Growing up in Brooklyn, which might as well be another world, we called flip-flops, zorries. I don't hear that term anymore though.
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Language differences
- Thread starter oz'smum
- Start Date
In the Philippines, we say "soft drinks" (opposite of "hard drinks").Originally Posted by joanne511
I just wanted to mention that in the US, the word "soda" isn't used universally. It's a regional thing - some areas tend to call it "soda", some "pop", some "soda pop", some "coke" (no matter what the brand!), etc.
For Coca Cola etc in NZ we say "Fizzy drink"
That's a Japanese thing. I'm part Japanese, and most of my family was raised in Hawaii. We called them zori, slippah, or flip flop - here's a fun website that explains.
Of course the last two also mean the same things in the US as in canada. I actually say license plate more than tag and "I'm really pissed off" far more than when describing a drunk person. But I definitely have heard people use them both ways.
That buggy thing is odd to me. I'm a born and raised Floridian and I've never known anyone to say buggy, I've only heard shopping cart. Maybe it's regional to parts of Florida??
Don't laugh. As far as I know, that's EXACTLY where the name came from.Originally Posted by yayi
In the Philippines, we say "soft drinks" (opposite of "hard drinks").
In the US, prior to our attempt at prohibition (outlawing all alcohol), what we know as "soda" was sold as medicine.
Prohibition make "soft" drinks vastly popular and profitable. In many areas bars turned into ice cream parlors (hence the stools commonly found in old US soda fountains), and sold soda.
Here in So. Cal. the metal id for your car is the "plate", while the little sticker that shows you paid your registration for this year is the "tag", and I always figured "pissed'="drunk" was a british thing. I've always just heard "lit up", "f****d up" or "drunk"Originally Posted by katspixiedust
Of course the last two also mean the same things in the US as in canada. I actually say license plate more than tag and "I'm really pissed off" far more than when describing a drunk person. But I definitely have heard people use them both ways.
US = license plate; UK = number plate or registration plate
That is so funny that you noticed that too! I grew up in Florida and was dating a guy from Boston for awhile. The first time he heard me say "buggy" referring to the shopping cart at the grocery store.....he cracked up! He thought that was the funniest thing he's ever heard.
I've also always referred to softdrinks as "cokes"......doesn't matter if I'm talking about Sprite, Coke, or something else.....they are ALL cokes.
I dated an American for a year and a half, and it was crazy, all the differences I found! (Mind you, he was from the Midwest, so these may not generalise to everywhere in the U.S.).
pop = soda
garbage = trash
couch (or chesterfield, among older people) = sofa
brown bread = whole wheat bread
homo milk = whole milk
sub = hero
candy floss = cotton candy
chocolate bar = candy bar
processed cheese = American cheese
Kraft Dinner = macaroni and cheese
runners, running shoes = sneakers, tennis shoes
hydro (bill) = electricity (bill)
lineup = line (adding the 'up' would crack my ex up)
washroom = bathroom (we use bathroom, too, but ONLY for a bathroom in someone's house, not a room full of toilets in cubicles in a public place)
mark = grade
ABM = ATM
Also, here 'suck' is also a noun, as in 'so-and-so is such a suck', whereas in the U.S. it's only a verb. And 'close the lights' or 'shut the lights' (ie. 'turn off the lights') are apparently unheard of in the U.S.
Those are all I can think of right now, but I'm sure there are more!
pop = soda
garbage = trash
couch (or chesterfield, among older people) = sofa
brown bread = whole wheat bread
homo milk = whole milk
sub = hero
candy floss = cotton candy
chocolate bar = candy bar
processed cheese = American cheese
Kraft Dinner = macaroni and cheese
runners, running shoes = sneakers, tennis shoes
hydro (bill) = electricity (bill)
lineup = line (adding the 'up' would crack my ex up)
washroom = bathroom (we use bathroom, too, but ONLY for a bathroom in someone's house, not a room full of toilets in cubicles in a public place)
mark = grade
ABM = ATM
Also, here 'suck' is also a noun, as in 'so-and-so is such a suck', whereas in the U.S. it's only a verb. And 'close the lights' or 'shut the lights' (ie. 'turn off the lights') are apparently unheard of in the U.S.
Those are all I can think of right now, but I'm sure there are more!
Originally Posted by KittyKook
That is so funny that you noticed that too! I grew up in Florida and was dating a guy from Boston for awhile. The first time he heard me say "buggy" referring to the shopping cart at the grocery store.....he cracked up! He thought that was the funniest thing he's ever heard.
I've also always referred to softdrinks as "cokes"......doesn't matter if I'm talking about Sprite, Coke, or something else.....they are ALL cokes.
What part of Florida are you from? This is so confusing to me since I was born here in Florida and have lived here for 22 years and literally NEVER heard anyone say "buggy" before!!! I'm thinking it must just be certain areas of Florida or something? Actually the only people I've ever heard say buggy instead of cart is my family from western NY.
I'm wondering if maybe it's a word that was brought down by retirees and snowbirds...could be that in some parts of FL (or some demographics/communities) it's used and not in others. My parents live near Orlando and I've never heard people say "buggy" either when I've been out there.
Yeah that could definitely be it. I've been in Orlando for 4 years now and it's not a huge retiree area, and neither is my hometown, Ormond Beach. Ormond has a small retiree community, but is more a place for middle-age professionals it seems.
We call Childrens Prams, "Buggys" here in NZ.Originally Posted by KittyKook
That is so funny that you noticed that too! I grew up in Florida and was dating a guy from Boston for awhile. The first time he heard me say "buggy" referring to the shopping cart at the grocery store.....he cracked up! He thought that was the funniest thing he's ever heard.
I've also always referred to softdrinks as "cokes"......doesn't matter if I'm talking about Sprite, Coke, or something else.....they are ALL cokes.
This is a fun thread! Okay, I would get a "run" in my pantyhose, not a "ladder" in my tights, my "bangs", not my "fringe", might need trimming, I keep a "flashlight" in the car "trunk", rather than a "torch" in the "boot", and buy "take-out" fried rice, rather than "take-away". One British expression I love is, "He's had a lot of good innings". I don't think I've ever heard an American say that except in reference to baseball.
My grandmother was from Waycross, Georgia and she called them buggies. She also lived in Florida, for many years, during the 1920s-30s and 40s.Originally Posted by KittyKook
That is so funny that you noticed that too! I grew up in Florida and was dating a guy from Boston for awhile. The first time he heard me say "buggy" referring to the shopping cart at the grocery store.....he cracked up! He thought that was the funniest thing he's ever heard.
I've also always referred to softdrinks as "cokes"......doesn't matter if I'm talking about Sprite, Coke, or something else.....they are ALL cokes.
Here, in Arizona, a "buggy" is a two-seater horse-drawn carriage.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #98
Here in the UK a buggy is normally a babys pushchair.
There's differences from town to town here too. We've always said "I'll do it after". (as in "afterwards" or "later") my son moved to another town, and said it to a collegue, and he asked "after what?"
There's differences from town to town here too. We've always said "I'll do it after". (as in "afterwards" or "later") my son moved to another town, and said it to a collegue, and he asked "after what?"
you canadian peoples forgot the best one!
canada: toque, U.S.: stocking cap, winter hat
canada: toque, U.S.: stocking cap, winter hat
Couch = Sofa = Settee
Runners = Sneakers = Trainers
There are so many!
But I can't think of them now that i'm typing!
Oh yeah, the winter hat one, we call them beanies or bobble hats!
I remember when I came to uni, I was the only Northerner in the flat and everyone couldn't understand a word I was saying!! The dialects are SO different!!
They wanted me to do a glossary for the wall!!
Runners = Sneakers = Trainers
There are so many!
Oh yeah, the winter hat one, we call them beanies or bobble hats!
I remember when I came to uni, I was the only Northerner in the flat and everyone couldn't understand a word I was saying!! The dialects are SO different!!
