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

Well, I think a lot of FoLCs read the story as soon as it was available (I know I did, and by the looks of the comments folder, I'm not nearly the only one...), so hopefully it won't be *that* much of a spoiler. Still, I applaud your attitude, Rat.

In any case, I've never seen the L, and did find it somewhat odd. I just shrugged it off and blamed it on auto-pilot.

I have seen the heart in the middle, as Wendy posted, but that's rare.

What I see most often (on sidewalks, on TV, on tree trunks, etc) is a heart with

XX
+
YY

Sometimes with a little phrase under it, but more often not. Even when there is a phrase, it's not always directly related. Sometimes, it's just the couple's personal catchphrase (a few words of special significance to them).

I guess, as far as math is concerned, XX + YY = heart. <shrug>

Mostly, though, I think the + is there to indicate that XX goes with YY.

Anyway, while I'm posting, I'll take the opportunity to tell a vaguely related story...

When I was 12, my family went on a trip to England. We toured around the southern part of the island, starting and ending in London.

In London, we quickly discovered that there is a real reason why everyone walks around with a "brolly" (aka "umbrella"). Rain just seems to randomly come and go as it pleases. Never seen anything like it, even in New England ("Don't like the weather? Wait 15 minutes.") and Seattle ("Take a look at the mountain over there. If you can see the top, it's about to rain. If you can't, it's raining.").

To make touring around easier, we decided to get a weekly Tube Pass (in London, it's the Tube or the Underground. In NYC, it's the Subway. In Paris, it's the Metro. In Boston, it's the T... Every city I know has a different name for the same thing). I got a discount on mine because I was a kid. So, they stamped my photo ID "CHILD RATE" in red letters. Unfortunately, the background of the ID was also red, and the last letter didn't fit on the picture. So, I got a picture with "CHILD RAT" stamped on it in bold red letters.

As we were going around, we noticed a lot of language differences, and, at one point, started making a "US/UK Dictionary." It started off with obvious things like "Lorry" and "To Let," but quickly picked up other little oddities that came our way. I wish we still had it, because it'd be perfect for this thread.

Anyway, we had a lot of fun and saw a lot of cool things, but where's the amusement value in reading about that? So, I'm going to skim through things.

A day or so before we were ready to leave London, we rented a car. Dad drove us through Roundabouts (which, all too often, were part of the most direct path) and Circuses (which, sadly, had no elephants. No comment on the clowns. ) and was frequently heard muttering to himself "stayleftstayleftstayleft..." particularly when making turns. It was both amusing and disconcerting.

Leaving London, we headed out into the countryside, where we quickly found that unlike US roads (which are generally left open so that drivers can see all the mountains, valleys, forests, billboards, gas station signs, McDonald's signs, and other roadside splendors which will hopefully be interesting enough to help stave off highway hypnosis), there was very little to see off English roads. This was not because the countryside was any less scenic. Not at all. The problem was that for miles and miles the road was lined with nature's sheep fences (aka "hedges"), so that when we looked out our windows, all we could see was a continuous line of bush with an occasionaly tantalizing glimpse of rolling hills and beautiful pastures. We jotted something about this down in our "dictionary."

From time to time, we noticed things off the side of the road. Once, there was a steep hill, and, next to it, a little sign saying "Runaway Truck Ramp." I'd never heard of such a thing at the time, but Mom explained that sometimes trucks had brake problems when going down hills and that ramps were put in place to help slow them in case of emergency. In the US, however, this is depicted graphically (a yellow sign with a truck going up a hill). While we weres still considering possible implications of the words, we saw the ramp itself. It was a nice ramp, but it ended in what can only be called a small cliff, with no real barricade. I guess, if you were in a runaway truck, you just had to hope.

Later on, we passed a small turnoff. It was a little dirt road leading into what seemed like nothing in particular. Some scrub brush and such (not hedges). Wilderness, more or less. The sign next to the turnoff said "Tourist Bypass." That one cracked us up. I assume it was an analog to the US "Scenic Overlook," but it sounded to us like it was either a way to get around all those pesky tourists or a way to get all those pesky tourists to go off on a wild goose chase into the wilderness.

We had just written that one down and were still chuckling about it when we came to a place where the road had to go over a large hill (or small mountain, depending on your perspective). It wound back and forth, climbing gradually up the side of the hill. As we went higher, the switchbacks became sharper and sharper. Finally, the last one was a real hairpin. There were no lights except the car's headlights, and the only thing telling us that the road was no longer in front of us was a little sign on the edge of the cliff. "Route 3" (I think it was 3, but I'm not certain) with an arrow pointing straight down. We thought about this. As a matter of fact, we knew that Route 3 was straight down at the bottom of the cliff. That's where we'd been 10 minutes previously. Fortunately, Dad realized that the arrow was meant to be an indication of a hairpin turn, and managed to ease the car around it.

At the top of the hill, the road continued, but I noticed a tiny little sign off to the side. "Cat's Eyes Removed." That one had us for a while, as we considered exactly what kind of veterinarian's office we were passing. We didn't get the real answer until we made it to the B&B a few miles down the road. The owner laughed with us, and then explained that that's the UK name for those little road reflectors you see between lanes. (When we got home, I looked it up in the dictionary and found that there was, in fact, an entry explaining exactly this. It's just not a common term at all in the US. Usually, we don't think about them at all, and, when we do, we just call them "road reflectors.")

In the morning, we saw the breakfast menu. After we explained to the waiter that we were strange visitors from another continent who preferred to eat only the whites of the eggs ("co-less-ter-all? "), we had a family discussion about what, exactly, a kipper was. Was it a fish? Was it a way of preparing fish? Was it both? What, exactly, was involved? Was it anything like Kippered Salmon (which we had heard of, but which didn't seem to exist on that side of the Atlantic (aka "The Pond").)? Dad seemed to know, but none of us was certain. Dad was also the only one to even consider having fish for breakfast.

From there, we continued touring, and had a thoroughly enjoyable trip (and continued discussions on the nature of kippers). We even got to take a hovercraft across the channel and back. We got cheap tickets because we chose not to actually step off the craft on French soil. It was a special class of ticket designed for people who wanted to do their shopping in tax-free international waters, but it worked well for us hovercraft-deprived tourists, too. My childish enthusiasm even got us a trip up to see the cockpit and the engines, with a guided tour from the captain himself (who had nothing better to do while waiting for passengers to get on and off).

So, I just thought I'd share. Parts of the story are relevant, right?

Paul, who forgot to mention earlier that recycled commas also make handy apostrophes. If you can get them to stay up there.

P.S. "Is it more acceptable in the UK to start a sentence with a conjunction than it is in the US? Discuss."

heh. I had to comment on the kipper.. that word always brings to mind the phrase "fry me up a kipper, I'll be home for breakfast." I love Red Dwarf. According to dictionary.com..

And thanks, I now have "conjunction junction" in my head. :p

I wish I could remember my English adventures in some detail!

Going way off topic here, but following on from Paul's recounting of road sign mysteries in the UK, my favourite sign (actually *on* the road) in the US has always been:

XING
PED

Took me several days of driving around the States to figure that one out. I finally realised that the X was supposed to represent 'cross', and that 'ped' was short for 'pedestrian', but even then, that only gave me 'crossing pedestrian'.

Huh? Shouldn't it be 'pedestrian crossing', I thought.

And then the other penny dropped: in the US, you're supposed to read the words in the order you drive over them, not as you see them. Yikes, how weird is that, I thought. But then, our way probably seems just as weird to US drivers.

Yvonne

That is probably regional, Yvonne. I've only ever seem PED XING on signs on the side of the road, never on the road itself. The thing I have always found really weird is that on Ambulances, the word is written backwards. I finally figured out that when you look through your car's rearview mirror, you read 'AMBULANCE" and see the mirror image of the backwards word!

- Laura

I did try to sit on my hands, but I couldn't manage it... that's "Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast."



Mere

LOL. I knew I should have searched out the phrase, rather than relying on my poor memory!

Actually, no. I, personally, have always found it weird reading in that order.

Then there's the trick with the circles... I don't know about anywhere else, but around here, if you have three words in a circle, you're supposed to read the middle word last (or is it first...?) The most common case is automatic doors, which come with signs to tell you to watch out because the door might open by itself. So, they take the most important word, caution, and put it in the middle (along the horizontal diameter of a circle). Then they take the explanation and put it on top and bottom (around the circle). Makes sense, sort of, but you end up with:

Automatic
CAUTION
Door

At which point I scratch my head, think about it for a bit, and decide that it's really cool that they've somehow managed to make a door which is automatically cautious in nature.

Of course, come to think, I've had trouble with a lot of other US signs.

Sign:
NO LITTERING
$50 FINE

Me: Oh. Hmm. So, uh, what happens if you do litter?

Sign: DO NOT PASS

Me: Huh? Okay, that's odd. What's that supposed to mean? Clearly, it's okay that we just went zipping past it. I mean, why would they put a permanent sign like that next to a perfectly good road? Better not ask Mom. She'll just give me that look again, and then I'll have to explain that I'm serious, and then she'll laugh... <sigh> Okay, you can figure this out. It's supposed to be clear. There's another one. Look around... Ah-ha! We're coming up to a curve, and the yellow line just went from dashed to solid. There's only one lane in either direction, so... OH!

I guess I have trouble with signs everywhere...

Paul, who had forgotten about alt-Rimmer

I am really enjoying this thread.
But don't worry Wendy, here in Canada we're betwixt and between when it comes to these issues. If you say something's brilliant, everyone will know that you mean that it's terrific, or cool. And my mom always says she's chuffed about things when she's really pleased (she's from out west). And no one (well almost no one ) thinks she's talking strangely.

I have to confess most of the examples you guys have been listing as British sound more natural to my ear, though there are exceptions. And we tend to use UK spellings most of the time, though that is dying out.

A friend of mine had a funny experience in Britain this summer when he asked where he could buy candles cheaply. His colleague suggested a pound stretcher. ( Here we call them Dollar Stores). You can imagine the conversation.
Where ?
At the Pound Stretcher.
Pardon ?
the Pound Stretcher.
Huh ?
etc.

Allie

Ah!

(Reminds me of John Travolta in Pulp Fiction talking about why they don't call a Quarter Pounder by the same name in Paris, France.)

On another note, I was just now re-reading a favorite fanfic of mine and noticed a sentence in which one character is leading another "up primrose lane". I normally say, "lead [someone] down primrose lane" (likewise, "down memory lane", etc.)

Searching on internet, I found both versions used. Is this another UK/US thing? Perhaps there are regional differences even w/in the US? Or is it just a matter of personal preference?

- Vicki

Never heard of being led down primrose lane, Vicki. I've taken a trip down memory lane once or twice, and I've been driven round the bend many times over. Hey, I've even been driven up the wall (no, not like Donald O'Connor from Singing In The Rain).

Yvonne

I'm familiar with "up the primrose path", also "up the garden path". I see Google has many more hits for the "down" version of both those, so perhaps it is a UK/US thing.

Mere

WOW!

‘Pop’ is a noise or the action of breaking something. Also short for grand pop!

Then again we have mobiles not cell phones, put our gear in the boot not the trunk, and our cars run on petrol not gas. When students complete their last year of High School here (Year 12), if they want to continue studying they go to uni not college.

Tricia (Yes, uni is short for university! )

I am coming back here to respond to my esteemed beta reader .

At the concession stand we would say "What kind of drink do you want?" The customer would say, "Pop". Then we'd say, "What kind?" Then they would say the specific kind like Coke/Sprite/Diet. We don't say Grandpop -- we say Grandpa -- oh, and we don't say "mum", we say "mom".

We'd say "twelfth grade" rather than "year twelve", and we'd say "college" rather than "uni".

When my roommate came back from studying in Australia (she was at UNSW), she got into the habit of saying "Let's go to Uni" and it drove the rest of us crazy! We would say "Let's go to class," and she was using the word Uni to describe anything and everything associated with the university. I still think she was making fun of us because we all didn't get to go on Study Abroad and she did . She'd also would say "take away food" rather than "take out" food. And she also started saying, "Do you want to go straight aways" instead of "Do you want to go now?" And don't get me started on the fake Australian accent she started using to irritate us .

- Laura (who would love to visit Australia some day!)

I've always been confused about 'senior' 'junior'... Can someone please explain all that to me.

Here we just say grade 11 or grade 12, but for the last five years they have been changing the organization of grades.

Grade 7, 8 & 9 where considered Junior High when my husband went through (grad '92 I think).

me - 7 & 8 where JH and 9 - 12 where High school (grad '95). Yet while I was at that school they treated the niners differently. We where still called junior highers, but we attended a high school. Our classes where organized differently too, like a JH.

My brother who was suppose to graduate in '02 or '03 said his classmates still referred to 'grade 11' say, but the courses where now being listed as senior 1, 2, 3 or 4. Senior 1 is grade 9 (they says S1). Who knows what they say now. They where changing things so often over a 10 year period I don't know what they ended up with!

Here University is where you get degrees, for example, bachelor of arts.


Sisler High School
Red River College
Univeristy of Manitoba
University of Waterloo
Robertson College I would never go to Robertson. there are too many of these type of places popping up that don't have a solid history. You learn more office stuff and some say it isn't recognizable in other provinces or countries.

Here many say, the best education to get is a university degree and then complement it with good college diplomas or certificates.


College is somewhere you get a diploma or a certification.

You can get diplomas in an continuing education program (professional thing) at universities.

Before Colleges where looked down upon, but now they seem to get you a job faster. There they have trades, can take accounting (though 4 classes of their accounting equal one intro. class at university), child development certificates....

Now you are getting more and more interaction between all the universities and colleges where a lot of stuff is integrated for some programs like environmental geography and education.

Some people say uni here --- RARELY!!! Usually people just abbreviate the place they go to and it's a given that everyone understands.
I can understand that driving you crazy! LOL

When I went to the States for the first time (last winter) I went to North Dakota. I found it hilarious that there where so many lines on the road, sign saying no parking or pay a fee or fine. Also, there on my first visit I only saw American cars. It was soooo weird. I couldn't believe how cheap the food was and how EXPENSIVE the electronics where. So different.

The next time I saw a few non - American cars. I guess it is different there b/c well I guess it is so not 'big cityish'. I went to Minneapolis last summer for the first time. My eyes shot open wide when I saw signs I wasn't accustomed to on the doors to Mall of America. Something about you can't have firearms in there. Guns in Wal-Mart!! And yet they don't sell some CDs b/c there are 'bad' words on them. Whatever.

When I was in England I thought the squiggley lines on the side of the road where weird. I never did find out what they were for. I never did look it up. Also, how ON EARTH do those round-a-bout things work? Here they are just starting to pop up but they are only one laned. When I was in Edmonton a few years ago, my husband and I ended up in a big one. We didn't know that city had them! Luckily it was early on a weekend and there was only one other car there. Otherwise we didn't know what we could and couldn’t do! Hmmm, maybe I'll look it up if I have time.

I couldn't get over the quality of the freeways system in the States. Total thumbs up from here. I cried when I was in Edmonton b/c I was so scared. Cars going 110km/hr down a freeway. I just spent a 16 hr drive non-stop (well except for gas) and we where lost and now we had to put up with traffic. I'd never seen that before. Well I didn't know it could get worse. Well I did, I was just in denial. Luckily in Minneapolis I expected the worst. Man. People where going soooooooo fast. At least we had a car now that could get up to speed really fast. I hate driving. Oh I don't drive by the way.

I know a lot of countries are known for fast freeways, but they are built for that - as many of us know. Here in Cda, we cannot go fast b/c our roads are not engineered for such speeds. We poor. Edmonton has the luxery of having freeways b/c they are a 'have' province. I believe the most well off in Cda.

I heard they are getting rid of the double deckers in London. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. Discussion please!

Some of my relatives from England could never pronouce one of my old teachers name - Mr. Sisk. It always came out as Fisk. WHY???????

Why are Krispy Creams (Kreams???) so popular?

In Scotland, how vast are the accents? Many different types?

Where I live, college is synonymous with university. To distinguish between 4-year schools, we use community or technical colleges, which might be what you're thinking of. Rich people tend to look down on them because they don't cost a lot of money. They are the ones that generally offer 2-year Associate's degrees. For certain industries, they can be better than a regular university.

The advantage is that you get out faster with more useful skills, but you don't have to take the liberal arts classes you would at a regular college.

A lot of people get an Associate's degree at a community college, then find a job, and save up for a Bachelor's degree later. Some companies will help pay for college education.

I did it the other way around -- got my Bachelor's in marketing and then took night classes at a technical school because I wanted to learn computer programming.

Just out of curiousity, when were you in Minneapolis? That's my neck of the woods.

Yes, there are a lot of regional accents in Scotland. You'll find Scots from Aberdeen speak differently from those who live in Oban. Those who live in Glasgow have a different accent from those who live in Edinburgh.

In fact, it goes right down to the local area; it's not just restricted to cities and regions. My accent is a strange mix of Glaswegian and something unique to where I live in Cumbernauld (a new town set up in the sixties which was a satellite town of Glasgow and which attracted many Glasgow families out to live in). And curiously enough, for no reason I've been able to fathom, just in the past year I've started gravitating to using Glasgwegian words a lot more than I ever have in my life. I think it's another sign of getting old.


And I once spent some time with a girl from a small village called Denny during a school activities weekend and came back talking with a Denny accent for a while until it faded. So the no of Scottish accents is about as numerous as the Scots who speak them, I guess.

And it's not just accents but dialect and language too which vary from city to city, region to region.

LabRat (doing her bit to make this thread 100 posts

Wow Roo, so many questions!

Roundabouts... depends what country you're in. Rule of thumb anywhere, is figure out which exit you need before you get on it, if it's too the left then go in the left-hand lane, and if it is to the right, go in the right-hand lane. In the UK people already on the roundabout have priority.

I prefer them to traffic lights because you don't have to stop so much.

They're not getting rid of the double deckers in London. They have been replacing the old double decker fleet (some were 30+ years old) in London with ones that are better for disabled access. The new ones don't need conductors either. This has upset people. (I think conductors are fab, and should be bought back wholescale, but that's a whole other debate).

Scotland probably has too many accents to count... There are a lot of accents in the whole of the UK, 20 miles is a long way in these parts.

Not sure what you mean by squiggley lines by the side of the road... if you mean zigzags, they're usually by pedestrian crossings or schools, places where it would be ultra stupid and dangerous to park...

Helga

In my city there are many accents. Not from the immigrants, but we have the North Ender accent as they call it. It seems to be in more prevelent in Native groups and any people who .... I guess really are poor or those who live out of the city in some areas and more prevelent in blue collared work. Sometimes I find myself talking like that because I live right by that area and a lot of people I interact with are from there. A lot more 'ehs. A lot of "ya 'eh" "hey". It is more of a sterotypical Cdn accent - well one of the types. Teased as being backwoodish/backwards. The jaw is more rigid. You say things with an upward...can't think of the word. It is like you are constantly in the motion of asking a question! Almost like valley-girl speak.

"You wanna go to da Nordern, eh?
"You want to go to the Northern?" It's a bar in on Main Street. Not a good area. My bus goes through there. It used to be called one of the worst streets in Canada. A drunk lady would routinely ask me when I used to talk the bus to university. Joy.

Some people moved in next to me when I was a kid and I picked up the accent like it was nothing and my Mum got mad at me for it. She was worried about people thinking I was stupid. That is one of the sterotypes with that type of North Ender accent. You are Native, stupid and on welfare. Totally not a fair assessement.

One slight swing on that accent has it being really choppy. I think it is b/c of one of the Cree languages. I think that one was really choppy and well you know what happens with accents.

Slangs, wording ... was totally different. I wish I could remember some of them.

I'm sure everyone knows that here we have people who talk differently in Quebec to those who live in the Atlantic Provinces (different ones there). Those ones I find neat. Newfoundlanders are just crazy! It's cool. The way they say their sentences and the phrases they have are just so different. They where mostly the butt of all jokes as Cda grew up. It isn't as popular with the yonger sect.

I was told that I refer to my bathroom in an odd way. So I looked it up:

I notice that is starting to fade out. There have been articles written that voice the concern that we are losing our identity - our words, the way we say stuff and the way we talk.

Does that sounds odd to any Americans or people over the pond? The bathroom stuff I mean.

How about "ABM"? No, it doesn't stand for "A Bowel Movement" it means "Automated Banking Machine". In the USA it is referred to as an "ATM" or "Automatic Teller Machine".

I had an American penpal who thought this was weird: Anglophone: This term refers to a Canadian who's native or first language is English.

Does anyone have anything similar in their country?

I'm sorry to continue, but I really want to know!

How about:
Duo-Tang: A paper notebook, similar to a double pocket portfolio but it has 3 metal prongs in the center. Each prong has 2 pieces of metal that fit through the 3 ring paper holes. Spread the prongs apart or bend them down to hold the paper in place. Perfect for school reports!
Do you call it that?

How about: Ensuite, entree (I've heard you should say meal instead in the States or else you'll get a blank stare), homo milk, a micky, poutine, serviette.

I wanted to know about the accents b/c I didn't know if my views of accents being so vastly different where just part joke or whole truth. I always found history (and all of it's realted stuff - linguistics) so cool, so I wanted to know.

How about - I'm going to the Vendor so I can get a 2 4. You need it when you watch some shimmy.

If you are Newfoundland:
I'll be dere da rackley
means
I'll be there in a few minutes

Idn't dat fulish bye => (Isn't that foolish...and of course we Newfies say bye at the end of many phrases, instead of the eh associated with Canadians!)

I swear that Newfies have the shortest conversation in the world, all of two words, that mean a mouthful!

I want to know what this would mean to you:
Good morrow to you.

Well apparently it means "You are mistaken" in NFLD.

To me it meant - good morning.

Gee...I guess I'm trying to make this post go on forever without even trying. I'm soooo sorry I keep babbeling and going off on a tangent. I just get so excited and start to think.

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