English English versus American English

There are many jokes about Americans using what they think are the proper English words and then being embarrassed when they learn what they really said.

Some of the common English words are well known such as bonnet for automobile hood and boot for automobile trunk. However, there are many, many English English words we have no idea about how to use.

PLEASE, study and ask the locals. There are some colloquialisms you should not use in public. For example, our English host and several people in Bournemouth had a good laugh on me one Sunday morning when I went to the newsagent (newspaper stand) to get the papers. I was asked to get the London Times, The Guardian, and the Screw. Well, at the newsagents those are the papers I requested. The agent and the people there made a big to do about the American using the term "screw." It seems that is a colloquialism that is used in private, not in public. It is the word for the tabloids.

You will also encounter some regional expressions which do not seem to fit the standard terms. ASK?

Bacon Butty anyone? A Butty is a sandwich. We heard the term on an English TV comedy many times before figuring it out.

MUGGLE? A term from the Harry Potter books means Ordinary Person.

How many English English terms do can you readily recall?

Help is at hand. My daughter gave me a handy little book, "The U.K. to U.S.A. Dictionary," published by Solitaire Publishing,Inverness, FL. Order yours, study it and take it with you.

WHEN IN DOUBT, DO NOT SAY IT!