I have come to the conclusion that a big difference between American and British grammar in daily practice is in the Brits’ tendency to abbreviate. The discussion on “port of last departure” versus (the more specific but longer) “airport of…” yesterday, the “can I help?” statement, the “Big Issue, please” phrase and others. [...]
… the auto-fill feature on your e-mail client brings up three choices for the first name “Duncan.” For the record it also brings up three for “Graham” although for some reason I think Duncan is funnier. And I swear I never, ever knew a Duncan in the states.
So last weekend Pres. Bush’s daughter got married, and this weekend we had a royal wedding here in the UK. Now admittedly it was a pretty far-down-the-line royal wedding, but still it’s always worth a look at the amazing architectural features that the Brits consider hats for weddings. It’s such a relief that you can [...]
I am just barely keeping up right now. I’ve had a long week, a lot to do, and have a lot of work stacked up for doing on the weekend. As such, I have had very little to say in the line of amusing expat anecdotes about life in Britain. Some days [...]
In Minnesota we used to joke that there were two seasons, winter and road construction. Here in England I find there are two seasons, winter and building work that requires lots of scaffolding. Admittedly I live in an old part of an old town, but I have never seen so much scaffolding in my life. [...]
Conversations between American expats in the UK demonstrate the highs and lows of expat existence. Two of these were particularly memorable to me–a participant in each–from the last 24 hours.
Conversation 1.
Setting: Starbucks
Participants: me, the new American cash register guy
CRG: What can I get started for you?
Me: Venti iced latte, please.
CRG: Would you like that for [...]
Something has been puzzling me lately about British punctuation. There just does not seem to be enough of it. First of all there is the leaving off of the full-stop after “Dr” which in American would be “Dr.” But even more than that, it seems to come up in email too. [...]
The holidays are over in the US, which means in Britain, the “festive season” is done.
I went to the bank yesterday to “pay in” a “cheque”, which in America would be “deposit” a “check”.
Speaking of which, I had to send money by mail to someone in London, which begs the question: does “The cheque is [...]
Of course, those number plates are for the Netherlands…
The trips to my local English grocery store are cracking me up more and more lately. They have food with names that I simply cannot believe, and in some cases cannot figure out. I had been quietly gathering ammo but mostly keeping mum on the subject until a work dinner party Monday night at which [...]
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