Separated by a Common Language

[Stu]

I live in rural England and we have an American neighbour (heritage Native American). One of her main problems when coming to the UK was the language. She couldn't understand why people call her "duck". That is simply a friendly address, especially to women or by women to men: "Good morning, duck!" When someone said that, she says she felt the urge to quack. She was also confused on her first full day in the UK when a male colleague said he needed to "pop to the gents". She assumed that meant "visit the bathroom" - which it does - but she hadn't initially realised the word "gents" isn't slang: it's a linguistic clipping and it means "gentle(mens) public toilets". So when she needed to go, she said the same thing - I must pop to the gents. Everyone has a "gents" at home, right? She was also surprised when someone told her not to eat some chips because they were cold. She thought that's exactly how you do eat chips - cold. Of course, "chips" in the UK are what she calls "french fries", although ours are usually way bigger and chunkier. Lastly, a word that caused confusion is "quite" which in the UK means "moderately" whereas in the US it often means "extremely". I told her that I am "quite deaf" and she reacted by shouting and waving her hands. What I meant was that I have significant hearing loss so I might have to ask you to repeat yourself.

[Uncle Al]

This is how I felt when the thread "Turn Ups" was posted.
I didn't have a clue as to what that meant until I read the post.
For me, that was rolling up your pant legs.
If someone hearing the discussion, not knowing the application,
could've thought of the vegetable "Turnips"

"Turn Ups" is what I would call a local colloquialism.
Just like getting a Coke or Soda in the U. S. means
any carbonated beverage(soft drink).

Uncle Al

[Kirbstone]

Having worn turn-ups on suit trousers during my secondary school days and for a short time thereafter, in later or recent years I've only seen turn-ups on shorts, almost all of the girly kind.
Just for devilment I hit on that large field vegetable, the turnip. Miles out of context and totally unrelated of course, but good nourishment for humans and animals alike.

Tom