US-based Travellers - Know Your Peculiarities
 

Travellers based in the US deserve to know about a few things that the rest of the world (<b>ROTW</b>), or the rest of the English-speaking world (<b>ROTESW</b>), does differently.

Knowing about these items can help in avoiding costly misunderstandings, like booking for wrong dates (a big ouch! if such booking is non-refundable), or they can help to avoid embarrassement.

So, since this website is based in the US and most if not all of these apply when travelling in Europe (and elsewhere of course), let me throw out a few that I have come across time and time again as having the potential for trouble big or small.

US <i>weekly calendar</i> starts with Sunday (why?) - ROTW starts with Monday.
Don’t just give a calendar a quick glance, read the letters that spell the days above the columns, the third from the left could be a Tuesday or a Wednesday...

US <i>dates</i> MM/DD/YYYY - ROTW DD/MM/YYYY.
US-based travellers better spell out or at least abbreviate the month, 3/10 is to them March 10th, to the rest of the world it is 3rd of October...

US <i>daytime</i> 12-hour AM and PM format, spoken or written - ROTW 24-hour format (written, and spoken when formal), and 12-hour format (informally spoken, the context usually makes it obvious, if needed “evening” or “morning” etc. is added)

US <i>fuel consumption</i> MPG - ROTW liters per 100km. And - to make this even trickier:

US <i>gallon</i> roughly 3.8 liters - ROTW (where they still might have gallons) that gallon would be about 4.5 liters

US <i>cell phones</i> (called mobiles elsewhere) get charged for both outgoing and incoming calls - ROTW mostly only for calls you make, not those you receive

US <i>roundtrip</i> (as opposed to one-way) means going there and coming back - ROTW a roundtrip (as in German Rundreise) involves at least three points, while a go-there-and-back is a Return trip or (in Switzerland) Retour trip or (in Germany) Hin- und Rückfahrt or in French: “aller et retour”

US the <i>menu word “Entrée</i>" means a main course (why? you don’t “enter” a meal with a main course but with soup or an appetizer...) - ROTW an Entrée is an appetizer.
So be careful when you use the word, or you'll be eating nothing but appetizers...

US the word <i>torch</i> involves an open flame - ROTESW it means an el. flashlight

US the word <i>bum</i> means either a worthless person or the act of borrowing - ROTESW it means behind/posterior/backside (as in “a successful show puts bums on seats”)

US <i>butt</i> is an alternate word for behind/posterior/backside (or the target of a joke) - ROTESW it’s the remainder of a smoked cigarette (or also the target of a joke)

And here’s <b>the worst offender</b> that can evoke all kinds of reactions, kind or unkind, all probably best avoided:

US the word <i>“fanny”</i> as in <i>“fannypack”</i> means behind/posterior/backside - ROTESW the word means the most private and intimate female body part, so do not use the term fannypack (note that manufacturers have long stopped calling them by that name - guess why?)

Now don't get me started on inches and feet and ounces (which kind?) and Fahrenheit and the rest of it...

It must be tough to live on an island... ;-)

Excellent post, but in the U.S. we also use butt to refer to the remains of a cigarette.

Very dangerous, this. For example

"ROTW a roundtrip (as in German Rundreise) involves at least three points"
Germany is not the rest of the world. In English-speaking countries, rountrip is understood as the American for return.

"ROTW liters per 100km"
What's a "liter"?
Anyway, it's miles per gallon. Men's gallons, of course, not the girlie ones Americans use


"ROTW an Entrée is an appetizer." Not according to most French textbooks it's not. The Repertoire de la Cuisine uses "entree" to mean main course. The recent French fad for calling starters entrees is unhistorical, and limited to France. The English for first course is "starter".

"ROTW DD/MM/YYYY" Middle and southern Europe, yes. In many other countries (incl parts of Scandinavia) it's YYYY (or YY)/MM/DD

and on

Achtung! Thanks Dolly!

Every tourist should learn these nuances

And of course a fag in Britain means something other than American use. Or a boot sale may or may not have boots on sale. Language nuances have always fascinated me - like your explaining of round trip meaning quite different in German.

As does Have a Gute Fahrt! Good journey or trip I think but not sure but love to say it!

I enjoy a Gute Fahrt as well.

One of the main points of travel is to experience and appreciate how people do things differently in other parts of the world. If the US were exactly like the ROTW, why would I want to leave? Please travel to the US to experience all of our oddities! We drive on parkways and park on driveways, go figure.

I love the Brits use of French terms like Bureau de Change even with their well known antipathy to the French (and v.v.) - in France it is just "Change" - which could be an English word

and on trains in Britain they always make those insipid announcements 'as always using small change in the buffet ('buffy') car and on French trains they call the buffet car the "Snackbar" - figure that one out!

Then there are the food word differences - my daughters are adventurous eaters, but they kept asking me things like "what is an aubergene, swede, marrow",etc. We need to publich a menu master for England!

Interesting thread.

Sometimes it's the most simple things that do your head in. Like having to ask for HOT tea in the USA. It doesn't come any other way in most countries.

Kay

Well, I'd say thanks but even living on the "island" I actually was aware of all these (including fanny). Many of us do pay attention to the world around us and do learn from our travels and other experiences with ROTW/ROTESW.

Precisely - why do the English use french names for italian vegetables - aubergine instead of eggplant and courgette for squash? I have yet to figure out what a vegetable marrow actually is.

And you forgot to mention the difference in counting floors - in the US we naturally start with 1 - why does the rest of the world call the first floor you enter anything but 1?

And people in most places don;t eat properly - they don;t even know enough to switch the fork from the left (holding down) hand to the right (picking up) hand. (For a long time in the US this lack of switching was considered declasse - since only immigrants did it - and it seemed to indicate a rush to eat perhaps due to a lack of sufficient food. In many places is it now more acceptable as a european variation.)

The answer is you can do this forever. so there are minor differences - big deal. One travels for the differences - otherwise you could stay in your backyard.

Whoa. I need a little clarification re "fannypack". If "fanny" means "butt" in USA and "butt" is cigarette can I got into a place and ask for a "buttpack" or a "pack of fannies" or "whatever".
"?" I won't even start on "fag".

What about paying the bill in a restaurant. In Spain, and latin American countries, you can sit at the table as long as you want. No one will bother you. You have to ask for the bill. "La cuenta, por favor."

In US, they bring you the bill as soon as you slurp up the last scrap on your plate. I was sitting next to a French lady at a restaurant in SF recently, and she became quite indignant when that happened. Perhaps as I might get a little annoyed that they don't bring me the bill soon enough when I'm out of the country. (C'mon, c'mon, I got another church to go see.) It is this (quite civilized, IMO) custom that sometimes gets a restaurant a rep for slow service from US visiters.

I tried to explain to the lady that the waiter did not want her to leave. He was not pressuring her to go. In the US, I tried to explain, we ASSUME the customer is in a hurry, and that we are doing them a favor by getting them the bill as quickly as possible, so they can get on their way. My uncle, a restauranteur, always told me, "The customer might not complain about waiting for his food, but never make him wait to pay."

She seemed a bit calmer, but she didn't like it.

Viva la difference!

Yes, when it is raining the British put on their rubbers so they can venture out and enjoy a fag.

"US the word “fanny” as in “fannypack” means behind/posterior/backside - ROTESW the word means the most private and intimate female body part, so do not use the term fannypack (note that manufacturers have long stopped calling them by that name - guess why?)"

And if that happens to be the name of your SO, agree on a different name to use in public places to avoid being detained for public lewdness. Fiona is good.

Another note --

The US military uses the 24-hour clock and dd/mm/yyyy; many folks who spend decades doing this just continue.

s

Sometimes a contribution is not received in the spirit in which it was delivered.

flanneruk just can't help it, bristling with bickering while seeing danger in funny places ("...<i>Very dangerous, this...</i>"). Dangerous? Raised your anxiety level to orange? Sorry I scared you...

"...<i>What's a liter...</i>"? If flanneruk had stopped to pay attention while reading, (“engage brain before typing”) s/he (?) might have noticed that I made a point of addressing the US-based travellers (How do you know? Maybe because it says so <i>in my post header</i>?), and in the US it is spelled liter.

Further pearls of wisdom from said bristling flanneruk: "...<i>Germany is not the rest of the world...</i>" Really? Who said it was? But thanks anyway.

About the Entrée: Quoting from www.cuisine-france.com/recette/recette.htm (my bolding):

Recettes de cuisine
- <b>Entrée</b>, hors d'oeuvre, soupe
- Viande: boeuf, veau, volaille
- Poisson, fruit de mer et crustacé
- Dessert, gateau, tarte et crème
- Sauce
- Autres recettes

When you click on Entrée you get

Entrée - Hors d'oeuvre, soupe, tarte et quiche...
Cuisses de grenouille
Oeufs brouillés
Oeufs pochés
Quiche Lorraine
Soupe à l'oignon
Soupe de cerise
Soupe de cresson
Steack tartare
Tapenade
Tarte à l'oignon
Tomates à la Provencale

Not exactly main courses, are they?

 
Levity is fine, and some of the points I raised invite levity (as per sobster and LittleA - say no more), but stop the bickering, accept the post for what it is - a heads-up to those US-based travellers who were not aware of the points I raised. (Obviously this doesn’t include denisea who pays attention...)

Now - can we raise the level of the discussion back up to “grown-up”? Thank you.

I thought it was all quite funny.

Another difference between the US and the ROTW is you don't understand/appreciate our humour. And don't start me on irony!!

The British seem to use French words for vegetables where the American use Italian words, e.g. courgette vs zucchini, rocket (or roquette)vs rucola. Does anyone know where the phrase "egg plant" comes from? The Italians call it melanzane.

In Britain, marrow are different from squash - we have both. Marrow are a larger version of courgette, although they are different varieties, not just overgrown versions. The French word for a marrow is "courge", so a courgette is a little marrow.

An interesting confusion is the word "pavement". If a Brit wants a child to be careful, he says "Stay on the pavement". An American child would respond by walking in the roadway.

and I know I'm in danger for posting this, but it made me laugh

A friend posted on his Facebook page:-

"If American tourists in Europe wish to avoid being a target of terror, they should ignore their government's advice and adopt a much simpler strategy. Keep your voice down in restaurants."

>>>In US, they bring you the bill as soon as you slurp up the last scrap on your plate. I was sitting next to a French lady at a restaurant in SF recently, and she became quite indignant when that happened.<<<

THere are many such differences between the US and most other places when it comes to dining out. After dozens of visits to the US, I still can't get used to the idea that I should retain the same knife and fork I used for my starter to use for my main course. I've even had waiters in quite up-market restaurants remove my neatly placed, dirty knife and fork off my starter plate and put it back on the table ready for the main course! This (along with the ubiquitous "doggy-bag" is frankly quite revolting to many people outside the US).

One thing that I find interesting about many Europeans is that they view the world through a very binary lens. It is almost as if they have little identity beyond "not being American". Many Americans with a Europhile complex also take on this affectation. The result is that even well-meaning advice about the "Rest of the World" is no more useful than assuming that American standards dominate outside of the US. The only difference, of course, is that there is an assumption that Europe (or even just the author's own country) is the same as everywhere aside from the US. To whit:

<i>US weekly calendar starts with Sunday (why?) - ROTW starts with Monday.
Don’t just give a calendar a quick glance, read the letters that spell the days above the columns, the third from the left could be a Tuesday or a Wednesday...</i>

While good advice to look at the calendar when making bookings, the reality is that the 'ROTW' does not start with Monday. There are significant differences across countries. In particular, why would a Muslim country, where the work week begins on Sunday, use a calendar that begins with Monday (for this reason many Muslim countries actually start the week on Saturday, as does Swahili)? Beyond that, many other countries beside the US use Sunday to start the week. Heck, Sunday in Hebrew literally means first day. Another example of the traditional place of Sunday as the beginning of the week in Western tradition are the Portuguese names for the weekdays, which are literally 2nd-day (Monday), 3rd-day (Tuesday), and so on. Clearly, in much of Europe, the idea of Monday as the first day is a relatively recent introduction.

<i>ROTW 24-hour format (written, and spoken when formal)</i>

Again, not universally applicable, particularly about the spoken part. I can't recall ever hearing the 24-hour format spoken, outside of war movies. My Danish colleagues informed me that they sometimes use the 24-hour format on the radio, but that this is laughed at.

<i>US the menu word “Entrée" means a main course (why? you don’t “enter” a meal with a main course but with soup or an appetizer...) - ROTW an Entrée is an appetizer.</i>

Why? Well, because the French usage originated because of the entrance of the main course, not because of the entry of the meal. In the most formal settings, the first course would be the amuse-bouche anyway, which kind of shoots a hole in your theory. Sorry, but flanner is right.

<i>US dates MM/DD/YYYY - ROTW DD/MM/YYYY.</i>

Again, not true. Yes, the US format is not standard (though it is in limited use beyond the US), but neither is your "ROTW" format. Indeed, the ISO-defined format is YYYY/MM/DD, which is the best format for computer applications.

<i>Now - can we raise the level of the discussion back up to “grown-up”?</i>

What is not "grown-up" about pointing out that you are wrong?

<i>I was sitting next to a French lady at a restaurant in SF recently, and she became quite indignant when that happened.</i>

Hopefully, she never finds herself in Asia, where service can be dizzyingly fast.

<i>I tried to explain to the lady that the waiter did not want her to leave. He was not pressuring her to go.</i>

Depends upon the restaurant. Some restaurants do want you to go and are pressuring you to leave.

Actually, courgettes are what you call zucchini ;-) French or Italian, take your pick.
The tip about when the week starts is actually quite important.
An American friend said that she was in a branch of Marks and Spencer when the whole shop went silent when a loud American voice rang out, "Does my fanny look big in these?"

"After dozens of visits to the US, I still can't get used to the idea that I should retain the same knife and fork I used for my starter to use for my main course. I've even had waiters in quite up-market restaurants remove my neatly placed, dirty knife and fork off my starter plate and put it back on the table ready for the main course!"

Sorry, but that is not standard American. You're eating at the wrong places with HORRIBLE service. Waiters at most good places could get fired for doing that -- but yes it might happen at a cheap diner. And even a good place can have an occasional bad waiter who could do that. The same with taking away one person's plate before all at the table are finished with the course.

OK
From an American site:
"Marrow squash, also known as vegetable marrow, is a very large, green summer squash. They are related to zucchini, and can grow to the size of a watermelon. They have a bland flavour, and are frequently stuffed with a meat stuffing"
Actually, they can grow really big
http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Gallery/G...g/DSCF0680.JPG

A swede is what you call a rutabaga.
BTW, a rubber is what you call an eraser.
In the wet, we wear wellies (Wellington boots)

The DL may have meant well, but I found the OP and his/her followup a bit condescending (and not entirely accurate).

As for calendars, my AMERICAN calendar is Outlook and when I use the weekly option, it starts on Monday, not Sunday.

And as expected, a few posters were unable to restrain themselves from indulging in negative stereotypes about Americans. How original.

....Does anyone know where the phrase "egg plant" comes from?...

There is a yellow form that does look rather like an egg.
I wonder who was the first brave soul to risk eating an aubergine.
If you look at the purple form, it looks just like the fruit of deadly nightshade. I can't remember if you get that in the US. It is actually a member of the same family as is the tomato.
Potatoes are members of the same family and their fruits are poisonous.

"After dozens of visits to the US, I still can't get used to the idea that I should retain the same knife and fork I used for my starter to use for my main course. I've even had waiters in quite up-market restaurants remove my neatly placed, dirty knife and fork off my starter plate and put it back on the table ready for the main course!

Ditto to what NP said. You're dining in the wrong places. I can't remember the last time I had that experience and we dine out frequently. Next time, ask for recs in the U.S. forum.

Ss normal there are two subjects under discussion here
The language and behaviour and secondly the ignorance of Europeans (god knows who these people are as the place does not really exist) and the ignorance of the people of the USA about each other.

It will always be such.

I do like the idea of wearing rubbers to go out into the rain. Erasers as has been pointed out.

The Brits don't have a problem with the French. As someone sensible once said we are all citizens of two countries our own and France. On a trip to France last month I saw an article where the local French Journalist actually said "the french have so seldom beaten the English we should celebrate every time it happens" while the Brits used to make the Fernch get off the train in Waterloo (a famous battle). Neighbours don't you just love em.

Sheila, you guys were being ironic? Who knew?

Just to affirm my existence, I will see 3 things:

1. Since when in <i>steak tartare</i> not a main course?
2. I have been in places in the U.S. where they change the silverware and other places where they don't. Also in France.
3. Most of the people I know use the 24 hour clock <b>when speaking</b>. Perhaps it is a Parisian idiosyncrasy.

in = is

Kerouac, I'm also guessing see = say.

I always get confused when trying to come up with the time using a 24 hour clock. And when I learned French, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, there was no mention of a 24 hour clock. We learned that 2:30 PM was deux heures et demie, not quarante heures trente. That's how they say it in all the old French movies too. When did the custom change? (Fortunately, everybody seems to understand me when I forget to translate.)

I am pretty sure that all countries have their own name for mobiles or cell phones. In Germany at least, they are called "handys". So, what are they called in France or Italy or Greece?

I took the original post to be a bit helpful. People come over here and make huge mistakes on flight times and arrival dates because they simply do not know about 24 hour clocks, nor the day, month, year thing. Thus, in writing emails, etc. I always write out the month abbreviation or use p.m. or a.m. for times.

Marrows are a misfortune which has not been visited on the USA.

> We learned that 2:30 PM was deux heures et demie, not quarante heures trente.

40 heures ? What's that? ;-)

Quote <b>tarquin:</b> <i>"Marrows are a misfortune which has not been visited on the USA."</i>

Lucky for the USA! Honestly, courgettes should be composted once they exceed 6 inches in length - a marrow is an abomination unto the Lord.

I think the OP meant well, however in an era of almost ubiquitous globalisation (particularly with regards to N.America and Europe) I doubt there was much there that wasn't already widely, or near universally, known and appreciated, so it does run the risk of coming over as somewhat patronising.

Pepperoni = spicy hard salami used primarily as a pizza topping in the U.S.

In the ROTW, it usually means peppers. I've seen this cause a problem w/ American diners in at least 3 countries.

Nikki,

You're right I can't type anymore.

I think the way people talk about time is probably due to the influence of television, which ONLY talks in 24-hour time: le journal de 20 heures, le film de 20h45... The generation that grew up with television finds this perfectly normal. Radio speaks exclusively in 24-hour time as well.

Mainhattengirl, the French call their mobile phones "portables" but they also call their laptops "portables," which sometimes leads to confusion, so they are trying to promote the term "téléphone mobile" or "mobile" in all official usage. (In Southeast Asia, they are all called "handphones" -- I guess the old style phones were used with the feet.)