UK and America are two countries separated by a common language, UK and US Q&A

[Pipbin]

Continuation of the previous thread where posters from the UK ask questions like 'what the hell is going on with the gaps in US toilet doors'; and posters fro the US ask things like 'what is with wearing stripes'

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/a2149133-to-think-there-is-something-wrong-with-Americans?msgid=48969042#48969042

oh yes, I love the NHS. I have had my appendix out, gall bladder out, and 2 babies through the NHS. Both my boys have asthma, ds1 is disabled, and ds2 has some SNs, and I have a chronic condition as well, so the NHS has been very very much a big part of our lives!! We would be in big trouble financially if I had to pay for prescriptions and appointments!!

I've always wondered about the complete lack of directional signage on roads to places that people visit from theme parks to shopping malls. Hardly any of these are signed from major roadways. Presumably it is down to cost.

Road signage in the UK for many places of interest or theme parks like Thorpe Park and shopping malls like Lakeside or Bluewater appear on major roads some considerable distance from them. In America even if such places are given directional signs, these seem only to appear once you're within say a mile to the place of interest itself.

that's true about poor signage in the US. I'm always shocked at what a bad state the major roads are in too compared to here

Pudding and Pie what do you mean? I find people in the UK surprisingly accepting of censorship.

My brother and future sister in law are moving back to the UK soon SIL has never lived in the UK before, but has visited lots.

We won't be living close by, but what can I do to make it the transition easier? I know she is a little worried re closet space and having to re take her driving test, but otherwise seems very chilled about the prospect.

Tell her to bring a brolly, some good base layers to wear and not to worry about the closet space. She'll get used to it.

I've worked for the press in both countries and we spent a lot less time in the US worrying about libel and being sued.

Let's see...

Tell her to bring any food item she really can't live without for awhile, as shipping is highway robbery. And that eventually she will get used to not having the American foods there. That you can buy Reeses pb cups, tootsie rolls, fruit loops, and libby's tinned pumpkin here in the UK, so life is perfectly liveable.

Don't bother bringing chocolate to the UK as it's much much better here in the UK. You will never look at a Hershey's bar the same way again.

Closet space? I vaguely recall having closet space in the states. Haven't had any in ... oh... ten years. You make do.

If she has any particular clothing items that she likes (I bought a few pairs of jeans of my favourite kind and brought them along - and 10 years later, I still have 2 pairs I'm still wearing) then buy a few extra and pop them in her suitcase to bring along.

Consider buying a small car to start with - because practically having a heart attack every time you drive by a bus on a narrow rural road is no fun. I know. I've been there.

Freedom of the press and freedom of speech are more protected legally in the US than in the UK. We have less government censorship; how people and institutions self-censor may be a different matter. It is very difficult for a public figure to win a libel suit in the US.

As for "entree" it is my understanding that it did/does mean the beginning of the meal, but the beginning of the main part of the mean, after soup or hors d'oeuvre, for example.

www.cs.cmu.edu/~mjw/FOOD/entree.html

Libel laws are different that's all, nothing to do with freedom of speech.

In the UK the burden of proof lies with the publisher. In the US it lies with the subject of the story, which is very unfair.

In US law, freedom of speech and freedom of the press are protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution; it's the first amendment because it is considered the most important. It limits what government can do. The protections are very broad and very entrenched in US law.

Mothers on benefits in the US can get some kind of coupons for formula, though I don't know all the details, and it will vary from state to state.

I grew up in the American South and wouldn't have admitted openly about being atheist to friends in secondary school. Amongst my adult friends there it is seen as normal, but I wouldn't go blathering about it to neighbours or co-workers when I lived there, only people I knew well.

Currants and gooseberries have been illegal to grow (or at least to buy the plants for growing) in many states as they were blamed for carrying some kind of beetle that affected pine trees (big business in some places). One reason I may not be able to move back to the States ever!

Oops just realized I hadn't read the entire thread so I sound like a complete idiot.

However some US chocolate is very good, I have to defend Scharffen Berger ;-)

I havn't read all of this thread (will do later) so sorry if this has been bought up.

I ds was watching one of those 'Airport' type programmes and one of the service people said to a customer.... "I will call you 10 up 9"...it was in reference to time, so is it 10 to 9pm or 10 past 9pm or something else

Just jumping in ... lived in the US for a couple of years 20 years back. It did make me appreciate a few things I took for granted in the UK! Like the road signage ... all in terms of 'north/south' or 'east/west' depending on the overall direction of the road. Leading to problems deciding whether we needed to go 'east' or 'west' when clearly we needed to go due north.... and the road was at that point signed as both something E and somethingelse W pointing the same way. And public footpaths (let alone 'right to roam') - freedom to walk - however did the Founding Fathers miss that one out?

Are there no public footpaths in the US then?

Gruntfuttock When we lived in Chicago I would have to bundle my twins into the car, drive out of the car park for our apartment building, turn left onto the main road and then immediately left again into the car park for the local shopping centre.

To buy a pint of milk

There were NO footpaths and it just wasn't worth the risk dodging traffic on the main road.

I miss the place though

The highways marked as N, S, E, and W can be a bit frustrating. It's much easier if you're following a map as then it's generally marked pretty clearly. But I imagine it's a bit confusing when it's new - I grew up with it, and my dad insisted we all learn to read a map at an early age. We went on road trips all the time and were expected to help navigate using the map. It's a skill that has stayed with me and been of so much help here in the UK. I hate sat navs - give me a map any day over a sat nav.

Are there no public footpaths in the US then

There isn't a network of public footpaths like in the UK, if that's what you mean? There are many many paths you can walk on though - beside roads, hiking trials, entire huge areas of wilderness that you can get lost in, etc. Every evening I walk around my town for about an hour, there's only one road with no sidewalk, and a lot of it is along tree-lined footpaths or beside the river.

Yes, the whole "public footpath through Madonna's property" thing was a bit of a puzzle to me, although I have to admit I found it amusing that she lost that... money doesn't buy you everything

Where I lived in PA was like that too - no sidewalks even, in a suburban residential area. In general though AFAIK there isn't anything like the British centuries-old network of 'rights of way'. You can drive to State/national Parks to walk... . Its odd though, here I could step out of my door and walk for hundreds of miles if I chose to, there despite the space that freedom seemed to be lacking.

It very much depends on where you are. Some towns and neighborhoods have sidewalks and residential areas within walking distance of shops.

And trespass laws are different. There is no right to roam, for example, as there is in Scotland. You can't go and camp on some random farmer's land without permission.

I don't drive so I walk everywhere. :)

Peanut butter sandwich with raspberry jam also v good!

I think as individuals we have good freedom of speech but the press doesn't , they are very biased.

Thanks Alice and Smiles :)