Americanisms!

Yoga I think cup cakes have spread over here. I heard them described as 'fairy cakes with attitude'

!!

susieb

My DS ex girlfriend shocked my elderly mum by saying she hated pants and never wore them..

The ex was surprised herself when DH said how much he liked faggots

Ana pantyhose - ugh, panties double ugh

Tegan loved the anagram comment, so true

Gracesmum OH reluctantly accepts your Humph Davy (having immediately engaged phone to check - he did mutter something about some Danish guy but I floored him with dates - he did counter though with his correct pronunciation of Berkshire and Belvoir and even threw in a Shrewsbury for good measure. I was stumped. I did assure him, the English aren't anal, we've always adapted language and we don't assume we are 'right'

They don't have 'Road' films on the telly these days do they? Used to love them.

Same problems were around in 1949....a glossary list in my dad's diary when he went to the US on business! (sidewalk = pavement, etc...)

Pantyhose seems such a clumsy word. Tights sounds much better.

I'm reminded of that wonderful line from The Road to Morocco - "like Webster's Dictionary, we're Morocco bound"

I've had some funny conversations with American ladies on another forum concerning pants/panties and trousers pants = trousers not knickers as in the UK..

anno it would have been about 50 years ago, so maybe names have been changed now!

Well, it was Noah Webster and here's the story

gracesmum thinks we don't believe her but I wish to announce that I DO, and I always did. It's all Humphrey Davy's fault anyway.

Oh Heck! DH says it's Daniel Webster's fault – him of Webster's Dictionary.

Bags rushes off to investigate......

I can't say I've heard that in NZ, but perhaps I wasn't in a position to be asking for either Sellotape or Durex. They call flip-flops 'jandals' there. Apparently it's an abbreviation of Japanese sandal used by their NZ manufacturer.

Years ago I was in W.H. Smith with a school friend from New Zealand when she asked for Durex. Apparently that was what she called Sellotape. The assistant went a dramatic shade of red, as did we!

Well, at least I now understand why so many people do call it aluminum; I always thought it was because they couldn't pronounce it properly [it is one of those words that sounds like an anagram of itself I find].

Why does nobody believe me? I didn't make it up!
[banging head against wall] emoticon

Yes...thanks for that (again) feetlebaum

"Meant to add, confirmed by OED - aluminium" - yes, of course. Because that's what we English call the stuff... but my understanding is that it was initially an error. Mind you, many of the other metalloids elso end in '-ium', so I may be talking out of the back of my neck.

It has been known to happen...

Or have a fag.

Politically correct Americans are never going to eat fairy cakes are they?

"Meant to add, confirmed by OED - aluminium" - yes, of course. Because that's what we English call the stuff... but my understanding is that it was initially an error. Mind you, many of the other metalloids elso end in '-ium', so I may be talking out of the back of my neck.

It has been known to happen...

Perhaps that's why... too many references to Lab-ratteries.

anno