I need to do this. :)
The following are the top three British/English words that really bug me. :) I still love you mUm. You are my favorite British/English/Canadian person.
Loads, Tidy, Bits.
Loads: Loads should be used for when you do a LOAD of laundry or when you are taking a LOAD of trash to the dump. LOADS does not mean "lots". You have lots of candy. You do not have "loads of candy".
Tidy: Apparently some people believe that to clean your room means to sanitize the walls and scrub the floor with soap and that to TIDY your room means to straighten things up and make it organized. TIDY reminds me of underwear because of "tighty whities"... Tidy is the most ridiculous sounding word EVER.
Bits: Just say pieces!! The toy has some small pieces. NOT. The toy has some small BITS. Bits are for Bacon Bits... which are yummy and do not involve any bacon. Other than that, BITS shouldn't even be a word.
Luckily my children, despite all the British propaganda they have from school, have only started saying one of these three evil words - "loads". Although after reading this I'm fairly confident that Michaela will fit the words bits and tidy into every other sentence for me. :)
The girls do call candy - sweets, and Sierra asks to use the toilet instead of the bathroom or restroom. (Toilet sounds rude, sorry - I don't know why.)
Oh - Maths. It's not mathS; it's just math. One subject - Math. No S.
It's candy, not sweets.
It's cookies, not biscuits.
You get angry, not cross.
Trash goes to the dump, not the tip.
It's a big truck, not lorry.
Garbage can, not bin.
You get a hug, not a cuddle.
Then there are weird ones. mUm plays "Guess the British word" with me. I missed "flannel" and "chesterfield" last time. Can't remember the others... :)
It's just those three words that make me cringe. I can deal with the others. I wonder if English parents are annoyed that their kids say American words?
I will go tidy up the loads of toy bits on the floor now.
:)
BUT - I do say the word proper now. Although I consciously think "Why did I just say proper, it sounds weird." every single time I say it.
11 comments:
Hi,
Really interesting! I just wonder how many reactions my language causes you :-) ...
I think the school teach much more American english then British english. Linnea is very happy about that, since she really think British sounds awful and she complain about dad's accent, since he is really British after working very much in England.
I know English mums think the American influence is a problem. I just think it is funny, since the most important thing to me is that we understand each other and communicate. That can make the world a whole lot (load) better.
I make it for Loads and Bits, but I guess I use Tidy sometimes.... Sorry.
Cross I leard here from all those Reading books, and I didn't understood it in the beginning. I didn't thought it was angry, I thought it was devastated.
What is biscuits to you? Is it something else or it doesn't even exist?
When do you use the word proper???
Thanks for the education! I learned a lot!
I didn't know you have been sick! Are you better now?
Have a nice day! Ingrid
Ah, but we Brits don't say go tidy up, we say go AND tidy up. ;)
Love your blog, I visited because we may be moving to Denmark and I wanted to see how others were coping!
Hey Ingrid... of the nice Swedish family :) I can't understand any Swedish so your language doesn't make me cross. :) I know all Sweds are not nice. BUT when I visited Sweden with my grandma I dropped my wallet on the ground outside the hotel! AHHHH. Someone returned it will ALL my money in it. Phew! That's why I like Sweden too. :)
Biscuits would be a piece of bread, maybe with dinner, like a roll or rundstykke, but fluffier. :) It wouldn't be anything for a dessert or treat for a kid. :)
Sit properly in your chair. Write your name properly. Do it the right, correct, proper way. My husband taught me that word.
I'm feeling better now. I was very sick for the entire weekend. I can't even remember Friday. :) All better though!
AND. Hi Brownie Guider! Come to Denmark so my girls can be brownies too. :)
Heh. My colleague tells our students off if they call breaktime "recess".
Once, when I was a little kid at an international school, the parents complained about how much American English and culture we were being taught.
So the school started teaching us 1930s British songs. "Run rabbit, run rabbit, run run run"
Be careful what you wish for, I suppose!
Too funny - the one 'english' word that makes me absolutely freaking nuts is schedule. It's not the word itself, because the written word is exactly the same; it's the way the English pronounce the word that makes me crazy. The first time I heard an Englishman say 'schedule' I thought he had a horrible lisp.
love this!! And I agree...tighty whiteys...lol! Of course we may have to explain that one to our Danish friends!
To my wonderful daughter-in-law
Okay - just in case they ever send you to England and you need to learn the language we will practice a few VERY SENSIBLE words each week:
bobby = policeman
bloke = chap or man
bonkers = as in you are crazy
bangers = sausages
bonnet = hood of car
book = as in make a reservation
barmy = silly
bung = throw
biro - ball point pen invented man named biro
blimey = wow
now - when i grew up in England and after they had invented flush toilets (just kidding sort of)some very smart English person realized that some people need to go the "toilet" when someone else is in the "bathroom" with the door locked so put the toilet in its own little room - how clever - pefect example when many of my 12 grandchildren are here it seems vital that they number one lock the doors and number two someone has to bang and yell on the outside of the door.
and now a correction:
chesterfield is not an English word but I believe Canadian that personally i thought was very strange but seem to have adopted it - the english word for this is settee - just about as odd
please practice these and I will test you on next phone call
LOADS of love your mUm - the correct way of spelling "mom" xx
OK, I love this! Now for a few of mine (from when I lived in Australia)
Fag = cigarette
Poofta = slang for gay
Loo = toilet
Mad = crazy
Discotech = club (I hated because it made me think of a mirrored ball and tight white pant suits)
and my favorite
Fardinkum = Really.
I got my words from Harry Potter.
Love the Harry Potter!
And I will fit in bits and and whatever the other word was.
I will check :):):):):):):):):):):)
I say "proper" now too! I don't know how that happened. I'm from NYC - I've never used "proper" until I moved to DK. odd. And I also scold myself every time only to find myself using it yet again.
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