Dialect and culture: UK vs USA

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Not quite a Newb Joined: 08 Jan 2012 Posts: 57

I have always been interested in the difference between UK and US culture and the way we speak

I am from the UK, but have traveled to America on a number of occasions, as I like the culture (and the attractions, LOL)... but have seen and heard of differences, even though we are close countries

For example, the different words we use for different things.. (sidewalk / pavement)

Also other things liek the fact that we have letter boxes on our front doors here, but in America the post go's inside some little box in front of the house, etc

I would love opinions from fellow eater members about this, as I know a lot of you are from both countries

Cheers

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

We also have disagreements on what to call stuff over here. Pop vs. Soda vs. Coke, Water Fountain vs. Bubbler. The list continues.

Edit to add:

http://strangemaps.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/popvssodamap.gif

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 1:39 am

Pastor Frank wrote:

Pop vs. Soda vs. Coke,

Then those are regional. In the south all cold beverages, except tea, is called a Coke. Some southerners will use "cold beverage"

Someone will ask if you would like a Coke. When you say yes, you are then asked "orange, cola, 7 up, root beer?"

Then there is tea -- in the south when you say tea you get asked "sweet" or "unsweet" meaning iced tea. In the north when you say "tea" you get hot tea and you have to ask for iced tea. In the south if you want hot tea, you must say hot tea.

Isn't that special? Wink

(more southern speak)

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

[quote="Morgain Le Fay"]

Pastor Frank wrote:

Someone will ask if you would like a Coke. When you say yes, you are then asked "orange, cola, 7 up, root beer?"

Many years ago I was stationed in the South, at a restaurant they asked me if I would "like a Coke" then asked what "kind" of Coke I wanted.

Obviously I'm from the North, but I sure do miss good biscuits and gravy.

Elite Baiter Joined: 19 Jun 2011 Posts: 1066

Quote:

Pop vs. Soda vs. Coke,

I think I was the only person in the entire Midwest that mostly called it "Soda". There was something about the word "Pop" that didn't seem right to me.

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 1:59 am

^^ When I lived in the Midwest (Ohio), they usually called it "soda pop"

@PF, then I will be thinking of you this weekend as I chow down on sausage gravy and biscuits. Wink

mmmmm mmmmm good!

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

Morgain Le Fay wrote:

^ sausage gravy and biscuits. Wink

mmmmm mmmmm good!

I make a mean sausage gravy up here in Minnesota. I use onions, it's probably blasphemy down there.

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 2:06 am

When I first moved to the South about 10 years ago from up North, I was completely confused by the terminology and customs. The lessons came fast and furious at the grocery store, when the kid who'd finished bagging my items wheeled the cart around and said, "I've got yer buggy, where you parked?" Shocked

The second was at a gas station, where I stopped to buy a few things on the way to work. The lady asked, "You wan a sack with that?" She must have noticed my accent (or lack thereof) when I thanked her, and as I put the things in my purse a huge grin bloomed on her face and in a motherly whisper said, "Honey, you don' know what a sack is, do ya?" I said, "Um, no, I don't." She held up a plastic bag and had a good laugh.

I spent the first few years like this: Embarassed

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

Quote:

Honey

All the women down there called me "Honey", I thought I was special.

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 2:22 am

From what I can see Wheelie Bins appear to be the same both sides of the Atlantic Smile

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

^ No, we actually call them Garbage Cans here in the North. (of the U.S.)

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 2:25 am

@ PF, you are most decidedly special, Honey. Given the fact I didn't know the difference between a sack and a plastic bag, that's undoubtedly why she thought I was 'special', too. Laughing

The respectful terms of address down here are gender specific as well. If you are acquainted, ladies are called "Miss [first name]" regardless of age; if not acquainted it's "Mrs." or "Miss" [last name]. Men are almost always addressed as "Mr. [last name]". Seeing as how I deal with mostly older and elderly clients, I stick to the rules, even after they insist for the umpteenth time to call them by their first names. Just last year I looked one client in the eye and said, "No sir, I wasn't raised that way, so please don't ask me again, OK Bob?" He got the message. Razz

EDITED to add that we don't have wheelie bins here either. They are garbage cans without wheels. In fact, I don't even have garbage cans. Everything is put neatly by the curb in proper bags and the truck comes right on schedule.

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

^The thing I picked up from down there, 20+ years ago, is "do what"? and it still drives the bride nuts.

Not quite a Newb Joined: 08 Jan 2012 Posts: 57

Shopping carts: we call them trolley's here in England

And carbonated soda every one in the UK just calls "fizzy drink"

Coke is COKE here, lol "Coca Cola"

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 2:49 am

@PF, Hahaha! It's a metaphor for "I'm not listening" as well. Razz

Other colorful sayings:

"it's butt-sprung" = that thing/person is broken beyond repair
"ready to fight a bear in the bathtub" = I'm feeling well and ready for anything
"like a duck on a junebug" = I'm after it
"got his ox in a ditch!" = he effed up, big time

etc. And I've got a list of cajun colloquialisms as well.

EDIT: I keep having to edit because I'm a slow typist.

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 3:16 am

You ex-colonials think you have problems - I can hardly understand a Geordie (North East) accent let alone their regional idioms, and that area of the UK is only about 350 miles away from where I live.

@TheFae: Our garbage cans were called Dustbins before we discovered the concept of the wheel.

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

@ TheFae

I sometimes still say "your what hurts?" as opposed to "excuse me?" in informal situations.

You sound a little more Southern than I was years ago. I was stationed in KY, you sound more AL, MO, LA.

I also lived way down South in FL, but they speak Northern on the coast and Southern in the middle and in the panhandle. That should really confuse Sold_Me_Out.

Not quite a Newb Joined: 08 Jan 2012 Posts: 57

Pastor Frank wrote:

@ TheFae

I sometimes still say "your what hurts?" as opposed to "excuse me?" in informal situations.

You sound a little more Southern than I was years ago. I was stationed in KY, you sound more AL, MO, LA.

I also lived way down South in FL, but they speak Northern on the coast and Southern in the middle and in the panhandle. That should really confuse Sold_Me_Out.

It did confuse me a little bit, but we have some confusion here too in the UK, between our Southeren accents and the Northern, especially Scottish accents

A sack for a shopping bag???? wow!!

One thing I have never quite understood is that MOST houses in America or Canada are made of wood.... what is the reason for this do you think??

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 5:57 pm

Sold_Me_Out wrote:

One thing I have never quite understood is that MOST houses in America or Canada are made of wood.... what is the reason for this do you think??

Dunno but it keeps fire brigades in a job. More trees than clay for bricks perhaps? Houses are enough trouble without worrying about them rotting.

Meanwhile, what do you call these?

Round here they are teacakes, but it varies all over the UK, never mind the US. Muffins, rolls, baps, stotties etc etc..

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 6:03 pm

Here in Michigan they're called stoplights....in Wisconsin they're Stop & Go lights instead. Also most of the bars here are in towns, over there they have one at what seems like every intersection out in the country. The bars all have names like George & Karen's.

The biggest culture shock I ever had was when I went to Yugoslavia back in the mid 80's though.

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 6:14 pm

Quote:

Also other things liek the fact that we have letter boxes on our front doors here, but in America the post go's inside some little box in front of the house, etc

This depends on where you are in the U.S. Some American communities have boxes on the front of the house. Some have slots in the doors. Some have boxes on a pole at the end of their driveway. Some have all the boxes on poles at the end of the road, etc. Apartments, trailer parks, etc. generally have a 'wall' of boxes somewhere that correspond to the apartment number and residents access with a key.

Quote:

One thing I have never quite understood is that MOST houses in America or Canada are made of wood.... what is the reason for this do you think??

Again this depends on communities. In my neighborhood most of the homes are wood frame. But just a few blocks away there is a whole community that is primarily brick. In South Miami, the majority of homes are Stucco. Various reasons for it - local availability of materials, typical weather patterns, and personal preference play in.

One thing to keep in mind - some of the states in the U.S. are larger than some countries in the U.K., and are spread out over a huge range geographic territory with widely varying terrain and environment. So... there can be just as much diversity between two different states as there is between the US and the UK. Laughing

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

Big Al wrote:

The bars all have names like George & Karen's.

In Wisconsin they are called taverns.

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 6:51 pm

In addition to "honey", the south uses "sweetie", "honey chile" and "sugar"

I agree PF is a "honey".

We also say "I am fixin' to________"

Also southerners use "Ain't That Precious" and "Bless Your Heart"

My granny who was born circa 1870 would call a sack or bag a "poke". As in here, let me put that in a poke for you. Of course most have heard about buying a "pig in a poke". No one ever actually explained that to me, so I take it to mean you are buying something without having seen it.

Sometimes granny fixed something called "mush" for breakfast.

@Big Al When I lived in Tennessee it seems there was a church on every corner. But in Michigan there seems to be a bar or liquor store on every corner!

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 7:26 pm

Yeah, we do have a lot of liquor stores. Gas stations sell alcohol too so you are never very far from a place to purchase. One of the funny things is that most of the Party stores are owned by Indians (Not American Indians but people from the country of India). I tell people if we ever make them all mad enough to go home at the same time it'll be like prohibition all over again. LOL.

Not quite a Newb Joined: 08 Jan 2012 Posts: 57

Cool bearkat

I asked the first question, because all the American films, or shows I have seen where there is a house involved, they always have the post box on the the drive way, etc, never on the door itself

Most of the houses in the UK are made of brick, I guess in seaside places, they may have SOME made of wood

One question.... how would you compare, somewhere like Ohio to Idaho?? Or are they similiar in culture and stuff?

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