Different words for the same things depending on which country you're in.
Christine_72
Posts: 16,049 Member
I thought it would be fun and interesting to compare our different language/words for the same items depending on which country we're from. I didnt quite know where to put this thread, as there are many non food items in my list. But hey ho here we go.
I'll start with what we call it in Australia and try and translate to American
It doesnt have to be Australian to American if anyone wants to add things, I know Britain differs from us in some things too.
I'm sure there are loads more that I've forgotten.
Here's the list for generic things, I'll start off with my favourites.
Then there's: kgs/lbs. centimetres/inches/feet. Kms/miles. Grams/ounces. Litres/gallons.
That's it for now, my brain needs a rest lol
I'll start with what we call it in Australia and try and translate to American
It doesnt have to be Australian to American if anyone wants to add things, I know Britain differs from us in some things too.- Rockmelon - Canteloupe
- Rocket - Arugula
- Eggplant - Aubergine (British)
- Capsicum- Peppers
- Chili - Peppers
- Soft Drink - Soda/Pop
- Biscuits - Cookies
- Jam - Jelly
- Jelly - Jello
- Cordial - Koolaid
- Sprite - lemonade
- Fizzy lemon squash - Lemonade. This is a tricky one
- Milk only for coffee, no creamers here, and cream is actual cream
- Herbs - Erbs
I'm sure there are loads more that I've forgotten.
Here's the list for generic things, I'll start off with my favourites.
- Bum - Fanny
- Fanny - down below female anatomy
- Thongs - Flip flops
- G-string - Thongs
- Car Bonnet - Hood
- Boot - Trunk
- Sneakers - Runners
- Creek - Stream
- Knickers/undies - Panties
Then there's: kgs/lbs. centimetres/inches/feet. Kms/miles. Grams/ounces. Litres/gallons.
That's it for now, my brain needs a rest lol
17
Replies
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Rocket took me a while, when I was traveling years ago.
An easy one: french fries=chips
In my neck of America: chile is the pepper (green, but also red), and chili is a dish with meat, sometimes beans and red chile and spices.4 -
Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »Rocket took me a while, when I was traveling years ago.
An easy one: french fries=chips
Yep. (US/UK): fries/chips, but chips/crisps. How about pants/trousers but underwear/pants. Silly differences that could confuse tourists, lol.4 -
Ooh yes, chips/french fries.
I had to edit my list, because for certain items i put the American version first. I'm so used to using them here, so everyone knows what i'm talking about lol0 -
Sneakers/Runners = Trainers (UK)
I'd tell you what we call cigarettes, but it would probably be kittened out ;-)8 -
CurlyCockney wrote: »Sneakers/Runners = Trainers (UK)
I'd tell you what we call cigarettes, but it would probably be kittened out ;-)
Starts with an F?6 -
Cool that you started this:
Canada - US
pop - soda
burger - dinner plate
poutine - "who the *kitten* puts cheese curds on fries???"
double-double (coffee with double sugar, double cream)
Timmy's - Dunkin' Doughnuts
Canada - Australia
fifty-fifty (10% cream)1 -
Don't you call the flat work surface in a kitchen the benchtop, @Christine_72 ? Im the US, a bench is something one sits on at a park or a person has in his workshop/toolshed for woodworking or fixing things, lol.
Edit, the kitchen surface is a counter in the US, which I suppose makes zero sense for a name, too lol.0 -
Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »Sneakers/Runners = Trainers (UK)
I'd tell you what we call cigarettes, but it would probably be kittened out ;-)
Starts with an F?
Hehe yep!2 -
In eastern Canada we put our milk in bags.
11 -
Cool that you started this:
Canada - US
pop - soda
burger - dinner plate
poutine - "who the *kitten* puts cheese curds on fries???"
double-double (coffee with double sugar, double cream)
Timmy's - Dunkin' Doughnuts
Canada - Australia
fifty-fifty (10% cream)
For me, (who goes back and forth between the U.S and Canada) Tim's and Dunkin are not interchangeable. Tim's (still) has coffee. DD is swill.
Depending on your area/province: BBQ can mean "grill" where as BBQ for me means add/cook with bbq sauce, as in a bbq salmon.... NOT the same as grilled salmon.
poutine... hmm, for me this is only a canadian thing, other wise, it's a wanna be and no. CHEESE? UMM NO.
2 -
UK 'tramp' = US 'tramp' (derogatory term, usually female)
UK 'tramp' = US 'bum' (homeless person, usually male)
UK 'bum' = US 'butt'2 -
We use the F word for cigarettes too. And we have a very popular brand of cheese who's name people find very racist, its C**n. I actually had an American friend ask me about it when she saw it in my diary
@williams969 yes, we call them benchtops. Do you guys use the word pantry for the kitchen food cupboard?3 -
It took me a while to realise that US 'broil' means 'grill' too.1
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williams969 wrote: »Don't you call the flat work surface in a kitchen the benchtop, @Christine_72 ? Im the US, a bench is something one sits on at a park or a person has in his workshop/toolshed for woodworking or fixing things, lol.
Edit, the kitchen surface is a counter in the US, which I suppose makes zero sense for a name, too lol.
When I lived in the UK one of my housemates asked me where I put something, and I said "On the counter." He just stared at me for a few seconds, and then asked me to show him, lol! He had no idea what I was talking about.7 -
CurlyCockney wrote: »It took me a while to realise that US 'broil' means 'grill' too.
Yes! Not for me, but yes!0 -
Oh and earlier someone posted on a thread about Bok Choy, which is Pak Choi (or Chinese Cabbage) here.0
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williams969 wrote: »Don't you call the flat work surface in a kitchen the benchtop, @Christine_72 ? Im the US, a bench is something one sits on at a park or a person has in his workshop/toolshed for woodworking or fixing things, lol.
Edit, the kitchen surface is a counter in the US, which I suppose makes zero sense for a name, too lol.
yup, we have a kitchen bench in aus we also call the thing you sit on in the park a bench...
we also have a splash back, not a back splash....we have so much american tv (including reno/flip programs) so i keep mixing them up!!
we have scones in aus (and UK) - i'm sure they're biscuits in the US
lollies - sweets/candy
mince - ground meat0 -
CurlyCockney wrote: »It took me a while to realise that US 'broil' means 'grill' too.
Haha me too! I wondered why do these people boil their meat
When we use the bbq, we call it a barbecue lol Americans - grill, right?
One more
Prawns - shrimp. We call those teeny tiny ones that you sometimes get on a pizza, shrimps.
0 -
Christine_72 wrote: »We use the F word for cigarettes too. And we have a very popular brand of cheese who's name people find very racist, its C**n. I actually had an American friend ask me about it when she saw it in my diary
@williams969 yes, we call them benchtops. Do you guys use the word pantry for the kitchen food cupboard?
It's a pantry if it's a floor to ceiling cupboard. If it's just top cabinets (above the counter/bench, then it's just called the cupboard/cabinet). But, pantries are not that common in the US, at least i the homes/apartments I've been in.
Oh, another one: apartments/condo in the US = flats in the UK.2 -
CurlyCockney wrote: »Oh and earlier someone posted on a thread about Bok Choy, which is Pak Choi (or Chinese Cabbage) here.
It's both for me...1 -
For me (not near water) they are all shrimp, but when I travel I aim for prawns!Christine_72 wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »It took me a while to realise that US 'broil' means 'grill' too.
Haha me too! I wondered why do these people boil their meat
When we use the bbq, we call it a barbecue lol Americans - grill, right?
One more
Prawns - shrimp. We call those teeny tiny ones that you sometimes get on a pizza, shrimps.
0 -
parking lot - car park
mobile - cell2 -
Christine_72 wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »It took me a while to realise that US 'broil' means 'grill' too.
Haha me too! I wondered why do these people boil their meat
When we use the bbq, we call it a barbecue lol Americans - grill, right?
One more
Prawns - shrimp. We call those teeny tiny ones that you sometimes get on a pizza, shrimps.
i'm sure some places call the big prawns langoustine/langosteen (but I think officially that's a weird type of little lobster)
0 -
Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »Cool that you started this:
Canada - US
pop - soda
burger - dinner plate
poutine - "who the *kitten* puts cheese curds on fries???"
double-double (coffee with double sugar, double cream)
Timmy's - Dunkin' Doughnuts
Canada - Australia
fifty-fifty (10% cream)
For me, (who goes back and forth between the U.S and Canada) Tim's and Dunkin are not interchangeable. Tim's (still) has coffee. DD is swill.
Depending on your area/province: BBQ can mean "grill" where as BBQ for me means add/cook with bbq sauce, as in a bbq salmon.... NOT the same as grilled salmon.
poutine... hmm, for me this is only a canadian thing, other wise, it's a wanna be and no. CHEESE? UMM NO.
Although in the South and SW US (particularly Texas, they own this, apparently), BBQ means cooking meat outdoors on huge pits (even dug out into the ground) for a long time over wood smoke. Those little barbies/grills are for "grilling" (fast cooking over charcoal or propane fire).3 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »It took me a while to realise that US 'broil' means 'grill' too.
Haha me too! I wondered why do these people boil their meat
When we use the bbq, we call it a barbecue lol Americans - grill, right?
One more
Prawns - shrimp. We call those teeny tiny ones that you sometimes get on a pizza, shrimps.
i'm sure some places call the big prawns langoustine/langosteen (but I think officially that's a weird type of little lobster)
Langoustine and scampi are interchangeable here. Usually, the only difference is the price :-/0 -
Oh my. I was working internationally and we were having a similar conversation about different word meanings. The looks on the girls faces when I used the phrase "sitting on your fanny watching the boob tube." It was all kinds of fun!7
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Heh...how did I know the whole fanny thing would be mentioned? :laugh:
Aussies: I'm going to use the toilet.
US/Canada: I am going to use the bathroom.
I do realise that in the US/Canada, the w/c and bath tub/shower are mostly in the same room. In Australia, these can be separate rooms. I honestly prefer the separate rooms.
As for the coffee creamer thing. I am pretty sure I've seen coffee whitener in Oz.Cool that you started this:
Canada - US
pop - soda
burger - dinner plate
poutine - "who the *kitten* puts cheese curds on fries???"
double-double (coffee with double sugar, double cream)
Timmy's - Dunkin' Doughnuts
Canada - Australia
fifty-fifty (10% cream)
As an Aussie who lives in Quebec, the home of Poutine.
It depends on the poutine. There's a place down the road that makes the most incredible poutine. The cheese is actually curd cheese which works well with the gravy. I've had bad poutine, but this poutine...oh my god. Delicious.0 -
Christine_72 wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »It took me a while to realise that US 'broil' means 'grill' too.
Haha me too! I wondered why do these people boil their meat
When we use the bbq, we call it a barbecue lol Americans - grill, right?
One more
Prawns - shrimp. We call those teeny tiny ones that you sometimes get on a pizza, shrimps.
That's kind of a technical one and often misused. A lot of Americans say they're "barbecuing" if they're cooking hamburgers/hot dogs/whatever on the grill, but technically they're grilling. "Barbecuing" is actually slow-cooking meats at low temperatures (called "low and slow"), such as beef brisket, pork shoulder/ribs, whole hog, etc., usually with some kind of hardwood used/added to the fire for a smoky flavor. Sometimes also called "smoking" the meat.
It's also a very regional thing as far as what meats are used, how they're sauced and what woods are used for the smoke. Texas BBQ differs from Kansas City BBQ, which differs from Carolina BBQ (and which style of Carolina BBQ), all of which are different from Santa Maria (CA) style BBQ, and so on.
Another one nobody has mentioned yet: Oatmeal and porridge.2 -
nutmegoreo wrote: »Oh my. I was working internationally and we were having a similar conversation about different word meanings. The looks on the girls faces when I used the phrase "sitting on your fanny watching the boob tube." It was all kinds of fun!
LOL Thank you Wikipedia, for explaining that Americans call boob tubes 'tube tops'1 -
williams969 wrote: »Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »Cool that you started this:
Canada - US
pop - soda
burger - dinner plate
poutine - "who the *kitten* puts cheese curds on fries???"
double-double (coffee with double sugar, double cream)
Timmy's - Dunkin' Doughnuts
Canada - Australia
fifty-fifty (10% cream)
For me, (who goes back and forth between the U.S and Canada) Tim's and Dunkin are not interchangeable. Tim's (still) has coffee. DD is swill.
Depending on your area/province: BBQ can mean "grill" where as BBQ for me means add/cook with bbq sauce, as in a bbq salmon.... NOT the same as grilled salmon.
poutine... hmm, for me this is only a canadian thing, other wise, it's a wanna be and no. CHEESE? UMM NO.
Although in the South and SW US (particularly Texas, they own this, apparently), BBQ means cooking meat outdoors on huge pits (even dug out into the ground) for a long time over wood smoke. Those little barbies/grills are for "grilling" (fast cooking over charcoal or propane fire).
I'm in the southwest. We grill. 0
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