American word meanings?

[Cinderella]

You American's have a lot of different word meanings to us, and they can get people into trouble getting them wrong you have eraser - we have rubber; you have fanny pack - we have bum bag (i would be so embarrassed to ask for a fanny pack in a store) you have gas, we have petrol. And, when our sitter in wdw said she was going to get some water from the faucet - i thought it must be some kind of special shop - we call it tap.

Anyway, I am writing something now - but I want to make sure that it means the same in American as in English to avoid embarrassment. Over here loaded means very rich - does it mean the same in the USA, or could the word be misinterpreted? I just want to avoid the embarrassment that would be caused by using the wrong word. Thanks.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

In some contexts, loaded means wealthy. However in other contexts, it can mean that a person is drunk.

 

[Free4Life11]

you have fanny pack - we have bum bag

We still have fanny packs?

 

[Cinderella]

Thanks you two - it could be a problem then - describing someone as loaded? Don't you still have fanny packs? It is a v rude word over here. At the security check at the parks in December, my kids did their best not to burst into fits of giggles when the security guy asked to look inside our fanny packs. It was so embarrassing. Next trip I'm wearing a backpack!

 

[Aurora63]

I always call fanny packs waist packs, just because I hate to say the word fanny.

We have and expression, "knocked up," which here means a woman is pregnant (as in, She's knocked up.") I think you use it to mean you're going to call someone? Is that right? That might be one to avoid saying.

 

[Cinderella]

Knocked up - that is bad. If I banged on someone's door to wake them up, I would say i had knocked them up! I will definitely avoid that one.

 

[Beth76]

I think most people associate "loaded" with being wealthy. In the correct context though there would be no question. If you're talking about money we would know that "loaded" meant wealthy.

 

[sleepyone]

Haha! That reminds me of high school. We had a foreign exchange student from Sweden who learned English (the English version not American). In the middle of a class, she raised her hand and asked if she could borrow a rubber. The whole class was stunned with jaws dropped, even the teacher. She asked what was wrong and someone said, why would you want to borrow a rubber? She had to explain what a rubber looked like before it dawned on us what she meant...LOL.

 

[mommaU4]

Haha! That reminds me of high school. We had a foreign exchange student from Sweden who learned English (the English version not American). In the middle of a class, she raised her hand and asked if she could borrow a rubber. The whole class was stunned with jaws dropped, even the teacher. She asked what was wrong and someone said, why would you want to borrow a rubber? She had to explain what a rubber looked like before it dawned on us what she meant...LOL.

That's so funny!!!!!

I love this! I want to hear more! Tell me more words that have totally different meanings! Not that it really matters since I doubt I'll ever travel outside of the U.S. and won't have to worry about it.

Actually it has happened to me already come to think of it. I always said soda and when we moved here everyone calls it pop. Nuh uh, not me, it sounds weird to ask for some pop.

 

[iggbees]

i've heard belly bag more than fanny pack, i even think fanny pack sounds funny.

 

[malibuconlee]

There's the whole cigarette word issue. The UK term for cigarette is a derrogatory term for a gay person.

Luggage goes in the trunk of the car over here and the boot in the UK.

 

[figment52]

We had a salesman visiting from Australia once and he was telling us about his experience at the mall the night before and got to the point where he said he "just had to stop and scratch his nut". HE instantly saw the horror on our faces adn began to demonstrate what he meant .... and started scratching his head. I still when I think about that one.

 

[Olaf]

And then there's "pants", which you call "trousers". "Pants" are undies in the UK. Or the saying, "That's just pants", which means it ain't it good. Then there's "knickers" which are also "pants", but "knickers" in the US would be what Brits call "plus-fours"--which are sooo stylish.

There's also "pissed" (drunk) and "plaster" (bandaid), "anorak" (jacket) and "jumper" (sweater), anti-clockwise (counter-clockwise), lou (toliet), and "spotted dick" (cake with raisins) .

I think the differences are more a source of amusement than anything else. Most Brits know our meanings, and more Americans are exposed to the British versions via BBC America.

 

[Dakota_Lynn]

Yes, there are some interesting differences in meanings in UK words. Take, for example, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. In the UK version there is a passage that goes something like this:

"Anyway, it's a nightmare of a year, the fifth," said George. "If you care about exam results, anyway. Fred and I managed to keep our peckers up somehow."

In the American version of the book, the word pecker is replaced with "spirits."

Harry Potter is one of the most banned books in the US. Can you imagine the reactions had American kids been reading about Fred and George's "peckers" being "up." I was in the waiting room at the doctor's reading the UK book when I came to that part. I started to laugh so hard I had to get up and walk outside so I could laugh without disrupting the waiting area. That just struck me as one of the funniest things I had ever seen.

 

[Cindyluwho]

One of my more embarrasing moments when I visited England happened when I asked for a "napkin" from a waiter. The look on face was priceless!

 

[belle_of_the_ball]

One of my more embarrasing moments when I visited England happened when I asked for a "napkin" from a waiter. The look on face was priceless!

i was hanging in Brit-Lit last year, and we had to learn about the English- English..not American-English

like a "***" is a cigarette..or thats what we were told.....needless to say people were going up to others going "do you have a ***??" It was really random..but then everybody got in trouble for asking for some cigarettes...i found it funny..but thats cause i didnt get a week of detention.....

 

[sleepyone]

Okay, what is a napkin?

 

[figment52]

Okay, what is a napkin?

I'll give you a hint, a baby's diaper is called his nappie.

The other thing that always gotto me was that in the UK they common expression for being fired or even laid off is "getting sacked". And that is not slang because the attornies used it all the time as well.

edited for spelling

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

So if a napkin in the UK is a feminine hygeine product, what do they call the paper things you wipe your mouth with? Paper towels?

 

[Olaf]

I could swear Brits call them napkins too. Yahoo, any Brit out there? What's the real deal?