Just for fun, American words for thing you love and hate

[CherryCherries]

Mine are, I love "stroller" as opposed to our "pushchair" and "take out the trash" as opposed to our "take the rubbish out."

I don't like "pants" as "trousers" or "pantyhose" as opposed to "tights." Or "fanny" for "bottom".

What are yours?

I love these threads about word usage, differences in dialects etc. They are always fascinating!

MathAnxiety, I'm Irish and, yes, we always said swimming togs! Togs for the women and trunks for the lads.
We would always say turnip, not swede or rutabaga; scallion, not spring onion or green onion; footpath, not pavement or sidewalk.
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Sodas/fizzy drinks were traditionally called "minerals" in Ireland. I would use minerals and fizzy drinks interchangeably now.

On the buggy/stroller one, I've just remembered that when I was very small, in the late 70s, buggies were called go-karts!

Many people in the US South use "buggy" for shopping cart.

Prophylactic is a normal word (as in protective) not condom.

The way Americans pronounce bidder and bitter would probably sound the same to Brits but apparently Americans can tell them apart.

Americans 'spank' their children, not 'smack'. 'Spank' has sexual connotations in Britain.

I like the way Americans use the word 'yard' for backgarden. To my ears, it is like a small concrete backyard but probably much bigger and greener in American context.

Niche is pronounced "Nitch"
Schedule is "Ske-jool".

They have not heard of "fortnight". You might as well be speaking Elizabethan English. The 24 hour clock is a step too far.

I love expressions like:

"Shooting Fish in a Barrel"
"Falling off a log"
"All Hat and no Cattle"
"Not in my Wheelhouse"
"Where the Rubber Hits the Road"
"Sink your Battleship", "Park on your Lawn", "Eat your Lunch"

Another thing I find weird since leaving the uk is that y’all still have firemen and postmen. I wonder how the female ‘firemen’ and ‘postmen’ feel about that?

Speaking of postmen, another slightly amusing linguistic oddity is that the UK has the Royal Mail, but has postmen, and the US has the United States Post Office, but has mailmen, although now we tend to call them mail carriers or letter carriers to include the women.

Not sure about the US but in Australia - route is pronounced like OUT. A route pr. Root is a sexual encounter.

Niche is pronounced "Nitch"

That's not universal. Many people in the South say "neesh," especially in Louisiana.

@Backofthenet20

Gas (petrol) is short for gasoline. It’s not referring to a gaseous compound!

And Yo-grrt

Yo-gurt is how it's pronounced in Ireland too.

I personally find the idea of eating anything with a first syllable 'yog' as in 'yoggurt' unappealing but I can't put my finger on the reason.

@SenecaFallsRedux

Speaking of postmen, another slightly amusing linguistic oddity is that the UK has the Royal Mail, but has postmen, and the US has the United States Post Office, but has mailmen, although now we tend to call them mail carriers or letter carriers to include the women.

Officially they are called "firefighters" and "postpeople". In everyday language the former is used more commonly than the latter, which I agree needs to change.

I always thought 'togs' just meant 'clothes', specifically specialised or reserved clothes, so you'd have swimming togs, gardening togs, painting togs, running togs, whatever.

You're right QuimReaper, but I agree with pps that 'swimming togs' or often just 'togs' is used in Ireland instead of swimsuit/bathing suit etc. I use it for both male or female costumes. Togs is sometimes used in the context of sports shorts here too (eg football togs). Generally though, if someone is looking for their togs here, they're planning a swim.

I love "sitting criss-cross apple sauce" for sitting cross-legged. It's so cute.

I picked up the term kitty-cornered from American friends which I just love. I use it in my head a lot!

I've always said catty-corner, which is prevalent in the South, I think.
Supposedly, the catty/kitty part is from "cater" a corruption of French "quatre."

egg plant (wtf).

Because have you ever seen aubergines growing? The baby plants are white, and look like eggs.

• On the subject of clothes, I like 'duds'. I think I may have come across the word in Huckleberry Finn, though maybe it was somewhere else.

I say 'catty corner' too @SenecaFallsRedux* - an addition to my vocab from Missouri, which is pretty southern in many ways.

• And siding for cladding Cladding is a general term encompassing brick, wood, and many other kinds of outer shell for a house. Siding refers specifically to (usually) horizontally laid vinyl or wood cladding on a wood frame house.

You will hardly ever hear the word plait in the US. Plaits are braids.

Also (though this may just be an idiosyncrasy of my neck of the woods) people pronounce crepes 'crapes'.

Canadians wouldn't call "America" by that name. It would be the US or the States.

But the people are "Americans".

Adding 'hooey' to the list.

As in 'a big pile of hooey'.