Why do Americans say "Craig" funny?

[samsteele]

Throw more of these at me people!

Here you go . . . in Canada, we call cling wrap, Saran Wrap (after the best known brand name). We call mac 'n cheese, Kraft Dinner (again after the brand name). We call plastic cheese, Cheese Whiz (after the brand name). We call red licorice, Twizzlers (brand name). But there are lots of inconsistencies here, too. We call vacuuming, vacuuming (like the Americans) & only the Brits (and some Irish) call it hoovering. There are some things Canada is known for in the world but we never call it that at home. For example, we call Canadian whiskey, Rye (which is the grain that it is distilled from). Some of the best known Canadian rye is Canadian Club, Crown Royal & Weiser's Rye. We call Canadian bacon, back bacon or pea meal. Most Canadians never eat back bacon. It isn't as popular and hard to find in the grocery store. 99% of Canadians eat strip bacon which is often called rashers in other parts of the world. And just when you were ready to give up all hope, we DO call maple syrup, maple syrup! So that's something We also have one particularly weird thing in our grocery stores. We have a product called homogenized milk (whole milk plus extra fat . . . the fat solids have been combined with the skim fat to total 3.25% extra fat). While most Canadians drink 2% milk (and some drink 1% skim milk if watching their weight) some mothers give their young children the higher fat homogenized milk once they get off baby formula. Others like to use it when cooking. However, some dairies shorten the words homogenized milk to "**** milk" on the carton. So . . . every once in a while I'll see young men & women gathered around the dairy case in the grocery store giggling and taking pictures. That's when I know we have some young American friends visiting our city.

 

[sheetz]

We have relatives from NZ and it was funny how they pronounced Spanish words. For instance "tortilla" would rhyme with "gorilla" and the weather phenomenon "El Niño" would be pronounced "El Neeno."

 

[Princess Jes]

Here you go . . . in Canada, we call cling wrap, Saran Wrap (after the best known brand name). We call mac 'n cheese, Kraft Dinner (again after the brand name). We call plastic cheese, Cheese Whiz (after the brand name). We call red licorice, Twizzlers (brand name). But there are lots of inconsistencies here, too. We call vacuuming, vacuuming (like the Americans) & only the Brits (and some Irish) call it hoovering. There are some things Canada is known for in the world but we never call it that at home. For example, we call Canadian whiskey, Rye (which is the grain that it is distilled from). Some of the best known Canadian rye is Canadian Club, Crown Royal & Weiser's Rye. We call Canadian bacon, back bacon or pea meal. Most Canadians never eat back bacon. It isn't as popular and hard to find in the grocery store. 99% of Canadians eat strip bacon which is often called rashers in other parts of the world. And just when you were ready to give up all hope, we DO call maple syrup, maple syrup! So that's something We also have one particularly weird thing in our grocery stores. We have a product called homogenized milk (whole milk plus extra fat . . . the fat solids have been combined with the skim fat to total 3.25% extra fat). While most Canadians drink 2% milk (and some drink 1% skim milk if watching their weight) some mothers give their young children the higher fat homogenized milk once they get off baby formula. Others like to use it when cooking. However, some dairies shorten the words homogenized milk to "**** milk" on the carton. So . . . every once in a while I'll see young men & women gathered around the dairy case in the grocery store giggling and taking pictures. That's when I know we have some young American friends visiting our city.

Wow.
Ok, well, we call cling wrap "glad wrap" (brand name) and aluminum (pronounced al-you-min-ee-um) foil, al foil or Tin foil.
We don't really have an obsession with Mac n cheese here but I guess it would be called Mac n cheese. I LOVED having Mac n cheese with dinner in the states, and the yachtsman truffle Mac n cheese, holy Jesus!
We have a thing that's an instant pasta type meal, it's powdered cheese/milk I fuess, like a creamy pasta sauce, and pasta, and in my house we call them continental side dishes because that's the brand and product.
I'm not sure if you all have jaffle irons there? Like a toasted sandwich but it deals the edges, usually with baked beans or tin spaghetti in it? Well many families call that either a "Toastie" or a "breville". I'm in the Breville camp.
Australians NEVER drink fosters. Ever. Lol.
Our bacon is so much different and so much better than american bacon. Holy crap, you've not had bacon till you've had aussie bacon!
We don't do the % thing with milk.
It's either full cream, skim, or skinny. I have no idea what's what, but I'm firmly a full cream drinker.
We're also not a highly religious nation.
Very few people I know go to church, definitely the minority. Which makes our lack of marriage equality infuriating.

 

[samsteele]

like a red neck I guess?

In North America, red necks literally earned that name from working outside in the fields and getting a sunburn on the back of their necks. As opposed to city workers who spent their days indoors in factories. My family are Scotch-Irish (in North America we "scotch" ourselves vs the Scots proper who never call themselves "Scotch") and we are the red necks and hill billys. So many Scotch-Irish male first names were William, or Billy, and most overwhelmingly chose to live in rural areas, that they got the name "hill billy." Our propensity to live in the country, or in the hills, is for good reason. First, when many of us arrived in the 1700s and 1800s, this land was either free for the taking (if you could carve out your own fields and hold it with arms) or pre-purchased in Ireland relatively inexpensively from land agents before getting passage. Second, most of us are taught at the knee that freedom, and being free, literally means owning your own land and home outright. Certainly some things have changed in the past 200-300 years. However, it is still drilled into many of us as children and teenagers that mortgages, lines of credit and car loans are to be avoided. That isn't as easy to do as it was years ago. However, some of us still choose to live in the country, in villages and in small cities, where the cost of living is lower and so we have a much greater chance of owning our homes, land and cars outright. Some of us do go to the larger cities in our late teens & 20s for university, a taste of city life and to gain some career experience, but many of us migrate back to small communities to raise families and to stretch our dollar. To say the least, life in North American cities has vastly improved over the centuries but we still carry an inherent suspicion of working for a wage and renting for life. Its much easier to stand up for what you believe in, and speak out against what you don't, when you own the land you stand on free & clear. You and your livelihood can't be threatened when your land & home can't be taken from you. The living history behind these nicknames like red neck and hill billy, is incredibly rich. Jes, can you give us some insight into any Australian nicknames? Cheers!

 

[samsteele]

Wow.
Ok, well, we call cling wrap "glad wrap" (brand name) and aluminum (pronounced al-you-min-ee-um) foil, al foil or Tin foil.
We don't really have an obsession with Mac n cheese here but I guess it would be called Mac n cheese. I LOVED having Mac n cheese with dinner in the states, and the yachtsman truffle Mac n cheese, holy Jesus!
We have a thing that's an instant pasta type meal, it's powdered cheese/milk I fuess, like a creamy pasta sauce, and pasta, and in my house we call them continental side dishes because that's the brand and product.
I'm not sure if you all have jaffle irons there? Like a toasted sandwich but it deals the edges, usually with baked beans or tin spaghetti in it? Well many families call that either a "Toastie" or a "breville". I'm in the Breville camp.
Australians NEVER drink fosters. Ever. Lol.
Our bacon is so much different and so much better than american bacon. Holy crap, you've not had bacon till you've had aussie bacon!
We don't do the % thing with milk.
It's either full cream, skim, or skinny. I have no idea what's what, but I'm firmly a full cream drinker.
We're also not a highly religious nation.
Very few people I know go to church, definitely the minority. Which makes our lack of marriage equality infuriating.

Not all mac n cheese is equal I'm sure the Yachtsman's is superior because they use superior ingredients and not a packet of sawdust powder like we enjoy with our KD.

Your jaffle iron sounds like a sandwich press, panini bread or such. Most of us don't have them in our homes. We'd go out to a specialty sandwich place (if we could find one) in a city for this. Our closest common relation would be a grilled cheese sandwich which we make in a pan on the stove top.

LOL re Fosters. In Canada, most of us don't drink Molson Export ("Ex") or Moosehead, either. We have a popular cartoon showing a moose sucking up a barrel of Moosehead from a straw and "eliminating" Molson Ex into a barrel for export from the other end.

Canada and America still have a good number of Church going people. However, rates have dropped dramatically with the past few generations. It is somewhat higher in rural areas rather than in cities and also more concentrated in certain areas/states/provinces in the two nations. Personally, I don't attend Church as much as when I was a child. As I run my own business and am tied to the phone Mon thru Sat, Sunday is my day to get all my gardening, yard work, housecleaning and handy person work done around the house. When I visit my parents and go to Church with them on Sun mornings, I have noticed a dramatic decline in young and middle-aged people. The majority of the congregation is definitely 65 yrs plus and the numbers dwindling. I was raised and confirmed in the United Church of Canada. This is a Protestant Church formed during the Depression in Canada by most Presbyterian Churches, Methodist & Congregational Churches. They simply didn't have the money to continue to operate the buildings and had no choice but to unite or fail.

I'm hoping to travel to Australia in the next 2 years or so while I can still comfortably (if that's possible) deal with the economy seating on the flights. When there, I have absolutely got to try that Australian bacon that everyone has been raving about!

 

[BagOLaughs]

I have only heard the British refer to vacuuming as hoovering

I've never even heard the term hoovering

Someone else on this thread has already said this but we talk about hoovering because of the brand Hoover who make vacuums, almost every British household had a Hoover as their vacuum "back in t'day". However I've noticed that more people are calling it Vacuuming instead. Probably because not every household has hoovers anymore.

I've heard some Americans use "hoover" in a slangy way meaning "to gobble down food very quickly." Ex: Hoovering the buffet table. Otherwise we say always say "vacuum."

We'll also use that slang. To hoover down food.

OK guys what is this a plate of?



ignore the Jaffa's as they're controversial. But what are the rest of these?

 

[*NikkiBell*]

And hey... You guys call tissues Kleenex and vacuuming hoovering... Glass houses Kevin

We do?

 

[disneysteve]

OK guys what is this a plate of?

I'd say cookies, but I'm sure some in other countries will say biscuits.

 

[disneysteve]

In the US, biscuits look like this

 

[samsteele]

OK guys what is this a plate of?

You'd say biscuits? North Americans would say cookies.
You also have crisps? and we have potato chips.
You have chips? and we have fries.
The English language can be a challenge for English-speaking people worldwide. It gives me a new found appreciation for those learning the language.

 

[kbelle8995]

In the US, biscuits look like this

MMMM. Yummy. Put some sausage and gravy on those with a side of grits and I'm done.

English as a language can be complicated to learn and then you add slang terms.

 

[disneysteve]

English as a language can be complicated to learn

Even more so when you get into spelling and pronunciation.

For example:
the s in ease is pronounced as a z, but add an l and
the s in lease is pronounced as an s, but add a p and
the s in please is pronounced as a z

Can't imagine why anybody would find that confusing.

 

[KingLlama]

You people are so confusing.

 

[samsteele]

Princess Jes et al: Today is Canada Day so for more eccentricities & unique-isms check out the Canadian Trip Planning Forum, Happy Canada Day thread. There are at least 2 great posts there including the Jeff Foxworthy you might be Canadian if . . . and also a post of the Hatfield family Canada Song (Chris Hatfield being the most recent Canadian in space). Lots of fun & interesting tidbits & Timbits Enjoy!

 

[Princess Jes]

Not all mac n cheese is equal I'm sure the Yachtsman's is superior because they use superior ingredients and not a packet of sawdust powder like we enjoy with our KD.

Your jaffle iron sounds like a sandwich press, panini bread or such. Most of us don't have them in our homes. We'd go out to a specialty sandwich place (if we could find one) in a city for this. Our closest common relation would be a grilled cheese sandwich which we make in a pan on the stove top.

LOL re Fosters. In Canada, most of us don't drink Molson Export ("Ex") or Moosehead, either. We have a popular cartoon showing a moose sucking up a barrel of Moosehead from a straw and "eliminating" Molson Ex into a barrel for export from the other end.

Canada and America still have a good number of Church going people. However, rates have dropped dramatically with the past few generations. It is somewhat higher in rural areas rather than in cities and also more concentrated in certain areas/states/provinces in the two nations. Personally, I don't attend Church as much as when I was a child. As I run my own business and am tied to the phone Mon thru Sat, Sunday is my day to get all my gardening, yard work, housecleaning and handy person work done around the house. When I visit my parents and go to Church with them on Sun mornings, I have noticed a dramatic decline in young and middle-aged people. The majority of the congregation is definitely 65 yrs plus and the numbers dwindling. I was raised and confirmed in the United Church of Canada. This is a Protestant Church formed during the Depression in Canada by most Presbyterian Churches, Methodist & Congregational Churches. They simply didn't have the money to continue to operate the buildings and had no choice but to unite or fail.

I'm hoping to travel to Australia in the next 2 years or so while I can still comfortably (if that's possible) deal with the economy seating on the flights. When there, I have absolutely got to try that Australian bacon that everyone has been raving about!

Firstly, yes! Come to Australia! And don't skimp on melbourne time. It's a wonderful city, with some stunning outlying areas. Lots of great eating options in the city, and we are renowned for our coffee, which we drink very differently to Americans
Nah, we have sandwich presses. These are different. I can't attach a pic from my phone, but Google jaffle iron. You'll likely get 2 variations, one that is electric and usually does 2 or 4 "sangas" in one go, and one version that is for camping and the such. It literally is iron and used in/on a fire.
Ham cheese and tomato is also another jaffle staple.
We don't have grilled cheese sandwiches as much as you guys, but we do have"grilled/melted cheese on toast which is just a single piece of bread, toasted on one side then flipped over, cheese put on top then melted. People sometimes put tomato on it too or Vegemite (delicious!!!)

Someone else on this thread has already said this but we talk about hoovering because of the brand Hoover who make vacuums, almost every British household had a Hoover as their vacuum "back in t'day". However I've noticed that more people are calling it Vacuuming instead. Probably because not every household has hoovers anymore.



We'll also use that slang. To hoover down food.

OK guys what is this a plate of?

View attachment 106606

ignore the Jaffa's as they're controversial. But what are the rest of these?

I'd say cookies, but I'm sure some in other countries will say biscuits.

Biscuits or "biccies" we love to shorten things!

In the US, biscuits look like this

They look like scones to me, to be eaten with jam and cream!!

Oh! What the heck is the difference between jan and jelly to you people?! Lol!!

Also, I asked before but no one answered: do you have raspberry flavoured fizzy drink (we call it soft drink here, not soda. Soda is different here, and yuck in my eyes!)
And is it usually available alongside things like coke at a restaurant?

Hmmm nicknames...
Let me get back to you. I have to get ready for work. I'll have a couple I'm sure!

 

[samsteele]

Oh! What the heck is the difference between jan and jelly to you people?! Lol!!

Also, I asked before but no one answered: do you have raspberry flavoured fizzy drink (we call it soft drink here, not soda. Soda is different here, and yuck in my eyes!)
And is it usually available alongside things like coke at a restaurant?

Jam has bits of fruit & seeds in it. More whole. Jelly is strained so that only the juice of the fruit ends up in the spread. So no seeds & bits and is transparent.

A raspberry flavoured fizzy drink? Maybe a variety of Snapple? Perhaps a raspberry-flavoured lemonade drink (not Sprite) like a variety of Minute Maid? Most soda (in the US) & pop (in Canada) has a lot of carbonation in it so high fizz. When we think soda/pop we think Coke, Ginger Ale, Sprite, 7-up, Mountain Dew, Orange Crush. I think you consider soda to be the older seltzer-type soda?

 

[Princess Jes]

Jam has bits of fruit & seeds in it. More whole. Jelly is strained so that only the juice of the fruit ends up in the spread. So no seeds & bits and is transparent.

A raspberry flavoured fizzy drink? Maybe a variety of Snapple? Perhaps a raspberry-flavoured lemonade drink (not Sprite) like a variety of Minute Maid? Most soda (in the US) & pop (in Canada) has a lot of carbonation in it so high fizz. When we think soda/pop we think Coke, Ginger Ale, Sprite, 7-up, Mountain Dew, Orange Crush. I think you consider soda to be the older seltzer-type soda?

See jelly to us is I guess what you call jello, a set wobbly dessert.
I like the sound of jelly more than jam, I hate seeds! But I was always under the impression (I have no idea why so don't flame me, let's not have this be another "hoovering" incident ;-) that jelly was more artificial than jam, but is it literally the same exact thing just no lumps?

Nah, I mean like, the fizzy carbonated drink, but raspberry. Like... Do you have a red fanta?

Yes!! That is what we call soda. And some flavoured ones are fine, but a lot of people drink it with alcohol, like, a vodka, lime and soda. Terrible!! Vodka lime and lemonade, good! Lol. But sprite = lemonade. Lol

 

[Princess Jes]

Two things:
I thought of another thing that we use the brand name for all items of that type: Tupperware.
Pretty much any plastic food container is a Tupperware. I used to sell the stuff so I feel passionately now about calling crap plastic containers Tupperware, but for ease of people understanding me, I do it, begrudgingly.

Underwear:
Now, I think it's widely accepted that brassieres are bras.
Now, as mentioned previously, a piece of underwear that has little material and goes up your butt, that's a g-string (and some are called v-strings if they're even smaller!) also, nicknamed butt-floss
Ladies underwear are undies or knickers
Mens are jocks or boxers, depending on the style. Usually the briefs are jocks and and short type garment, loose or fitted, are boxers. I say jocks for anything that's fitted.
It's funny when around Scottish people or the much older generation, because they call underwear "pants" but that's what we call trousers.
I'd only use the word trousers to describe dressy pants. But would usually say slacks for that.

Now. Slack is a word used for a loose rope... Or someone being lazy. They're a slacker.

I love English!!!!

 

[samsteele]

that jelly was more artificial than jam, but is it literally the same exact thing just no lumps?

It depends on the manufacturer. Some jelly is very good & organic. Some is cheap and probably doesn't have real fruit juice in it . . . likely just an artificially-flavoured sugar/glucose water. My grandmother made home made jelly. I just make jam because frankly, straining all the seeds & fruit pith is a lot of extra work.

You can find red Fanta in North America. Its just not commonly found at most soda dispensers. However, I did come across red Fanta and other fruit-flavoured pop in a Free Style Coke Machine in a Florida Burger King last February. So if you google "Burger King red Fanta fountain drink machine" you should see pics of what you are looking for. Sadly, we don't have a lot of these extra varieties & choices in Canada. Economy of scale and such.

 

[samsteele]

Two things:
I thought of another thing that we use the brand name for all items of that type: Tupperware.
Pretty much any plastic food container is a Tupperware. I used to sell the stuff so I feel passionately now about calling crap plastic containers Tupperware, but for ease of people understanding me, I do it, begrudgingly.

Underwear:
Now, I think it's widely accepted that brassieres are bras.
Now, as mentioned previously, a piece of underwear that has little material and goes up your butt, that's a g-string (and some are called v-strings if they're even smaller!) also, nicknamed butt-floss
Ladies underwear are undies or knickers
Mens are jocks or boxers, depending on the style. Usually the briefs are jocks and and short type garment, loose or fitted, are boxers. I say jocks for anything that's fitted.
It's funny when around Scottish people or the much older generation, because they call underwear "pants" but that's what we call trousers.
I'd only use the word trousers to describe dressy pants. But would usually say slacks for that.

Now. Slack is a word used for a loose rope... Or someone being lazy. They're a slacker.

I love English!!!!

Finally! Lots of common lingo right here. Tupperware is the same thing here in Canada (and I think the US). We call most plastic re-usable containers "Tupperware."

Underwear: pretty much the same except we call g-strings "thongs" or Brazilians. Please don't get this mixed up with Brazilian tour groups at WDW. A whole other animal & post We also call briefs "undies" especially for ladies. Boxers are boxers. Except when they are a breed of dog.

We usually call pants, pants but sometimes trousers if, like you said, they are considered dressier. Same thing with slacks. Dressy pants. For both women and men.

Slack we also use for a loose rope. Or a lazy slacker.

Yaay! We finally found common English ground. Woo-hoo!