There exist cultural differences between Americans and British. The English language is maybe what unites them. But it is the same language that differentiates between them. Below is a list of commonly used phrases. But beware! Before using them, make sure you know what it means in the place you are!
credits: http://www.buzzsugar.com/
Getting knocked up
In the USA, “getting knocked up” means getting a girl pregnant while in the UK it means knock on someone’s door! Imagine someone from the UK in America at a conference. On meeting in a hotel lobby for breakfast, an American asks the Englishman if a fellow female delegate had come down for breakfast yet. It would be quite natural for the Englishman to reply: “No, but I did knock her up this morning!”
Sexual misunderstandings
Another example is the slang word “fag”. In the Commonwealth, a fag is slang for a cigarette, while in the USA the same word is slang for a gay man!
The word “rubber” means an eraser in the Commonwealth but refers to a condom in the USA. So an English student in an American college would quite naturally lean over to an American student and ask to borrow their rubber!
And when you get pissed…
In America “pissed” means angry while in the UK “pissed” means getting drunk! So a Brit, who is drunk, might say “I am so pissed!” to an American. He means that he is drunk. While the American might think that the Brit is saying he is angry!
Getting your nipples boiled…
An American mother and her baby were on a visit in Britain. In a nursery the American woman asked another one “Where can I have my nipples boiled?”. Stunning silence while they realised her “nipples” are for “teat” in British English!
Finally
Today I realised that the people at WordPress must be American. Why?Because the word “realised” is shown as incorrect in the WordPress editor!
Any funny phrase or incidents to add to this list?
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