After a couple of years here, I'm able to go days almost forgetting I use the English language differently to most of those around me. Then, something inevitably trips me up. It might be a spilled beer that makes me shout "Kitchen paper!" Quickly followed by some swearing and frantic gesturing to any Americans at hand who might be able to guess what on earth I'm talking about. "Paper towel" just doesn't quite come to the tip of my tongue in a liquid emergency.
Last week, I was writing about someone who'd been "at the coal face" of the financial crisis. I had dithered around searching for another phrase but, when you're writing about it every day, everything starts to seem cliche - so I left the cliche there, and fully expected the inevitable call from an editor asking if I could come up with a better expression. When the (American) editor called, he asked me what I meant by "coal face". Being the eager-to-please kind of person I am, I skipped this question and presented him with several alternative descriptions. But he insisted - what did I mean by "at the coal face"? He hadn't ever come across the expression. It had never occurred to me before that "at the coal face" didn't translate - and, growing up in an era when mines were closing down all over the country, I never would have thought that the evidence of England's mining past could be found in my vocabulary.
Other words I have problem with are 'serviette' and 'napkin'. I know and use both - but I forget which is common and understood here. I also have difficulty pronouncing the state 'Maryland'. I think about it so much before I say it that it comes out even worse than if I just gave up and said 'Mary-Land' - a bit like an American in London trying to pronounce Marylebone for the first time.
So, as most of you other expats have been abroad much longer than I have - are there any words or phrases that still trip you up? And for the locals, are there any times when you've been abroad and learned something new about the oddities of your own language, just by trying to make yourself understood?
Sunday, January 11, 2009
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17 comments:
odd that, seeing as coal mining is not exactly an alien concept in the US. apparently the US still has the world's largest known reserves...are there differences in techniques? perhaps a 'harry stamper' drill as deep as you can and blow it up approach is favoured over working at the face?
i recommend digging up some old railroad slang for future articles.
also, don't people say 'kitchen towel' rather than 'kitchen paper' in britain? maybe you're halfway there and you don't even realise.
I once praised a lawyers 'graft' in print, only to receive a rather bemused call upon publication - turns out that whilst 'hard graft' in England (particularly the north) is clearly someone who works hard, in the US it seems to indicate some sort of bribery. Clearly not something appreciated by the lawyer.
It's even more fun when you import words from a non-English language directly into English and forget that its unknown to native speakers. The German word for mobile phone (cell phone) gets me everytime--I've taken it directly into my spoken English and use it without thinking, both in the US and UK... and then I have to explain myself.
The word, by the way, is "Handy".
Would you like my Handy number?
I live in London and if anyone says to me “everyone speaks English” my answer is “Listen and look around you”. If people in London do not speak English then the whole question of a global language is completely open.
The promulgation of English as the world’s “lingua franca” is impractical and linguistically undemocratic. I say this as a native English speaker!
Impractical because communication should be for all and not only for an educational or political elite. That is how English is used internationally at the moment.
Undemocratic because minority languages are under attack worldwide due to the encroachment of majority ethnic languages. Even Mandarin Chinese is attempting to dominate as well. The long-term solution must be found and a non-national language, which places all ethnic languages on an equal footing is essential.
An interesting video can be seen at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8837438938991452670
A glimpse of Esperanto can be seen at http://www.lernu.net
And you revealed one differnce right in your first sentence. Americans use words differently than other English speakers. Until now, I thought that Brits used words differently from them, but I defer to your usage.
American English is my native tongue, but the word "shrimp" sticks in my throat. Especially when used by Paul Hogan, who should know better.
@TQE: There's a shop in Munich station that sells used mobile phones. It's called, Second Handy.
tqe please don't be offended, it's just i'm not sure anyone wants your handy number.
don't ask me how or why, but i came across this recent blog entry from julian cope of teardrop explodes fame/now acclaimed neolithic historian. it seems appropriate to paste it here:
Oh, and another f***ing thing finally finally, I’d just like to take issue with an American reader who complained recently that my Drudions are becoming so riddled with British slang that they’ve become unreadable to those across the pond. Sir, I’ve been married to an American woman for over twenty years and I’m often accused by both English friends and fans of having becoming a little too Transatlantic, so don’t come it with me. As a rock’n’roller and poet, I use words not just for their meaning but also for their ability to take readers into an alternative head-space, ie: I want my Drudions to make you feel as though I’m talking to you directly, speaking in my slang-strewn everyday voice. Are you as an American just so used to being catered for that any display of ‘differentness’ on the part of another English speaker has become irksome to you? Or do you genuinely not know just how much the world is forced to kowtow daily to America’s increasingly Romanizing culture? In the words of one of your own: “The way I talk is just the way I talk.” And with that little tirade over, I think it’s time to cast off even further into the 21st century.
Love F***ing Peace,
JULIAN (Lord Yatesbury)
I rather like 'handy' as a way to describe my mobile/cell phone. I may adopt it.
And I no longer can remember the rules (or just what's common usage) for different to/from/than. I know that nearly every time I write it, it's wrong somewhere in the world... So the conclusion I've come to is to try not to worry about it too much, as long as I can make myself understood, more or less....
A few of my favorite's (both ways):
UK
"Off License" Why off? Every one I've been to is licensed.
"Lurgy" Americans say flu. If flu is short for influenza, what's lurgy short for? Lurgical?
USA
"My alarm went off" No, it didn't go anywhere.
"Restroom" No one is resting in there.
rob, assuming we're talking outside of one's own living quarters, i can tell you i've taken a great deal more rests than i have baths in there over the years.
I amde a comment about 'knocking something for six' the other day and just got totally blank looks. Telling the whole school to meet in the 'car park' caused alot of confusion too let me teell ya!!
I also love the US expression 'reach out' meaning contact/get in touch. It sounds so urgent and 'real' in a melodramtic/Celine Dion kind of way, but it's not at all...is it? Isn't it mostly used in business/networking situations involving at least a vague prospect of a financial gain of some kind?
I can't get myself to refer to a minivan as a people carrier. It makes me giggle every time.
Describing someone as "full of beans" had the opposite reaction to that intended. I'll leave that particular expression back in Blighty.
I cannot understand when they tell me the time..."it's quarter of 3" I have to confirm it on numbers....
I have a few favourites.
When my husband says he is wearing khaki pants for work. The first time I heard this I just burst out laughing because I knew what he meant, but I also knew how it sounded to ME. I explained to him that "cacky pants" in England (or certainly where I grew up in Nottingham) meant you had a nassty accident in your underwear.
This one was amusing all over again when the subject came up in front of my dad and he found it so funny he snorted beer down his nose!!
Then there's the way they can an arse.....a fanny! No, no, no! Getting the two confused in a sexual relationship could lead to something of a surprise and a painful conclusion.
They're my two favourites....but you have inspired me to write a blog on this. Thanks :-)
After giving a party for our friends, hubby said to me, "You've worked like a little Trojan today."
One of our American friends responded, "You call your wife a condom." :-)
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