Different words for the same things depending on which country you're in.
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I got in a confusing online conversation with a British guy once about what I'd called a "yard gnome". In his view, factories & such had yards, whereas homes had gardens. To me (and I think most USians?), a regular suburban house has a yard, and may have some areas thickly planted with flowers or vegetables which would be the garden.
Also, some of the supposed US/Canada distinctions are not exactly that - in my part of the US (Michigan, where Canada's a close neighbor), some of us use some of the "Canadian" terms - pop, Timmy's, etc.
I had always heard it "garden gnome" even though it isn't always in a garden. Lawn or yard is interchangeable, garden and lawn/yard are not.
I think the problem with a word being a "US" word is that the US is so big, so we end up with regional differences. Then you get people like me who mix them all up- raised in the Midwest, raised children in the northwest and now live in the southeast, I speak a mishmash of everything
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samanthaluangphixay wrote: »ConnieT1030 wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »Haha those 80s picture jumpers, my mum made me lots of them! We called those dresses with bib and straps 'tunics' when I was at infant school.
omg, you Brits make babies go to school? O.o
lol. Must be what US would call elementary, or grade school. (usually ages 5-11 or so) That's the thing about the US, we have like 7 words for everything, and only some of them are shared by different regions of the country.
Speaking of...
This may be regional too but in the States, is it 'Grade 1' 'Grade 2' or is it 'First Grade' 'Second Grade'?
My cousin from California kept correcting me when I told her I was in Grade 10...she kept saying 'Tenth grade'.
Atleast every state i've lived in in the US it's "first grade, second grade", etc.0 -
rainbowbow wrote: »ConnieT1030 wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »Haha those 80s picture jumpers, my mum made me lots of them! We called those dresses with bib and straps 'tunics' when I was at infant school.
omg, you Brits make babies go to school? O.o
lol. Must be what US would call elementary, or grade school. (usually ages 5-11 or so) That's the thing about the US, we have like 7 words for everything, and only some of them are shared by different regions of the country.
pre-school?
Which we used to call nursery school (not sure if that's still used as I always hear pre-school now).0 -
When the world was black and white (I'm 3 years old in this pic), I wore a tunic to school.
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ConnieT1030 wrote: »I got in a confusing online conversation with a British guy once about what I'd called a "yard gnome". In his view, factories & such had yards, whereas homes had gardens. To me (and I think most USians?), a regular suburban house has a yard, and may have some areas thickly planted with flowers or vegetables which would be the garden.
Also, some of the supposed US/Canada distinctions are not exactly that - in my part of the US (Michigan, where Canada's a close neighbor), some of us use some of the "Canadian" terms - pop, Timmy's, etc.
I think the problem with a word being a "US" word is that the US is so big, so we end up with regional differences. Then you get people like me who mix them all up- raised in the Midwest, raised children in the northwest and now live in the southeast, I speak a mishmash of everything
Yes, Australia is the same. Although I think to a lesser degree.
So, for example, OP said about rockmelon vs canteloupe.
In some states of Australia is is called canteloupe - in others, such as South Australia, where I live, it is called rockmelon.
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ConnieT1030 wrote: ».....is that the US is so big, so we end up with regional differences....
The US isn't exceptional in this regard, it's been referred to a couple of times in this thread already. I've lived in half a dozen different locations in the UK, each with their own dialect.
I was raised speaking a combination of British English and Scots English, which is a different language never mind dialect.
Getting away from English, Gaelic and Gaelic are pronounced differently, depending on which Gaelic language one is speaking.
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CurlyCockney wrote: »ConnieT1030 wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »Haha those 80s picture jumpers, my mum made me lots of them! We called those dresses with bib and straps 'tunics' when I was at infant school.
omg, you Brits make babies go to school? O.o
lol. Must be what US would call elementary, or grade school. (usually ages 5-11 or so) That's the thing about the US, we have like 7 words for everything, and only some of them are shared by different regions of the country.
Nursery School 2-4
Infant School 5 -7
Junior School 7 - 11
Secondary School 11 - 16 (I think the minimum leaving age has been raised since I went!)
I think they're all called 'years' now - Year 1, Year 2 etc. We only called them 'years' at grammar school, and they only counted whilst we were at that school (they're carried over from earlier schools now).
In Australia we have
Kindergarten (and sometimes pre-kindergarten)
Pre-primary
Primary school (year/grade 1-6)
Highschool (year/grade 7-12. Sometimes year 7-9 is called middle school)
University - we don't do "college" like in the US
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Those who have ever been to Uni or are in Uni in Australia would know what 'arvos' is.
I'm just getting through page 1. I take it someone has mentioned the different meanings of "shag?"
Have a shag on the shag with a shag?livingleanlivingclean wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »ConnieT1030 wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »Haha those 80s picture jumpers, my mum made me lots of them! We called those dresses with bib and straps 'tunics' when I was at infant school.
omg, you Brits make babies go to school? O.o
lol. Must be what US would call elementary, or grade school. (usually ages 5-11 or so) That's the thing about the US, we have like 7 words for everything, and only some of them are shared by different regions of the country.
Nursery School 2-4
Infant School 5 -7
Junior School 7 - 11
Secondary School 11 - 16 (I think the minimum leaving age has been raised since I went!)
I think they're all called 'years' now - Year 1, Year 2 etc. We only called them 'years' at grammar school, and they only counted whilst we were at that school (they're carried over from earlier schools now).
In Australia we have
Kindergarten (and sometimes pre-kindergarten)
Pre-primary
Primary school (year/grade 1-6)
Highschool (year/grade 7-12. Sometimes year 7-9 is called middle school)
University - we don't do "college" like in the US
Interesting. I see things have changed since I've gone to school in Australia (Queensland to be exact).
Kindergarten/Preschool at the age of 5.
Primary School (Grade 1-7, typically ages 6-12)
High School (Grade 8-12, typically ages 13-17)
Then either college (such as TAFE) or University. Colleges can be referred to as residential colleges which are a part of some universities (eg, McGregor residential college is a part of USQ).
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cerise_noir wrote: »
Followed by shag (tobacco) whilst listening to shags (birds...of the feathered kind)?0 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »ConnieT1030 wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »Haha those 80s picture jumpers, my mum made me lots of them! We called those dresses with bib and straps 'tunics' when I was at infant school.
omg, you Brits make babies go to school? O.o
lol. Must be what US would call elementary, or grade school. (usually ages 5-11 or so) That's the thing about the US, we have like 7 words for everything, and only some of them are shared by different regions of the country.
Nursery School 2-4
Infant School 5 -7
Junior School 7 - 11
Secondary School 11 - 16 (I think the minimum leaving age has been raised since I went!)
I think they're all called 'years' now - Year 1, Year 2 etc. We only called them 'years' at grammar school, and they only counted whilst we were at that school (they're carried over from earlier schools now).
In Australia we have
Kindergarten (and sometimes pre-kindergarten)
Pre-primary
Primary school (year/grade 1-6)
Highschool (year/grade 7-12. Sometimes year 7-9 is called middle school)
University - we don't do "college" like in the US
We have colleges within universities, and colleges that are just colleges. The more I try to explain British English the more I'm realising how much stuff we just seem to 'know', without questioning why LOL!1 -
CurlyCockney wrote: »cerise_noir wrote: »
Followed by shag (tobacco) whilst listening to shags (birds...of the feathered kind)?
Brilliant. :laugh:0 -
cerise_noir wrote: »Those who have ever been to Uni or are in Uni in Australia would know what 'arvos' is.I'm just getting through page 1. I take it someone has mentioned the different meanings of "shag?"
Have a shag on the shag with a shag?livingleanlivingclean wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »ConnieT1030 wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »Haha those 80s picture jumpers, my mum made me lots of them! We called those dresses with bib and straps 'tunics' when I was at infant school.
omg, you Brits make babies go to school? O.o
lol. Must be what US would call elementary, or grade school. (usually ages 5-11 or so) That's the thing about the US, we have like 7 words for everything, and only some of them are shared by different regions of the country.
Nursery School 2-4
Infant School 5 -7
Junior School 7 - 11
Secondary School 11 - 16 (I think the minimum leaving age has been raised since I went!)
I think they're all called 'years' now - Year 1, Year 2 etc. We only called them 'years' at grammar school, and they only counted whilst we were at that school (they're carried over from earlier schools now).
In Australia we have
Kindergarten (and sometimes pre-kindergarten)
Pre-primary
Primary school (year/grade 1-6)
Highschool (year/grade 7-12. Sometimes year 7-9 is called middle school)
University - we don't do "college" like in the US
Interesting. I see things have changed since I've gone to school in Australia (Queensland to be exact).
Kindergarten/Preschool at the age of 5.
Primary School (Grade 1-7, typically ages 6-12)
High School (Grade 8-12, typically ages 13-17)
Then either college (such as TAFE) or University. Colleges can be referred to as residential colleges which are a part of some universities (eg, McGregor residential college is a part of USQ).
That's exactly how it is in S.A0 -
I also had to google what Cilantro was, as far as i can tell it's another word for coriander which is what we call it here.0
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Christine_72 wrote: »I also had to google what Cilantro was, as far as i can tell it's another word for coriander which is what we call it here.
In cooking usage, I've understood cilantro to be the leafy part, and coriander to be the seed, but it's all the same plant. Seems like I've seen the seeds-for-growing (as opposed to those bought as a spice ingredient) sold under both names.
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Christine_72 wrote: »I also had to google what Cilantro was, as far as i can tell it's another word for coriander which is what we call it here.
My friend in NYC said that it's only cilantro when it's the leaves - the seeds are still called coriander. He's never cooked anything in his life though, so I don't know if he's correct!2 -
hehe thanks for confirming @AnnPT77!0
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CurlyCockney wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »I also had to google what Cilantro was, as far as i can tell it's another word for coriander which is what we call it here.
My friend in NYC said that it's only cilantro when it's the leaves - the seeds are still called coriander. He's never cooked anything in his life though, so I don't know if he's correct!
yep, he is correct.
edit: i just call it "soapy horrible disgusting plant"3 -
CurlyCockney wrote: »livingleanlivingclean wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »ConnieT1030 wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »Haha those 80s picture jumpers, my mum made me lots of them! We called those dresses with bib and straps 'tunics' when I was at infant school.
omg, you Brits make babies go to school? O.o
lol. Must be what US would call elementary, or grade school. (usually ages 5-11 or so) That's the thing about the US, we have like 7 words for everything, and only some of them are shared by different regions of the country.
Nursery School 2-4
Infant School 5 -7
Junior School 7 - 11
Secondary School 11 - 16 (I think the minimum leaving age has been raised since I went!)
I think they're all called 'years' now - Year 1, Year 2 etc. We only called them 'years' at grammar school, and they only counted whilst we were at that school (they're carried over from earlier schools now).
In Australia we have
Kindergarten (and sometimes pre-kindergarten)
Pre-primary
Primary school (year/grade 1-6)
Highschool (year/grade 7-12. Sometimes year 7-9 is called middle school)
University - we don't do "college" like in the US
We have colleges within universities, and colleges that are just colleges. The more I try to explain British English the more I'm realising how much stuff we just seem to 'know', without questioning why LOL!
Colleges in Canada offer diplomas and certificates, and will offer the first couple years towards a degree. To obtain a degree, you need to attend a University here (at least in Alberta, I don't know about the other provinces).
ETA: We also have technical institutes which offer more trades type training, as well as other certifications.0 -
rainbowbow wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »I also had to google what Cilantro was, as far as i can tell it's another word for coriander which is what we call it here.
My friend in NYC said that it's only cilantro when it's the leaves - the seeds are still called coriander. He's never cooked anything in his life though, so I don't know if he's correct!
yep, he is correct.
edit: i just call it "soapy horrible disgusting plant"
I remember reading somewhere that some people have an olfactory receptor gene which makes cilantro (and some other things, apparently) taste like soap to them. It does help explain why some consider it disgusting while others find it delicious. I can't get enough of the stuff, I put it all over most Mexican foods and some Asian foods.0 -
paperpudding wrote: »paperpudding wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »As a Canadian who moved to Australia in 2009 ... I had to learn a whole new language. My first year here I was constantly coming home and asking my husband what on earth certain terms meant. But I'm almost fluent now.
arvo
barrack
bluey
chook
etc. etc.
Even "bring a plate" still sounds weird to me.
Good Arvo to you, what footy team do you barrack for. We had a roast chook for dinner last night, might get chilly later so will have to the throw the bluey on.
I gave up the durries/*kitten* 12mths ago, good thing as I always drank too much goon juice when i smoked. Might have a barbie later
Over here we "cheer" or "root" for a team.
I understand that "rooting" for a team would have a quite different meaning in Australia.
Yes - a VERY different meaning.
True story - there was an american lady, not long out here, whose son was same age as mine and played in same basketball team.
This lady used to barrack very enthusiatically - somebody asked her if she alsways go that excited - Oh yes, she says , I root for all his basketball team and his football team and....
She did not know why we all burst into laughter.
Sorry, I'm not getting this other meaning of "root". Is it something that can be printed in a public space? Please tell.
Australian slang, widely used throughout the country - means same as universal word starting with F and rhyming with duck.
Thanks. Really amazing how language varies.1
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