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

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Replies

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,718 Member
    I don't think anyone mentioned napkins. I was warned not to ask for a "napkin" in an English restaurant because a napkin is a feminine hygiene product in England. In America you use a cloth or paper "napkin" to wipe your fingers and mouth during/after a meal, and the feminine product is a pad.

    Like a previous poster, my mother from Alabama also said "fixin' ta" meaning "getting ready to." Growing up in California, my school friends had to correct the southern sayings I picked up from my mother. A high school boyfriend roared when I said "let up the (car) window" and "Let down the window." I still slip and say that sometimes! And my husband still laughs remembering how my mom would drawl, "Can I dip ya some putatahs, darlin'?"

    Yes to the paper napkin in restaurants. The feminine hygiene product is a "sanitary napkin" as well as a "sanitary pad", (US/Michigan), but we would never take "napkin" (unadorned by adjective) as the feminine product.

    Also, "rubbers", when not condoms (i.e., in polite society, in proper context) are short rubber-material footgear - either a shoe-like profile, or perhaps ankle high or a bit higher. Those things up to the knees are "rubber boots". Middling high rubber footgear (below knee, above ankle (with zippers or other fasteners can also be "galoshes".

    "Wellies" aren't natively anything, though some understand them as a synonym for knee-high rubber boots. (Canada is near, and Britain is in books.)
  • comptonelizabeth
    comptonelizabeth Posts: 1,701 Member
    Watching a US cooking show last night, they were making "hamburger mac-n-cheese".

    Hamburger = Mince (ground beef). In Australia, a hamburger would be the whole thing - bun, meat patties, sauce, etc. I would buy or make "burger patties" as the meat component.... I have no idea what we'd call mac-n-cheese with mince in it?!

    For some reason the mac-n-cheese thing drives me mad. It's MACARONI CHEESE!!!
  • crabbybrianna
    crabbybrianna Posts: 344 Member
    Has anyone mentioned Gum boots? That's what i call wellingtons/rubber boots.

    Yes! That's what we called them when I was growing up, and I grew up in the US and Canada. I didn't actually hear them being called anything other than that until I was an adult.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    Machka9 wrote: »
    I'll also just mention ... potato chips.

    In Canada, my favourite flavour is dill pickle. In Australia, I cannot find dill pickle chips. In fact, dill pickles are hard to find ... it's all sweet pickles which are really quite ick.

    In Australia, a common potato chip flavour is chicken. In fact, there's chicken salt that goes on chips (the big, thick fries type of chips), dim sims, deep fried lasagne, battered fish, and whatever else you want to get at the take-away.

    So true.

    And chicken chips are not easy to find in Canada. I also miss Burger Rings! I miss meat pies, too.

    As for chicken chips (fries), I just sprinkle some powdered chicken stock on my fries instead of salt...YUM!!!

    Chicken chips? Never heard of such a thing. Chicken? Hmmm. People want their chips to taste like chicken?!

    Ketchup chips are a Canadian thing. I don't like them much.

    Smarties are a Canadian candy that looks like chocolate M&Ms. Rockets are cheap sugar candies than are called smarties in the US.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    SueSueDio wrote: »
    jgnatca wrote: »
    Target tried to move in to the Canadian market and failed. We weren't used to seeing food in department stores either. But to squeeze Target out, we now can get groceries at Wal-mart and our local drug stores too.

    We've had that for a while in my end of Alberta. :) (You northerners are just behind the times... :tongue: ) My local Wal-Mart became a "supercentre" several years ago and started carrying groceries, and my Shoppers Drug Mart always did (since we've been here anyway, 11 years now). One of the things I read about Target was that they didn't take account of the differences in minimum wage here, and the general cost of doing business in Canada was what caused them to give up because their losses were too high. I went to the one in Calgary a few times and thought it was quite good, but didn't really understand the enthusiasm Americans seem to have for it! I guess their products are much cheaper in the US?

    (lol at the boots, too. :) Some Brits do call them "rubber boots", but they were always "wellies" to me!)

    Hubby and I loved Target in the US. The exchange rate! The prices! But then when Target moved north they had logistics problems resulting in half empty shelves. And the prices were no bargain. Canadian shoppers are no fools.

    Yes, we have higher wages, long distances, and higher taxes here. If a retailer makes it here they are smart and tough.

    Just in the news, the Fort McMurray Wal-Mart just got charged for selling fire contaminated product on their shelves. I suspect top executive arrogance. But we shall see.
  • SueSueDio
    SueSueDio Posts: 4,796 Member
    I don't think anyone mentioned napkins. I was warned not to ask for a "napkin" in an English restaurant because a napkin is a feminine hygiene product in England. In America you use a cloth or paper "napkin" to wipe your fingers and mouth during/after a meal, and the feminine product is a pad.

    I'd heard it the other way around, that a "napkin" generally refers to the feminine hygiene product in North America. (Although if, as Ann mentioned, the word alone doesn't refer to such then that makes more sense!) Those were always 'sanitary towels" or "sanitary pads" to every woman I knew in England, I never heard them referred to as "napkins" over there.

    The bits of paper or cloth you wipe your fingers on were either napkins or serviettes (which I think is a French word). In my personal experience people tended to use "napkin" for cloth versions and "serviette" for disposable paper ones, but I don't know if that was a common distinction.

    Nappies, on the other hand, are what North Americans refer to as diapers. You probably don't want one of those to wipe your fingers on either! :)
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,752 Member
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    Machka9 wrote: »
    I'll also just mention ... potato chips.

    In Canada, my favourite flavour is dill pickle. In Australia, I cannot find dill pickle chips. In fact, dill pickles are hard to find ... it's all sweet pickles which are really quite ick.

    In Australia, a common potato chip flavour is chicken. In fact, there's chicken salt that goes on chips (the big, thick fries type of chips), dim sims, deep fried lasagne, battered fish, and whatever else you want to get at the take-away.

    So true.

    And chicken chips are not easy to find in Canada. I also miss Burger Rings! I miss meat pies, too.

    As for chicken chips (fries), I just sprinkle some powdered chicken stock on my fries instead of salt...YUM!!!

    Chicken chips? Never heard of such a thing. Chicken? Hmmm. People want their chips to taste like chicken?!

    Ketchup chips are a Canadian thing. I don't like them much.

    Smarties are a Canadian candy that looks like chocolate M&Ms. Rockets are cheap sugar candies than are called smarties in the US.

    We have smarties in aus too.... They are bigger than m&ms, and different colours.
    We have TimTams in aus - the UK has a terrible version called a Penguin.
  • SueSueDio
    SueSueDio Posts: 4,796 Member
    We have smarties in aus too.... They are bigger than m&ms, and different colours.
    We have TimTams in aus - the UK has a terrible version called a Penguin.

    *gasp* How dare you malign Penguins?!?!? ;)

    (The ones in the orange wrappers always tasted best. I don't care what anybody says about them all being the same.)
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,953 Member
    Machka9 wrote: »
    Machka9 wrote: »
    I was on the other thread about how many times people eat out per week, and it was a lot!

    I'm curious about what a regular meal out for 2 people averages in America. If we go the cheaper route, like a normal pub meal, our bill rarely comes out under $40 for the two of us. That's 1 meal each, a beer for him and a soft drink for me.

    If you go to comparable places, "family restaurants", in Canada the price for two meals might come to about $30 and in the US you can probably get away with $20.

    And those meals would likely include the extras we don't get here in Australia. In North America, a pasta dinner would include garlic bread. Here we have to buy it extra. It may also include dessert in some places.

    See here ... this is a Perkins menu. Perkins is a "family restaurant" which might be comparable to an Australian pub.

    http://www.perkinsrestaurants.com/wp-content/themes/gsperkins/assets/pdf/Perkins-Menu-052016.pdf

    Scroll down to "Fork-worth Entrees" (those would be the main meals).

    I'd probably go with the chicken strips meal (because they do chicken properly in Canada ... in Canada they cook the chicken, here in Australia they serve it up half raw ... I rarely choose chicken in a restaurant here! I found that out early on. <<shudder>>) ... as you can see the chicken strip meal would include two sides in the price of $10.79. I'd probably choose the mashed potato and broccoli.

    And then I see that I can get a beverage and a slice of pie for an additional $3.99! Cool. Done. And that would be the chocolate cream pie if they've got it.

    So for a grand total of $29.56 (plus tax), my husband and I could have a meal that includes a dessert and beverage. :)


    I'd better go for a bicycle ride now that I've drooled over all that.

    That's another difference - in Australia your "entree" is your starter. I think it leads to a lot of Aussies accidentally ordering enormous meals over there.
  • SueSueDio
    SueSueDio Posts: 4,796 Member
    edited January 2017
    Machka9 wrote: »
    Machka9 wrote: »
    I was on the other thread about how many times people eat out per week, and it was a lot!

    I'm curious about what a regular meal out for 2 people averages in America. If we go the cheaper route, like a normal pub meal, our bill rarely comes out under $40 for the two of us. That's 1 meal each, a beer for him and a soft drink for me.

    If you go to comparable places, "family restaurants", in Canada the price for two meals might come to about $30 and in the US you can probably get away with $20.

    And those meals would likely include the extras we don't get here in Australia. In North America, a pasta dinner would include garlic bread. Here we have to buy it extra. It may also include dessert in some places.

    See here ... this is a Perkins menu. Perkins is a "family restaurant" which might be comparable to an Australian pub.

    http://www.perkinsrestaurants.com/wp-content/themes/gsperkins/assets/pdf/Perkins-Menu-052016.pdf

    Scroll down to "Fork-worth Entrees" (those would be the main meals).

    I'd probably go with the chicken strips meal (because they do chicken properly in Canada ... in Canada they cook the chicken, here in Australia they serve it up half raw ... I rarely choose chicken in a restaurant here! I found that out early on. <<shudder>>) ... as you can see the chicken strip meal would include two sides in the price of $10.79. I'd probably choose the mashed potato and broccoli.

    And then I see that I can get a beverage and a slice of pie for an additional $3.99! Cool. Done. And that would be the chocolate cream pie if they've got it.

    So for a grand total of $29.56 (plus tax), my husband and I could have a meal that includes a dessert and beverage. :)


    I'd better go for a bicycle ride now that I've drooled over all that.

    That's another difference - in Australia your "entree" is your starter. I think it leads to a lot of Aussies accidentally ordering enormous meals over there.

    Oh, yeah - same in England I think, although I never went to many restaurants that were fancy enough to use the word! ;) It surprised me that an "entree" here (in Canada) is the main meal and not a starter.
  • BruinsGal_91
    BruinsGal_91 Posts: 1,400 Member
    SueSueDio wrote: »
    We have smarties in aus too.... They are bigger than m&ms, and different colours.
    We have TimTams in aus - the UK has a terrible version called a Penguin.

    *gasp* How dare you malign Penguins?!?!? ;)

    (The ones in the orange wrappers always tasted best. I don't care what anybody says about them all being the same.)

    Nuh-uh! Blue wrappers for the win.
  • SueSueDio
    SueSueDio Posts: 4,796 Member
    SueSueDio wrote: »
    We have smarties in aus too.... They are bigger than m&ms, and different colours.
    We have TimTams in aus - the UK has a terrible version called a Penguin.

    *gasp* How dare you malign Penguins?!?!? ;)

    (The ones in the orange wrappers always tasted best. I don't care what anybody says about them all being the same.)

    Nuh-uh! Blue wrappers for the win.

    Actually, it's been so long since I had them that I might be mis-remembering. I think it was the green ones! Definitely not blue, though... ;)

    (I was probably thinking orange because I loved orange Club bars - although these days they just don't have as much chocolate on them as they used to. I'd always bite all the chocolate off around the edges first before tackling the biscuit! (That's "cookie" to you Murricans, btw, not a chocolate-covered scone... ;) )
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,706 Member
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    Machka9 wrote: »
    I'll also just mention ... potato chips.

    In Canada, my favourite flavour is dill pickle. In Australia, I cannot find dill pickle chips. In fact, dill pickles are hard to find ... it's all sweet pickles which are really quite ick.

    In Australia, a common potato chip flavour is chicken. In fact, there's chicken salt that goes on chips (the big, thick fries type of chips), dim sims, deep fried lasagne, battered fish, and whatever else you want to get at the take-away.

    So true.

    And chicken chips are not easy to find in Canada. I also miss Burger Rings! I miss meat pies, too.

    As for chicken chips (fries), I just sprinkle some powdered chicken stock on my fries instead of salt...YUM!!!

    Chicken chips? Never heard of such a thing. Chicken? Hmmm. People want their chips to taste like chicken?!

    Ketchup chips are a Canadian thing. I don't like them much.

    Smarties are a Canadian candy that looks like chocolate M&Ms. Rockets are cheap sugar candies than are called smarties in the US.

    It's called chicken salt. What it tastes like is when you've roasted a chicken in the oven and have done the whole butter and salt and herbs thing on the skin so that it is a crispy golden brown. Like that. Not so much like chicken but more like the seasoning you'd put on chicken.

  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,953 Member
    Machka9 wrote: »
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    Machka9 wrote: »
    I'll also just mention ... potato chips.

    In Canada, my favourite flavour is dill pickle. In Australia, I cannot find dill pickle chips. In fact, dill pickles are hard to find ... it's all sweet pickles which are really quite ick.

    In Australia, a common potato chip flavour is chicken. In fact, there's chicken salt that goes on chips (the big, thick fries type of chips), dim sims, deep fried lasagne, battered fish, and whatever else you want to get at the take-away.

    So true.

    And chicken chips are not easy to find in Canada. I also miss Burger Rings! I miss meat pies, too.

    As for chicken chips (fries), I just sprinkle some powdered chicken stock on my fries instead of salt...YUM!!!

    Chicken chips? Never heard of such a thing. Chicken? Hmmm. People want their chips to taste like chicken?!

    Ketchup chips are a Canadian thing. I don't like them much.

    Smarties are a Canadian candy that looks like chocolate M&Ms. Rockets are cheap sugar candies than are called smarties in the US.

    It's called chicken salt. What it tastes like is when you've roasted a chicken in the oven and have done the whole butter and salt and herbs thing on the skin so that it is a crispy golden brown. Like that. Not so much like chicken but more like the seasoning you'd put on chicken.

    Chicken salt is food of the gods. So tasty.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,706 Member
    edited January 2017
    Machka9 wrote: »
    Machka9 wrote: »
    I was on the other thread about how many times people eat out per week, and it was a lot!

    I'm curious about what a regular meal out for 2 people averages in America. If we go the cheaper route, like a normal pub meal, our bill rarely comes out under $40 for the two of us. That's 1 meal each, a beer for him and a soft drink for me.

    If you go to comparable places, "family restaurants", in Canada the price for two meals might come to about $30 and in the US you can probably get away with $20.

    And those meals would likely include the extras we don't get here in Australia. In North America, a pasta dinner would include garlic bread. Here we have to buy it extra. It may also include dessert in some places.

    See here ... this is a Perkins menu. Perkins is a "family restaurant" which might be comparable to an Australian pub.

    http://www.perkinsrestaurants.com/wp-content/themes/gsperkins/assets/pdf/Perkins-Menu-052016.pdf

    Scroll down to "Fork-worth Entrees" (those would be the main meals).

    I'd probably go with the chicken strips meal (because they do chicken properly in Canada ... in Canada they cook the chicken, here in Australia they serve it up half raw ... I rarely choose chicken in a restaurant here! I found that out early on. <<shudder>>) ... as you can see the chicken strip meal would include two sides in the price of $10.79. I'd probably choose the mashed potato and broccoli.

    And then I see that I can get a beverage and a slice of pie for an additional $3.99! Cool. Done. And that would be the chocolate cream pie if they've got it.

    So for a grand total of $29.56 (plus tax), my husband and I could have a meal that includes a dessert and beverage. :)


    I'd better go for a bicycle ride now that I've drooled over all that.

    That's another difference - in Australia your "entree" is your starter. I think it leads to a lot of Aussies accidentally ordering enormous meals over there.

    Yeah, that threw me off when I moved to Australia almost 8 years ago.

    I was looking at entrees on the menu here in Australia and thinking ... "that doesn't look like a meal, that looks like a starter".

    Now it throws me off every time I visit Canada.

    Going back and forth between the two places can be a bit confusing ... and for more than just which side of the road I need to be on! :grin:


    PS. I'm Canadian-Australian ... dual citizen. :)

  • shelleyrhoads
    shelleyrhoads Posts: 103 Member
    In the US we have jam and jelly they are two separate spreads. Jam has seeds made from strawberry, blackberry ect. Jelly is smooth and usually grapes or plumbs. We are very technical with food and names here. Lol
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,953 Member
    Machka9 wrote: »
    Machka9 wrote: »
    Machka9 wrote: »
    I was on the other thread about how many times people eat out per week, and it was a lot!

    I'm curious about what a regular meal out for 2 people averages in America. If we go the cheaper route, like a normal pub meal, our bill rarely comes out under $40 for the two of us. That's 1 meal each, a beer for him and a soft drink for me.

    If you go to comparable places, "family restaurants", in Canada the price for two meals might come to about $30 and in the US you can probably get away with $20.

    And those meals would likely include the extras we don't get here in Australia. In North America, a pasta dinner would include garlic bread. Here we have to buy it extra. It may also include dessert in some places.

    See here ... this is a Perkins menu. Perkins is a "family restaurant" which might be comparable to an Australian pub.

    http://www.perkinsrestaurants.com/wp-content/themes/gsperkins/assets/pdf/Perkins-Menu-052016.pdf

    Scroll down to "Fork-worth Entrees" (those would be the main meals).

    I'd probably go with the chicken strips meal (because they do chicken properly in Canada ... in Canada they cook the chicken, here in Australia they serve it up half raw ... I rarely choose chicken in a restaurant here! I found that out early on. <<shudder>>) ... as you can see the chicken strip meal would include two sides in the price of $10.79. I'd probably choose the mashed potato and broccoli.

    And then I see that I can get a beverage and a slice of pie for an additional $3.99! Cool. Done. And that would be the chocolate cream pie if they've got it.

    So for a grand total of $29.56 (plus tax), my husband and I could have a meal that includes a dessert and beverage. :)


    I'd better go for a bicycle ride now that I've drooled over all that.

    That's another difference - in Australia your "entree" is your starter. I think it leads to a lot of Aussies accidentally ordering enormous meals over there.

    Yeah, that threw me off when I moved to Australia almost 8 years ago.

    I was looking at entrees on the menu here in Australia and thinking ... "that doesn't look like a meal, that looks like a starter".

    Now it throws me off every time I visit Canada.

    Going back and forth between the two places can be a bit confusing ... and for more than just which side of the road I need to be on! :grin:


    PS. I'm Canadian-Australian ... dual citizen. :)

    I thought I recalled you being in Australia - I'm a dual citizen too, US/Australian :)
  • shelleyrhoads
    shelleyrhoads Posts: 103 Member
    Don't you call the flat work surface in a kitchen the benchtop, @Christine_72 ? Im the US, a bench is something one sits on at a park or a person has in his workshop/toolshed for woodworking or fixing things, lol.

    Edit, the kitchen surface is a counter in the US, which I suppose makes zero sense for a name, too lol.

    yup, we have a kitchen bench in aus :) we also call the thing you sit on in the park a bench...
    we also have a splash back, not a back splash....we have so much american tv (including reno/flip programs) so i keep mixing them up!!

    we have scones in aus (and UK) - i'm sure they're biscuits in the US

    lollies - sweets/candy
    mince - ground meat

    We have scones. But they are sweeter. Our biscuits are more like scones.
  • pebble4321
    pebble4321 Posts: 1,132 Member
    Machka9 wrote: »
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    Machka9 wrote: »
    I'll also just mention ... potato chips.

    In Canada, my favourite flavour is dill pickle. In Australia, I cannot find dill pickle chips. In fact, dill pickles are hard to find ... it's all sweet pickles which are really quite ick.

    In Australia, a common potato chip flavour is chicken. In fact, there's chicken salt that goes on chips (the big, thick fries type of chips), dim sims, deep fried lasagne, battered fish, and whatever else you want to get at the take-away.

    So true.

    And chicken chips are not easy to find in Canada. I also miss Burger Rings! I miss meat pies, too.

    As for chicken chips (fries), I just sprinkle some powdered chicken stock on my fries instead of salt...YUM!!!

    Chicken chips? Never heard of such a thing. Chicken? Hmmm. People want their chips to taste like chicken?!

    Ketchup chips are a Canadian thing. I don't like them much.

    Smarties are a Canadian candy that looks like chocolate M&Ms. Rockets are cheap sugar candies than are called smarties in the US.

    It's called chicken salt. What it tastes like is when you've roasted a chicken in the oven and have done the whole butter and salt and herbs thing on the skin so that it is a crispy golden brown. Like that. Not so much like chicken but more like the seasoning you'd put on chicken.

    Chicken salt is food of the gods. So tasty.

    I think of Chicken Salt as being an Adelaide thing. As in when you get chips from the Chicken Shop (also an Adelaide thing) they will ask if you want chicken salt or regular salt. I haven't seen that anywhere else in Australia, but I guess i probably don't order chips much when I'm in Sydney or Melbourne or Brisbane. And not often at home in WA either.