A few differences

While England is not an entirely different culture (although I' m not sure they would be too keen on me mentioning their many similarities to America), I have been picking up on some subtle differences...

• Till--  cash register (very important to know when working in bookshop)
• "Fit"-- does not necessarily have anything to do with frequent exercise
• Suss out--  to figure it out
• Sorted-- to fix a problem, as in "I've got it sorted"
• Smart-- similar to the American expression "sharp"

• Cheers-- a curious expression that although probably started out as a phrase said in the pub, is now used as  in place of "thank you", "your welcome", "hello", "good-bye" and any other informal greeting that you can name.

• Ta-- "thanks"
• Pants-- does not refer to jeans or slacks but instead refers to undergarments. This is helpful to know and explains the strange look you may get if you tell someone you like their pants.
• Uni-- university, the English get very confused when I say college in reference to Grove City.
• Dodgy-- "sketchy"
• High street-- the main street in a town
• Takeaway-- what us Yanks would call "take-out"
• Quid -- another word for a pound sterling , used in slang for pound (the American equivalent of buck being slang for dollar)
• Sarky--  (one of my personal favorites) slang for sarcastic
• Suck it and see-- take a chance
• Washing up-- dish washing
• Queue-- what the English call a line; as in "There was a queue at the post office today." The English are famous for queuing up if there are more than two people standing together.

Besides different phrases there is a bit more to note about the cultural differences. First off, they really are serious about their tea drinking (something slightly less prominent in American culture after an incident in Boston). I drink at least four cups of tea a day (my manager at the bookstore drinks about 14). While I enjoy a good cup of tea I am definitely more of a coffee drinker. Although the English are very particular about making a good cup of tea, a good cup of coffee is less easy to come by because most people only keep instant coffee on hand. (And who in their right mind really enjoys a cup of instant coffee?)

Another notable absence from my typical American college student diet besides coffee has been peanut butter. However, when Fred (a retired missionary and volunteer at the bookshop who is American but married an English woman and lives in England) heard me note the absence of peanut butter from most households he came in the bookshop the next week with a jar of American peanut butter for me. What can say? We foreigners must stick together.

In closing I would like to mention that during the past two and a half weeks I've heard the word posh said more times than I heard even during my Spice girls phase. And, the phrase  " 'ello love" is actually  said here, but the blokes who say it are probably quite dodgy.

Cheers,

Betsy