the telephone
Shopping trolley - Shopping cart
Short back & sides - A type of haircut
Solicitor - Lawyer
Stone - 14 lbs. (I weigh 10 st. 4 lb. = I weigh 144 lbs.)
Queue - Stand in line

SPELLING DIFFERENCES

centre - center
theatre - theater
tyre - tire
colour - color
honour - honor
defence - defense
grey - gray

PRONUNCIATION

Advertisement - adVERTtizment
Controversy - konTRAHvehsee
Library - LIEbree
Medicine - MEDsin
Restaurant - resTAHrawn
Secretary - SEKrahtree
Student - STYUdent
Tissue - TISSyu
Tuesday - CHOOSday
Waitrose - WAYtrose
Queue - Q

PLACES

Bicester - BISter
Derby - DARbee
Greenwich - GRENich
Glasgo - GLAZgo
Liecester - LESter
-shire - Sheer
Worcester - WUSter

Some rare examples:
Cholmondeley - CHUMlee
Featherstonegagh - FanSHAW

TIME

Time - In the UK, time is generally reported in the Military format. This means that times after 12:00 Noon continue with 13:00, 14:00, and so on.


Great Entry - Some treminology notes

Post 2

You can call me TC

Thank you for your kind words.

The examples you give would be good points to make in an American vs. British English entry. I thought there was one around, but I have searched the site and can't find it.


Key: Complain about this post

Great Entry - Some treminology notes

Write an Entry

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."

Write an entry
Read more