emileg Posted September 21, 2007 #326 Share Posted September 21, 2007 The British Phrasebook (published by Lonely Planet) is a cute little book for Americans heading for the UK (or a Cunard ship, for that matter). It is a bit tounge-in-cheek and quite adorable. A British Airways flight attendant saw me reading it and asked if she could look at it. She said it was quite accurate. It gets beyond the boot and the bonnet. I suppose Brits could read it in reverse for some clues about American English (oxymoron not intended:rolleyes: ). Here is a link to to the book at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Lonely-Planet-British-Phrasebook-Phrasebooks/dp/0864424841/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-4360363-8178066?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190345740&sr=8-1 Enjoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travel-to-go Posted September 21, 2007 #327 Share Posted September 21, 2007 Hmm, Just learned something new from "Bum bags and Fanny packs" "ackers" [Egyptian akka one piastre] n. pound notes or money in general See it here! http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0786717025/ref=sib_dp_pt/105-4114615-2250047#reader-link Karie, who needs to do some more book buying! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoPiratesPlease Posted September 21, 2007 #328 Share Posted September 21, 2007 The problem with Brits and Yanks understanding each other despite a common language isn't new. One Brit wrote a funny little song quite derogatory about Americans and how rustic and silly they were. But the Americans didn't get the joke, loved the song and played it everywhere, not realizing it was making fun of them. Of course, that little ditty was "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and became the anthem of the American War for Independence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toffeegirl68 Posted September 21, 2007 #329 Share Posted September 21, 2007 My Father calls lunch 'dinner' and dinner 'tea' So breakfast, dinner & tea, occasionally supper instead of tea. So if you invite him over for dinner - he comes at noon, or if you invite him for tea - meaning a cup, he expects supper. I notice we say chesterfield where Americans say sofa. I love the way my English husband pronouces garage, urinal and half & half. It's why I fell in love with him. :) Just catching up with this thread over my lunch-time "butty".... Casshew, you fell in love with your husband because of the way he said "urinal" ??!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calikak Posted September 21, 2007 Author #330 Share Posted September 21, 2007 The same tip-of-the-day e-mail service had another interesting distinction between British and American English today, about the phrase "hark back": Part B: Wrongly Written "harp back." This odd mistake seems not to have spread beyond British English -- e.g.: "It makes interesting reading for those who harp [read 'hark'] back to a golden age of childish [read 'childlike'] innocence, and condemn the horrors and 'new sexuality' of modern children." Euan Ferguson, "Reclaiming the Streets: Full of Woe or Far to Go?" Observer, 9 June 1996, at 16. Curiously, most British dictionaries say nothing about this error." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dak Posted September 21, 2007 #331 Share Posted September 21, 2007 The same tip-of-the-day e-mail service had another interesting distinction between British and American English today, about the phrase "hark back": Part B: Wrongly Written "harp back." This odd mistake seems not to have spread beyond British English -- e.g.: "It makes interesting reading for those who harp [read 'hark'] back to a golden age of childish [read 'childlike'] innocence, and condemn the horrors and 'new sexuality' of modern children." Euan Ferguson, "Reclaiming the Streets: Full of Woe or Far to Go?" Observer, 9 June 1996, at 16. Curiously, most British dictionaries say nothing about this error." Harp: to dwell tediously on a subject (Collins Oxford Dictionary) David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casshew Posted September 22, 2007 #332 Share Posted September 22, 2007 Casshew, you fell in love with your husband because of the way he said "urinal" ??!!! Of course! any man that can make something nasty sound wonderful, is a keeper. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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