Different words for the same things depending on which country you're in.
Replies
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Great thread, Christine!
Will mostly catch up later, but in case someone hasn't already posted this:Canada - US
pop - soda
It's pop in many parts of the US too, such as the midwest. I picked up soda when at college in MA, but reverted to pop after and now use them interchangeably.
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nutmegoreo wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »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'
Actually, we used the term boob tube to refer to televisions.
Yes, but what we call boob tubes you call tube tops.
I get it. I misinterpreted your previous post.
So up the girls interpreted the saying as siting on their kitty staring at their rack.
Rack?? Is that one Australian, American, or British??0 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »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'
Actually, we used the term boob tube to refer to televisions.
Yes, but what we call boob tubes you call tube tops.
I get it. I misinterpreted your previous post.
So up the girls interpreted the saying as siting on their kitty staring at their rack.
I got some interesting looks when I lived in the UK and told some friends I was wearing pants and thongs to a party (instead of trousers and flip flops...)
does the US have toasted sandwiches? or are they called grilled cheese?
we have toasted sandwiches (pressed) or jaffles (squished together in a machine that seals the edges and holds the filling in)
"Thongs" or "Flip-flops" I call slippers. Definitely won't use the word "thongs" in that way.0 -
cerise_noir wrote: »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.
Toilet and bathroom both work for me, but what about latrine or lavatory?
Or water closet?
How about outhouse? Dunny? Loo?1 -
Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »Rubber ---> condom in Canada
Both, for me, it's more a register variation, than a regional one. My nephews may talk about rubbers. But their teachers talk about condoms.
A rubber was always an eraser when I was at school.0 -
Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »Rubber ---> condom in Canada
Both, for me, it's more a register variation, than a regional one. My nephews may talk about rubbers. But their teachers talk about condoms.
A rubber was always an eraser when I was at school.
Same here. Wouldn't dare ask to borrow one now, though.
Hey @Christine_72 Remember our previous rubber chat? :laugh:0 -
nutmegoreo wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »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'
Actually, we used the term boob tube to refer to televisions.
Yes, but what we call boob tubes you call tube tops.
I get it. I misinterpreted your previous post.
So up the girls interpreted the saying as siting on their kitty staring at their rack.
Rack?? Is that one Australian, American, or British??
definitely a term used in Australia...don't know about the others0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »
My wife is from Michigan - they drank pop. I grew up in southern California - we drank soda. My dad grew up in the south - they drank coke (they refer to any soda/pop drink as a "coke") - or sometimes he'd call it "sodee pop".2 -
cerise_noir wrote: »Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »Rubber ---> condom in Canada
Both, for me, it's more a register variation, than a regional one. My nephews may talk about rubbers. But their teachers talk about condoms.
A rubber was always an eraser when I was at school.
Same here. Wouldn't dare ask to borrow one now, though.
Hey @Christine_72 Remember our previous rubber chat? :laugh:
Yes, yes I do
Wasn't it something about borrowing someones used rubber, or some such?
cerise_noir wrote: »cerise_noir wrote: »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.
Toilet and bathroom both work for me, but what about latrine or lavatory?
Or water closet?
How about outhouse? Dunny? Loo?
I always call it the loo0 -
Indeed it was. It was great!Christine_72 wrote: »cerise_noir wrote: »Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »Rubber ---> condom in Canada
Both, for me, it's more a register variation, than a regional one. My nephews may talk about rubbers. But their teachers talk about condoms.
A rubber was always an eraser when I was at school.
Same here. Wouldn't dare ask to borrow one now, though.
Hey @Christine_72 Remember our previous rubber chat? :laugh:
Yes, yes I do Wasn't it something about borrowing someones used rubber, or some such?1 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »
they drank coke (they refer to any soda/pop drink as a "coke") .
That one has always confounded me, what if they want sprite or mountain dew, something other than coke? Here you say specifically what you want, if you say you want a soft drink/soda then you get what you're given!
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lemurcat12 wrote: »
My wife is from Michigan - they drank pop. I grew up in southern California - we drank soda. My dad grew up in the south - they drank coke (they refer to any soda/pop drink as a "coke") - or sometimes he'd call it "sodee pop".
We just called them sweet drinks, and the more refined people said aerated or carbonated beverages.0 -
U.S./Canada
candy bar/chocolate bar
trash/garbage
gutter/eavestrough
railing/bannister1 -
nutmegoreo wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »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'
Actually, we used the term boob tube to refer to televisions.
Yes, but what we call boob tubes you call tube tops.
I get it. I misinterpreted your previous post.
So up the girls interpreted the saying as siting on their kitty staring at their rack.
Rack?? Is that one Australian, American, or British??
Canadian slang.0 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »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'
Actually, we used the term boob tube to refer to televisions.
Yes, but what we call boob tubes you call tube tops.
I get it. I misinterpreted your previous post.
So up the girls interpreted the saying as siting on their kitty staring at their rack.
I got some interesting looks when I lived in the UK and told some friends I was wearing pants and thongs to a party (instead of trousers and flip flops...)
does the US have toasted sandwiches? or are they called grilled cheese?
we have toasted sandwiches (pressed) or jaffles (squished together in a machine that seals the edges and holds the filling in)
"Thongs" or "Flip-flops" I call slippers. Definitely won't use the word "thongs" in that way.
I remember them being called "thongs" back in the '60s, but I've always referred to them as "flip flops". Some people call them 'sandals', but I think of sandals as something different - more of the Birkenstock-type things with multiple straps over the foot and buckles/velcro to fasten them.
"Slippers" are the soft, fuzzy shoes I wear with my PJs or bathrobe.
1 -
cerise_noir wrote: »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.
Toilet and bathroom both work for me, but what about latrine or lavatory?
I think of the military when I hear latrine, and airplanes with lavatory.3 -
nutmegoreo wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »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'
Actually, we used the term boob tube to refer to televisions.
Yes, but what we call boob tubes you call tube tops.
I get it. I misinterpreted your previous post.
So up the girls interpreted the saying as siting on their kitty staring at their rack.
Rack?? Is that one Australian, American, or British??
Canadian slang.
American, too. Awww, a slang term that we all share! Unity through boob admiration 8 -
"Normal" football is called Soccer in America. American football looks more like Rugby to me, but I never got that clarified.0
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"Normal" football is called Soccer in America. American football looks more like Rugby to me, but I never got that clarified.
Australia has football (Australian rules), soccer (although there are plenty of English expats who call it football), gridiron (for American football)...0 -
skinnygirl4u wrote: »U.S./Canada
candy bar/chocolate bar
trash/garbage
gutter/eavestrough
railing/bannister
I'm in the US and I say chocolate bar, garbage and bannister, but not eavestrough.
I say soda and not pop. We do have scones here as well. I live in an area that was originally settled by the Germans.
Also, I "use the restroom".0 -
"Normal" football is called Soccer in America. American football looks more like Rugby to me, but I never got that clarified.
American football bears not much more than a passing resemblance to rugby and vice-versa. They're both rough contact sports involving an oddly-shaped ball, but that's about where the similarities end. Rugby and Aussie Rules Football seem to be much more similar.
The sport I've never been able to figure out is Cricket. Oddly fascinating, but completely alien to most Americans.2 -
Skyblueyellow wrote: »skinnygirl4u wrote: »U.S./Canada
candy bar/chocolate bar
trash/garbage
gutter/eavestrough
railing/bannister
I'm in the US and I say chocolate bar, garbage and bannister, but not eavestrough.
I say soda and not pop. We do have scones here as well. I live in an area that was originally settled by the Germans.
Also, I "use the restroom".
I use the term restroom, too. For some reason, it drives my 14 year old crazy. So now I make sure to do it more. 2 -
Not just from country to country. I moved from North US to the Deep South last year. It took me a second when I heard "buggy", which I call a shopping cart or just "cart". Just one of many things different!2
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Skyblueyellow wrote: »skinnygirl4u wrote: »U.S./Canada
candy bar/chocolate bar
trash/garbage
gutter/eavestrough
railing/bannister
I'm in the US and I say chocolate bar, garbage and bannister, but not eavestrough.
I say soda and not pop. We do have scones here as well. I live in an area that was originally settled by the Germans.
Also, I "use the restroom".
I use the term restroom, too. For some reason, it drives my 14 year old crazy. So now I make sure to do it more.
Haha oh how i love to torment my children What does your kid call it?
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skinnygirl4u wrote: »U.S./Canada
candy bar/chocolate bar
trash/garbage
gutter/eavestrough
railing/bannister
Gutter is usually the area next to the curb where storm water runs to the storm drains, though it can be a synonym for eavestrough. Evestrough is the more common term for the things on the eaves of a house that convey rainwater to the ground.
Trash and garbage are synonyms. So are railing (or rail) and bannister. (Though as the child of a carpenter, I can handle a baluster/bannister distinction - not common terminology, though.)
Candy bars and chocolate bars overlap. All chocolate bars are candy bars, but not all candy bars are (entirely) chocolate.
Again, I'm from US/Michigan, so I terms can be near-Canadian.
I disagree about soda & pop in Michigan, though - I don't think it's hard & fast pop for everyone. I grew up drinking pop in mid-Michigan, but people from some other parts seem to lean toward soda. May have to do with migration/settlement patterns.0 -
Christine_72 wrote: »Skyblueyellow wrote: »skinnygirl4u wrote: »U.S./Canada
candy bar/chocolate bar
trash/garbage
gutter/eavestrough
railing/bannister
I'm in the US and I say chocolate bar, garbage and bannister, but not eavestrough.
I say soda and not pop. We do have scones here as well. I live in an area that was originally settled by the Germans.
Also, I "use the restroom".
I use the term restroom, too. For some reason, it drives my 14 year old crazy. So now I make sure to do it more.
Haha oh how i love to torment my children What does your kid call it?
She would prefer I call it bathroom. I do call it bathroom at home, but in public I say restroom. Not entirely sure what her issue is with it.0 -
Not sure if it has already been mentioned but ...
lollies = candies
biscuits = cookies
As I mentioned, I'm a Canadian who moved to Australia and I really struggle with the word "biscuits". To me "biscuits" are more like dumplings, "crackers" are hard salty things, and "cookies" are sweet. It still throws me off when someone asks if I want a "biscuit". A dumpling? Now? No! Oh wait, you mean a cookie!
Also meals ...
In Canada it is:
breakfast
brunch
lunch
coffee break
dinner or supper
and something my family called "little lunch" which was a late evening snack.
In Australia it is:
breakfast
brunch/morning tea/smoko
lunch
arvo tea/smoko
dinner or tea
supper = my "little lunch" or late evening snack.0 -
MadDogManor wrote: »Not just from country to country. I moved from North US to the Deep South last year. It took me a second when I heard "buggy", which I call a shopping cart or just "cart". Just one of many things different!
To me, a buggy is something you drive around a golf course, or something towed by a horse.
We use shopping trolleys in Australia2 -
CurlyCockney wrote: »williams969 wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »williams969 wrote: »CurlyCockney wrote: »Ah tank tops are knitted pullovers (sleeveless sweaters) that our mums used to make us wear in the 70s.
Ugh. Yes, and no matter what you called them, children across the globe were dressed in those hideous things. Stripes, plaids, and paisleys (or the lucky child in an inoffensive solid) in lovely shades of harvest gold, avocado, and sunburnt sienna and orange. We had a matching macrame owl hanging on the wall
I had Fair Isle ones, but now I wish I'd had a matching owl! We had macrame hanging flower pot holders, which my brothers used for target practice!
Lol, I loved our macrame owl so much, my mom found an owl vest/pullover/jumper for me. It was more like the early 80s, and it was outdated, but I rocked that sweater.
Another difference, our grade school uniforms were called jumpers. It was like a knee length dress with bib suspenders attached (white blouse worn under it). Totally different thing than a sweater.
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.
I didn't see this one mentioned any further... those dress/bib affairs were called pinafores or pinafore dresses when I was a kid. Not sure if they have a different name these days! I used to know "tank tops" as the knitted sleeveless jumpers too (particularly popular in the 70s, I think!), but now I've come to associate that phrase with the sort of sleeveless t-shirt one might wear to the gym. Not that I've ever set foot in a gym, but that's what I think of when someone mentions a tank top!
(Brit living in Canada here, many new terms had to be learned when we moved! I made sure my son knew to ask for "an eraser" at school if he made a mistake, and that my brother, a smoker, knew to NOT use his regular term for cigarettes when he visited us...)2 -
I used Fa*s in my previous post and it *kittened* it out
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