If you live in the United States and think you speak English, you are wrong. I think George Bernard Shaw said it best when he said “we have two countries divided by a common language”.
It’s funny to arrive in England thinking there will be no language barrier, but the realization hits when you are directed to a queue and assume border control has decided to target you. Instead, with ignorant smiles and relief we go wait in line like everyone else. Our holiday waits.
While we know learning other languages will broaden cultural perspective, with England it becomes a game since we just need context clues to help us along. Let me enlighten you, but first, mind the gap when traveling on the underground and mind your head from low ceilings, on the way out.
Need a lift? You will be directed to the nearest elevator.
When ordering food take note:
- Chips are fries, and crisps are chips.
- Biscuits are cookies, and jellies are gummies
- Yorkshire pudding is a roll/bread.
- And gem? We still laugh to think of the waiter so diligently describing a lettuce leaf.
We appreciate the friendly and polite manner in which with the British people tolerate us well-meaning foreigners. No matter what the day brings, a proper rain for instance, they remain quite dignified.
Even if there are signs to ward off tourists, the horses stand tall and the guard, alert, but I do wonder if the cheeky grin on the horse resonates his real thoughts and the story that he waits to bring to life.
Cheeky? Mischievous to us Americans.
On another note, it is important to know a pint is a beer and a mate is a friend.
And be ever so careful to know the importance of the Crown Jewels.
So yes, in the United States we speak American, in England we speak English, and in countries we don’t know the language we speak…charades. Got it? Thumbs up.
Regardless of where we land in our travels, we love the adventure, what lands in its way, and we take pride in a most valuable lesson.
Everyone smiles in the same language.
Do that, too.
Donna.
Thank you for taking a moment to read my contribution to,
Wind Kisses 
I hope you had a great adventure Donna! My students are often confused when spelling ‘color’ and ‘colour’ and many other similar but confusing American/English words! Ireland is only a hop, skip and a jump away from U.K., maybe you will visit someday?
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Yes, we were there in 2013 and had a wonderful time. It’s such a pretty country and we couldn’t do it all. I found I had to listen a lot harder to the Irish accent. And found it interesting to hear Gaelic spoken in some of the smaller towns. My grandmother was from Cork.
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I think you actually told me of your visit before and of your Cork connections. We even have to listen harder to get each different Irish dialect!! I thought your post was a recent visit to UK and wondered was an Irish visit on the cards.
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yes yes you are right. we just returned from London and Ireland is always on the cards.
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Thanks you sharing very interesting and nice photos, jellies are gummies, mmm not sure what either are maybe sweets would be a better description and Yorkshire pudding is more a pancake mix than a bread roll 🙂
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haha. Thanks for stepping up to clarify Adrian. I wondered if there would be discrepancies. We saw a sign for the jelly/gummy things and yes I would agree…sweets. And I had no idea how to describe Yorkshire pudding. I asked both my daughter and husband, and they agreed nothing seemed to compare for us. The shape of ours was like a popover. But when you said pancake, it does make perfect sense. Regardless, I could have eaten a whole plate (or stack)of them. They are delicious.
I was actually surprised at all the language differences and we loved the whole experience of being present in London. The people were so friendly and fun. Thank you again. My husband was ready to book our next trip to Snowdonia as I have showed him your amazing photos capturing that area and we love to hike. I have learned a lot from your blog and your instagram. Another blogger Mike Hardisty is from North Wales, so I have seen his beautiful photos as well.
We won’t do it this year, but…in time. Thanks again. I was hoping, if I need to be corrected someone would step up. Cheers, my friend. Happy hiking.
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I’m glad Adrian clarified the Yorkshire Pudding, Donna. We know each other, quite often go out together and Adrian only lives a couple of miles from me. If you ever get to this neck of the woods let us know. We can tell you lots of places to go visit.
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I love that you know each other. I definitely will!
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Great post. I love learning languages, and the American English differences always amuse and fascinate me. All languages teach us much about countries’ history and culture
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I agree, and I think if we make efforts to do what we can to speak their language, or understand those cultural differences, the vacations are that much nicer. Thanks Debbie.
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I won’t even try to tell you of Australian English 😀
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Hahaha. It’s amazing how many differences there are. It’s fun and funny.
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