On 8/28/06, alan <alan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Mon, 28 Aug 2006, Ed Greshko wrote: > Robin Laing wrote: > >> And to add to this, many British people call it the "Queen's English". >> >> There are allot of terms that can cause embarrassment for those from >> across the pond coming to North America. >> >> Rubber in England is an eraser. Think of asking a girl in a bar for a >> rubber. >> >> Fag is a cigarette. Could be a quick way for a punch in the face. >> >> There are others but best left off the list. :) > > What can be even funnier is the difference in pronunciation. I remember > years ago an Australian came up here to Taiwan to assist in the > installation of what was then called a "super computer". The guy was > very astute and knew ahead of time that the majority of Taiwanese are > taught "American English". So, when he first asked for a tool he made > sure he asked the locals for a "wrench" and not a "spanner". They > looked at him with blank faces. He repeated his request and each time > was met with questioning looks. I turned to them and said, "Lawrie > would like a wrench". Their response was immediate. It was at that > point Lawrie's face took on the look of puzzlement. Asking someone for a lift will give similar responses. (A "lift" in the UK as an elevator.)
Here in Latin America, we have a good commercial of TACA (an Airline company) wich talk about how they name the same thing in different ways in each latin america country, but in all America "fly is TACA" they say. And that is true, we will always have different ways to call the same thing. We will be more used to it as the global communications grows, and grows. There are even some Spanish words coming into English and a lot of English words coming into all other languages. maybe and hopefully some day we will have only one language all over the world (maybe Chinese? :) )
