Here's my mega-post with question and comments from the start of the thread. (James just said, "Oy!" Wonder what he means by that. Anywho...)

Compare and contrast are not the same thing. Compare points out similarities; contrast points out differances.

A question about the UK term "call." I'd been told that Dominoes changed their slogan, "One call does it all," when advertising in the UK, because call in the UK referred to a ... ahem... visit from a prostitute. True? Or is somebody yanking my chain?

My favorite US road sign is, "Cross traffic does not stop," as I tend to drive poorly when I'm angry, too.

In my neck of the woods (St. Louis), junior highs are being phased out. The older schools had 7th and 8th grades togethor (rarely 9th anymore). About 15 or 20 years ago they started replacing them with middle schools (6th, 7th, and 8th grades.)

Cheese curds aqre a yummy, albeit regional, favorite. Of course, I come from a cheese curd kind of background. Once while we were waiting for a funeral to begin, my cousin withdrew a large stash of cheese from the front pocket of his bib overalls and offered it around to the other mourners at the church.

(Oh, yeah. Dad says, "Uf da," all the time. He only says, "Yeah, sure. You betcha'," when he's joking, though.)

There are 7-11s in the Midwest. Lots and lots of 7-11s in St. Louis. (Well, I suppose they're starting to be edged out by QTs, anymore. But I grew up in 7-11 heaven.)

And my own personal bathroom story. We moved here from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, 30+ years ago when I was just a tadpole. Just after arriving, my mom asked a passerby, "Where's the bubbler?" She was chagrined to follow the directions and find herself at the men's room. Did he think she wanted to use the urinal? (For all those who've never lived in dear--may I even say quaint--Oshkosh, a bubbler is a drinking fountain. Hmm... I bet it has a different name in the UK, not to mention Canada and Australia.)

Elisabeth
who adds up all her 2 cents worth to around 14 cents plus tax

(Wendy, Woot! on becoming bilingual)