American -> British glossary

Great Britain... The United States of America... two countries separated by a common language.

For those of us who may be going overseas in 2007, you may need to learn a few terms.

British -- American

---

[b]bird[/b] -- [i]girl[/i]
[b]bloke[/b] -- [i]guy[/i]
[b]bog[/b] -- [i]toilet[/i]
[b]bog roll[/b] -- [i]toilet paper[/i]
[b]brolly[/b] -- [i]umbrella[/i]
[b]BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy)[/b] -- [i]Mad Cow Disease[/i]
[b]Chips/crisps[/b] -- [i]French fries[/i]
[b]do[/b] -- [i]party[/i]
[b]dustbin[/b] -- [i]trash can[/i]
[b]fag[/b] -- [i]cigarette[/i]
[b]gaol[/b] -- [i]jail[/i]
[b]gob[/b] -- [i]mouth[/i]
[b]jacket potato[/b] -- [i]baked potato[/i]
[b]lift[/b] -- [i]elevator[/i]
[b]loo[/b] -- [i]bathroom[/i]
[b]Mind the gap[/b] -- [i]Watch your step[/i]
[b]pasty[/b] -- [i]meat pie[/i]
[b]petrol[/b] -- [i]gasoline[/i]
[b]pootle[/b] -- [i]wander aimlessly[/i]
[b]pudding[/b] -- [i]generic term for dessert[/i]
[b]pull[/b] -- [i]seduce[/i]
[b]quid[/b] -- [i]slang for British pound[/i]
[b]serviette[/b] -- [i]napkin[/i]
[b]stone[/b] -- [i]unit of weight (14 pounds)[/i]
[b]tuck in[/b] -- [i]start eating[/i]

Any Brits that can add (or make corrections) to this list would be greatly appreciated.

 

I'll have a look for some more but this is slightly wrong

Crisps in the UK are what Americans call Chips
Chips are what you call French fries

Edit: Oh thought of something, in buildings your first floor is called the ground floor in the UK, so your second would be the first and so on.

pence = cents (change comes as 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, £1 coin and £2 coin)
Notes = bills (this comes in £5, £10, £20 there is a £50 note however difficult to use sio when changing money do not get a £50 note)

 

I have never had issues with 50 quid notes.

Cheaper hotels often do NOT have lifts - remeber that when they put you on the 5th floor.

The English CANNOT make coffee. Period. Stick to tea and you'll be happier.

London is EXPENSIVE, by any standard.

One of these is a must

 

Depends on where you go, bigger places will take them smaller places may not.

Heck I have had issues with a bus taking a Scottish £5 which is sterling and was against the law for them to refuse to do so (as I worked as a cashier for years I know it was against the law) but doesn't stop people refusing to accept it.

I doubt people will be given a £50 anyway as most people don't use them but something to know anyway.

 

There are so many Starbucks in London any American should be able to survive People who like proper, strong coffee will be well advised to go to one of the Italian cafés - The Forum just opposite the British Museum does a mean espresso.

 

I can vouch for the Forum - packs enough caffeine to keep you awake throughout the whole Celebration, but it's further over to the East.

There's plenty of places on High Street Kensington that sell high powered coffee with flavour. Us Brits are getting better on the coffee front

 

There are plenty of coffee places on Earls Court Road and Gloucester Road just a few minutes away

You also have Kings Road further south - if you're into non-SW celeb spotting you'll have a hoot there

 

Sorry guys - I'm talking about U.S. Style coffee... which is an art in and of itself. And Starbucks is NOT good U.S. Style coffee. It's like saying Dominoes makes NY pizza, McDonalds does fish and chips, or tepid water and lipton makes tea. (I have my Tetly's rounds and electric kettle which I guard jelously!
)

Of course no coffee that I've ever had (U.S. or UK or even Rome) is a patch on Cafe' Nero in St. Pauls

Best eats: There's a chippy on the Roman Road (Bow proper), Raffles near Paddington (HUGE breakies for under a fiver)... I think Americans need to let go of thier need for patronizing US chains and explore.

Star wars toys - Buy them in the US... the exchange rate will kill you (Right now it's looking at about 2$ per UK pound - OUCH!)

 

There's a link to a currency converter over in the Travel Tips thread I started so you can see how much your cup of coffee will cost both in pounds and local currency.

For those coming from the US - our power is different than the US and electrical items like laptops, phone chargers, hairdryers, etc. might need current converters. The plugs are different as well so even if your item is dual current you will probably need a plug converter. Try a travel store or a place like Radio Shack for these.

 

Plaster - band aid
Biscuit - cookie
Zebra crossing - cross walk
Nappy - Diaper (for those with kids)
Aubergine - Eggplant
Tap - faucet
Motorway - Freeway
Dummy - pacifier
Post - Mail
Chemist - Pharmacist
Trolley - Shopping cart
Take away - Take out

Edit: not that anyone will need this but people might be interested for a giggle in looking at Cockney rhyming slang (A form of English slang which originated in the East End of London.)

http://www.cockneyrhymingslang.co.uk

 

....or you could rent a copy of either "The Italian Job" (the first version not that awful remake) or "Zulu".

Yup, we all speak like Michael Caine over here!

Paul

 

Actually, Bloke is more Australian that British, but it's used here as well to a lesser extent, so I'll forgive you for that. But since you are in London, you could use the term "Geezer" - pronounced Geeez-ah.

Again, wrong. But's it's already been brought up.

Oh, and another thing, I brought this up in the JCC (this goes for asking Brits when in America) - Don't ask a Brit if they've ever seen the Queen, or if they live in London (although, for the Celebration, you might get away with it), because:

#1 - 99% of the time the answer will be no.

#2 - You will look like a word that can't be used because of TOS, but it starts with "W"!

Actually, there are some more words for you...

Muppet, Donut, Plonker, the "W" word, Prat, Wally, Pillock -- They all mean idiot.

"Don't talk daft/wet" means "Stop being stupid" in the context of a stupid conversation.

"Who ate all the pies? Who ate all the pies?" - A football terrace chant implying that you're very overweight. Usually followed up by "You fat bastard! You fat bastard! Who ate all the pies?" (Mods, you might want to edit that out, but I used it simply that Americans can expect what to hear. Actually, this comment is also used both as a derogetory, and a friendly jibe, but whenever I've been in the States, American's don't tend to pick up on what a British version of a friendly jibe is, so be careful of that one.

Aubergine (sp?) = Zuchinni (sp?)

Tart is also a form of desert (as in Strawberry Tart), as well as a "loose woman".

Slag is a more derogetory version of second meaning of "Tart".

Hey, they might not be nice words, but you might as well learn them, just in case you take it as a compliment!

Telly/Goggle Box = Television.

Wazz/The Gypsies Kiss = Urinate.

A Tom-Tit = Taking a dump.

China Plate = Mate (as in Friend), or also commonly used in London (as around my area for some reason), "Alright, my old China!"

Lamping/Ragging = Having the **** kicked out of you!

To be honest, you'll only hear some of those around London, but it's better to warn you now, than to have you arse kicked by an angry mob - believe it or not, American's are not as popular here as we are with you.

 

I'll let you know what I think of the American coffee when I get back from my little vacation in NYC. I've heard [JarJar]TERRIRIRIRIRIBLE[/JarJar] of huge cups filled to the rim with a bland flavoured surrogate that's called 'coffee' .

And who knows, I might even seriously consider a trip to London and join the festivities at Celebration '07! And test the English coffee as well.

(I've been a coffee addict since I was 3; coffee should be strong, almost so strong that it will make your lips stiffen, make cracks in your teeth's enamel and could pave highways in your stomach).

 

I once had a 'café solo' in a small bar on Tenerife. Came in a tiny cup. After one sip, I knew why, haha!

 

I had the same experience in Switzerland. Took 9 packets of sugar to disguise the taste.

Oh, another one for you:

Love = woman whose name I don't know.

When someone says something like, (pretend I'm bumping into you by accident) "Sorry, love! Didn't see you there.", it doesn't mean I'm hitting on you, it means I don't know your name.

 

Yeah be aware for people saying "Me duck", "Me beauty", "Me darlin", etc etc in reference to you. They're being friendly and using it because they don't know you're name. Also, people from the North of England (such as TimBolton) may use "Flower" "Pet" and the classic... "me little rose bud!"

 

I had coffee in the US. Horrible. Hot water whose taste was vaguely reminiscent of coffee. Perhaps I was just unlucky!

Anyway. Best coffee is in Italy anyway, so that's a mute point, and it doesn't concern London and Celebration (how is it called by the way? C4.2 ? CL ?).

 

Good call, Chris.

Cherrub is another one. And so is Rabbit...usually used by women because they think you're cute and cuddley. I get that from the ladies at work a lot.

 

???
who speaks like micheal caine???
rent lock,stock and two smoking barrels,you slaaag!
or failing that,get the first and second series of spaced!!!

 

Okay, okay fair enough.

But it may be also worth letting our North American cousins know that we do not all know Prince Charles, or have met Tony Blair!

I guess that any Canadians coming over will also have to smuggle extra rations; we don't have Tim Hortons over here!

But we do have a game called Cricket. Its like baseball, but does not have cheerleaders....or is played in places like the Rogers Center (or whatever the Skydome is caled nowadays), or is as exciting.

*gives up on getting a job at tourist board*

Paul

 

I think CE has been adopted for this one

I think we've forgotten a big glossary term:
Jam = Jelly
Jelly = Jello

So it's jam sandwiches and jam doughnut

And get used to seeing U's in words like colour, honour, humour etc....

 

Clone Commandeur
Poggle the Lesseur
Star Destroyeur
Darth Vadeur/Anakin Skywalkeur
lightsabeur
Jaur Jaur Binks

 

! But that's French!

Oh, and if you rent a car so you can drive around yourselves, be wary: the English drive on the wrong side of the road. Hey, it certainly isn't the right side

 

No, tis the correct side that we drive on. You just drive on the right