Aside from my struggles deciphering the Scottish and, more specifically, Glaswegian accent, British English is not all that different from what I'm used to back home. There are some weird variations in language, however, that still perplex me from time to time. Here are some examples:
Firstly, there is an obvious difference in the spelling of words that is sometimes surprising. I feel there's an odd fascination with unnecessary vowels:
Medieval --> Mediaeval
Skeptical --> Sceptical
Defense --> Defence
Theater --> Theatre
9/28/2008 --> 28/9/2008
Color --> Colour
Maneuver --> Manoeuvre
And some terms are, well, just incomprehensible from the American English. These are all terms that I feel really self-conscious about both saying and not-saying when conversing with my peers here.
Line --> Queue
Bathroom --> Loo
Dinner --> Tea
Cigarette --> Fag
Stove --> Hob
Z --> Zed
Dish Soap --> Washing-Up Liquid
Fries --> Chips
Chips --> Crisps
TV --> Telly
Cell Phone --> Mobile
Trailer Trash --> NEDs
Vomit --> Sick
Sketchy --> Dodgy
Cup of Tea --> Cuppa
Little --> Wee
Shrimp --> Prawn
For a more academic approach, turn to the ultimate linguistic source.
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1 comment:
I love the telly! I smoke clove fags! And I like the colour teal, especially when I go to the theatre, as I am eating crisps. The queue isn't THAT long for operas, have you noticed? Especially after tea, on a wee hot summer day, when dodgy people like you and I are at the hob cooking up some chips, and then we clean up with some washing-up liquid because we don't want prawn all over our dishes.
hahaha. That sucked, MAJOR ARSE! Oh, should I be pc? nah. fuck being pc.
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