English to USA Translations

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  • fionaface
    fionaface Posts: 42 Member
    My mother is British, and even though she has lived in the United States for a little more than four decades now since marrying my dad, she still has a strong accent. Everything she says sounds awesome and fun!!!
  • manda1002
    manda1002 Posts: 178 Member
    Hahaha this thread is funny! Ok my favourites are the differences in insults.

    For example.... wanker & douche!

    I was working with a couple of Americans and they had gone out & somebody called one of them a wanker, they asked me what it means.. Wank = *kitten*.... so a wanker is somebody who masturbates. They laughed and told me it was a stupid insult!! This coming from a nation who uses douche for an insult!! Err hellooo... douche means shower! Lol!

    Haha douche in America is basically an enema for your vagina.
  • jennafluff
    jennafluff Posts: 54
    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.

    In Nz we call them a trolley!!!
  • jenj1313
    jenj1313 Posts: 898 Member
    I love when people call trash rubbish... sounds so much better!

    I had an English co-worker who'd tell her physical therapy (physiotherapy) pt's to "have a lie"... somehow it rubbed off and I started saying it. Funny thing was that when she said it with her accent, no one questioned it... but my patients would all comment on it when I said it!
  • firesoforion
    firesoforion Posts: 1,017 Member
    Fannie.
  • Emv79
    Emv79 Posts: 245 Member
    Cookie - biscuit
    zucchini - courgette
    eggplant - aubergine

    It's the first time I notice that the UK uses many of the same words as we would in French (for all those that don't speak French, you've just learned 3 words!). Same goes for the post about hearing the word "niche" in a business meeting...yep, there is no "t" in there: it's niche (pronounced neech).

    Only spent 1 day in the UK in my life, so I can't contribute much here, but I'm having a few laughs reading this thread!
  • camila_scl
    camila_scl Posts: 238 Member
    Hahahaha

    I'm from Chile, I'm a translator.... In college I had to learn both the british and the us way, I had a huuuge list of words, now the only one I can remember (because it's really late and I'm sleepy) is:

    condom=rubber
    rubber = eraser

    .
  • jennafluff
    jennafluff Posts: 54
    Here in Nz we have judder-bars.
    you know those lumps of tarseal they put on the road to slow traffic down?
    what do you call them?
  • BrionyTallis
    BrionyTallis Posts: 90 Member
    posh = sophisticated
    pub = bar
    band-aid = plaster?
    have on = joke with
    way out = exit

    Now just imaging you are from the states and you have landed at Gatwick and you are looking for an exit sign just like all the exit signs you've seen in the airports back home. You walk around the airport several time and you see these signs that say "way out" but that couldn't be it could it. Finally you find some kind looking gentlemen and ask him how to exit the airport. He looks around and points you to the "way out" sigh not 10 feet away from where you are standing.

    I finally get to my hotel room and ordered room service. My drink was a coke. It arrived in a bottle. I haven't seen a coke in a bottle in decades. I need a bottle opener. I call down to the front desk for a bottle opener because I can't find one on the tray. Oh no ma'am the bottle opener is mounted in the bathroom. It never occurred to me to look into the bathroom.

    Next morning after my shower I'm looking for the hair dryer I don't find it in the bathroom. Call down to the front desk there is because I can't find the dryer in the bathroom. Oh no ma'am there isn't sufficient power in the bathroom for the hair dryer the hair dryer is in the desk dryer and you'll have to dry your hair at the desk.

    After getting dressed I went down the hotel restaurant for breakfast. The waitress asked me did I want bacon or American bacon for breakfast? It sounded to me that bacon was what I think Canadian bacon so I ordered American bacon.

    Later that night I went to an Italian restaurant and ordered Iced tea. I didn't know that the making of iced tea was going to require 3 waiters and involve the shaker used for mixed drinks but hey they got the job done and it was a fine glass of iced tea. It was better than the slightly warm pepsi with lemon that my dining companion received.

    It was quite an experience and one I hope I can repeat some day. I didn't know it at the time but I purchased books while there that I could not have purchased here in the USA.

    As for the names of meals, I have noticed quite a bit of variation based on depending on the part of the USA/state you happen to be in

    For example, growing up in the Texas: Breakfast, Dinner, Supper & Breakfast, Supper, Dinner (different parts of the state)
    Living in California: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
    Military: Chow, Chow, Chow
    Living in Arizona: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
  • pen2u
    pen2u Posts: 224 Member
    Speed bumps = judder bars
  • pen2u
    pen2u Posts: 224 Member
    NZ - US

    bench - kitchen counter
    chilly bin - ice chest
    lounge - living room
  • jgsinfw
    jgsinfw Posts: 110 Member
    I can't believe that nobody here on MFP has noticed the differences between US and UK definitions for FIT :)

    US = in good physical health / active / athletic
    UK (to my understanding) = physically attractive

    So in the US, I am fit, but in the UK, I am not.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    Here in Nz we have judder-bars.
    you know those lumps of tarseal they put on the road to slow traffic down?
    what do you call them?

    Speed bumps
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    NZ - US

    bench - kitchen counter

    I play Sims FreePlay and one of the tasks is to buy a "Bench" - a bench in the US is something you sit on - there's a lot of discussion of this task online since everyone is buying sitting benches and not getting credit for the task until someone translates for the US folks!
  • bio_fit
    bio_fit Posts: 307 Member
    Later that night I went to an Italian restaurant and ordered Iced tea. I didn't know that the making of iced tea was going to require 3 waiters and involve the shaker used for mixed drinks but hey they got the job done and it was a fine glass of iced tea.

    Ha! Yes, for a nation of tea drinkers we still haven't quite got to grips with the 'iced tea' concept! Well, we understand the concept, I don't understand why you'd want to drink it :laugh:
  • elsham
    elsham Posts: 549 Member
    BLIMEYYYY!
  • Pengi81
    Pengi81 Posts: 336 Member
    Um,

    OK these are the things I'm told make me not English/British (even though I am):

    I don't like bacon
    I hate chip butties
    Iced tea kicks *kitten*, normal tea is minging!
    I don't like fried breakfasts


    :ohwell:
  • shannairl
    shannairl Posts: 65
    Um,

    OK these are the things I'm told make me not English/British (even though I am):

    I don't like bacon
    I hate chip butties
    Iced tea kicks *kitten*, normal tea is minging!
    I don't like fried breakfasts


    :ohwell:

    I sympathise - I'm Irish and I HATE Guinness, rarely drink tea and am not the world's biggest fan of potatoes. Blasphemy!
  • melianne125
    melianne125 Posts: 90 Member
    Here in Nz we have judder-bars.
    you know those lumps of tarseal they put on the road to slow traffic down?
    what do you call them?

    speed bumps (In rural GA)
  • melianne125
    melianne125 Posts: 90 Member
    also Tea (in rural GA) is iced tea with sugar (or sweetener)
  • Libby81
    Libby81 Posts: 734 Member
    I apologise for generalising on the UK to USA translations... all translations are fun!

    I didn't want to have Eggplant in the USA because I literally thought it would taste of egg! Didn't realise I was missing out on Aubergine at the time!

    Oh, and I'm Southern UK but I still think "*kitten*" sounds better the way it's pronounced oop north, which is how I always say it!

    We stayed in Lumley Castle for our honeymoon and spent a couple of days in Newcastle upon Tyne. The Geordie accent is the best thing I have ever heard in my life. My husband is so posh; he's from Windsor and I long for the North!

    Well then you've not heard the Mackem accent (from Sunderland next to Newcastle). The differences in how we say things compared to Geordies can be big
  • Libby81
    Libby81 Posts: 734 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.

    In Nz we call them a trolley!!!

    Same here in north UK
  • HeidiMightyRawr
    HeidiMightyRawr Posts: 3,343 Member
    I can't believe that nobody here on MFP has noticed the differences between US and UK definitions for FIT :)

    US = in good physical health / active / athletic
    UK (to my understanding) = physically attractive

    So in the US, I am fit, but in the UK, I am not.

    Haha in the UK, "fit" means both of those, but is mainly used (by me anyway) to mean healthy/athletic etc. I have heard it used to mean attractive loads of times, but usually only by the younger generation (25 and under)

    Translations I know of:
    Pavement - Sidewalk
    Nappy - Diaper
    Rubbish - Garbage / Trash (My bf uses "trash" a lot and it does my head in because he's not even American!)
    Trolley - Cart?
    Sweets - Candy
    Fizzy drinks - Pop / Soda
    Trousers - Pants
    Pants/Underwear - Underwear
    Chips - Fries
    Crisps - Potato chips
  • thrld
    thrld Posts: 610 Member
    what do you wash your dishes with?

    Liquid soap = fairy liquid



    Also,

    You know those lights on your christmas tree? Fairy lights.

    England is just full of magic.
  • Laces_0ut
    Laces_0ut Posts: 3,750 Member
    Later that night I went to an Italian restaurant and ordered Iced tea. I didn't know that the making of iced tea was going to require 3 waiters and involve the shaker used for mixed drinks but hey they got the job done and it was a fine glass of iced tea.

    Ha! Yes, for a nation of tea drinkers we still haven't quite got to grips with the 'iced tea' concept! Well, we understand the concept, I don't understand why you'd want to drink it :laugh:

    wait until you try the abomination called Sweet Tea. its mostly popular in the south in the US. its regular iced tea that is filled with sugar until it reaches its saturation point. its horrible. its like you are drinking a wet bag of sugar.
  • k8blujay2
    k8blujay2 Posts: 4,941 Member
    So I'm American living in the UK. When I say "we" I mean Americans.

    We say suspenders, you say braces

    We say garters, you say suspenders

    My old boss used to say "for belts and braces" and I was more than confused, haha, since for us, braces are a brace (the metal things on your teeth to make them straighter)

    Also cilantro = coriander
    zucchini = courgette
    eggplant = aubergine

    Why we felt the need to call those something else is beyond me.

    Also love the difference in pronunciation of some things over here. Yoghurt sounds like boggart. You say *kitten* the way we say pasta and we say *kitten* the way you say pasta.

    The reason we have different words than our lingustic cousins is to show our soveriegnty and independence. It's a political and geographic thing... :-) Sorry, I couldn't help myself cause I knew the answer... We had a discussion about this in a Political Geography class a few years back... one of the first things a newly independent nation does is create a dictionary.
  • ZombieSlayer
    ZombieSlayer Posts: 369 Member
    Later that night I went to an Italian restaurant and ordered Iced tea. I didn't know that the making of iced tea was going to require 3 waiters and involve the shaker used for mixed drinks but hey they got the job done and it was a fine glass of iced tea.

    Ha! Yes, for a nation of tea drinkers we still haven't quite got to grips with the 'iced tea' concept! Well, we understand the concept, I don't understand why you'd want to drink it :laugh:

    wait until you try the abomination called Sweet Tea. its mostly popular in the south in the US. its regular iced tea that is filled with sugar until it reaches its saturation point. its horrible. its like you are drinking a wet bag of sugar.

    Tell us what you really think? :laugh: :laugh:

    For what it's worth, I agree. The first time I ordered iced tea down south, I about died when I tasted it . The misunderstood accent translation sounded about right... *kitten* tea.
  • castadiva
    castadiva Posts: 2,016 Member
    I don't agree, then. Everyone I know says dinner or supper (usually supper) Tea is something you have between 4 and 5 pm, and involved the drink.

    That's what I thought, but I'm not a Brit, so I wasn't going to argue the point. Thanks for clearing it up!

    Typically a north/south UK divide and historically a class divide as well. In the north (historically-speaking more working-class) lunch = dinner, dinner/supper = tea. Pudding often = sweet.

    In the south, tea is a light meal somewhere between 3 and 5pm, involving the drink, and a selection of cakes, sandwiches, maybe muffins/crumpets (now mostly a function of smart hotels!)

    High Tea is slightly later and more substantial, including cold meats, maybe one hot dish, and things like hard-boiled eggs, pork pies etc. Typically a children's meal, or after a day's sport (hunting, shooting, fishing...), if dinner is not until quite late.

    Lunch(midday meal) is lunch/luncheon if one wants to be very smart (note 'smart' instead of 'posh' - no truly 'posh' person would ever describe themselves, or anything else, for that matter, as such) and the evening meal is either dinner (more formal) or supper (implies a more casual meal - just to confuse matters, supper can also happen after dinner, just before bed - a hot drink and a biscuit, for example), and is followed by pudding (and possibly a savoury), definitely not dessert or a 'sweet'.

    British English is still absolutely chockablock of these verbal distinguishers of origin and background - what you say often gives you away as much as how you say it! No wonder we confuse everyone!:laugh:
  • MrsR0SE
    MrsR0SE Posts: 313 Member
    Ok, I am loving this thread :)

    Speed bumps in the UK are also known as 'sleeping policemen'

    One time, when I was in NYC, I ordered a cup of hot tea at McDonalds (I know, just asking for trouble!). When I asked for milk for my tea the lady behind the counter was hugely confused at the strange request in the weird accent and kept asking if I wanted cream. Yuck, I thought, but eventually gave in and accepted the 'cream' which turned out, in fact to be milk. Why?!
    :laugh:
  • MrsR0SE
    MrsR0SE Posts: 313 Member
    I don't agree, then. Everyone I know says dinner or supper (usually supper) Tea is something you have between 4 and 5 pm, and involved the drink.

    That's what I thought, but I'm not a Brit, so I wasn't going to argue the point. Thanks for clearing it up!

    British English is still absolutely chockablock of these verbal distinguishers of origin and background - what you say often gives you away as much as how you say it! No wonder we confuse everyone!:laugh:

    Absolutely - to the above comment, and....

    I would call my evening meal 'tea' unless I was eating out at a restaurant, and even then I would sometimes call it tea! Makes no difference what the food or beverages are, the time of day, or how heavy the meal is!

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