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?

We have a big kitchen aid coffee maker, some fancy Italian espresso maker, a cooker top Bialetti and a Boden Cafetière. We aren't getting caught out.

I'm dreading going to the UK next week and begging Dh that we pack coffee.

Our hurricane coffee here is Dowe Egberts which you can get on amazon. By FAR the most drinkable instant coffee.

We have a coffee roasters near us and our little area on the island drinks so much of the stuff they made us our own blend named after us. It's the strongest blend.

Yea sashh is describing (loosely doesn't even apply throughout England) the English system of education.

As waxon says scots can stay at school post 16, work, apprenticeship or college. When I was posting about dd leaving school last year the number of ENGLISH mners insisting I was wrong and she "couldn't" be leaving school at 16 drove me nuts! Even though I was clear iirc in the very first post that we were in Scotland!

Dd is now 17 and has completed her apprenticeship and is now a full time employee. Something I STILL sometimes get told isn't possible.

She also was studying ahead of the regular schedule so has a few qualifications that would normally be studied in school after 16, but she was very good in those subjects so was able to do this. So when she left school last year one option she had was university or higher level courses at college - again English mners were insistent this wasn't possible.

It's not GCSEs and a-levels here, but nats (national certificate, used to be standard grade) and highers also now advanced highers.

I've also seen posts by other scots mners about their child leaving school before 18, going to uni before 18 etc where English mners have responded - quite insistently - that this is not possible.

It's seriously both ignorant and arrogant!

Also tends to be 4 year (honours) degrees that are undertaken here. Though I think you can do a 3 year (ordinary) degree if you wish - but I don't think they're considered particularly useful and for any careers or postgrad courses that require a degree they generally mean a 4 year honours degree.

Iiuc the education system in NI is similar to Scotland but I wouldn't presume to advise on it as I am not familiar with it, but English mners I have seen do it on NI education posts too.

And yes I know naemnalt (not all English mners are like that) but you do see it a lot.

More appropriate for this thread is the fact certain mners also can't seem to get their heads round the fact that not all mners are British or even living in uk. Another thread I'm on at the moment the op mentioned an armed policemen and some bright spark took that to mean they were lying!

"I'm dreading going to the UK next week and begging Dh that we pack coffee"

Why? We're nearer to Italy than USA, and we have "fresh" coffee here too, also filter coffee makers, cafetière (it's what I use I think Americans call this French press?), stove top coffee pots etc. Very easy to get good ground coffee here in most supermarkets or even specialty shops if you're very fussy.

I get Italian roast for the cafetière and douwe egberts is the instant I have. Not cheap but I don't have it often as I'm generally caffeine free, just occasionally I fancy it or for certain friends who come over.

Neither of my parents has a coffee maker and live very rurally.

I'm aware there are coffee shops in the UK thanks. I did live there 36 years.

@mycatistoo when you get here, try Millicano. It’s not proper coffee, obv, but it’s way nicer than most instants. (Several brands do similar ones but IMO Millicano has the best taste)

(Don’t know if US Douwe Egberts is different from UK but I think Millicano is nicer than that too)

Thank you!! I'll pick some up.

I've never really been that fussed about coffee until I had ds and developed horrific insomnia. Now my day literally can't start without mainlining the strongest stuff.

Other things on my list to bulk buy when I'm in the UK is cold sore medicine, bum worm medicine and lemsips!

That makes me sound really nice!

I've not actually had bum worms since I was a kid but can't stand the horror of going to the doctor (who's a friend) for worm medicine if ds does ever get it. They don't do it otc here.

And I only get cold sores once every 5 years or so but they don't seem to sell anything as good as Zovirax here, maybe that's something you need to get on prescription too.

My DD lives in NYC & she always stocks up on Canesten Duo, max strength cold & flu capsules, & Batiste dry shampoo when she’s home - makes her sound really nice too

(There are generic versions of Lemsip which are much cheaper btw)

You can get Batitse everywhere here now! They even sell it in my local supermarket! I used to bring it back though. It may have been me that introduced Maine to it I told so many people lol.

Will check out the generic lemsips. It is really expensive. And it takes days to stockpile as they won't let you buy much. I forgot one year and begged the lady at Heathrow to sell me more than one pack.

Forgot about thrush cream. Will add that to the list.

Bum worm cream
Itchy vagina cream
Herpes cream.

Off you pop to the chemist Dh.

I have coffee issues in the UK as well. Not the coffee itself; it's easy now to get very good coffee, but the fact that milk is the default to put in it rather than cream (or half and half, which is what i use in the US). I like a strong dark roast, no sugar but with half and half or cream. When we are in a self-catering arrangement, we have no problem because we can buy cream in the grocery stores, but hotels and restaurants can be a bit of a challenge.

Speaking of Scotland and education, education in the US in the early years was significantly influenced by Scottish practice due in part to the presence of Scottish schoolmasters in colonial times. Significant similarities continue to the present day: the term “high school”, the emphasis on breadth, going to the nearest school in your catchment, the ability to study more than one course in the first year or so of university, four-year university, etc.

The term "high school" originated in Scotland in the 16th century. The first school to be named "high school" was the Royal High School in Edinburgh. The Royal High School was used as a model for the first public high school in the US founded in Boston in 1821. That model was replicated in other parts of the country along with the name, which is why the term high school came to be used in the US. It's a direct borrowing from Scottish practice. A good thing to know for those threads bemoaning Americanisms; evidently quite a few MNetters think that the borrowing was the other way around.

You can get Batiste in Manhattan, but DD sent me this pic the other day. It’s £1.49-£1.99 in the cheap shops here

She says it’s marketed as a “styling product” rather than shampoo & priced accordingly

Aldi, Lidl, bodycare, Home Bargains, B&M & other similar shops have generic lemsip - 16 capsules are usually around £1, not sure about drinks, but get all your relations on shopping duty, buying 2 whenever they’re in a shop that sells them!

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

We do do Highers but the aren't the equivalent of A levels. There are many many variations to the following but on average (for a University bound child) it goes:

End 4th year (age 15.5-16.5) sit 6 to 8 National 5s depending on what your school offers.
End 5th year (age 16.5-17.5) sit 5 Highers (Dc can now apply and go to University if they want)
End 6th year (age 17.5 - 18.5) Sit 3 Advanced Highers and/or more Highers/other subjects to round out education or get required grades or required subjects if they've decided on a different type of degree and need specifics to meet the requirements.

If you look at it in terms of UCAS points to try an level it out, then an A at Advanced Higher gets the same points as an A* at A level, a B at AH is same as an A at A level and C at A level is 32 points and an A at Higher is 33, so it's sort of mixed.

There are still other routes to Uni via doing HND/HNC at college.

However, a young for year child could have the entry requirements for Uni at age 16 at the end of 5th year but it's definitely more usual nowadays to complete 6 years at High School.

Batiste is cheap as chips in my shops! Always massively discounted in tj Maxx too. It's about $4 on Amazon though.

Bloody hell @GiantKitten $9?!

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

It's like the name 'college' is used in some university institutions, just because the word is there doesn't mean it's a bachelor's.

An honour's degree requires more study and in most cases some independent research. A BA is not an honours degree, a BA(hons) is.

The distinction is important of you are going on to further study, a BA without honours in the UK will not normally get you onto a post graduate course without extensive experience.

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

Florences do you mean Yanks say "on accident"? In my many decades as a Yank I have never heard anyone say this.

mycat, Zovirax is by prescription here. And if you or your DS do get pinworms you can get effective treatment over the counter. Find a large chemist and ask for Reese's Pinworm Medicine or Pin-X. Both require multiple doses because they kill the adults buy don't always kill the eggs.

I'm not surprised that you recall the fact that there are coffee shops in the UK. They appeared in London in the 1600's and became politically important centers of discussion and debate. In fact King Charles II tried to suppress them for that very reason.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffeehouse

Yy to TJ Maxx for Batiste (and other beauty stuff, like hand soap and shampoo)

And yy to Millicano - the refill pouches are very light and compact for your suitcase

They appeared in London in the 1600's and became politically important centers of discussion and debate.

And supposedly one of the reasons (in addition to the Boston tea party and its aftermath) that historically coffee drinking has been much more prevalent in the US than tea drinking is its association in colonial times with political discourse that included criticism of government.

The worm medicine isn't nearly as good as the otc stuff you can get in Britain though. Ima blast those bastards in to oblivion.

And when I do get a cold sore I need to head it off the second I get a tingle to avoid a full blown outbreak, by the time I've got a doctors appointment and taken a day trip to get the medicine it's too late.

Other things on my list to bulk buy when I'm in the UK is cold sore medicine, bum worm medicine and lemsips!

That surprises me. I though you could get pretty much any meds in USA as long as you could pay for them, that for many we need prescription for them here in uk you don't in USA? Clearly I'm misled by tv shows!

I know Advil is ibuprofen but I note the lack of use of paracetamol (acetaminophen) in the states. Seemingly aspirin & Advil more popular, yet many people can't use these meds, I can't. Why is that?

Lemsip - Martin Lewis recently did a tv feature on otc meds & costs. It's not even a cheaper "version" often but the EXACT same medication packaged differently. I usually get from wilko. They seem cheapest

Seneca great post re American & scots education systems.

"It's like the name 'college' is used in some university institutions, just because the word is there doesn't mean it's a bachelor's." Not sure you're right there.

In BA (hons) it's the (hons) makes it an honours degree, not the B.

I broke my foot and tore all of the ligaments last year and all I could get from my doctor was ONE DOSE of co-codamol that you can buy otc in the UK.

And to buy any kind of decongestant where I am you have to provide ID and they take all of your details and keep them on file.