What can it all mean?
Hello, Friends-
I am writing from work. I was expecting to be the only one in the office today, but two men who had never been here came in today. They actually gave me some work to do and I was busy until noon! Then I read Time Out and looked for theatre jobs online. They just left and I am alone with 45 minutes to go and thought I'd write.
I was musing to John last night that I have learned so much in one week of working here. This very nice man (we'll call him Tottenham) who has been the only consistent person in the office has enjoyed exchanging bits of information with me. He showed me a map of the UK and pointed out good places to visit, I showed him a map of the US and we discovered together which states were the least populated. To my surprise- Vermont is second! We've also learned several new words. That is what I'd like to share with you today. Before moving here, we were aware that some words had different meanings in England (never say "fanny pack" for example,) but I am continuously encountering more and more. Here is a short list to which I'm sure John and I will add in the coming two years. Some of these you already know, but I wanted the list to be complete. The first word is the American word and the second word is the English word for it. Enjoy!
pants............trousers
underwear..........pants/knickers
sidewalk.........pavement
stroller.........buggy
truck...........lorry
drugstore...........chemist
cell phone............mobile
fuzz...........fluff
call..............ring
highway..........motorway
apartment..........flat
rent (as in a car)...........hire
rent (as in a flat).............let
appointment book/datebook...........diary
soccer.............football
football...............American football
cabinet/closet.............cupboard
broke (as in "no money")............skint
girl/lady..................bird
More to follow...
I am writing from work. I was expecting to be the only one in the office today, but two men who had never been here came in today. They actually gave me some work to do and I was busy until noon! Then I read Time Out and looked for theatre jobs online. They just left and I am alone with 45 minutes to go and thought I'd write.
I was musing to John last night that I have learned so much in one week of working here. This very nice man (we'll call him Tottenham) who has been the only consistent person in the office has enjoyed exchanging bits of information with me. He showed me a map of the UK and pointed out good places to visit, I showed him a map of the US and we discovered together which states were the least populated. To my surprise- Vermont is second! We've also learned several new words. That is what I'd like to share with you today. Before moving here, we were aware that some words had different meanings in England (never say "fanny pack" for example,) but I am continuously encountering more and more. Here is a short list to which I'm sure John and I will add in the coming two years. Some of these you already know, but I wanted the list to be complete. The first word is the American word and the second word is the English word for it. Enjoy!
pants............trousers
underwear..........pants/knickers
sidewalk.........pavement
stroller.........buggy
truck...........lorry
drugstore...........chemist
cell phone............mobile
fuzz...........fluff
call..............ring
highway..........motorway
apartment..........flat
rent (as in a car)...........hire
rent (as in a flat).............let
appointment book/datebook...........diary
soccer.............football
football...............American football
cabinet/closet.............cupboard
broke (as in "no money")............skint
girl/lady..................bird
More to follow...
posted by Jamie & John | 8:16 AM
3 Comments:
Jamie- these translations are fantastic! Thanks for sharing, you lovely bird. Glad to see your are using work time wisely, I am, in fact, also at work and reading your blog! Here is my attempt at writing a sentence using all your "english" words.
"So I was walking down the pavement past the flat I let to wash a few of my dirty trousers and knickers when a lorry almost ran into me and made me drop all my change into a buggy! I am skint, so I wanted to reach into take the change back from the baby, but the mom got a ring on her mobile and turned away. So I went to the chemist to see if she could give me change and wow, was she an ugly bird! Looked like she played American football in high school. On my way back, I hired a car, drove down the motorway and realized after looking in my diary I was late for my football practice! I ran home, open the cupboard and realized, my laundry was still outside, and I had nothing clean to wear to the match!"
Great work, Caitie!
You mustn't forget "knackered" which means to be completely exhausted, often from too much sex. Very handy, indeed.
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