UK vs North American Cultural Differences

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  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
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    cheesestrings.jpg

    Cheese string in England - I love it :love:
  • CapnDonkey
    CapnDonkey Posts: 108 Member
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    It is amusing the subtle differences between UK and American English.

    US versus UK:

    Truck - Lorry
    Flashlight - Torch
    Candy - Sweets

    And don't get me started about adding 'u's to words that don't need them: Color, flavor, favorite, etc. :)

    All said I love the British accents. And the British comedy.
  • JenniferMary_9169
    JenniferMary_9169 Posts: 164
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    This girl will NEVER give in to the metric system :noway:

    *giggle* :tongue:
  • olDave
    olDave Posts: 557 Member
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    "I'm mad about my flat" means a very different thing on this side of the pond. LOL.
  • lporter229
    lporter229 Posts: 4,907 Member
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    I did not see it clarified on here, but a cup is 8 fluid ounces.

    However, although I am in the US, as a chemist, I declare the metric system to make infinitely more sense and believe that we are stupid for not adopting it.

    I also think that coffee creamer is vile and I love English breakfast tea.

    Hmm, maybe I am living in the wrong place...
  • Sqeekyjojo
    Sqeekyjojo Posts: 704 Member
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    Us slightly older ones (40) ended up bilingual where weights and measures were concerned - we learned metric at school, but imperial at home.

    It's like trying to speak a different language sometimes here, it's not a bad thing, it's only fair to try and use the words the majority of people on the site use, but you aren't going to get me to change my spelling.

    But I like it here.
  • FitnessCharl
    FitnessCharl Posts: 166
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    You mean a "cup" measurement isn't just the biggest cup you can find in your cupboard? Whattttttttttttttttttttt????
  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
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    coffee creamer - what is that?

    It's just powdered milk in different flavors. I like vanilla. :smile:
  • Phoenixchichima
    Phoenixchichima Posts: 416
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    I'm US & I dont know what coffee creamer is either, some wicked unnatureal chemically stuff I wont touch, lol.

    a "cup" is 8 fluid oz. :)
  • jillybean_75
    jillybean_75 Posts: 70 Member
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    A coworker from my office in Wales came over to the States and we all went out to lunch one day...and he ordered a sandwich with chips (thinking he was getting fries), and was surprised when it came with potato chips (crisps). And we just had a meeting where he typed out 'catalogue' and was jokingly reprimanded by a German colleague to take out the 'u' for the Americans :tongue:

    I have to say, the houses and cars are all much smaller there, and the beer is generally not cold, which was weird to me. But beautiful countryside, at least in Wales where I was.

    EDIT: Oh, and EXCELLENT Indian food (curry as they called it all).
  • toaster6
    toaster6 Posts: 703 Member
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  • Kirkajuice
    Kirkajuice Posts: 311 Member
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    Us slightly older ones (40) ended up bilingual where weights and measures were concerned - we learned metric at school, but imperial at home.

    It's like trying to speak a different language sometimes here, it's not a bad thing, it's only fair to try and use the words the majority of people on the site use, but you aren't going to get me to change my spelling.

    But I like it here.

    I'm 27, my school taught everyone the imperial system for some reason in conjunction with the metric so now it's a combination of the two. Fluid ounces = yes, ml = no, grams = yes, kg = no. Can't do km either and I have no idea what my height is in cm. I really prefer the imperial system for everything except my beloved grams for cooking :laugh: It's just easier for me to understand and estimate things that way.
  • IamSheaMc
    IamSheaMc Posts: 1,310 Member
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    decameter hectometer kilometer decimeter centimeter millimeter milligram gram kilogram milliliter

    How on Earth do you keep track of all these words and i'm sure there are more :explode:
  • Melissa11412
    Melissa11412 Posts: 145 Member
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    Imperial v. Metric....i'm Imperial all the way haha if i see posts saying stuff like "um yeah so i weigh 20 stone and i need to lose 2 stone by next week i'm like....wut

    when i log my food sometimes i need to look up in the food database....when i see the serving listed as 33 grams i move on to the next entry and the next until i find ounces LOL

    :)
  • DarkSable
    DarkSable Posts: 36 Member
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    And don't get me started about adding 'u's to words that don't need them: Color, flavor, favorite, etc. :)

    WE didn't add them - YOU took them out! :wink:
  • ciardasully
    ciardasully Posts: 28 Member
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    As an American who did a semester in England (or should I say "a term of uni") my house mates laughed at me because I didn't know that "tea" can be synonomous with "dinner" or "supper." It's like they say, we are divided on a common language.

    I also learned the hard way that the word "antisocial" is a huge insult. I had to explain to my housemates that in the US it just means you are not social. Then it became the running joke in the house. Good times.

    Oh and being pissed in England is drunk and being pissed in the US means mad. Whenever one of us would say we were pissed, we'd ask "are you pissed in the English sense or the American sense."
  • Scott2ndGradeTeacher
    Scott2ndGradeTeacher Posts: 147 Member
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    Some Random Thoughts...

    "England and America are two countries seperated by a common language."
    - George Bernard Shaw

    At a high school track meet, I once entered the 400 kilometer dash for people with no concept of the metric system.

    Monty Python skits (and movies) rule!
  • lizzzylou
    lizzzylou Posts: 325
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    Don't even get me started on the American ineptitude and general disrespect they give to tea.

    Ugh.

    Best thing ever is tea that is sweet & on ice :)
  • ciardasully
    ciardasully Posts: 28 Member
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    Oh and I forgot, I also learned the hard way that "pants" in the UK were underwear. In the US, pants are jeans and trousers.
  • Kirkajuice
    Kirkajuice Posts: 311 Member
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    Oh and I forgot, I also learned the hard way that "pants" in the UK were underwear. In the US, pants are jeans and trousers.

    Did everybody giggle at you? My brother lives in Canada and every time he refers to his trousers as pants, the entire family starts laughing at him. Possibly a bit childish but it's really funny!

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