General

English to american

adreamforthedead:
In Australia, it's called a Barbecue, in America we call it a grill.


We do?

This one confused a lot of Americans because Barbecue is both a certain kind of cooking, as well as a certain kind of prepared meat.

Sonic Purity:
And the cooking device� at least when i was growing up (in Cali- Cali- California). Entirely possible to be asked to �Go barbecue the barbecue on the barbecue, please�.

Maybe the change from briquette-fired barbecues to gas grills changed all that (shrugs shoulders).

))Sonic((


The grill/barbecue thing might be regional. In Ohio, no matter what kind of fuel you're using (charcoal, gas, propane, whatever), it's a grill.

And the football thing: American football is all about length. The gridiron is divided into yards. To progress, you must move a certain number of yards until you get to the yard at the end. All of this is centered around a ball that measures 1 foot. I know, I know, we should be using metric, and footballs should be round, but that is not how it is.

Also, at some point in the 18th century, the English began using entree to mean "a ‘made dish’, served between the fish and the joint". So the English got it wrong first, and that "wrong" meaning simply stuck in America once it arrived here.

The "fanny does not equal bum" is probably my favorite. But, also funny, is asking somebody for a rubber. In England, I guess that means you made a writing error and wish to erase it. In America, it means something completely different. smiley
8 years

English to american

adreamforthedead:
The "fanny does not equal bum" is probably my favorite.


Yeah in Australia fanny packs are usually called bum bags, or at least they are from around where I am.
8 years

English to american

adreamforthedead:
In Australia, it's called a Barbecue, in America we call it a grill.


We do?

This one confused a lot of Americans because Barbecue is both a certain kind of cooking, as well as a certain kind of prepared meat.

Sonic Purity:
And the cooking device� at least when i was growing up (in Cali- Cali- California). Entirely possible to be asked to �Go barbecue the barbecue on the barbecue, please�.

Maybe the change from briquette-fired barbecues to gas grills changed all that (shrugs shoulders).

))Sonic((

Princess Awesome:
The grill/barbecue thing might be regional. In Ohio, no matter what kind of fuel you're using (charcoal, gas, propane, whatever), it's a grill.

And the football thing: American football is all about length. The gridiron is divided into yards. To progress, you must move a certain number of yards until you get to the yard at the end. All of this is centered around a ball that measures 1 foot. I know, I know, we should be using metric, and footballs should be round, but that is not how it is.

Also, at some point in the 18th century, the English began using entree to mean "a �made dish�, served between the fish and the joint". So the English got it wrong first, and that "wrong" meaning simply stuck in America once it arrived here.

The "fanny does not equal bum" is probably my favorite. But, also funny, is asking somebody for a rubber. In England, I guess that means you made a writing error and wish to erase it. In America, it means something completely different. smiley


As someone raised in Florida but having spent 15 years in the UK this BBQ grill thing always caused arguments (more than the soccer football ones).

To me grilling is what you to over a flame on a grill, BBQ is smoking/roasting in a closed container - a Barbecue. You cant grill a whole adult hog but you can bbq it for 4/5hours.

As for the football soccer thing. I went to a UK boarding school where we had our own rules of football with a thing that looks like a leather biscuit (scone to the brits). The first encorporated rules were not association football (from where we get the slang soccer) but rather Rugby Football, hence rugby clubs being RUFC/RLFCs. Gridiron was also incorporated around the same time so in terms of precedence the football association rules arrived later than American football/Grid Iron/Rugby rules.

The final one to add [in true buzzkillington style] would be Aluminum/Aluminium which was Aluminum in the UK until the royal society wanted people to start using it more so brought its spelling and pronunciation in like with the base metals sodium/Potassium etc. This stragely worked as the previously useless metal began to be looked at by engineers more due what is essentially a rebranding. The Americans, having recently had a bumpy time with the brits decided to keep the original spelling as Al is not a base metal hence the branding makes no sense to a metallurgist.

Fall or Autumn?
8 years

English to american

I live in the Northern part of the U.S. Here's a few I've run across over time from having friends online:

[U.K.] Car Park = [U.S.] Parking Garage
[U.K.] Knackered = [U.S.] Tired
[U.K. (Australia too?)] Tele = [U.S.] Television, T.V.

In the southern U.S. I believe Sack is commonly used as a grocery bag.

Across the U.S. there's this debate about carbonated beverages..soft drinks...Soda...Pop...

My friend from the U.K. would always talk about Chavs and Chevettes there, something I've never seen here.
8 years
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