British English vs American English

[kikie]

A little of topic and yet not. It's the same with dutch from Belgium and dutch from Holland. Even Afrikaans is a kind of old dutch.

 

[Dave A]

The bonnet and boot thing I have never really understood. Do you guys like stand cars up on their rear ends, thus the boot would be the "bottom" part of the car? Explain this great mystery!

A bonnet is another word for a metal cover, so on a car the bonnet is the metal cover over the engine. A boot was more commonly the protective covering ove a spare wheel but it was adopted to reffer to the trunk of the car.

 

[TheCracker]

Australia/Britian - Ute
America - truck

Australia/Britian - truck
America - ?

Australia - Britian

Britain - Britain



Actually the sort of vehicle that Australians call a 'Ute' is probably more likely to be called a 'pick-up' (truck) in the UK rather than just a 'truck' which generally refers to a much larger commercial vehicle.

 

[Thiele]

how about:

Australia - Soccer
Britian - Football
America - Soccer?



i'm not sure about American football, we call it Gridiron.

 

[TheCracker]

how about:

Australia - Soccer
Britian - Football
America - Soccer?



i'm not sure about American football, we call it Gridiron.

How about:

America/Australia - Soccer
Rest of the known universe - Football?

 

[Small_Fryz]

Bonnet = Hood
Boot = Trunk

We also use the term
Four Wheel Drive (4x4) = SUV's
Quads = ATV's
Mono = Wheelie

And of course!
tomato sauce = Ketchup (sp)
Chips = chrisps = potatoe chips
Chips = Fries

BTW what do you guys (UK and USA, Europe etc) call the chips you have with fish and chips. The hot big fat ones not the thin Mcdonald ones. Do you also call those Fries?

Another one is a "Cheerio" which in Australia is a small sausage like thing that you can eat cold or cook up. While in USA cheerio's are a cerial

 

[TheCracker]

BTW what do you guys (UK and USA, Europe etc) call the chips you have with fish and chips. The hot big fat ones not the thin Mcdonald ones. Do you also call those Fries?

In the UK, the chips we have with fish and chips are chips ....If that doesn't sound totally obvious

 

[daan]

BTW what do you guys (UK and USA, Europe etc) call the chips you have with fish and chips. The hot big fat ones not the thin Mcdonald ones.

Chips.

Another one is a "Cheerio" which in Australia is a small sausage like thing that you can eat cold or cook up. While in USA cheerio's are a cerial

Cheerio = Bye, see you later.

 

[Jay]

Another one is a "Cheerio" which in Australia is a small sausage like thing that you can eat cold or cook up. While in USA cheerio's are a cerial

They sell Cheerio's cerial now here aswell.

 

[kikie]

I think that the Americans try to simplify the English language.

 

[daan]

I think that the Americans try to simplify the English language.

They do. They spell a lot of words the way they are written instead of the way they were originally spelled in English. Cheque/check is a major example of that.

And its Al-you-mini-um, not ah-loo-min-um.

 

[Keef]

Bonnet = Hood
Boot = Trunk

We also use the term
Four Wheel Drive (4x4) = SUV's
Quads = ATV's
Mono = Wheelie

And of course!
tomato sauce = Ketchup (sp)
Chips = chrisps = potatoe chips
Chips = Fries

BTW what do you guys (UK and USA, Europe etc) call the chips you have with fish and chips. The hot big fat ones not the thin Mcdonald ones. Do you also call those Fries?

Another one is a "Cheerio" which in Australia is a small sausage like thing that you can eat cold or cook up. While in USA cheerio's are a cerial

In the US, fish and chips are usually potato chips or waffle fries. Waffle fries are as thick as french fries, but round like potato chips and they have grid holes like they went through a waffle iron--hence the name.

 

[Danoff]

So in England when you ask for "Chips" you don't know if you're getting:

Or

???

 

[daan]

The first picture is of crisps.

 

[Famine]

And the second is French Fries.

 

[Danoff]

And the second is French Fries.

Oh, I always thought you guys called those "chips".

 

[Famine]

Well... we sort of do, but they're definitely on the fry side. Chips tend to be chunkier. You wouldn't catch a fish'n'chip shop ("Chippy") selling those things - you'd only get them somewhere that primarily deals with burgers.

 

[TopHat]

Thank you for clearing up a common American misconception.

 

[kikie]

Off topic: which country invented fries???? Really invented it!!!!


Correct answer follows.

 

[Famine]

Belgium.

 

[TopHat]

Of course, it has to be Famine. Then why do they call them "French" Fries?

 

[Omnis]

English chips are American steak-fries.

We call any kind of cut potato that is fried Fries, and then we use another word before it if we want to be specific. ex.: Curly Fries, Steak Fries, Home Fries, Waffle Fries, shoestring fries, fast food fries, and crinkle fries. The only exception is potato wedges, I guess.

Matt, they call them French fries because half the belgique speak french. There's a dutch side of Belgium and a french side.

 

[kikie]

Belgium.

Why am I not surprised that you even know this. You are correct Famine.

 

[TopHat]

Thanks for clearing that up. I like steak fries.

 

[Small_Fryz]

In Australia we call potateo chips a "packet of chips" and hot chips, well hot chips or just chips. It really does depend on the context and when and where you are saying it. We do not use crisps or fries, however much mcdonalds tries to get us to use fries.

 

[Thiele]

mmm, looks like my Mum's chips

 

[Keef]

They're fries!!!

I hate steak fries. I like fries from Mac D's, Steak 'n Shake, and various little restaurants, and I aslways ask for them "crispy". Soggy fries make me gag.

 

[Car-less]

So what so you call oven chips? - like your steak fries, only baked in an oven rather than fried.

 

[Sharky.]

Fries are a lot thinner than those (rather fat) chips!

 

[Keef]

So what so you call oven chips? - like your steak fries, only baked in an oven rather than fried.

What the heck are oven chips? No matter the name, I've never heard of the method. Fries are fried, and that's that.