The longer I'm over here, the more often I find myself having little verbal 'slips' where I use the UK word for something instead of the much better in every way American word. When I catch myself using these, especially in internal monologues or when just speaking to myself, I always want to slap myself. Aside from being around a lot of these UK types all day long, I am forced to pretend to be one when writing work reports and work emails. As a result, I feel like there is pressure to conform.
The following is a list of the words I find myself slipping on:
- Post/Mail - you have to admit it's a little hard to justify calling it mail, when you send it from the post office via the US postal service or by putting a postage stamp on it, but that doesn't make it right!
- Bin/Can - well, the word 'can' means lots of things, but bin only really means the one! Although it does sound a lot like 'been'...
- Junction/Intersection - a work one that I still have trouble with in reports, like are they exactly the same?
- Tissue/Kleenex - I know Kleenex is just a brand name and we should call it tissue as well, but we don't, which is why I feel dirty inside when I do use tissue.
- Return/Round-trip - I'm torn with this one. They both make sense and are the same number of syllables, so there doesn't seem to be an easy solution. I'm forced to use this one as it impacts my travels so regularly!
Words/phrases I use despite them being overly English:
- Lovely - I just say this to be polite to people at work, I like to think I don't really mean it. I've been noticed this one occurring more often lately.
- 'Can't be bothered' - this little number I've been using for a good year now and I've forgotten what I said before. It's very handy, for example: 'I should go to the store to buy some milk, but I can't be bothered.' Or, 'I so can't be bothered to go to class right now.'
Things I refuse on principal:
- Pants/Trousers - one is one syllable, the other is two, therefore the shorter one is easier and better in every way.
- Footway/Pathway/Sidewalk - it's along the side of the road and you walk along it. It's that easy. I still don't know what the correct term is in these parts, which makes my report writing a bit sticky.
And while I'm on vocabulary, I can't help but be perplexed when the English insist on making simple words longer and more complex, like sweetcorn and beetroot. It's corn people! CORN!
Of course there are a lot more linguistic differences, and I'm sure I could expand this into something of considerable length, but the only thing you really need to know is that there is no translation for black pudding and you should avoid it all costs.
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So why isn't a raisin a raisin? Is there a real difference between sultanas and raisins? Not only that, isn't a sultana really a female Muslim leader? Seems a shame to confuse a leadership position with a dried fruit. I vote for the term raisin in all English speaking lands.
Actually, there are MANY types of corn out there, with sweet being one of them.
Corn is a VERY interesting subject.
I've asked an anglo the raisin question, and whilst they seemed befuddled, I did get something of an answer. Sultanas are likely to be dried green grapes, while raisins are more likely dried red grapes. They eat sultana bran over here, which just doesn't seem right!
On a sandwich (yes, they put them on sandwiches) it's sweetcorn, but it's just called corn on the cob, not sweetcorn on the cob. If you are going to be weird, at least be consistent about it!
I always call them raisins. Frankly I've never been certain on the topic of sultanas and therefore avoid them although I think the suspicious looking raisins in hot cross buns may be sultanas.
Re the anglo sidewalk issue. I call it the pavement and had scorn rained upon me at work as I didn't use the term footway. Cue an engineering lecture at me as to why pavement is different. Also I use the terms intersection and junction interchangeably.
I also think it only becomes sweetcorn once its canned in some brine/sugar-water affair and marketed by a fearful green giant. Before this I think its just corn. However I don't eat it so there's no real way to know...
im wierd i love tuna, (sweet)corn and salad cream (or mayo)as one of my fav sandwich fillers!
I'm not sure about the sultana raisin thing to be honest i've been at the supermarket and been ??? many times at the sight of both - i go for raisins though. Plus most of them come from california.
After living with Margo the opposite is also happening - like i find myself saying ill take the trash out and then going ahhhh and saying i mean the rubbish!
Ahhh, sweet corn on the cob is the best there is! Especially the bi-color variety. It has a teasingly short season in Oregon, so I buy a ton of it the few weeks it appears at the farmer's market.
Brush it with some olive oil and garlic, wrap in foil, and throw on a medium BBQ for about 20 minutes (I turn it a 1/4 turn every 5 minutes), and you'll be in heaven!
i'll have two!
I have to say that I've heard the term sultana here in California. It may have been at the farmer's market. I shall have to investigate the farmer's market again.
I can't wait until they have corn.
I like to make it in the microwave. Fill a square baking dish halfway with water, toss the corn in still all leafy, and cook for 10 minutes. Stop it after 5 to turn it over. Take it out, shuck it, and put some butter and salt on it.
Mmm...best thing ever.
Mark, is salad cream actually mayo or is it just some other weird substance? Salad cream confuses me. I much prefer salad *dressing*.
do they have year round corn on the cob - like i walk past it in tesco express every day - but its not the same as the fresh just picked stuff - i'm new to cotc like my first experience was 2 summers ago!
salad cream is amazing stuff! have a look at http://www.saladcream.com/ingredients/
its definately not mayo but is used in the same way - its like the diff between brown and bbq sauce - they look the same but taste different!
It seems to me that if you're talking about speaking English in Enland that you should defer to the locals.
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