You Say Suspenders And I Say Braces, I Say Suspenders And You Say Garters.
By Jabo
@jaboUK (64354)
United Kingdom
October 25, 2015 11:47am CST
Since joining this computer world a couple of years ago I've come to understand that American English and British English can be two different things.
For instance, when I referred to someone as having braces to keep up his trousers, the reaction was ''Huh?''. I reacted in the same way when I was told that someone was going out in his vest and pants - that's underwear to me.
So I've put together a little scenario to illustrate some of the differences.
I had to go out one morning so I took off my dressing gown (robe), washed my face with a flannel (washcloth), and put in a hairslide (barrette) after combing my fringe (bangs).
I put on a polo neck jumper (turtleneck sweater), trousers (pants) and trainers (sneakers), and took my coat out of the wardrobe (closet).
As my flat (apartment) was on the 1st floor (2nd floor) I took the lift (elevator) down to the ground floor (1st floor).
Outside the flat I saw my neighbour tinkering with his car - he had both the bonnet (hood) and boot (trunk) open, and he was chatting to the postman (mailman).
I walked along the pavement (sidewalk) passing the chemist's shop (drugstore), estate agents (realtor) and the off licence (liquor store). I met my friend who had her baby in a pram (stroller), she was on her way to buy nappies (diapers).
On reaching the supermarket I took a trolley (shopping cart) and filled it with aubergines (eggplant), courgettes (zucchini), maize (corn), biscuits (cookies), crisps (chips), chips (fries), and sweets (candy).
On reaching home I put the shopping away, threw the wrappings into the dustbin (trashcan) and then thought I deserved a shot of mother's ruin (gin). Yaay!
Then I had a game of draughts (checkers) with my flatmate, before taking a trip to the cinema (movie theater) that evening.
Whew - now I need a holiday (vacation)
Are you familiar with any of these terms?
So I've put together a little scenario to illustrate some of the differences.
I had to go out one morning so I took off my dressing gown (robe), washed my face with a flannel (washcloth), and put in a hairslide (barrette) after combing my fringe (bangs).
I put on a polo neck jumper (turtleneck sweater), trousers (pants) and trainers (sneakers), and took my coat out of the wardrobe (closet).
As my flat (apartment) was on the 1st floor (2nd floor) I took the lift (elevator) down to the ground floor (1st floor).
Outside the flat I saw my neighbour tinkering with his car - he had both the bonnet (hood) and boot (trunk) open, and he was chatting to the postman (mailman).
I walked along the pavement (sidewalk) passing the chemist's shop (drugstore), estate agents (realtor) and the off licence (liquor store). I met my friend who had her baby in a pram (stroller), she was on her way to buy nappies (diapers).
On reaching the supermarket I took a trolley (shopping cart) and filled it with aubergines (eggplant), courgettes (zucchini), maize (corn), biscuits (cookies), crisps (chips), chips (fries), and sweets (candy).
On reaching home I put the shopping away, threw the wrappings into the dustbin (trashcan) and then thought I deserved a shot of mother's ruin (gin). Yaay!
Then I had a game of draughts (checkers) with my flatmate, before taking a trip to the cinema (movie theater) that evening.
Whew - now I need a holiday (vacation)
Are you familiar with any of these terms?75 people like this
75 responses
@crazyhorseladycx (39509)
• United States
25 Oct 15
i love it when ya do these! i'm familiar with 'em only due to the use'f the net. that boot thingy'd me goin' fer sometime, my imagination runnin' wild 'bout where the heck a boot'd be'n somebody's auto
11 people like this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
25 Oct 15
@crazyhorseladycx Well, a trunk to us is somewhere you store things, and in the old days it's what the posh people would take with them when going abroad, to carry all their possessions in. Or it can be the main part of a tree.
9 people like this
@crazyhorseladycx (39509)
• United States
25 Oct 15
@jaboUK lol, yes ma'am - i can relate to the trunk. jest y'alls boot thingy took a bit. took me gatherin' the gumption to ask a dear friend from yer neck'f the woods (rest his sweet soul) to straighten me out 'bout it...
5 people like this
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
25 Oct 15
I ordered chips in a restaurant in Toronto and got given a bag of crisps - what I should have asked for was French Fries as suggested above.
10 people like this
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
25 Oct 15
@jaboUK there was plenty of other food so I put the unopened unsealed crisps in my bag for later consumption. They were not expensive
5 people like this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
25 Oct 15
@arthurchappell Ha - did you send the crisps back? They wouldn't have been much of a dinner
5 people like this
@maggs224 (2320)
• Alicante, Spain
26 Oct 15
@arthurchappell When my son-in-law was in Paris a few weeks back he (he is an American) ordered French fries with his meal. The French waiter said they didn't serve French Fries plus saying something else in French that didn't sound very complementary and then he stomped off. My son-in-law didn't get his pommes frites lol...
2 people like this
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
25 Oct 15
I've been on Mylot a good many years and have picked up a few of these things. I've also read a lot of Agatha Christie. Torch used to get me all the time, I'd always think back to an old fashioned torch with an actual flame, until I realized it was just a flashlight.
Oh, and biscuits I learned the hard way. We have a dish called chicken and biscuits.. that's actually what we're having for dinner tonight. But when I first talked about it years ago a bunch of people told me it sounded disgusting.. until someone, realizing I was American pointed out that Englanders think biscuits are cookies where as here they're dinner roll type things (what would you call them?).
5 people like this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
25 Oct 15
@jaboUK The way that biscuits are made is almost exactly the same as the way we make scones (do you say 'scon' or 'scoan'?). Dumplings are often the same mix but in England would be placed (uncooked) on top of a stew/casserole and cooked with the dish.
(I think that we need some 'emoticons' of a little British flag 
and a little American flag so that we can say which usage we are employing!)
and a little American flag so that we can say which usage we are employing!)3 people like this
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
25 Oct 15
@jaboUK Chicken and dumplings is a soup for us... but I guess you're right.
2 people like this
@Juliaacv (50979)
• Canada
25 Oct 15
@jaboUK Yes, I do agree. I had such a wonderful proper English lady, her first name was Edith. And she often would ask me to sit and listen to her as she'd reminisce about life in England. That was how I learned so many of the words, whatever I didn't understand I wouldn't ask her, as it would have pointed out an obvious difference when she was already lonely so I'd ask another resident privately. I'll never forget what Edith taught me and her loving passion for it.
5 people like this
@PainsOnSlate (21852)
• Canada
25 Oct 15
My flatmate was my room mate or partner (if I were gay). As always my friend you entertain me and make me smile. Had I not moved to Canada (that still loves the Queen) I wouldn't have know many of those terms. But now most are in my vocabulary too. So do you know where the eh? on the end of sentences came from. Every time I hear one its still like fingernails on the chalk board. So what do you think of that, eh?
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
26 Oct 15
@jaboUK I don't know where it comes from, either. My mother would have called it 'common'. It's used here as an emphatic, rather like a verbal question mark, and often rather aggressively. I suspect that it originated as an adaptation of speech to a noisy environment.
4 people like this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
25 Oct 15
@PainsOnSlate Regarding the 'eh' - I don't know where it comes from. Sometimes it's used on it's own (rudely in my opinion), instead of Pardon? Denoting that the speaker hasn't heard what you said.And at the end of a sentence it's completely unnecessary , serving no purpose.
8 people like this
@Missmwngi (12915)
• Nairobi, Kenya
25 Oct 15
I can see what you mean. The two confuses me until today and i think i will start to pay attention now
7 people like this
@TheHorse (218918)
• Walnut Creek, California
25 Oct 15
I was laughing so loud when I read first floor (second floor) that I scanned the rest of this post and will have to re-read it later. But did you miss one? This post is such a delight, I would recommend people stand in a queue (line) to read it.
12 people like this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
25 Oct 15
@Missmwngi They can be confusing, I know. I've learnt so much from my American friends since I've been 'chatting' to them.
6 people like this
@Samanthavv (1380)
• United States
25 Oct 15
Hahahaha. I think I am familiar with most of those terms, but my familiarity comes from being online and chatting with people of difficerent cultures!
4 people like this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
25 Oct 15
@Samanthavv The internet is a great educator isn't it?
1 person likes this
@slund2041 (3314)
• United States
25 Oct 15
Oh wow! I never knew there was such a big difference. I know a few of the different terms but not nearly all of these.
4 people like this
@slund2041 (3314)
• United States
26 Oct 15
@jaboUK It certainly is. I am constantly amazed at how things mean one thing here in the south, but northern states it means something totally different.
My sister in law was visiting a couple years ago from New Jersey. We were talking about some young teenage boy that was acting out of control. I used the term "He was showing his butt". Now, I meant he was acting out and misbehaving. My sister in law said "Oh my...that is illegal. He cannot go around mooning people like that, he will be arrested." I grew up with the term showing your butt to mean you do not mind very well, so that was a hard one to explain.
Have you ever heard the term "Showing your butt"?
2 people like this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
25 Oct 15
@slund2041 It's amazing what you can learn on this site, isn't it?
3 people like this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
26 Oct 15
@slund2041 Lol - I've not actually heard the saying, but that would mean the same to me as to your sister in law! 
2 people like this
@rebelann (112875)
• El Paso, Texas
25 Oct 15
I've read many novels (when my eyes were younger) set in the courts of English monarchs and have seen many of those terms but I didn't know the exact meaning of them until now. Thank you so much, now I know that in order to read about what an English lord is doing I'll have to invest in a British dictionary.
Has British english changed as much as ours has over the last 2 centuries?
4 people like this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
25 Oct 15
I think that both languages must have changed at about the same rate since we became separate countries. American English has kept some words which have fallen out of use or changed their meaning in British English - 'faucet', for example would be understood to be something like a drain, a gutter or a rain pipe rather than a tap which one can turn on and off. Quite a few 'American' terms are still in common use in British regional speech, too, reflecting the fact that America was colonised by and accepted immigrants from parts of Britain which had and still have different dialects from what has become 'British English'.
I notice that some American terms (such as 'apartment' for 'flat' and 'elevator' instead of 'lift') are beginning to creep into British usage.
5 people like this
@TexanTornado (5573)
• United States
25 Oct 15
Yes, I am familiar with quite a few in which you mentioned. I have friends in England (online friends that is). However no matter which way you slice it (say it) the 1st floor one will never make sense to me. 
4 people like this
@TexanTornado (5573)
• United States
25 Oct 15
@jaboUK I mean why say 1st floor if it's truly the 2nd floor. Just say 2nd floor. Which makes me have to ask. What do ya'll (you all) call ya'll 2nd floor? I mean do ya'll have office buildings or such with multiple floors? Do ya'll just call it one floor higher?
3 people like this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
25 Oct 15
@TexanTornado It's just a question of where you start counting from. To us the bottom floor is the ground floor and they are numbered in normal sequence after that. So we are always going to be 1 floor behind you. So what we call the 2nd floor will be your 3rd and so on.
3 people like this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
25 Oct 15
@TexanTornado Yes, that one can really lead to misunderstandings.
3 people like this
@valmnz (17097)
• New Zealand
25 Oct 15
We have a mixture of both English and American here, but predominantly the ones you use. I put my rubbish in a rubbish bin, well I used to, we have rubbish bags now. I definitely eat biscuits, not cookies. My Dad had braces and in the days before pantyhose (tights?) I kept my stockings up with suspenders. We changed to corgettes in recent years but I know what recipes want me to cook when making zucchini muffins.
4 people like this
@GardenGerty (160697)
• United States
25 Oct 15
@jaboUK We called them garters, but garters were also something gentlemen used to hold their dress shirt sleeves back, I believe.
3 people like this
@Poppylicious (11133)
•
25 Oct 15
As Brits we're blessed to have had a lifetime of growing up watching enough American shows and films to know what things mean. It's a shame you couldn't get 'fanny pack' in there somewhere. *grin*
4 people like this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
25 Oct 15
@jaboUK I think it means the same as our affectionate term for a cat (which it won't allow me to post) means to them!
(Mind you, 'Are You Being Served?' made great play on the double meaning which is understood this side of the pond!)
(Mind you, 'Are You Being Served?' made great play on the double meaning which is understood this side of the pond!)2 people like this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
25 Oct 15
@Poppylicious Lol - I'm too 'refined' (posh accent) to put that one in! How would I explain what 'fanny' means to us???
3 people like this
@allen0187 (58582)
• Philippines
26 Oct 15
I'm familiar with some of the terms. Others not so much. Worked with both Americans and Brits and I must say that the language is vastly different.
Anyway, glad to be hear and know the meaning of these terms.
Thanks!
3 people like this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
26 Oct 15
@allen0187 You are welcome - it must be extra confusing for you as you are from the Philippines.
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
26 Oct 15
@sofs The internet is great at educating people isn't it? That's interesting that you are getting more Americanised (You see the British spelling there? We spell a lot of words ending in -ise like that, not -ize, though either is technically correct.)
3 people like this
@wetnosedogs (1533)
• United States
25 Oct 15
I knew some of them to be different, but we do seem to be world's apart.
3 people like this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
25 Oct 15
@wetnosedogs Yes, worlds apart, and I haven't even touched on the differences between spelling or pronunciation!
3 people like this
@Dragonairy1 (1722)
• Newcastle Upon Tyne, England
25 Oct 15
very clever, it's amazig how one language can develop in so many ways, and just to confuse you geordies also call trousers pants
3 people like this
@ramapo17 (30441)
• Melbourne, Florida
26 Oct 15
@jabouk this was so funny. I can remember when I visited an friend that was my pen pal since I was 12 years old. I finally met her when I was about 21 at her place in Surrey. I was working on the ship and was in port for 3 days so I stayed at her house. She asked me if I wanted to go to the lube, (I think that is what she called it) and I said sure. I thought it was to a club or something, not knowing it was the bathroom.
50 years later she came to the states and she stayed at my house overnight and we laughed at each other and the different terms we said. That was so much fun.
3 people like this
@ramapo17 (30441)
• Melbourne, Florida
26 Oct 15
@jaboUK That's what it was, the loo. Sorry, that was a long time and when she said it to me I had no idea what she was saying. You just helped me out on here. I actually typed wrong and I intened to say the "lube" but that was wrong too.
See, you can teach and old girl something new, unlike what that comment meant so many years ago.
3 people like this
