UK vs US

Different words for the same thing:

Aubergine - Eggplant
Cotton bud - Cotton swab
Chips - Fries
Crisps - Chips
Ground floor - First floor
Football - Soccer
Accelerator pedal - Gas pedal
Pavement - Sidewalk
Lift - Elevator
Beige - Tan
Trousers - Pants
Underground - Subway
Bumbag - Fannypack
Full stop - Period
Handbag - Purse
Exam - Final
Mobile phone - Cell phone
Cling film - Plastic wrap
Biscuit - Cookie
Sweets - Candy
A fringe - Bangs
Hotel porter - Bellhop
Nappy - Diaper
Curtain - Drape
Rubber - Eraser
Torch - Flashlight
Icing - Frosting
Rubbish - Garbage
Love bite - Hickey
Double cream - Heavy cream
Bonnet - Hood
Laundrette - Laundromat
Mohican - Mohawk
Tights - Pantyhose
Term - Semester
Jumper - Sweater
Takeaway - Takeout
Boot - Trunk
Holiday - Vacation
Autumn - Fall
Post code - Zip code
Courgette - Zucchini
Anti clockwise - Counter clockwise
Cagoule - Windbreaker
Caravan - Trailer
Plait - Braid
Rucksack - Knapsack



* This is not an exhaustive list *

Fifth Formers at St Clares

Class register:

Pamela Boardman
Carlotta Brown
Doris Edward
Roberta Ellis
Angela Favorleigh
Gladys Hillman
Pauline Jones
Anne-Marie Longden
Alison O'Sullivan
Isabel O'Sullivan
Patricia O'Sullivan
Alma Pudden
Felicity Ray
Janet Robins
Mirabel Unwin
Hilary Wentworth
Claudine

Angela and Alison's study:

~ Table loaded with cakes and sandwiches as well as lemonade and ginger beer.
~ A bright fire burning in the grate.
~ Polished furniture.
~ Beautiful mirrors and pictures.
~ Two armchairs.
~ Lovely rugs.
~ Silk curtains.
~ Brilliant chrysanthemums in vases.


Pauline and Alma's study:

~ Blue vase.
~ Tea cosy.

Claudine and Carlotta's study:

~ Embroidered table cloths and cushion covers.
~ Items from Spain.
~ Deep red embroidered shawl from Seville.

Fagging:

~ Mending / darning / sewing socks, stockings and jumpers.
~ Cleaning / polishing shoes.
~ Making anchovy toast.

Antoinette defeats Angela

Task: Clean and polish the brown shoes.

What Antoinette actually did: Used Angela's expensive face cream instead of shoe polish.

Task: Make anchovy toast - enough for three people.

What Antoinette actually did: Used brown shoe polish instead of anchovy paste.

Antoinette tells Matron that she has accidentally given Angela, Alison and Anne-Marie a nasty dose of shoe polish. Matron takes all three fifth formers to take some equally nasty tasting medicine.

Doris 'Deirdre' Willcox - English teacher and published poet. Has a preference for:

~ Scarves.
~ Brilliant / startling belts.
~ Striking handkerchiefs.
~ Gold headed hair pins.
~ Drapey dresses.
~ Deep drawling voice.
~ Graceful dramatic gestures.
~ Round-shouldered walk.

* Information in this post were derived from Fifth Formers at St Clares by Enid Blyton *

Dedicated to Ms R. Knight, a house mistress in Dorset.

Never Judge A Book By Its Cover...

...but the opening sentence of certain books reeled me in straight away; hook, line and sinker. 

Classic example:


“Into the face of the young man who sat on the terrace of the Hotel Magnifique at Cannes there had crept a look of furtive shame, the shifty, hangdog look which announces that an Englishman is about to talk French" - (The Luck of the Bodkins by P.G. Wodehouse).