You Say You Speak English...

There are a lot of differences between North American English and British English, though many Brits now tend to speak "mid-Atlantic" (or halfway between the two!) - according to a British friend.

When I started teaching at the Anglican Church International School in Jerusalem, many on staff were from the UK. The school followed a British curriculum - but there were non-British teachers as well (like me) from many English-speaking countries: the US, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

I got used to hearing "flat" for "apartment," "lift" for "elevator," and "loo" for "bathroom" (as in "Where's the loo?") Also "post" for "mail" (used as both verb and noun) as in, "I'm going to post this letter." Or "Has the post arrived?"

So I was surprised when one of my British colleagues turned to me one day in the staffroom and commented: "Fancy you teaching English... You don't even speak it!"

I hope he was joking! But I was reminded of his words recently, while in Britain, when I noticed, again and again, how my English is different from theirs...














"Take-out" food - in Britain - is called "take away" food. So, in Canada, a server might ask: "Is that for take out?" But in England, the question would be: "Is that for take away?"














I bought some "old" cheddar cheese, which in Britain is called "mature."















Car and truck rentals... are called "hires."














You don't "line up," you "queue up."














And a traffic "detour," in England is called "diverted" traffic.

Fortunately, it's usually easy enough to understand what is being said, though sometimes I did have to pause and think!