E is for....

Eggs:




Eggceptional, Eggclesiastic, Eggclectic, Eggceed, Eggcept, Eggstatic, Eggcetera: Eggcetera.

Words, words..

If you become ill while in Britain or in USA, where do you go for treatment? Well, when it’s serious, go to the nearest hospital’s Emergency department – the British have A&E departments (A&E stands for Accident and Emergency), while Americans have Emergency Rooms: remember ER, the famous TV show! If isn’t an emergency, go to a doctor’s surgery (in Britain) or a doctor’s office (in the USA). The use of surgery in the sense of an office is confusing: a surgeon is a doctor who operates on patients in a hospital’s operating theatre (in the UK) or operating room (in the USA). Incidentally, dentists and vets (veterinary surgeons) also work in his surgery. Note that it is the patient who visits the doctor, and not the doctor who visits the patient, unless there is an emergency and the doctor makes a house call.
Once the doctor decides on a course of treatment, he or she will prescribe a drug. No, that doesn’t mean cocaine: a drug is a general term for medicines in English. Take the prescription to a chemist’s or pharmacy (in the USA). In America you will also find drugstores. Drugstore was originally a synonym for pharmacy, but today most drugstores sell a wide variety of products.

The Queen Mother

It is said that the late Queen Mother was a friend and protector of Britain’s gay men. This, it might be added, was rather brave of her, given that homosexuality was a criminal offence in Britain until 1967. She was also believed to have employed a number of gay men on her domestic staff. Legend has it that one night her butler and footman were late in bringing up her bedtime drink, or “night cap”. She is supposed to have picked up the phone and called down the kitchen. When the butler answered, she said: “Now, I don’t know what you two old queens are up to down there, but this old queen up here would like her night cap!”.
www.tunstillsdislexicon.com

Taken from Speak Up Magazine, October 2006

Other differences....

Speaking with John in the office about the Blog, “Divided by a Common Language” (17th October), he showed me that there are other many differences between English and American language…and this is so funny!

For example the double meaning of suspenders, or the different use in UK and USA of the terms lift and elevator, of living room and sitting room, or the many terms to indicate the bathroom as Loo, Lavatory, Comfort Station, Cloakroom, Public Convenience.

Loo came from Waterloo (the battle and the station) which was a euphemism for water closet, or wc, the "polite" term for a lavatory in the 1910's / 1950's.

And TP, teepee, is not a red indian wig-wam, but Americanese for toilet paper, TP!