English to USA Translations

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  • biddysaurus
    biddysaurus Posts: 156 Member
    Question for the British: What do you call the cart you put your groceries in while shopping? We have a few variations between northern and southern US. In the north, it is either carriage or shopping cart. In the south I have heard people call them buggies.
    I'm from NY, so they're carts. But some people here in VA call them buggies. Also, they put my groceries in bags, but Southerners' in sacks.
    hmm, must be a VA thing. I've lived a long time in GA and NC/SC, and we call them bags here. Shopping cart. And grocery bags.

    I've lived in Georgia and Florida and I always hear the people with the Southern accents call them buggies. It's us Yankee carpetbaggers who call them carts. :-) So I hear both. I can't remember hearing anyone call a bag a sack, though. Not saying it isn't the case, I just haven't noticed it.

    I grew up in VA and call them "buggies". I'm in Lexington KY right now and no one here calls them buggies and they look at me really funny when I do. lol They call them "carts".
  • 10acity
    10acity Posts: 798 Member
    UK Roundabout = US Rotary

    I've only heard them called roundabouts in the US. Rotary is a club (Rotary International).

    I know they are Rotaries in the Northeast. My wife is from Boston and I grew up in the UK so we argue all the time about it.

    Weird, I'm from the NE and we don't even have roundabouts (which is what they'd be called if we did). Of course, Boston is a bit of an aberration... :tongue:

    Oh Really, says the guy from Boston who still pronounces his Rs. :wink:

    Really! I'm a New Yorker and a big Yankees fan, so I have to get it in where I can :wink:
  • roslynds9
    roslynds9 Posts: 139 Member
    Question for the British: What do you call the cart you put your groceries in while shopping? We have a few variations between northern and southern US. In the north, it is either carriage or shopping cart. In the south I have heard people call them buggies.

    I'm from NY, so they're carts. But some people here in VA call them buggies. Also, they put my groceries in bags, but Southerners' in sacks.

    What about when something is on the opposite corner from another thing? Where I'm from, that's "kitty corner" (and I have no idea why) but here in the South they say "caddy corner".

    In the UK we call them shopping trollies, and if something was on the opposite corner from something else I would say they are diagonally across from each other.
  • fteale
    fteale Posts: 5,310 Member
    What about the thing you sit on in a sitting room? We have sofas. WHat are they in the US?
  • ShelleyD81
    ShelleyD81 Posts: 237 Member
    Question for the British: What do you call the cart you put your groceries in while shopping? We have a few variations between northern and southern US. In the north, it is either carriage or shopping cart. In the south I have heard people call them buggies.
    I'm from NY, so they're carts. But some people here in VA call them buggies. Also, they put my groceries in bags, but Southerners' in sacks.
    hmm, must be a VA thing. I've lived a long time in GA and NC/SC, and we call them bags here. Shopping cart. And grocery bags.

    I've lived in Georgia and Florida and I always hear the people with the Southern accents call them buggies. It's us Yankee carpetbaggers who call them carts. :-) So I hear both. I can't remember hearing anyone call a bag a sack, though. Not saying it isn't the case, I just haven't noticed it.

    We call a shopping cart a trolly over in the UK!
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    What about the thing you sit on in a sitting room? We have sofas. WHat are they in the US?

    Sofas or couches.

    But we usually call it a living room unless we're super rich. :-)
  • determinedbutlazy
    determinedbutlazy Posts: 1,941 Member
    Elevator - lift
    Cookie - biscuit
    Pants - trousers
    Pants - underwear
    zucchini - courgette
    eggplant - aubergine

    There are hundreds of these, I have an American boyfriend and he laughs at my Englishisms all the time!
  • 10acity
    10acity Posts: 798 Member
    What about the thing you sit on in a sitting room? We have sofas. WHat are they in the US?

    I say both "sofa" and "couch". My grandfather used to call in a "davenport", though :laugh:
  • grapeeyes1
    grapeeyes1 Posts: 229 Member
    My husband is British and I am American. Before our wedding the family was sitting together discussing what they would wear. His mum was worried about someone taking her shopping and what she would buy. I told her not to worry so much about it. I told her she could just wear pants if she wanted. Everyone looked shocked for a moment and then they started laughing. At the time I did not realize that I told his mum she could go to the wedding in just her underpants.
  • determinedbutlazy
    determinedbutlazy Posts: 1,941 Member
    I can see how sometimes a child's meal is called tea, as they are usually hungry when they get out of school, so some children have a meal at 4 or 5 pm, which is tea time, but I don't think anyone would call an evening meal tea. Tea is definitely afternoon.

    Nope, it honestly varies from family to family. We still ask each other "what you having for your tea tonight?"
  • roslynds9
    roslynds9 Posts: 139 Member
    What about the thing you sit on in a sitting room? We have sofas. WHat are they in the US?

    Sofas or couches.

    But we usually call it a living room unless we're super rich. :-)

    Can also be called a settee =) I say couch most of the time
  • determinedbutlazy
    determinedbutlazy Posts: 1,941 Member
    Oh and "front room" instead of living/sitting room!
  • mamamc03
    mamamc03 Posts: 1,067 Member
    What about the thing you sit on in a sitting room? We have sofas. WHat are they in the US?

    We call this a sofa, couch....if it's a 2 seater, we sometimes call it a love seat....because two people in LOVE can sit together. ;)
  • mandie0378
    mandie0378 Posts: 73 Member
    holiday = vacation
  • dalildevil
    dalildevil Posts: 55 Member
    I have one

    Washroom (Canada) - Bathroom (US)
    Washroom (US) - Laundry room (Canada)

    Maybe I should be more specific. I heard this in West Virginia, I don't know if it's true across the US
  • saturnine15
    saturnine15 Posts: 140
    What about the thing you sit on in a sitting room? We have sofas. WHat are they in the US?

    We call this a sofa, couch....if it's a 2 seater, we sometimes call it a love seat....because two people in LOVE can sit together. ;)

    ...or two people can uncomfortably sit too close to one another if at a party and all the other good spots are taken. haha.
    depends on the love seat though
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    I have one

    Washroom (Canada) - Bathroom (US)
    Washroom (US) - Laundry room (Canada)

    It's a laundry room in the US. At least in my experience.
  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,171 Member
    Question for the British: What do you call the cart you put your groceries in while shopping? We have a few variations between northern and southern US. In the north, it is either carriage or shopping cart. In the south I have heard people call them buggies.
    I'm from NY, so they're carts. But some people here in VA call them buggies. Also, they put my groceries in bags, but Southerners' in sacks.
    hmm, must be a VA thing. I've lived a long time in GA and NC/SC, and we call them bags here. Shopping cart. And grocery bags.

    I've lived in Georgia and Florida and I always hear the people with the Southern accents call them buggies. It's us Yankee carpetbaggers who call them carts. :-) So I hear both. I can't remember hearing anyone call a bag a sack, though. Not saying it isn't the case, I just haven't noticed it.

    We definitely call them buggies in the south!!
    Maybe it's b/c I live in the large cities of the south, like Atlanta and Charlotte. I've NEVER heard someone call it a buggy. Maybe in the smaller towns, perhaps?
  • igora_soma
    igora_soma Posts: 486
    Another one I've run across here on MFP:

    US drive-through > UK Take-away

    Take away isn't just a drive through, it's usually an order for pick up for a delivery.
  • saturnine15
    saturnine15 Posts: 140
    Question for the British: What do you call the cart you put your groceries in while shopping? We have a few variations between northern and southern US. In the north, it is either carriage or shopping cart. In the south I have heard people call them buggies.
    I'm from NY, so they're carts. But some people here in VA call them buggies. Also, they put my groceries in bags, but Southerners' in sacks.
    hmm, must be a VA thing. I've lived a long time in GA and NC/SC, and we call them bags here. Shopping cart. And grocery bags.

    I've lived in Georgia and Florida and I always hear the people with the Southern accents call them buggies. It's us Yankee carpetbaggers who call them carts. :-) So I hear both. I can't remember hearing anyone call a bag a sack, though. Not saying it isn't the case, I just haven't noticed it.

    We definitely call them buggies in the south!!
    Maybe it's b/c I live in the large cities of the south, like Atlanta and Charlotte. I've NEVER heard someone call it a buggy. Maybe in the smaller towns, perhaps?

    I have noticed that NO ONE in the US calls them carriages??? really? in CT it is quite common.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Question for the British: What do you call the cart you put your groceries in while shopping? We have a few variations between northern and southern US. In the north, it is either carriage or shopping cart. In the south I have heard people call them buggies.
    I'm from NY, so they're carts. But some people here in VA call them buggies. Also, they put my groceries in bags, but Southerners' in sacks.
    hmm, must be a VA thing. I've lived a long time in GA and NC/SC, and we call them bags here. Shopping cart. And grocery bags.

    I've lived in Georgia and Florida and I always hear the people with the Southern accents call them buggies. It's us Yankee carpetbaggers who call them carts. :-) So I hear both. I can't remember hearing anyone call a bag a sack, though. Not saying it isn't the case, I just haven't noticed it.

    We definitely call them buggies in the south!!
    Maybe it's b/c I live in the large cities of the south, like Atlanta and Charlotte. I've NEVER heard someone call it a buggy. Maybe in the smaller towns, perhaps?

    You probably ran into more Northerners in those places. Where I lived in GA was a TINY place. 50,000 total population for the county, so a lot of "natives."

    Where I live now is bigger and we still have a lot of transplants, but there are a lot of people here who grew up in the rural South and they call them buggies.
  • HotCuppaJo
    HotCuppaJo Posts: 476 Member
    haha we don't say 'knock me up' or 'gataux'
    love that Americans think we do though.

    you say 'pissed' to mean angry.... i keep thinking you're describing yourself as 'so drunk' not 'so angry'...

    xxx

    That pissed thing is interesting...I had NO idea it meant drinking for you all...
  • BigAardvaark
    BigAardvaark Posts: 43
    I can see how sometimes a child's meal is called tea, as they are usually hungry when they get out of school, so some children have a meal at 4 or 5 pm, which is tea time, but I don't think anyone would call an evening meal tea. Tea is definitely afternoon.

    It's a regional thing. I personally call my evening meal "My Tea". Last night I had fish pie for my tea. "Dinner" to me is around noon. Dinner time. Dinner ladies at schools aren't lunch ladies!
  • jcstanton
    jcstanton Posts: 1,849 Member
    Tele/tellie(sp?)=TV
    Knickers=undies/underwear/panties (as in, "Don't get your knickers/panties in a twist.")
    Flat=Apartment
    Petrol=Gasoline
  • Init_to_winit
    Init_to_winit Posts: 258 Member
    I was staying with an American friend and couldn't work the tap in the bathroom.

    "Hey your tap's stuck!"
    "My what?"
    "Your tap, you know the thing over the sink the water comes out of."
    "Oh, faucet!"

    So I forced it and the damn thing came off in my hand.

    I'm surprised at this one. We use the term "tap water" in the US all the time!! But we do generally call the faucets. Or in the midwest it's just a sink.
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
    When grocery shopping I use a carriage or cart
    When driving around a round thing it is a Rotary

    I'm in Maine now but grew up in Massachussetts.

    The one I like is that the HOOD of a car is called a "bonnet" overseas. Cracks me up. A bonnet is a frilly white hat usually seen on baby girls or pioneer women with strings that tie beneath the chin.
  • CrazyGraciegirl
    CrazyGraciegirl Posts: 227
    Candy = sweets
    Popsicle = ice lolly!!! LOL this one is the best
    Chips = crisps
    French Fries = chips
    Shopping buggy/cart = trolley


    When you guys say,"They were all taking the piss!" meaning they were laughing... lol
    "He made me mad, but I didn't tell him off." I believe telling someone off is yelling at them or getting angry with them.
  • lizj1
    lizj1 Posts: 12 Member
    I can see how sometimes a child's meal is called tea, as they are usually hungry when they get out of school, so some children have a meal at 4 or 5 pm, which is tea time, but I don't think anyone would call an evening meal tea. Tea is definitely afternoon.

    ... but there is afternoon tea, and then there is high tea, a very different thing! Maybe it's regional - here in Glasgow / West Coast my friend might still say "let's have tea out" meaning go out for an evening meal. It definitely has connotations of earlier and less posh than dinner though. And it's probably less used that it used to be.
  • Init_to_winit
    Init_to_winit Posts: 258 Member
    And is the English equivalent to fanny to dirty or something to discuss on here? I really have no idea and am too nervous to google it here at work!!
  • rossi02
    rossi02 Posts: 549 Member
    Question for the British: What do you call the cart you put your groceries in while shopping? We have a few variations between northern and southern US. In the north, it is either carriage or shopping cart. In the south I have heard people call them buggies.
    I'm from NY, so they're carts. But some people here in VA call them buggies. Also, they put my groceries in bags, but Southerners' in sacks.
    hmm, must be a VA thing. I've lived a long time in GA and NC/SC, and we call them bags here. Shopping cart. And grocery bags.

    I've lived in Georgia and Florida and I always hear the people with the Southern accents call them buggies. It's us Yankee carpetbaggers who call them carts. :-) So I hear both. I can't remember hearing anyone call a bag a sack, though. Not saying it isn't the case, I just haven't noticed it.

    We definitely call them buggies in the south!!
    Maybe it's b/c I live in the large cities of the south, like Atlanta and Charlotte. I've NEVER heard someone call it a buggy. Maybe in the smaller towns, perhaps?

    HA.. If I ever run into you in Charlotte, I'll be sure to call it a buggy! Of course, I'm from a smaller town about an hour away from Charlotte.. though I have lived in Charlotte for the last 12 years.
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