british-isms

It's been nearly a year since that tearful November day when we boarded a BA flight on a one-way ticket. Despite relocating to another English-speaking country, there are, surprisingly, many dissimilarities. Street signs, for one, but I'm currently compiling photos for a collage in the future. Most significantly, though, is the way people write and speak the English language.

For a while in the beginning, I dabbled in the British-version of spelling of certain words, such as characterise and hypothesise, to impress my academic advisors. But since then, I've reverted back to my hybrid hodge-podge American-British English; better known to most of you as Canadian English [insert wind blowing Canadian flags and a brass fanfare of the Canadian anthem here: I AM CANADIAN].

Spoken language can still be an issue here, especially when not in an academic environment. Sometimes, we get a chatty cashier making friendly conversation when ringing up our groceries with a thick northern accent. We've discovered, over time, just to smile and nod and hope for the best. We've learned that it's much better than getting the person to repeat each sentence and still not knowing what they're saying.

Now despite living here for 10 months, I haven't quite adapted to using British colloquialisms. Now, mind you, I use the words lovely and keen in everyday conversation but, I swear, at the similar frequency as before relocating to the UK.

Some of my current favourites:

1) I have yet to use the word quid when referring to money -- just pounds for me, thank you. (Interestingly, I find it an effective way to use the 'Q' when playing scrabble.) Combined with the fact that I work from a North American laptop and I am too lazy to insert the monetary unit, I tend to type out GBP in written documents.

2) Cheers in Britain is like aloha in Hawaiian -- a word with multiple meanings. In addition to being used when clinking beer glasses at the pub, cheers can also be used as terms for good bye and thank you but, surprisingly, not I love you.

3) Brilliant/brill or any variant is a fun term that I haven't brought myself to use unlike my partner at home. Meaning something outstanding, I feel it is sufficient just to just say "Hey, good job" with a friendly nudge in the shoulder.

4) I have yet to bring myself to ask to use the toilet, or the loo. I know that my using the terms washroom or bathroom have resulted in confusion, so I've resorted to asking for the 'ladies' room'. This, of course, doesn't always work like most recently when I asked for directions to the ladies' room in Sainsbury. The employee looked at me strangely and then said "oh, you mean the toilets". And by the way, it's toilet roll not toilet paper.

5) Telling the time is an intersting matter, as well. If you had an appointment set for 10:30, they often say "see you at half-ten", omitting the ever-so-useful 'past'.

6) You'd be surprised to learn that tea and pudding is indeed in fact a 2-course meal. Tea is not only a term to describe a widely drunken hot beverage but also an evening meal. When I first heard this term being use, I thought the Brits -- like the French -- had their main meal during the day, followed by a light dinner but no, that's not the case. Pudding is often used to describe any dessert, whether it be cake, pie, or -- you'd guess it -- pudding! Not too long ago, we had some people over for dessert and we were extremely careful to not invite them over for tea and cake, giving them the false illusion of a hot first course meal.

More British-isms to come as I see fit.