More Tomatoes

An alternate title for "You say tomato, I say tomato".  I still have fun comparing American English (AmEng) with British (BrEng), so here are a few more (BrEng in italics):

Home improvement - DIY (Do It Yourself)
Anchor - Rawlplug
Dry wall - Stud wall (in AmEng, "studs" are to what the dry wall is attached)
Flip - House renovation
Outlet (electrical) - Socket
Trimmer (garden) - Strimmer
Wrench - Spanner 

Transportation - Transport
18-wheeler (or semi) - Juggernaut
Bus - Coach
Bus operator - Bus driver (operator is the company that owns the bus)
Cross walk - Zebra crossing (or Pelican crossing if controlled by lights)
Engineer (railroad) - Train driver
Intersection - Junction
Moving Van - Pantechnicon
Public Transit - Public transit 
Railroad - Railway
Switch (railroad) - Points (railway)
Streetcar or trolley  - Tram
Traffic circle - Roundabout

Employment
1st, 2nd and 3rd shifts - Early, late and night shifts
Flex time - Flexi time
Let go - Fired or sacked 

I have previously recommended one of my favorite blogs "Separated by a Common Language".The latest posting points out a wonderful English expression "I'm not being funny, but". Check it out, Lynnequist is wonderful at explaining these wonderful expressions and what the American equivalent is (or might be).

I'm not being funny, but I'm no expert as Lynnequist certainly is. Postings on this blog are merely my own observations and just for fun.

You say tomato, I say tomato (again)

After five years of living here, I'm still struck by differences in American English (Am-Eng) and English English (Eng-Eng). Now you didn't expect me to say British-English I'm sure.

It's not just the pronunciation of a word spelled exactly the same. It's also the definition - sometimes similar, sometimes different.

As I mentioned in one of my first posts, I do now say to-MATE-toe rather than to-MAR-toe (probably the only American pronunciation Gail still doesn't use). Another great food example is AP-ricot as opposed to Eng-Eng APE-ricot.

Of the non-food differences there is, of course SKED-ule as opposed to SHED-ule (the American version does make sense, no one pronounces school "shool". Syllable emphasizing is another part of the language that takes some getting use to. IN-surance (Am-Eng) as opposed to in-SURE-ance (Eng-Eng); warran-TEE (Am-Eng) against warran-TY (Eng-Eng) and a-DULT (Am-Eng) versus AD-ult (Eng-Eng), are examples that come to mind.

I was discussing with some friends my views on the architecture of our church. It is, I suppose, a very English looking building. I was saying that in my opinion it could be improved (practically and aesthetically) by the addition of a porch. "What!", my Southern friends exclaimed, "It would look dreadful". I realized immediately what a goof I'd made. "Porch" in Am-Eng is a veranda (Eng-Eng) and so yes, it would look awful. They were thinking I'd gone out of my mind and probably had visions of some parishioners, quietly sitting in rocking chairs, enjoying a glass of iced tea! What I meant is the sort of church porch, a vestibule or lobby, found on the majority of older English churches!

A blog I read regularly and can thoroughly recommend is "Separated by a Common Language". The latest posting really makes a point about the layout of our neighborhoods. It uses the big 1980s hit "Our House" of English group Madness as a wonderful example of confusion. Check it out to see what I mean. Can you imagine a house "in the middle of the street". Of course you can if you're English. Not so if you are American.