“Would
you mind taking the cot to the first floor, and then grabbing a dummy and
plaster out of the boot?”
Chances are, you’ll never be asked such a question, but if you were, and the
person asking you was English, you’d probably screw it up. Because, in
England, a cot is a crib, the first floor’s actually the ground floor, the boot
they’re talking about is the car trunk, a plaster’s a band-aid, and the dummy
is a pacifier, not you (although it could be).
You might think it’s easier to travel through an English-speaking foreign land
than a non-English-speaking one…and, who’m I kidding? It is! But that
doesn’t mean there aren’t a ton of different words in such countries that can
confuse the heck out of us Yanks.
I began compiling a list of such words after a friend recently visited from
Australia. He spent 20 minutes one night trying to explain to me what paw-paw
was (it’s papaya). He went into a department store in Beverly Hills and
asked the saleswoman for help in finding a “jumper.” The saleswoman asked
about size. He told her his size. She looked perplexed. “Is
this for your wife, or daughter?” “No, it’s for me,” he replied.
She thought he was crazy. He got frustrated. They spent 10 minutes
trying to understand each other, and turns out, all he wanted was a sweater—sweaters
are called jumpers down under. It continued like that his whole stay.
Maddening, indeed…for him. But fun to learn about, for me—especially the
words that are used in both countries but have different meanings in
each. Whether you’re headed abroad soon or not, here are some of the most
interesting English words I’ve found that mean something different in America
than in the country they’re listed under below. Study up!
|
FOREIGN
COUNTRY
|
AMERICAN
TRANSLATION
|
|
UK
|
|
|
Torch
|
Flashlight
|
|
Fag
|
Cigarette
|
|
Slip
road
|
Ramp
|
|
Off-license
|
Liquor
store
|
|
Caravan
|
Motor
home
|
|
Chips
|
Fries
|
|
Crisps
|
Potato
chips
|
|
Pavement
|
Sidewalk
|
|
Football
|
Soccer
|
|
Vest
|
Undershirt
|
|
Bob’s
your uncle
|
You’re
all set
|
|
|
|
|
AUSTRALIA
|
|
|
Bonnet
|
Hood
(of car)
|
|
Utility
|
Pickup
truck
|
|
The
Net
|
The
Web/Online
|
|
Rubber
|
Eraser
|
|
Paper
knife
|
Letter
opener
|
|
Entrée
|
Appetizer
|
|
Jug
|
Pitcher
of beer
|
|
Conch
|
Nerd
|
|
Cactus
|
Dead/Not
functioning
|
|
Bench
|
Countertop
|
|
|
|
|
SINGAPORE
|
|
|
Open
a light
|
Turn
a light on
|
|
Last/Next
time
|
Sometime
in the past/future
|
|
Follow
|
Accompany/Come
along (not stalk)
|
|
|
|
|
INDIA
|
|
|
Cover
|
Envelope
or shopping bag
|
|
To
fire
|
To
be chewed out by a boss, not actually fired
|
|
Repair
(as noun)
|
Broken
|
|
Propose
|
To
ask someone out, not to marry them
|
|
Pass
out
|
To
graduate
|
|
|
|
|
SOUTH
AFRICA
|
|
|
Robot
|
Traffic
light
|
|
Hectic
|
Amazing/No
way
|
|
|
|
|
JAMAICA
|
|
|
Hat
|
Hurt
|
|
Card
|
To
play a joke
|
|
Hush
|
Sorry
|
|
Key
|
Good
friend
|
|
Nanny
|
A
Jamaican $500 bill (=apx. US$7)
|
|
Pear
|
Avocado
|
|
Salt
|
Bad
luck
|
|
Work
|
Sex
|
Who knew there were so many variations of our language around the world?
Clearly not I. Take my column to India, and I’m told “Susan Michelle’s
Compass,” translates as, “Susan Michelle’s Pencil Box” to some?!
So much for writing for the Bangalore Times.
About the Author: A former Hollywood producer and now 2nd-generation
travel professional, Susan Michelle travels the planet as the “face” of the
fashion-forward Compass travel lifestyle brand.
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