Here in the U.S. we say cilantro. In the U.K. it is coriander. No matter what you call it, it tastes like soapy dirt.

In college I had a friend who was freshly arrived from South Africa. His english sounded British. He walked into a local store and started asking where the “rubbers” were? (This was in the late 60s).

The female clerk seemed insulted and called the store manager who explained that what he wanted was called an “eraser” in the US, specifically a pencil eraser, not a rubber.

My fried was miffed to find out that rubber meant condom in the US.

quote:

Originally posted by maxdog:

In college I had a friend who was freshly arrived from South Africa. His english sounded British. He walked into a local store and started asking where the “rubbers” were?

I worked on a project with an engineer from Glasgow. We were going to meet someplace. He told me, "If you get there first, mark an 'X' on the door. If I get there first, I'll rrrub it oot."

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
Here in the U.S. we say cilantro. In the U.K. it is coriander. No matter what you call it, it tastes like soapy dirt.

I agree. We must both have the mutant gene.

flashguy

Perhaps a bit off-topic --
I was shopping for a replacement watch band while in San Francisco. An elderly oriental lady showed me a band and said several times "Is regional." Huh? I eventually figured out she meant "original".

A Brit was visiting a food processing plant in the mid-western U.S.A. He expressed his amazement at the abundance of food, and the automation, fresh vegetables being prepared, cooked, and canned.

The plant foreman said, "It's simple. We eat what we can, and what we can't, we can."

Of course that American pun went right over the Brit's head with a mighty WOOSH, until later that evening in his hotel room, when the light dawned. His wife asked what he was laughing about, so he told her what the plant foreman had said: "We eat what we're able to, and what we're not, we tin."

Being from South Texas, I'm very familiar with the word chinga. Now, I get to Korea in '88 and the Korean word for friend is chinga.

It got a bit confusing while drinking down in the ville.

While in Germany, the first time a lady asked me if I wanted to Dusche, pronounced just like our Douche, as in Douche Bag. Took me a minute to realize she meant take a shower

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:

While in Germany, the first time a lady asked me if I wanted to Dusche, pronounced just like our Douche, as in Douche Bag. Took me a minute to realize she meant take a shower

So, did you take a shower with her? Was she hot? You know the SIGforum rules about pictures, don't you?

Um, this was before the pocket cell phone and the interwebs. No record of the dumb crap I did in my younger days, thank God. She may have been a butterface or worse

It doesn"t have to be a different country to have a different meaning........ Just cross a state line or two and you can find several different meanings.......... ............... drill sgt.

Whinge (UK) = Whine (US)

Floor on a football pitch = Ground on a soccer field

Wank = Jerk off

Graft = hard work (UK) Graft = fraud (US)

Pram = Baby carriage

Kit = Gear

Done & dusted = Completed (signed and sealed)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Blackmore,

I think almost everything in DC doesn't mean what it does outside of the beltway...