Different words for the same things depending on which country you're in.

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Replies

  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
    TonyB0588 wrote: »
    "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.
  • Dnarules
    Dnarules Posts: 2,081 Member
    edited December 2016
    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 :).
  • MadDogManor
    MadDogManor Posts: 1,404 Member
    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!
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    edited December 2016
    Dnarules 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 :lol: What does your kid call it?

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,724 Member
    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.
  • Dnarules
    Dnarules Posts: 2,081 Member
    Dnarules 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 :lol: 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.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,707 Member
    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.
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,752 Member
    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 Australia
  • SueSueDio
    SueSueDio Posts: 4,796 Member
    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 :D

    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...)
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    I used Fa*s in my previous post and it *kittened* it out :flushed:
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    TonyB0588 wrote: »
    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    nutmegoreo 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 ;)

    YAY!!!
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    edited December 2016
    A very serious one:

    US/Canada: Poop
    Australia: Poo.
    :laugh:

    Machka9 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.

    :smiley:
    I'm the opposite. Aussie moved to Canada in 2006. It took my Canadian family (well, husbands family) 3 freakin' years to stop quizzing me on the Aussie language. Heck, they still ask me to pronounce certain words. :lol:
  • Madwife2009
    Madwife2009 Posts: 1,369 Member
    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    Ah tank tops are knitted pullovers (sleeveless sweaters) that our mums used to make us wear in the 70s.

    We had a matching macrame owl hanging on the wall :D

    I loved the macrame owl!

    Did you have a frog, pot scrubber holder?

    OMG We had the frog, we kept the Brillo pad in his mouth!

    I have one sat on my kitchen window sill. He's currently chewing on a nail brush.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 8,926 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    Machka9 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 :lol:

    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. :o



  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,752 Member
    In Australia we go to a shopping centre (mall) to go to the shops. Shopping centres are indoor places with lots of shops, we have malls but they are open streets with shops (pedestrianised). We get a lot of our food from the supermarket (grocery store)
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    TonyB0588 wrote: »
    "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.

    Yes I understand cricket. Not much of a sportsman, but would play that before I would play football (soccer).
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
    Dnarules 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 :).

    But why is it a "restroom"? You don't go there to rest!!
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    Machka9 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 :lol:

    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. :o



    Sorry, I'm not getting this other meaning of "root". Is it something that can be printed in a public space? Please tell.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    TonyB0588 wrote: »
    "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.

    Cricket, the only sport where the game goes on for days and nobody wins.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,707 Member
    edited December 2016
    TonyB0588 wrote: »
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    Machka9 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 :lol:

    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. :o



    Sorry, I'm not getting this other meaning of "root". Is it something that can be printed in a public space? Please tell.

    It's when a man and a woman are intimate ...


    Another example is the word "bonk". In British English it means "root" (as above) ... in North American English, in the cycling community especially, it means when your blood sugar level drops too low and you seriously run out of energy. Kind of like "hitting the wall" in running terms.