When America gets it right.

[popcornwizard]

Most of their spelling and grammar differences are just wrong, but occasionally something it works, and works even better than our version! Dear reader I give you the 'cell' or 'cellphone'. It is much easier and more pleasant than the 'mobile phone' that we linguistically haul around. Is it the only one?

Small purse with a clasp is a coin purse where I live.

do most American houses really use these almost always on the go machines

I can honestly say that I have never been in a house in the US that doesn't have an electric coffee maker of some type. The one we use is a pod type machine (Keurig) that brews one cup at a time. I don't know anyone who drinks instant coffee. We keep some in our hurricane kit, but luckily have never had to drink it.

The picture is a change purse. I use handbag and purse pretty interchangeably.

Handbag is used by retailers in the US so people know what it means. I sometimes use it, or more frequently probably just say bag.

Instant coffee is the work of Satan. I have two electric coffee makers, a one cup model from Black and Decker that uses a filter that I add whatever ground coffee I like to and a full sized Dutch Technivorm Mochamaster.

The little Black & Decker is my go to machine and makes a lovely cup of coffee. I think it's a much better approach than the Keurig machines.

www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-DCM18S-Coffeemaker-Stainless/dp/B00005MF9C?ref=silk_at_search&tag=mumsnetforum-21

It's hard to know whether US instant coffee is so awful because no-one drinks it so it's never been worth retailers stocking anything half decent. Or no-one drinks the instant coffee because it's so awful. A cyclical thing, I guess

Stealth - by "NE" I meant "New England" (it was clear in my head )

True about the instant coffee. It is really bad in the US. The jar in our hurricane kit is one I bought the last time I was in the UK, based on drinking it in the hotel room. I can't remember the brand and cba (how's that for a British expression) to go check right now. But it has been in there for a couple of years so might not be very fresh tasting if we did have to use it.

I've tried several different brands of instant coffee. It's never going to be the same as fresh brewed coffee as the essential oils are necessarily lost in the process, and they impart a lot of the aroma and body of the coffee.

Nescafe Taster's Choice wasn't terrible, but it was more like coffee flavored water than coffee.

MissConductUS
'Gapers' delay' is a Chicago specialty. I love 'rubbernecking' too.

'Kitty corner' as opposed to 'catty corner' - sometimes used interchangeably in the one region but occasionally you will find a place where it is either one or the other and they look at you funny if you use the wrong one.
Kitty/catty corner is the place diagonally across a space from you, so similar to cow corner though as I understand it (and my understanding of cricket is limited to its peculiar terminology, which I find fascinating) cow corner is always across the leg side of the batter. Kitty corner is more often used for road intersections than other contexts.

Wrt noodles vs pasta - technically I suppose it's all noodles, with pasta, ramen, Japanese and Chinese noodles, and all spaetzle, egg noodles, etc are subtypes.

Graphista
I'm also still thrown when Americans say college, they mean university whereas college in uk generally means further but not higher education - what would Americans call that? Is there actually an equivalent? A place where you go when you're too old for school but not as academic as university. For getting qualifications equivalent to those taken in last few years of high school or certain vocational qualifications/training eg hairdressing, plumbing, joinery

Community college or junior college.
You can do all sorts of courses there.

Some people spend two years and get an Associates Degree. This can lead directly to employment or you can apply to a university to do two more years and get a Bachelors degree.

It's an attractive option because it is far cheaper than going to a university (aka 'college') for all four years, especially if you go to a state university where you may not have to spend two years a doing university-specific 'Core' coursework that is a requirement in very selective private universities. State universities have required courses too for students in their first two years, and many students opt to get calculus courses or English Lit courses or other 100 or 200 level courses out of the way in a community college during the summer break, leaving them more scope to do unusual or well regarded courses or courses related to their major in their university during the actual school year. Some people manage to graduate with a Bachelors degree in three years thanks to judicious use of community college offerings. You have to be careful that the university will accept credits from individual community colleges as they are not all created equal.

Some students use community colleges to redo courses they may have failed, so they can advance a year and not have to repeat a year (costing $$$$$). DS has two friends who did engineering and repeated certain courses in the local community college, allowing them to get their degrees in the just-about-affordable four years for one and four years plus one semester for the other.

Automatic drip coffee machines are the ones with a carafe and a filter basket, with a warming pad under the carafe. You see a lot of them in my local Goodwill (second hand chain). Most people use a Keurig or other single pod coffee (or tea or cocoa) machine now.

I use an electric kettle, though I am a recent convert, and we have a little carafe safe for stovetop use with a filter basket plus two French press coffee pots for anyone who wants a cup of coffee. I only drink tea (but I am Irish). There are lots of electric kettles on the market, with stovetop kettles becoming rarer. My local Walmart stocks several models of electric kettles at different price points but only a couple of whistling kettles.

Tea is getting more popular in the US. I received a gorgeous gift last Christmas of 12 boxes of different teas produced by an American tea maker. There were a few herbal teas, some black teas - different varieties of breakfast, Earl Grey and decafs - and also green and white teas. It is honestly the nicest tea I have ever come across.

Ah, the Goodwill stores - I just love those places and they always seem to contain much better stuff then our charity shops (maybe because Americans are so generous?)

I always say that, for a really successful home exchange, what you need is a Walmart, a Dollar Tree, a good supermarket and a Goodwill store

math very good point about community colleges. They're a great resource. Our local CC came into DS's high school (secondary school) to teach a college university level accounting class. He received college credit for it and they waived it as a required class since he is now majoring in accounting.

He did so well in the class that his teacher recommended him for a scholarship (bursary?) that the New York State Society of CPA's gives out annually. They gave him a check for $1,000 at a posh dinner his dad took him to and it will look great on his resume when he starts looking for internships.

Regarding tea, I like a good cuppa from time to time. The best I've found comes from the tea company Mighty Leaf, which is now part of Peet's Coffee:

www.peets.com/mighty-leaf-tea

If you haven't tried Peet's coffee, it's the bomb and you can buy it from Amazon. I get two different blends delivered every month as part of my Amazon subscribe and save order.

I have a family community college success story, too. Our daughter was a late bloomer academically in high school; as a result she could not get into our state university, which was her first choice. So she started at the community college, stayed there for two years, and did so well that she was able to transfer to the university. She graduated and later went on for a master's degree.

I learnt to my embarrassment as a youngster living with a US family that 'I might ask you to' do something doesn't mean.I might, perhaps, ask you to do something at some point in the future, but rather 'could you please do such and such'. Hence I was waiting for further instructions and they just thought I couldn't be arsed.

School meaning university I came across. As in, on my return I was going to school.

I like bangs for fringe.

Well done your DS!

You can get dual credit for grades 4 or 5 in AP tests with my local community college, meaning you can skip to 200 level coursework in university if your university accepts the credits (most accept credits). You just have to fill out the paperwork once you have your AP test results. No scholarships tied in though!

And your DD too, Seneca.

I am looking at community college for DD4 who is a senior but won't turn 18 until the end of next summer and has no idea at all what she might like to study.

My DN studies in the US and asked if anybody in her class had a rubber she could borrow. Apparently the whole class fell about laughing.

School is any level, from day care through studying for your doctorate at a fancy university; toilet is a porcelain fixture, not a room; and while there is the soda, pop, and soda pop divide, there is also a significant minority that calls them all Coke.

toilet is a porcelain fixture, not a room Agree, but it's not a bath, either.

Hah, “Leicestershire” is the first thing I thought of when someone mentioned a “waste of letters.” It makes no sense! It might as well be written “Lestersure.”

AAAAAAAAAAAAHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I hate this. Any town with Chester, or Cester or Caster in the name at one stage had a Roman fort AKA a castrum.

A county that takes its name from a city adds a 'shire' to the city name, so Leicestershire is the county (shore) with a Roman fort called Lei.

Gloucestershire is the county with the county town of a roman fort.

Obviously not every roman fort has linguistically retained it's place.

That would be a technical or vocational school. My son just started university, but it has College in the name.

Not quite the same thing. In the UK at 16 you either continue at school into VI Form usually for A Levels, or you go to college. Not all schools have a VI form so many people take A Levels at College.

Most colleges also do vocational courses at various levels. Level 3 qualifications are A Levels and also vocational courses at the same level.

The exams UK students take at age 16 ate GCSEs, 5 of them is roughly equivalent to a US HS diploma. If you have A Levels many US colleges accept them as equivalent to 100 courses.

FE colleges, as I have just described, should not be mixed up with University Colleges, which award university degrees and universities with college systems eg Oxford, you don't just apply to the uni but to a particular college within the university.

Having said that, some FE colleges do offer university level courses usually HNC/HND which are roughly equivalent to the first year or first 2 years of a degree. Some FE colleges also teach on behalf of a university, I have a university diploma I studied this way, I have not set foot in the university, but the name is on my diploma.

It's normal to study an Honours degree which takes 3 years for most subjects but longer for things like medicine. Recently they have started to be described as 'bachelor's' degrees which they really are not.

We also don't have (OK with a very few exceptions) the concept of 'liberal arts' or a general college degree with post graduate 'school' eg at 18 you start you 3 year law degree or your 5 year medicine degree and at the end you are a qualified lawyer or doctor.

You still have to do further training, but usually in the workplace.

In the UK at 16 you either continue at school into VI Form usually for A Levels, or you go to college. Not all schools have a VI form so many people take A Levels at College.

Not true either. I'm in Scotland, also part of the UK. We don't usually do A levels (though some private schools do offer them I think) and at 16 you can either leave school and get a job or an apprenticeship or go to college or stay at school for one or two more years then do any of the above or go to Uni or some 16 year olds may have enough to go straight to university. Or indeed you can leave school and doss about with no income.

We also don't do GCSEs and honours degrees in Scotland are usually 4 years. It's a minefield!

But in Scotland, don't you do higher s? Aren't they the equivalent of A levels?

My dd watches YouTube sometimes and I've noticed that they(generic) say on accident instead of by accident. Erks me somewhat.

It’s irks, Florences

Oops, sorry Scotland.I usually remember you have a different system, must have been still on the Chester rant.

Recently they have started to be described as 'bachelor's' degrees which they really are not.

what does the first letter in BA, Bsc, BEd etc. stand for?