English to USA Translations

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  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    UK: Plastic wrap/cling film USA: Saran wrap (I think!) NZ/AUS: Glad Wrap!!!

    Those just seem to be brand names for the same thing like tissue/kleenex

    They are brand names. So is Band-Aid. They've kind of become generic names, though. I read an article in the newspaper not long ago about how when brand names become so commonly used to describe a product (even if it's not that brand) the companies can lose their trademarks on the names. I believe elevator was a brand name at one point (lift in the UK). There were a bunch of them that have been part of the US vernacular since before I was born so that I never knew that they began as brand names. There was a pretty big list.

    Companies are getting very creative in the way they advertise and things like that so they can hold on to their trademarks.
  • runnercheryl
    runnercheryl Posts: 1,314 Member
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    UK: Plastic wrap/cling film USA: Saran wrap (I think!) NZ/AUS: Glad Wrap!!!

    Those just seem to be brand names for the same thing like tissue/kleenex

    They are brand names. So is Band-Aid. They've kind of become generic names, though. I read an article in the newspaper not long ago about how when brand names become so commonly used to describe a product (even if it's not that brand) the companies can lose their trademarks on the names. I believe elevator was a brand name at one point (lift in the UK). There were a bunch of them that have been part of the US vernacular since before I was born so that I never knew that they began as brand names. There was a pretty big list.

    Companies are getting very creative in the way they advertise and things like that so they can hold on to their trademarks.

    Yep. Others (at least here in the UK) include:

    Sellotape (sticky tape)
    Hoover (vacuum cleaner) - Dyson is starting to take over
    Jacuzzi

    Google, too. I 'Google' things rather than searching online for them, and I wouldn't say that's just used when Google is the search engine in question, any more.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    UK: Plastic wrap/cling film USA: Saran wrap (I think!) NZ/AUS: Glad Wrap!!!

    Those just seem to be brand names for the same thing like tissue/kleenex

    They are brand names. So is Band-Aid. They've kind of become generic names, though. I read an article in the newspaper not long ago about how when brand names become so commonly used to describe a product (even if it's not that brand) the companies can lose their trademarks on the names. I believe elevator was a brand name at one point (lift in the UK). There were a bunch of them that have been part of the US vernacular since before I was born so that I never knew that they began as brand names. There was a pretty big list.

    Companies are getting very creative in the way they advertise and things like that so they can hold on to their trademarks.

    Yep. Others (at least here in the UK) include:

    Sellotape (sticky tape)
    Hoover (vacuum cleaner) - Dyson is starting to take over
    Jacuzzi

    Google, too. I 'Google' things rather than searching online for them, and I wouldn't say that's just used when Google is the search engine in question, any more.

    Jacuzzi is another in the US. And don't you also use "hoover" as a verb?

    And now I understand why they call it "spellotape" in Harry Potter!
  • busterskins
    busterskins Posts: 5 Member
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    It's Li-Lo...!

    The one that always makes us Brits laugh is 'Fanny-pack'...we call it a 'Bum-Bag' which is guaranteed to make you in the US laugh back :-)
  • CassieReannan
    CassieReannan Posts: 1,479 Member
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    Where I am we called a pavement a footpath.
    We throw out the rubbish.
    We eat buscuits.
    We change nappies.
    We use dummies on babies.
    Mate is not used often.. its just stereotypical.
    Our car has a boot, bonnet and a windscreen.
    We park our cars in a car park.
    I go to university, not college.
    I watch tv in my lounge room.
    I prepare my meals on the kitchen bench.
    I wear a jumper when I'm cold.

    The list goes on... :)
  • Dragonnade
    Dragonnade Posts: 218 Member
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    I defy any American to watch Kidulthood or a similar film about London's yoof and understand a word. This thread is tame and easily understandable in comparison!


    Aluminium though. It's not aluminum. Who dropped the i?! Makes my teeth itch to hear the American pronunciation!
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    I defy any American to watch Kidulthood or a similar film about London's yoof and understand a word. This thread is tame and easily understandable in comparison!


    Aluminium though. It's not aluminum. Who dropped the i?! Makes my teeth itch to hear the American pronunciation!

    You could say that about the youth slang of any country of any time period, though. I think many adults in American would have a difficult time understanding American youth slang, too.

    Too many syllables to say aluminium. Yikes! Never heard that one.

    Ha! It was aluminum first:

    http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/aluminium.htm
    Sir Humphry made a bit of a mess of naming this new element, at first spelling it alumium (this was in 1807) then changing it to aluminum, and finally settling on aluminium in 1812.
  • cdpm
    cdpm Posts: 297 Member
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    The one that always makes us Brits laugh is 'Fanny-pack'...we call it a 'Bum-Bag' which is guaranteed to make you in the US laugh back :-)

    Yes! I heard this the other day and was thinking 'can you say that on TV?' I think both fanny-pack and bum-bag are hilarious. At least both the UK & US have a sense of humour!
  • bio_fit
    bio_fit Posts: 307 Member
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    I get the impression that 'leery' means something different in the US than it does in the UK? Either that or people don't understand they are using the wrong word...

    I have seen several people using the word 'leery' in the context that us Brits would use the word 'wary'. 'Leery' is something different altogether!
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    I get the impression that 'leery' means something different in the US than it does in the UK? Either that or people don't understand they are using the wrong word...

    I have seen several people using the word 'leery' in the context that us Brits would use the word 'wary'. 'Leery' is something different altogether!

    Leery and wary in the US mean basically the same thing. I've never heard leery used any other way. What is it in the UK?

    According to this, it's the same definition in both places and leery and wary are synonyms: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/leery

    In slang, it has several other meanings:

    Leery is slang for wary, suspicious, shy, cautious.
    Leery is British slang for alert, clever.
    Leery is British slang for bad tempered.
    Leery is British slang for untrustworthy, devious, cunning.
  • bio_fit
    bio_fit Posts: 307 Member
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    Leery and wary in the US mean basically the same thing. I've never heard leery used any other way. What is it in the UK?

    According to this, it's the same definition in both places and leery and wary are synonyms: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/leery

    In slang, it has several other meanings:

    Leery is slang for wary, suspicious, shy, cautious.
    Leery is British slang for alert, clever.
    Leery is British slang for bad tempered.
    Leery is British slang for untrustworthy, devious, cunning.

    I have honestly never heard anyone use the word 'leery' to mean wary - I generally hear it used to describe guys who are a bit boozed up and perving over a girl... i.e. to leer, they were leering over her, she was being leered over/at. Hmm.. lets see if a dictionary can give a better description...

    Leer
    (especially of men) to look at someone in an unpleasant and sexually interested way
    "He was always leering at female members of staff."

    To look with a sidelong glance, indicative especially of sexual desire or sly and malicious intent.

    to give an oblique, sneering, or suggestive look or grin


    So to describe that type of person, I would say they were leery/being leery! It's definitely not something you want to be labelled as... if you're a builder or a white van man, being leery is part of the stereotype!
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    Leery and wary in the US mean basically the same thing. I've never heard leery used any other way. What is it in the UK?

    According to this, it's the same definition in both places and leery and wary are synonyms: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/leery

    In slang, it has several other meanings:

    Leery is slang for wary, suspicious, shy, cautious.
    Leery is British slang for alert, clever.
    Leery is British slang for bad tempered.
    Leery is British slang for untrustworthy, devious, cunning.

    I have honestly never heard anyone use the word 'leery' to mean wary - I generally hear it used to describe guys who are a bit boozed up and perving over a girl... i.e. to leer, they were leering over her, she was being leered over/at. Hmm.. lets see if a dictionary can give a better description...

    Leer
    (especially of men) to look at someone in an unpleasant and sexually interested way
    "He was always leering at female members of staff."

    To look with a sidelong glance, indicative especially of sexual desire or sly and malicious intent.

    to give an oblique, sneering, or suggestive look or grin


    So to describe that type of person, I would say they were leery/being leery! It's definitely not something you want to be labelled as... if you're a builder or a white van man, being leery is part of the stereotype!

    Leer is a verb. Leery is an adjective. They are not the same word or meaning.

    Describing someone who is leering as being leery is just making up a word (thus why it's classified as slang).
  • bio_fit
    bio_fit Posts: 307 Member
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    Leer is a verb. Leery is an adjective. They are not the same word or meaning.

    Describing someone who is leering as being leery is just making up a word (thus why it's classified as slang).

    Yes, I do agree that it is slang - but i'm saying that is how I would understand the word 'leery' in the UK. I have never in my life heard anyone use it to mean 'wary', except on this site! When I have heard it being used it over here it has always been in the context as I described above :smile:
  • runnercheryl
    runnercheryl Posts: 1,314 Member
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    Jacuzzi is another in the US. And don't you also use "hoover" as a verb?

    And now I understand why they call it "spellotape" in Harry Potter!

    We do indeed. I need to do the hoovering, actually. :tongue:

    It's 'do the hoovering' and 'hoover up', in general.

    Which I think is why Dyson hasn't taken off quite as well. Quite a few people now use Dyson and hoover/vacuum cleaner interchangeably, but 'I need to do the Dyson-ing' and 'Will you Dyson up?' just don't sound right. :laugh:
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    Jacuzzi is another in the US. And don't you also use "hoover" as a verb?

    And now I understand why they call it "spellotape" in Harry Potter!

    We do indeed. I need to do the hoovering, actually. :tongue:

    It's 'do the hoovering' and 'hoover up', in general.

    Which I think is why Dyson hasn't taken off quite as well. Quite a few people now use Dyson and hoover/vacuum cleaner interchangeably, but 'I need to do the Dyson-ing' and 'Will you Dyson up?' just don't sound right. :laugh:

    "I need to Dyson" definitely doesn't have the same melodic sound as "I need to Hoover"!
  • treetop57
    treetop57 Posts: 1,578 Member
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    Elastoplast!
  • Mexie1
    Mexie1 Posts: 48 Member
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    I was brought up in the UK with yoghurt as a pudding (dessert/sweet), a treat at the end of a meal - sugary and fatty. Cheese I have always seen as either junk (rubbish processed cheese) or indulgent ('proper' cheeses), but certainly not good for you. I was surprised to find that people I met in America considered both to be healthy foods. Milk used to be the only dairy food promoted as healthy in the UK, but now some yoghurts are marketed as healthy too, generally the 'probiotic' ones and reduced fat/extra sugar ones.
  • Sockimobi
    Sockimobi Posts: 541
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    I was brought up in the UK with yoghurt as a pudding (dessert/sweet), a treat at the end of a meal - sugary and fatty. Cheese I have always seen as either junk (rubbish processed cheese) or indulgent ('proper' cheeses), but certainly not good for you. I was surprised to find that people I met in America considered both to be healthy foods. Milk used to be the only dairy food promoted as healthy in the UK, but now some yoghurts are marketed as healthy too, generally the 'probiotic' ones and reduced fat/extra sugar ones.

    Nah we eat yoghurt for breakfast!!. And at lunch... I would cry if my pudding was yoghurt - who from the UK has yoghurt for pudding? Hands up!!

    Which part did you grow up in?
  • BamaKevinT
    BamaKevinT Posts: 4
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    Not sure if this has already been posted, but it is hilarious. This is to be taken in jest, but is extremely relevant to the discussion at hand. This is from an image I saw on the interwebs:

    Americans call chips "french fries."
    Americans call crisps "chips."
    Americans call chocolate globbernaughts "candy bars."
    Americans call motorized rollinghams "cars."
    Americans call merry fizzlebombs "fireworks."
    Americans call wunderbahboxes a "PC."
    Americans call meat water "gravy."
    Americans call electro-rope "power cables."
    Americans call beef wellington ensemble with lettuce a "hamburger."
    Americans call whimsy flimsy mark and scribblers "pens."
    Americans call twisting plankhandles "doorknobs."
    Americans call a breaddystack a "sandwich."
    Americans call their hoighty toighty tippy typers "keyboards."
    Americans call nutty-gum and fruit spleggings "peanut butter and jelly."
    Americans call an upsy-stairsy the "escelator."
    Americans call a knittedy wittedy sheepity sleepity a "sweater."
    Americans call a rickity-pop a "gear shift."
    Americans call a choco chip bicky wicky a "cookie."
    Americans call a pip pop gollywock a "screwdriver."
    Americans call a rooty-tooty point-n-shooty a "gun."
    Americans call a ceiling bright a "lightbulb."
    Americans call a blimpy bounce bounce a "ball."
    Americans call a slippery dippery long mover a "snake."
    Americans call cobblestone clippity-clops "roads."
  • Mexie1
    Mexie1 Posts: 48 Member
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    I was brought up in the UK with yoghurt as a pudding (dessert/sweet), a treat at the end of a meal - sugary and fatty. Cheese I have always seen as either junk (rubbish processed cheese) or indulgent ('proper' cheeses), but certainly not good for you. I was surprised to find that people I met in America considered both to be healthy foods. Milk used to be the only dairy food promoted as healthy in the UK, but now some yoghurts are marketed as healthy too, generally the 'probiotic' ones and reduced fat/extra sugar ones.

    Nah we eat yoghurt for breakfast!!. And at lunch... I would cry if my pudding was yoghurt - who from the UK has yoghurt for pudding? Hands up!!

    Which part did you grow up in?

    South coast and Yorkshire. It may just be my weird family! A Scottish ex used to put the yoghurt out of the pot and into a drinking glass and eat it from there with a spoon - I found this utterly bizarre - I would have it in a bowl if it was not already in an individual pot.

    Greek-style yoghurt wasn't really around much when I was younger, we had it occasionally (for dessert) with honey, everyday yoghurt was always sweet and fruit flavour. I liked set yoghurt best, especially lemon - not seen that for years though.

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