We all speak English but we don't all speak the same language

My brother lives in Australia and in a telephone conversation mentioned he was wearing thongs! Apparently he meant flip flops. I had to explain what thongs are in UK and I now need therapy to try to get rid of the mental image

In America many years ago I saw a pair of girl’s briefs emblazoned with the local baseball team logo and the words “number 1 fanny”
?

Slightly off topic, but vampirequeen reminded me of a South African worker we had here for a while. He kept leaving things in the office switched on overnight, but was very careful indeed with water. We had to explain that we were more concerned with saving electricity, and that water, while we were careful with it, actually falls out of the sky a lot more often here than in South Africa!

In the US, what we call bumbags are known as fanny bags, because that's what fanny means there - bum!

And aren't ink pads for rubber stamps known as tampons in the US? Or is that somewhere else?

Beware of the Aussie lingo ! I learned the hard way in 1982 when I was joining D and her friends for a BBQ one evening and that afternoon everyone was discussing what they were going to wear. I said I'd have a root in my suitcase to see if there was something suitable.
Suddenly there were peels of laughter and I didn't know what was going on when someone said " a root in your suitcase, that's novel ? " I hadn't fully unpacked.

D then explained that " root " was their word for sex ! I did see the funny side but was careful not to use the word again which meant that I did a lot of thinking before I spoke as so many of our words/sayings have different meanings there.

I once read an American novel that had supposedly been ‘translated’ into British English, but whoever did it evidently missed, ‘He patted her fanny ? as he went past.’
(Fanny being Yank-speak for bottom.).

An Aussie that I worked with years ago came in to the office and asked if I had any Durex apparently that's what they call sellotape.

I au paired for a French/American family in my teens . On the shopping list one day was ‘cotton’ I was a bit stumped as no colour was mentioned so I plumped for reels of white & black to be on the safe side. It transpired that I should have bought cotton wool. In the US its called cotton and cotton is thread! Duh....

A friend we stayed with in NZ was a bit put out when I referred to her home as a lovely bungalow.
It's a house! Even though it is one storey.

A bungalow is a tiny cottage, apparently.

OMG love this thread.
Can`t stop laughing and reading them out to DH.
Well done gransneters especially at this time of our lives.

Would you like a yoggut, DGS?
No, Granny, it's a Yoe gut

Tampons here in France too Bathsheba as are Brillo pads. Our postman had a problem with his ear and said he had a tampon in it, I had visions of a string hanging out of his ear

I'm loving these.

When in the US, never say ‘ I’m dying for a fag’ ?

Definitely don't get a lot of what goes on in the US, the number of cars we saw with a sticker "I'm a soccer mom" or "I'm a baseball/ hockey/whatever mom" was utterly baffling to me, just why would you want to drive around with such a declaration I've never worked out what "A Homecoming Queen" is either, but sounds like a load of bollocks a bit daft

Both the US and Australia can refer to quite sizeable outside areas as "the back yard" which kind of conjures up Coronation Street over here.

I did find out what "bangs" are recently (hair related) just a simple fringe, how they came up with that one heaven knows!

My Aussie GC wear their ‘pants’ on the outside and their ‘undies‘ underneath. Also thongs on their feet as mentioned before. They eat chips from a packet and fries from the chip shop. Lollies are sweets and ice poles are (ice) lollies. Life can be very confusing when interacting with them!

Both the US and Australia can refer to quite sizeable outside areas as "the back yard" which kind of conjures up Coronation Street over here.

What I want to know is this: if we do gardening in our gardens, do the Americans and Aussies do yarding in their yards?

American women carry wallets (purses) in their purses (handbags). It gets very confusing!

Was watching an American cop programme and the witness was said to be full of spunk ?

When I went to live in the US with a school aged son, other British residents told me to make sure I called rubbers 'erasers'. It worked cos I still use the word.

Sme years ago I worked with an Australian girl who always referred to sticky tape as 'Durex' which was the standard brand over there. We took her aside explained the problem. In a predominantly male office, she had been wondering why she kept getting these funny looks.

Artdecogran I am sure we used the term 'spunky' when I was young - meaning someone full of spirit (not the alcoholic type!).

Well, I know a much cruder meaning for that word.