Made me think (and smile)

[hamhead]

I was watching American Idol, which we get in the UK, and Simon Cowell described a singer as "wet" which we, in UK, totally undertand but totally confused all the US panel.

Shows that even though alot of our culture is similar and influenced by each other etc some colloquialism/quirks in language still confuse each other

[JosephC]

So true! I believe you call chips "crisps" and you call your mailman a postman? I think there is also something different with lemonade too, although I cant say so for sure.

[hamhead]

Your "pants" are our "trousers", pants to us are "underwear" so you can imagine
the confusion we have watching US tv.....

[Igoe4Mariners]

Haha this is a nice thread hamhead. There certainly are a lot of differences in our language and culture.

[clarknova]

Have a good friend from Birmingham England who I met on a random bus in the jungle in India. I'll never forget the first time he asked me if I would like a cigarette... I interpreted it to be him questioning whether or not I'd like to kill a homosexual.
He's always calling everyone "geezer" (actually it comes out more like, "Oy, Geezah!") and was totally shocked to hear that we pretty well exclusively use that to describe the elderly... And that it's not usually a term of endearment. He calls me "Bredgewin" (Sp?), still not totally sure on that one. My other favorites are "Wobbly bits", and how hilarious he thinks it is that everyone calls their "bum bags" "fanny packs". Apparently "fanny" is not the same thing over there.