Divided by a common language

In the thread http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthre...letely-in-Xara! Big Frank started a discussion of the different meaning of words in the US and UK. Maybe we can continue the discussion here.
I was born in the UK and moved to the US in 1966. I remember several warnings on the use of words when I forst arrived in the US. One being rubber/eraser.
Actually the discussion does not even have to be UK vs US, I still have arguements with my husband who was born 100 miles south of me on the meaning of words

Well "bloody" for sure translates differently.

Just finished Penelope Liveley's latest book in which an interior decorator talks about fittings, what we would call fixtures.

Fun idea this.

Something my wife and I have noticed in the majority of English writers we read, Oxfam and "jumble sales".

Caravans = mobile homes.

The wireless = radio.

When I started work over here I got blank looks from quite a few of my words. Fortnight was one.
One of the girls refered to her rear end as fanny. The English contract workers (job shoppers) told me that this was not the English interpretation. I always thought it was the rear and had to ask my husband for the other interpretation.

As for the UK differences he tells me a bun is a fairy cake.

There can be differences between the US and Canada too what below the 49th parallel is called Big Foot we call Sasquatch and if I say I am a Canuck I am not claiming to be a hockey player(of the Vancouver Canucks), but simply stating that I am Canadian. There can be many localized slang words too. For instance if I spoke about the "Gumboot Nation" I doubt if anyone here would know that I am referring to a local community not far from here. There are also terms that are used in the US that are considered not nice here, for example indigenous peoples who live in the far north in Canada would not be happy at all if you called them eskimos! and we do not use the term Indian unless you mean someone who comes from India. Here we use the term First nations.

I also remember many years ago hearing someone who was from the UK say that they were quite astonished that people here would name their sons Randy, apparently it means something very different there! Here it is simply a boy's name.

Actually I get a kick out of hearing some of the differences.
For instance I am told there are no cookies in the UK, they call them biscuits, and there is no equivalent to what we call biscuits.
I enjoy hearing the term bralle (spelling ?),or bumberchute for what we call umbrella.

we sometimes hear the term brolly here for umbrella here in Canada. we also call our dollar coins loonies and our 2 dollar coins toonies. The dollar coins came first and have a picture of a loon on one side hence the term loonie, then when the 2 dollar bills were replaced with a coin that coin just kind of became known as a toonie. And a cash register drawer for toonies is sometimes called a bear bin because toonies have an image of polar bears on them.

Some US and British terms we use interchangeably here like the piece of furniture in which you keep your clothes can be either a bureau or a dresser.

a dresser is for plates cups and stuff

a bureau is for writing on

clothes go in a wardrobe

my clothes generally go on the floor... or on the bureau if there's room

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wizard509

...I enjoy hearing the term bralle (spelling ?),or bumberchute for what we call umbrella...

---

Do you mean Braille? Embossed characters for the blind. Never heard of the second one :)

I think the obvious confusing one is 'chips' [fries to you] and 'crisps' [chips to you I think], though perhaps jam/jelly :)

Hmmm names can be a tricky thing, a common name here is 'Dik' , and a cook is 'kok'.
So, if he chooses a career in the catering business, he would be, kok Dik.
In English that would be hilarius and unexceptable. ;)

And some other thing is dictionaries.As an atheist (no god or gods belief, the correct definition.)
I see many annoying examples.

'atheist - someone who denies the existence of god'

I can only deny if the existance is established. So not a good definition.

'disbeliever, nonbeliever, unbeliever - someone who refuses to believe (as in a divinity)'

The word 'refuse', is ridiculous in this, also impying that there is such a thing.

'atheism Disbelief in, or denial of, the existence of a god.'

Sentence also implies the excistance already.

'a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings'

Supreme can be anything, doesn`t have to be a God.

'the doctrine or belief that there is no God.'

I have no doctrine.

'A person who lacks belief in a god or gods'

I don`t have a believe in a God, and it is not a choice.
And 'lack'? I don`t think I 'lack'(shortage off) a believe.
Just like Christians don`t lack a believe in Zeus, they just don`t believe it.

Ah well, this is one of my hangups, never mind ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ankhor

Just like Christians don`t lack a believe in Zeus, they just don`t believe it.

---

i can't quite believe you just said that :eek:

Denis - How did this topic turn into a commentary on atheism?

Grace's idea is English words that mean different things in England than they do in the USA.

For example, we say Saran Wrap for a clear plastic that is used to wrap food and keep it from spoiling. The British call it "cling film".

Denis, the english word you are maybe looking for is 'agnostic' - an atheist has a belief, as you say, even if it is a 'denial belief', but an agnostic simply does not know, and is happy to admit it

good philosophic point about 'not believing' not being the same as 'lacking a belief' - 'lacking a belief' being the viewpoint of someone who believes, which someone who does not believe doesn't have.

but maybe lost a bit of impact and clarity due to english not being your first language .... [and difficult to get clear even when it is :o]

and possibly not what Grace intended :)

Here in Canada we call it plastic wrap.

What handrawn called a dresser we call a sideboard

ah a sideboard is what you put kelt [junk, old books, unwanted gifts, frank's clothes] in, unless the other half puts their foot down and insists its used for storing 'useful' stuff - in fact all the stuff that does not quite fit in the cupboard [built in storage area own door] under the stairs...

my other half tells me that 'dresser' [not to be confused with 'dressing table' which is a bedroom item with mirror] is really 'welsh dresser' and I am too lazy to say it in full [I blame my gran]

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by neodeist

Do you mean Braille? Embossed characters for the blind.

---

No, Frances had it right. Another term for umbrella. I don't know where I picked up the term bumberchute, but I like it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Big Frank

my clothes generally go on the floor... or on the bureau if there's room

---

Very funny Frank.

This thread has brought to mind a funny story about the way that things can get confusing. My husband and I have a friend who lives in South Australia, and one day we arranged a video chat with her. I was showing her a hat that I had given my husband for his birthday, it was an imported (from Australia) wide brimmed hat made of oiled cotton. I thought it looked like the one that Harrison Ford wore in the Indiana Jones movie.

Any way we showed it to our friend and she called it a Kabra and I thought she was saying cobra. I'm saying no it's not made of snake skin, no it doesn't have a snake on it, and she kept saying "no Kabra" lol it turns out Kabra is short for Kakabara (I might not be spelling this right) a famous brand of hats in Australia! and kabra has become a general term for this style of hat.

Yeah sorry. I wrote it was one of my personal hang ups ;)
And I just came out of a chatroom where this discussion was going in
and I was stil in that mindframe. So Gary you were right, it was not the
same. But still, if the meaning of words aren`t clear to begin with..... ;)
So it wasn`t about atheism , it was an example. How people describe
things from their point of view.

Handdraw got it, although the point about not being the first langauge is
a faulty one, people who speak more languages actually develop a better language feeling
because they have a broader base of words and meanings. And actually the word 'lack' comes
from my language from the word 'laken'

So again sorry if it went into a different direction I went for the broader misunderstandings
of language.

And I know the word agnostic, they are the most fun in discussions, because they can
jump to any position while in the discussion for their believe is undefined.

Now excuse me, I have to bash my head against the wall after the 20st
'acces violation' today in XXP5. Well, it atleast teaches you to save regularly,
which I do now.

well lets just say it obviously wasn't that clear to some native english speakers ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ankhor

Now excuse me, I have to bash my head against the wall after the 20st
'acces violation' today in XXP5.

---

God moves in mysterious ways ;))

yeah, the possibility of the existence of a god is a never-ending source of problems

Larry the word bumbershoot is actually American in origin and has been mistakenly attributed to British English almost since it was created.

i've never heard of the word bumbershoot

the word bum however has a completely different meaning in uk english than it does in us english

Here Bum can mean two things depending on how you use it. If you fall on your bum you are falling on your rear, if you say that guy is a bum you are saying he is a beggar.

And what about 'bummed out' which means depressed about something?

I forgot about that one. and if you say "what a bummer" you are referring to something that causes you to feel depressed or bummed out.

Or just 'bummer' as in the 60s.....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Karateed

Or just 'bummer' as in the 60s.....

---

a bummer in the uk is very broadly speaking a male homosexual (derogatory)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Soquili

Larry the word bumbershoot is actually American in origin and has been mistakenly attributed to British English almost since it was created.

---

Thanks for that information Bill, I like the term no matter it's origin.

I remember as a kid in the early 80s watching an episode of Airwolf and two women were flying airwolf being chased by a guy in another helicopter and said over the radio to them 'I'm gonna blow your fannies out of the air' now being that I am from the uk and was watching this during a saturday afternoon, this left me very confused indeed.

Drwydd, you think the programmer of the xara products is a God, okay, I can see that, it comes pretty close. ;)

And I know God doesn`t exist, he told me so himself, and he should know, he is God afterall. ;)

So now I am off to hand-out stickers, one bum-per-sticker only.