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

326 replies

CherryCherries · 19/06/2021 17:55

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?

OP posts:
MagpiePi · 20/06/2021 14:36

Can't stand 'pinky'. It's a little finger.

Also, the way they can't say someone is dead or they died. Saying 'passed' jsut leaves me waiting to hear what they've passed - an exam? the salt to someone? a massive turd?

Also 'erbs for herbs and 'par-sta' for pasta

purpledagger · 20/06/2021 14:43

It's been mentioned before, but I find 'panties' for knickers awful. I just think anyone who uses that work is a perv.

UnaLength · 20/06/2021 14:54

I like dish soap instead of washing up liquid, it seems to make more sense to me.

Bichette · 20/06/2021 15:24

I like hickey for a love bite.
Chapstick
Ansty
Ornery
Hate panties and pantyhose, although tights isn't much better.

burritofan · 20/06/2021 16:29

“Dirt” instead of “soil” gets my goat.

Shuffalo · 20/06/2021 16:42

I can’t stand it when US people say ‘I can talk to that subject’ when they mean ‘talk about that subject’. I hear this a lot on podcasts. You can’t talk to it because it doesn’t have bloody ears FFS.

Also ‘cuties’ for tangerines. WTF is that all about?

otterbaby · 20/06/2021 17:19

@Shuffalo cuties are a brand of tangerines, so similar to calling tissue 'Kleenex' etc.

BiBabbles · 20/06/2021 17:24

Also ‘cuties’ for tangerines. WTF is that all about?

Cuties is a brand name that's become synonymous with seedless, easy to peel citrus.

Why would it not be acceptable for the children to call her miss..?

I've not been to a US school where 'sir' or 'miss' is used. All the schools I went to, we called teachers by their name.

No one uses it and it would be unacceptable to a lot of women to be called miss. My DD1 accidentally called me Miss once (it had been a long day at school), and I instinctively said I haven't been a miss since well before she was born.

Interestingly, there was a thread recently how on common the Miss/Mum mix-up is, but it's not one I recall having growing up.

"The Holidays" for Christmas

The Holidays means the entire holiday season, including multiple holidays like pp mentioned with Channukah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, New Year's, rather than just specifically the 25th of December.

Which reminds me, I still use Winter Break and Spring Break.

Also, I may be wrong on this, but I think the restroom thing is linked to some of the earliest public toilets in many parts of the US being in department stores and similar, many of which still include a rest area with seating alongside toilets and sinks. Why US toilets have tiny doors is still a mystery to me, but there are restrooms in the US with rest areas.

shinynewapple21 · 20/06/2021 17:26

@MariposaLilly I'm really surprised that you are not aware that some areas of the UK have always used the term mom, just as others use the term mam. Not everywhere in the UK uses the term mum. There have been several threads on MN about differences in regional dialect .

JackieTheFart · 20/06/2021 17:33

I’ve remembered something that really pissed me off once when I was in the company of a few Americans (I was in Canada but at uni so plenty of Americans).

Someone found it hugely amusing how I pronounced Las Vegas. Because they tend to have a very ‘soft’ way of saying the A in Spanish words, and for words ending with ‘os’ they pronounce more as ‘ohs’. Just watch any tv show where there is a character called Carlos and you’ll see what I mean OJ that front - I can’t describe the A one very well!

Anyway, it ticked me off because saying Carlos the way they do is American. It’s not Spanish, it’s not Latin American - it’s a very specific USA accent not remotely like Spanish.

And although it is petty it pisses me off every time now. Don’t claim I’m pronouncing something incorrectly because I’m saying something in the original language!

Grin
Mustbemagic · 20/06/2021 17:37

How the wheels on the bus go round and round "all through the town", and not all day long...

elp30 · 20/06/2021 17:47

@JackieTheFart

I’ve remembered something that really pissed me off once when I was in the company of a few Americans (I was in Canada but at uni so plenty of Americans).

Someone found it hugely amusing how I pronounced Las Vegas. Because they tend to have a very ‘soft’ way of saying the A in Spanish words, and for words ending with ‘os’ they pronounce more as ‘ohs’. Just watch any tv show where there is a character called Carlos and you’ll see what I mean OJ that front - I can’t describe the A one very well!

Anyway, it ticked me off because saying Carlos the way they do is American. It’s not Spanish, it’s not Latin American - it’s a very specific USA accent not remotely like Spanish.

And although it is petty it pisses me off every time now. Don’t claim I’m pronouncing something incorrectly because I’m saying something in the original language!

Grin

I'm really confused by this.
I showed your post to my English husband, I'm American, and he's confused too because we don't hear any difference.
Is it because we live in Texas where there's lots of Spanish speakers (such as myself) and we all say it the way it's meant to be called? Maybe those Americans you know are not from the southwest?

Don't even get me started on how the British pronounce "Los Angeles" (Loss Ann-jel-ees) That's makes MY skin crawl!

BadgeronaMoped · 20/06/2021 17:55

I love how they call maths "math"!

GoingGently · 20/06/2021 17:55

"I could care less" absolutely does my head in. It literally means the opposite of what they think it means.

I struggle to say film these days instead of movie. Not deliberate preference, just laziness I think.

DaisyDreaming · 20/06/2021 17:55

I hate ‘panties’, it sounds a sexualised word to me and so wrong when referring to every day knickers, especially for little girls. I love ‘righty whities’, makes me laugh every time!

DaisyDreaming · 20/06/2021 17:55

*tighty whiteys

BadgeronaMoped · 20/06/2021 17:59

One I notice on Ravelry (the knitting site) is "addicting" instead of "addictive", " the pattern is so addicting!". I am not keen on that one Grin

SenecaFallsRedux · 20/06/2021 18:06

Hate the word pinky

Pinky or pinkie is a Scots word, brought into American English by Scots settlers.

I'm glad so many of y'all like "y'all." I'm from the Deep South. The "y'all" and "all y'all" distinction is that while "y'all" I always plural, sometimes in larger groups, you have to make clear if it's, for example, "I need all y'all to help out on Saturday," or if it's "I need some of y'all to help out on Saturday."

HumunaHey · 20/06/2021 18:55

@TotorosCatBus Yeah I believe so. I'd actually like to try what American's call biscuits. They look really tasty. But I'd feel so disappointed being offered a cookie and getting anything but that.

midsomermurderess · 20/06/2021 18:56

Yes, I was surprised to see 'pinkie' held out as an Americanism. It's widely used, in so far as anyone commonly talks about their little finger, in Scotland.

purplesequins · 20/06/2021 19:01

grits - doesn't sound very appetising to me

appreciation - as in teacher appreciation day at school

pants as description for leg clothing has me chuckle everytime I hear or read it.

purplesequins · 20/06/2021 19:03

and the use of drug instead of medicine makes me itch

Iwantcauliflowercheese · 20/06/2021 19:16

I'm in a SM group for curly hair. I didn't realise how American it is. One poster wrote that she was going to the hairdresser for a shag. When I pointed out that you would never say that in the UK because it's not a type of haircut, and explained what it meant, they all found it hilarious.

CherryCherries · 20/06/2021 19:33

Wow I started this thread then got really busy! Will enjoy reading the replies..

OP posts:
MissAmandaLa1kes · 20/06/2021 19:43

Madder than a box of frogs.

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