Wonderful stories! Anna, you must write a book about your encounter with the U.S. <BR> <BR>Maybe some current British speaker or Canadian can clear up one usage that often puzzles me in both writing and speaking, namely "whilst". <BR> <BR>Is this interchangeable with the way an American uses "while," or just in some cases? For instance, would you use it not only for simultaneity ("Joe read to me whilst I drove the car") but also for comparison ("Whilst some apples are from Washington, others are from Michigan")? And do you always use it in preference to "while" or just in certain circumstances--e.g., is it more formal than "while" and so more common in writing than in everyday speech? <BR> <BR>Thanks for clearing this up if you can! <BR>While not vastly important, it has puzzled me for quite awhile now <BR> <BR>Q.P.

QP, <BR> <BR>It will be interesting to hear if there is any difference. I thought it just meant "while." I would use the two words alternately for no particular reason the same as I might say, "I shall" one time and "I will" the next.

Pedantic points: <BR>While & whilst are different - whilst implies a passage of time, while may be sudden. <BR>Will & shall are different, will implies a dermination/decision to perform an act,shall is just future tense. <BR>"Britspeak" is a very loose term,slang changes noticably every 20 miles & radically every 50 miles.Greenock slang is not understood in Glasgow,Glasgow slang is not understood in Edinburgh. <BR>(in fact Glasgow plain speech is not understood anywhere else)

Samantha <BR> <BR>We Scots have many different dialects; but we also have two different languages. Scots is not debased English- it is a language in its own right. And in the Western Isles and on television you will find the ancient Celtic language of Gaelic which was widespread till about 100 years ago. There are now about 15,000 native speakers; and thanks to massive government subsidy in the media, it's doing well; same situation in Wales. <BR> <BR>Welcome to Anna, whose typing makes mine look adept (and that takes some doing)

As it happens the use of 'while and whilst' is specifically discussed in 'notes and queries', see above. <BR> <BR>In support of Sheila, isn't the english as spoken in Inverness supposed to be the most technicaly correct in the UK?

Still enjoying this post immensely and ditto to the comment of someone (or a few, I think) that Anna should write a book about her adventures in the U.S.! Hilarious and witty!

upupup

While (not whilst - my Grade 5 teacher would agree with another poster that "whilst" refers to the passage of time) cooking dinner, I was reminded of another "Brit/Canadian Speak" term. I opened a "tin" of tomatoes. I lived in the States several years ago and one day in a grocery store asked where the "tins" were. (the term, I believe, comes from the fact that cans were lined with tin - hence they were called "tins"). Well, the nice 17 year old stock boy had NO idea what I was talking about.....only after much waving of hands and verbal descriptions was I finally escorted to the "cans". <BR> <BR>Another odd thing - and it may be different now - when I moved to the States I took my electric kettle (very common in Canada). One day a friend came over for tea and I filled the kettle and plugged it in. My friend asked "what is that" - she had never seen an electric kettle. As I understand it they were banned in the US (in the 40's?) due to lead content in the lining...and at least in the mid 70's were either still not legal or very rare. Are they more common now?

I don't think so, Elizabeth. We had to ship a kettle from Canada down to my Mom in Arizona. She always wondered why they didn't have them there.

Elizabeth, electric kettles have never become very popular in the States, though you can find them easily enough in discount stores. (Not the nice big ones one sees in Britain, usually, but smaller ones without the auto-shutoff.) I suspect this is because our electrical current is so much weaker than yours that it's generally faster to just heat the kettle on the stove. And, of course, we don't drink nearly as much tea. <BR> <BR> Funny about "tins" vs. "cans". As a Southerner, I used to get funny looks in Northern supermarkets when I'd ask for a "sack" to take my groceries home in, before I learned to say "bag." <BR> <BR>By the way, I'm still puzzled about "whilst" and "while". Does not "while cooking dinner" refer to the passage of time--that is, the time during which dinner was cooked? What would be an example of the proper use of "whilst"? <BR> <BR>Q.P.

I'm from the upper midwest and 'sack'/'bag' are used interchangeably at our stores. <BR>I discovered electric kettles a few years ago and they are fabulous items (kind of an upscale version of the hotpot used in college).

I am the child of Irish parents who emigrated to the US in the early 1950's; having lived in Birmingham, Leeds, and S.London (in that order) for the 20 years preceding their move to America. They ended up just outside New Orleans, of all places; the 'language' barriers were immense. <BR> <BR>Electric kettles are available in the US; but most commonly, we refer to a kettle as a type of closed pan with a <BR>spout meant just for the purpose, to be <BR>filled and heated on the cooker, or stove, or 'range' as many Americans call it. Electric drip coffeemakers are the most common way to heat water for drinks here. <BR> <BR>The term that I've seen cause misunderstandings lately is 'brilliant'. In the UK, it's used as an adjective and means wonderful; as in 'brilliant range' (translation: wonderful brand of kitchen appliances or whatever...). The thing is, it's often preceded by the word 'just'. <BR> <BR>For our UK friends: If you hear an American refer to something as "just brilliant", the implication is that he finds it incredibly stupid. Lately I've <BR>seen Americans take offence at British use of this phrase, as if they have been insulted. <BR>

I haven't heard the US use of "just brilliant" as a negative -- but then I'm stuck in a cow pasture here in the midwest. <BR>I first heard "brilliant" as a UK usage last summer when I was working with some UK academics in Skopje. The first time I heard it I did a double-take, but then after numerous iterations I found it both rather vacuuos and pretentious -- or maybe that was the academics that were Anyway... imho "brilliant" is as much of a crutch as "super" or any other oft-used shortcut to eliminate the requirement that actual content be shared.

This is a great (brilliant!!)thread. I've laughed out loud at many of the posts! <BR> <BR>My Glaswegian parents often used the phrases "Nanny Goon" and "Paddy's Market." Neither were complimentary. They also called kichen cupboards "presses." <BR> <BR>BTW -- I have an electric kettle -- purchased at WalMart, but not like the lovely one my Scottish cousins own!

Paddy's Market is still in common parlance; but what's Nanny Goon? <BR> <BR>And did they go the messages and come home with ginger and sweeties for you kids?

I've really enjoyed this thread, being new to this forum. Funnily enough, I just wrote an article about Brit Lingo for my own e-newsletter. If anyone's interested in the article, or the newsletter, you can check it out at www.greatbritaintravelguide.com. <BR> <BR>Cheers from the UK, from an American who's still learning all the lingo! <BR> <BR>Anastasia <BR>

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for summer travelers

We have dear, dear friends from London and both guys are lawyers (which means they are really into the correct term for everything!)so they debate this constantly! I grew up on the East Coast and use "sorry" all the time instead of "excuse me" "pardon me" "I didn't hear you the first time" etc. Don't think that's particularly British. But, the thing I do know is----don't use the term fanny in the UK---it's a different part of the anatomy than we Americans think of! Still get smirks when I refer to my khakis as "pants". But, when they're on our turf we cackle and ask how a car could wear a bonnet? It's actually great fun because we correct each other constantly and laugh a lot.The Mid Atlantic bit must be awful, however.

This is all very humorous except the part about crossing the roads in the UK. A close friend of mine's daughter was killed (she was 15) when hit in the roadway in Hampstead. They have lived in London for 10+ years. It really is no joke. Pedestrians have no rights in the U.K. You must remember to look right, then left, then right again.