English vs. American

[EngTeach]

I find it funny that I adapt my use of "English" when on here. I use words like flat, shop and lift rather than apartment, store and elevator, though I know people here would certainly understand what I mean. I feel it makes me multi-cultural. LOL

[mike11111]

It was Winston Churchill who said that Britain and the USA are two nations divided by a common language. In a previous post you mentioned 'dollar store'. Would that be a cheap shop, similar to what we call 'pound stores', where everything is priced at £1?

[Buenchico]

A few years back I started helping an American poster on here, who was planning a trip to England. What started off as a few messages on here developed into some really lengthy emails and a 30-odd page document sent by snail mail. Whenever I wrote to Vito I tried to remember either to use US English or to translate for him. But I still managed to leave him confused when I used words like 'fortnight' and 'alight' (as from a train). He just seemed to get more and more confused by it all!
;-)

[Buenchico]

Oh, I see that Mike has wandered into the world of shopping. I've always assumed that your 'goodwill stores' are the same as our 'charity shops' but I might be totally wrong!

[EngTeach]

Yes, the dollar store has all (or most) items priced at a dollar.

Buenchico, words like fortnight or alight, while not commonly used here, are NOT that foreign to me. I used to read the bodice ripping Romance novels that are often set in Regency England and picked up quite a bit that way. I am only very lost here with words that are very slang oriented or regional. Usually I will look it up, ask or can figure it out.

Goodwill shops are places that people bring no longer used items, donate them and then are sold by the organization. They are also called thrift-shops or second hand stores. We now have a chain of them called "Savers" that support the Boys' and Girls' clubs of America. I have picked up books and VCR tapes there, though there are all manner of things there.. I always assumed your charity shops were the same.

@Steve...Y'all is a Southern thing! :)

[mike11111]

Do you still have the five-and-ten stores?

[EngTeach]

LOL Steve!
Mike, sadly the dollar store has replaced the 5 and 10. The chain of them here was called Woolworth's. While things were never 5 or 10 cents in my lifetime, we always called it that. They are long gone. One of them the next town over had a lunch counter and had the BEST hot dogs and grilled cheese. My Grandma used to take me on the bus to go shopping. I think the shopping was an excuse for going to the lunch counter. Gosh, I have not thought of that for years. The 5 and 10 here had "Nasty Sue". She used to follow the kids around sure we were stealing eyeshadows and hair clips.

[Buenchico]

Some British town seem to have more charity shops than anything else these days!
(I also seek out VCR tapes, as well as books, in them)

I was rather surprised that Vito didn't seem to have even heard of words like 'fortnight' but Lake City, Colorado (where he lives) does seem to be in the middle of nowhere (or the Rocky Mountains to be more precise), so perhaps British English hasn't reached there yet? ;-)

Things got even worse, with regard to my explanations to Vito, when he decided that he wanted to take a day trip (on the Eurostar train service) from London to Paris. I finally gave up explaining how he could get around when, after dozens of emails about Paris, I realised that he thought the Metro was a bus service! At that point I decided to meet him in London, travel with him to Paris, and to give him a guided tour of the city. I take my duties here on AB very seriously, as you can tell ;-)

Anyway, while you might be using British English on this site, you're not in our time zone. it's 3am here, so I think that I shall head off to bed.

Goodnight!

[mike11111]

I got the phrase 'five-and-ten' from a song, I think it might have been Dean Martin, but not sure. Woolworths was a major part of the British shopping scene until they went out of business two years ago. Before the war everything was priced at either 3d or 6d, the equivalent of nickel or dime. As you say, those days are long gone.

[EngTeach]

Good Night Buenchico!
Steve- I think I am signing off too, have to watch Big Brother (our version). I know, I know, don't yell at me. It is my guilty pleasure for the summer months.

Have a good sleep everyone!