Mother Country English
Last night we were walking to the theater and a guy sitting on the sidewalk against a building waiting for the bus after work called out and asked if we were tourists. I turned and smiled and said yes. He said “Americans?” I shook my head yes. He shouted “I could tell by the way you walk!”
I looked back and discovered that the Brits have a whole vocabulary unfamiliar to us that was apparently lost when we crossed the Atlantic or they snuk it in when we weren’t looking! “Potty” means eccentric, the subway is called the tube, a house is “in” the street not on the street and they go “to hospital” not “to the hospital.” A dish towel is a “tea towel.” Food “to go” is “take away” but then they use “take away” in New York too. (That’s another whole vocabulary.) “Bugger off” means go away. A “robot” is a traffic light and the trunk of a car is a “boot.” Actually neither word, “trunk” nor “boot” makes any sense to me. A diaper is a “nappy,” a clothes pin is a “peg.” “Pants” refers to underpants or panties. The correct term for “pants” in England is “trousers.” New Zealanders use “togs” to mean a swimsuit but the English use it to refer to any clothing. Pegs, (pronounced “pigs”) means clothespins. A “powerpoint” is a plug-in or socket. To us in the U.S. it means a microsoft application. Don’t know about England but if you are in Scotland don’t tell someone to “scoot over.” The “scoots” means you have the “runs.” Don’t call it a “fanny pack” when you’re in the UK, Australia, or NZ. That word does not mean “tuckus” there. Instead Aussies laugh at the American tourists wearing “bum bags.”
And then other things that seemed odd to us at first look…yogurt was brought around to sell to patrons at the theater during intermission, (actually not a bad idea). BBC reported on the curling gold medal every time we turned on the TV-very big deal over here…I had never heard of curling.
I watched the Olympics closing ceremony on TV while Bob went to Piccadily Square to get tickets for a play and buy a eurail ticket which is another long story entirely. In the meantime, we were entertained by “Blood Brothers” about twins who had been separated at birth by adoption to poor and and rich families respectively….theme being class differences of course. We are greedy…going to another play tonight; half price on same day. We’ll see what is available.
Oddest thing I’ve seen is Black guy with half his head front to back in a natural and the other half in dreads…a split identity?
I want fish and chips one more time before we leave London for Paris! In pubs we found out the hard way that you have to go up to the bar to order-wouldn’t come wait on you if you sat there all day! Foot long wonderful breaded and deep fried but juicy piece of fish more sitting atop a pile of french fries (chips in England) and sometimes with a cup of peas dumped on top of it all or can just order peas which are called “mash.” Usually served in a stiff piece of paper twisted to make a funnel-like carrier.
Tags: England, Europe, Food, Funny Experiences, Language, Theater
Zoe