Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related UK versus US English: Smackdown 2004

The way schools work here, 9th grade can either be in the junior high or high school depending on your school district. My district had the 9th grade as part of the high school. My roommate had 9th grade as part of junior high and I had 9th grade in the high school (she went to the biggest high school in the state and I went to the smallest high school in a 3 high school district (basically, Parma = Mentor in population, but mentor has all the students in 1 high school while parma has split it up into 3 high schools)). Either way, you are a freshman in the 9th grade. 10th grade is your sophomore year. 11th grade is your junior year. And 12th grade is your senior year. The same is true for college (or University -- as Emily said, the terms are synonomous -- I believe there is a distinction in the number of schools it has. My sister goes to Baldwin Wallace College -- the population is mostly undergraduate students and there is no law school/med school or anything like that. I go to CAse Western Reserve University -- with a med school, dental school, law school, social sciences school, business school in addition to a graduate school and undergraduate school -- both split into school of engineering, college of arts and sciences, and business school). Anyway, first year = freshman, 2nd year = sophomore, 3rd year = junior, 4th year = senior. Interestingly, in graduate school, we don't have specific names for what year we are -- so I am just a 3rd year, not a junior. Hope that wasn't too confusing .

So, senior high school is not the same as being a senior in high school . The three high schools in Parma are Normandy High School (my alma mater -- class of '98 ), Parma Senior High, and Valley Forge High School. The Senior high designation was to distinguish the 9-12 grade school from the junior high school 7-8th grade when the schools were first set up (this was before even my dad went to school in the 1950's and 1960's!) and there was only 1 high school and 1 junior high. Parma was (and still is) a very heavily catholic city where many of the children went to one of the many catholic schools (which are a totally other topic).

Oh, another thing with college and university -- I would say "I'm in college" regardless of the fact I actually go to a University. Also, I would call myself a "college student" regardless fo the fact I go to a university. Actually, I would be more specific and call myself a "3rd year graduate student (or PhD student)" meaning that I am working for a degree above a bachelor's degree (in my case a BS) and also in my case, I already have a MS so i am working for a PhD (and once I pass the qualifier, i will be a PhD canidate) (it's hard to keep straight, so we usually go with College Student for nonprofessional communication). My sister is a "senior undergraduate student" she's in her 4th year of college before she has any degree -- she'll hopefully get her BA at the end of the year. Yet, we still call her a "college student", too. Oh, and anyone who spends beyond 4 years working on their bachelor's degrees are referred to as "super seniors".

Hmm, I don't know if it's only rich people who look down on community colleges. I sometimes do because I'm a snob, but not "rich", per say . No, honestly, community colleges serve a great purpose -- if nothing more than to give a two year start on your education -- the classes transfer to many universities. Plus, the one in Parma has the fireman program and a lot of technical programs. Many, many people form my high school went there. Actually, the colleges I look down on are the for-profit colleges (like the one that used to emply my dad) who provide a sub-par education for tons of money.

Weird! I drive a Toyota, and my roommate drives a Voltswagon, so it isn't a generalization that Americans drive only American cars -- in fact, Toyotas and Hondas are both made in Ohio while many traditionally "American" cars are made in Mexico and Canada.

Those are actually two of the reasons my family boycots WalMart. I know in Ohio there are no firearms signs on a lot of buildings because a concealed carry law has recently been passed so it is no longer illegal to carry a concealed fire arm (don't even get me started about that law) yet establishments are permitted to not allow concealed weapons in their specific place of business and they have signs displaying their personal regulations. However, I have never been to Minnesota, so I have no idea what their laws are.

Interesting! The only part of Canada I've been to is Ontario, but the thing we love about Canada is that EVERYTHING tends to be cheaper there! Well, food is equally expensive because of the GST/PST added, but when you do the money exchange, it is pretty similar! We LOVE shopping in Canada! The exchange rate is awesome, and if we spend enough money, we get the tax back at the border!

Okay, I know you are talking about England, but we have them in the US, too. the annoying thing is that there is no standard rule about them! The ones in northeast ohio, you are supposed to yield to incoming traffic if you are in the circle. However, in MAssechuesettes, the rules are entirely the opposite. I nearly got into several accidents in Western Mass. when i yeilded in the round about!

Because they are cheap and have a drive through? No, I don't know. I prefer Dunkin' Donuts and Tim Hortons , but yesterday while we were working at the concession stand, my roommate convinced me I wanted Krispie Kremes and we had to make a special trip after work just to get some! (but i convinced her she wanted better, closer Royal Donuts, so we didn't have to get Krispie Kreme).

I'd call it a folder. If someone said "what kind of folder", I'd say "the cool one with the prongs inside".

I've never heard of any of these -- except maybe serviette.

As for accents, there is a very interesting variation of accents just in the state of Ohio. I have a clearly northern Ohio from Cleveland accent. I sound basically like the people on TV (but I say "pop" and not "soda" ). People south of Cleveland (especially living in more rural areas) have a different accent -- it isn't a southern accent exactly, but it is clearly different from the way I speak. You can tell if a person is from Cleveland, Columbus or Cincinatti just by hearing them speak. It's really interesting. Similarly, you can tell if someone is from Pittsburgh, Pennslyvania from their accent, too.

- Laura