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

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  • Posts: 5,468 Member
    edited December 2016

    Followed by shag (tobacco) whilst listening to shags (birds...of the feathered kind)?

    Brilliant. :laugh:
  • Posts: 16,049 Member
    Those who have ever been to Uni or are in Uni in Australia would know what 'arvos' is. ;)

    Have a shag on the shag with a shag?

    Interesting. I see things have changed since I've gone to school in Australia (Queensland to be exact).
    Kindergarten/Preschool at the age of 5.
    Primary School (Grade 1-7, typically ages 6-12)
    High School (Grade 8-12, typically ages 13-17)
    Then either college (such as TAFE) or University. Colleges can be referred to as residential colleges which are a part of some universities (eg, McGregor residential college is a part of USQ).

    That's exactly how it is in S.A
  • Posts: 16,049 Member
    I also had to google what Cilantro was, as far as i can tell it's another word for coriander which is what we call it here.
  • Posts: 36,040 Member
    I also had to google what Cilantro was, as far as i can tell it's another word for coriander which is what we call it here.

    In cooking usage, I've understood cilantro to be the leafy part, and coriander to be the seed, but it's all the same plant. Seems like I've seen the seeds-for-growing (as opposed to those bought as a spice ingredient) sold under both names.
  • Posts: 1,394 Member
    I also had to google what Cilantro was, as far as i can tell it's another word for coriander which is what we call it here.

    My friend in NYC said that it's only cilantro when it's the leaves - the seeds are still called coriander. He's never cooked anything in his life though, so I don't know if he's correct!
  • Posts: 1,394 Member
    hehe thanks for confirming @AnnPT77!
  • Posts: 7,490 Member
    edited December 2016

    My friend in NYC said that it's only cilantro when it's the leaves - the seeds are still called coriander. He's never cooked anything in his life though, so I don't know if he's correct!

    yep, he is correct. :)

    edit: i just call it "soapy horrible disgusting plant"
  • Posts: 15,532 Member
    edited December 2016

    We have colleges within universities, and colleges that are just colleges. The more I try to explain British English the more I'm realising how much stuff we just seem to 'know', without questioning why LOL!

    Colleges in Canada offer diplomas and certificates, and will offer the first couple years towards a degree. To obtain a degree, you need to attend a University here (at least in Alberta, I don't know about the other provinces).

    ETA: We also have technical institutes which offer more trades type training, as well as other certifications.
  • Posts: 18,343 Member
    rainbowbow wrote: »

    yep, he is correct. :)

    edit: i just call it "soapy horrible disgusting plant"

    I remember reading somewhere that some people have an olfactory receptor gene which makes cilantro (and some other things, apparently) taste like soap to them. It does help explain why some consider it disgusting while others find it delicious. I can't get enough of the stuff, I put it all over most Mexican foods and some Asian foods.
  • Posts: 9,520 Member

    Australian slang, widely used throughout the country - means same as universal word starting with F and rhyming with duck.

    Thanks. Really amazing how language varies.
  • Posts: 9,520 Member

    Cricket, the only sport where the game goes on for days and nobody wins.

    That's the traditional version. A lot of modern cricket is the shortened version which fits in to one day, and the rules are set to ensure a winner.
  • Posts: 14,464 Member
    I live in Alberta and degrees are offered by both colleges and universities. The two are distinguished by the range of degrees offered. We even have a University College.

    http://www.kings.uwo.ca/about-kings/who-we-are/facts/
  • Posts: 9,520 Member

    Only the uncouth young fella's wear "hoodies" :tongue: I call them hooded Jumper.

    Shag/Bonk/Root = Sex

    Footpath - sidewalk
    Chemist - Pharmacy
    Posty- Postman
    Take away - Take out

    We say "we're going to the shops" for every store, grocery, clothes etc

    Breakfast
    Lunch
    tea

    As for cricket.. 5 frickan days my husband has commandeered the tele (tv), and because of rain it's going to end up a draw. He has explained the rules to me a million times, and there's still certain things that just make no sense!

    "going to the shops" - where I live, a shop refers to a very small retail outlet, owned and operated by one or two persons perhaps. Not typically self-help, but you ask for what you need and its handed to you over the counter.

    Anything bigger is a supermarket, convenience store, just a plain store, pharmacy, hardware, etc.
  • Posts: 1,394 Member
    jgnatca wrote: »
    I live in Alberta and degrees are offered by both colleges and universities. The two are distinguished by the range of degrees offered. We even have a University College.

    http://www.kings.uwo.ca/about-kings/who-we-are/facts/

    We have a University College Hospital http://www.uclh.nhs.uk/ourservices/ourhospitals/uch/pages/home.aspx
  • Posts: 15,532 Member
    jgnatca wrote: »
    I live in Alberta and degrees are offered by both colleges and universities. The two are distinguished by the range of degrees offered. We even have a University College.

    http://www.kings.uwo.ca/about-kings/who-we-are/facts/

    Interesting. Can you tell I've only looked at specific institutions?
  • Posts: 14,464 Member
    To be fair many of our colleges serve as feeder institutions to the university.
  • Posts: 225 Member
    I live in a place originally settled by the Dutch and Germans, some call us Pennsylvania Dutch. We have some very interesting phrases that people who are honest-to-goodness PA Dutch use on the regular:

    Red up=clean up
    mox nix=that is irrelevant
    dippy eggs=over easy eggs
    kutz=vomit
    doplich=clumsy
    rutsching=wiggling around, squirming
    spritzing=lightly raining
    outen the lights=turn off the lights
    offish rag=dish towel
    fressin=snacking, looking around for things to eat
  • Posts: 15,532 Member
    jgnatca wrote: »
    To be fair many of our colleges serve as feeder institutions to the university.

    Absolutely. Last time I looked at anything that wasn't graduate studies, was when MacEwan was still a community college. It started offering degrees the next year.
  • Posts: 16,049 Member
    edited December 2016
    jgnatca wrote: »
    To be fair many of our colleges serve as feeder institutions to the university.

    So they go to college, then when they want to study for a specific career then the move on to somewhere like Yale?

    Everything i know about the US is learnt from American movies lol which as we all know are true to life :tongue:

    Speaking of American movies/shows.. I don't watch any Aussie tv shows and very rarely watch movies made here, cos they're usually low budget crap. Not all, but most...

    All my faves are American. I can't do British shows either, as for some reason they are depressing to me.. Sorry you guys over the pond :wink:

  • Posts: 9,520 Member

    Nursery School 2-4
    Infant School 5 -7
    Junior School 7 - 11
    Secondary School 11 - 16 (I think the minimum leaving age has been raised since I went!)

    I think they're all called 'years' now - Year 1, Year 2 etc. We only called them 'years' at grammar school, and they only counted whilst we were at that school (they're carried over from earlier schools now).

    The American system seems to be Kindergarten or Pre-School, followed by Year / Grade 1 to 12. The British system or variations of it go Reception, Infants A and B, Classes 1 to 4 in Primary School, then First Form through to Fifth Form at most Secondary Schools, with a Lower Sixth and Upper Sixth at the better ones. It isn't an exact match, as the American system finishes at 17 years old, while the other system is 16 years at the end of Fifth Form, or 18 after the two Sixth Form years.
  • Posts: 26,063 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »

    In cooking usage, I've understood cilantro to be the leafy part, and coriander to be the seed, but it's all the same plant. Seems like I've seen the seeds-for-growing (as opposed to those bought as a spice ingredient) sold under both names.

    That was what I thought too.

    And I was just recently informed by my husband that if either appeared in a meal, he would not eat it.
  • Posts: 225 Member
    TonyB0588 wrote: »

    The American system seems to be Kindergarten or Pre-School, followed by Year / Grade 1 to 12. The British system or variations of it go Reception, Infants A and B, Classes 1 to 4 in Primary School, then First Form through to Fifth Form at most Secondary Schools, with a Lower Sixth and Upper Sixth at the better ones. It isn't an exact match, as the American system finishes at 17 years old, while the other system is 16 years at the end of Fifth Form, or 18 after the two Sixth Form years.

    The American system is preschool followed by Kindergarten though preschool/Kindergarten are not mandatory in every state. You have grade school (K-5, sometimes K-6), junior high/middle school (usually 6-8) and then high school (9-12). Most people will graduate at the age of 18, though some will be 17 and some 19 because of the cut-off dates for enrollment. Grades 9-12 are just called freshman year, sophomore year, junior year, and senior year.
  • Posts: 1,394 Member
    TonyB0588 wrote: »

    The American system seems to be Kindergarten or Pre-School, followed by Year / Grade 1 to 12. The British system or variations of it go Reception, Infants A and B, Classes 1 to 4 in Primary School, then First Form through to Fifth Form at most Secondary Schools, with a Lower Sixth and Upper Sixth at the better ones. It isn't an exact match, as the American system finishes at 17 years old, while the other system is 16 years at the end of Fifth Form, or 18 after the two Sixth Form years.

    Thanks for the explanation! My school had lower sixth, upper sixth and secretarial sixth. Had I been better at maths I would have asked why we only had 3 sixths ;-)

    That's another difference though, we have maths and US has math.
  • Posts: 15,532 Member

    So they go to college, then when they want to study for a specific career then the move on to somewhere like Yale?

    Everything i know about the US is learnt from American movies lol which as we all know are true to life :tongue:

    Speaking of American movies/shows.. I don't watch any Aussie tv shows and very rarely watch movies made here, cos they're usually low budget crap. Not all, but most...

    All my faves are American. I can't do British shows either, as for someone reason they are depressing to me.. So you guys over the pond :wink:

    No, you can do 1-2 (usually 2) years at a community college, then transfer to the Uni for the final 2 years of the degree. Our degree programs are 4 years unless you already have a degree.
  • Posts: 87 Member
    As an american, I was baffled when the cheap flippy sandals were no longer called thongs. They were when I was a pool rat in high school! Of that, I am sure.

    (they were also called flip flops. but "thongs" were more like G strings or T strings etc. not thongs)

    Yeah, there definitely was a time when those sandal thingies were called thongs in the US, and I don't know when or why that changed. My teenage daughter had never heard them called thongs before, and only thought of a thong as the underwear. Poor kid came home from her job at Walmart and told me that she threw up in her mouth a little when a severely obese old man asked her where he could find "black leather thongs". :D

  • Posts: 26,063 Member

    So they go to college, then when they want to study for a specific career then the move on to somewhere like Yale?

    Everything i know about the US is learnt from American movies lol which as we all know are true to life :tongue:

    Speaking of American movies/shows.. I don't watch any Aussie tv shows and very rarely watch movies made here, cos they're usually low budget crap. Not all, but most...

    All my faves are American. I can't to British shows either, as for someone reason they are depressingto me.. So you guys over the pond :wink:

    From what I understand in Victoria and Tasmania, there's ...

    Kindergarten/Preschool at the age of 5.
    Primary School (Grade 1-7, typically ages 6-12)
    High School (Grade 8-10 or 11, typically ages 13-15 or 16)

    Then either college which is the equivalent of Canada's Grades 11 and 12, or maybe just 12.

    Then a person can go on to vocational college (such as TAFE) or to University.

    Even once we get up to the Master's level it is different from the way Canada did it when I was there. In Canada it was Bachelor's ... Master's. Nothing in between. Here, I can do it that way, or take it in stages (which I've done) to get my Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma, and then Master's.


    In Canada, it's ...

    Kindergarten/Preschool at the age of 5.
    Elementary School (Grade 1-6, typically ages 6-11)
    Middle School (Grade 7 - 9, typically ages 12 - 14)
    High School (Grade 10 - 12, typically ages 15-18)

    Then you go on to college. There are vocational colleges or pre-university colleges. I've been to both. If you go the pre-university route, you attend the college for a year or two, then transfer to the university to finish your 4-5 year degree.
  • Posts: 9,520 Member
    Machka9 wrote: »

    From what I understand in Victoria and Tasmania, there's ...

    Kindergarten/Preschool at the age of 5.
    Primary School (Grade 1-7, typically ages 6-12)
    High School (Grade 8-10 or 11, typically ages 13-15 or 16)

    Then either college which is the equivalent of Canada's Grades 11 and 12, or maybe just 12.

    Then a person can go on to vocational college (such as TAFE) or to University.

    Even once we get up to the Master's level it is different from the way Canada did it when I was there. In Canada it was Bachelor's ... Master's. Nothing in between. Here, I can do it that way, or take it in stages (which I've done) to get my Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma, and then Master's.


    In Canada, it's ...

    Kindergarten/Preschool at the age of 5.
    Elementary School (Grade 1-6, typically ages 6-11)
    Middle School (Grade 7 - 9, typically ages 12 - 14)
    High School (Grade 10 - 12, typically ages 15-18)

    Then you go on to college. There are vocational colleges or pre-university colleges. I've been to both. If you go the pre-university route, you attend the college for a year or two, then transfer to the university to finish your 4-5 year degree.

    I was always confused by the difference between college and university. Then I hear people talk about giving up a low end job and going back to school, and they seem to mean college or university.
  • Posts: 26,063 Member
    TonyB0588 wrote: »

    I was always confused by the difference between college and university. Then I hear people talk about giving up a low end job and going back to school, and they seem to mean college or university.

    Yes ... college is usually a place where you'll take an 18-month Business Administration course or a 6-month Welding course or something like that. You get practical skills which can get you into a decent job.

    University is a place where you'll get a degree. You'll get theoretical knowledge which may or may not get you into a decent job depending on the area you've chosen.

  • Posts: 2,081 Member
    Machka9 wrote: »

    Yes ... college is usually a place where you'll take an 18-month Business Administration course or a 6-month Welding course or something like that. You get practical skills which can get you into a decent job.

    University is a place where you'll get a degree. You'll get theoretical knowledge which may or may not get you into a decent job depending on the area you've chosen.

    I'm in the US. From what I understand here, universities are somewhat large institutions with multiple colleges (college of engineering, college of nursing, college of natural sciences, etc). But there are smaller 4 year colleges, including many of the liberal arts schools.

    In FL, many of the two year community colleges became four year state colleges where you could get a bachelor's degree.

    I've always found it somewhat confusing.
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