Translation

I thought it be fun to post some words that I've come across walking around town and walking to people. Words that the Brits say differently than we do for the same objects. I' haven't gotten a chance to speak to too many locals so I only have a few.

1. Garbage = Rubbish
2. Eraser = Rubber
3. Elevator = Lift
4. Shopping Cart = Trolley
5. Sweater = Jumper
6. Restrooms = Toilets
7. Pants = Trousers
8. Underwear = Pants
9. You're welcome = You're Alright
10. Thank You = Cheers
11. Subway = Tube
12. Line = Que
13. Mom = Mum (they say it like that too)

Other interesting things I've come across these past few days.

1. Cars don't stop for pedestrians. They will run you over if you cross in front of their path and they have the right of way.

2. They eat sandwiches here like crazy. Every store you walk into has sandwiches on their shelves in these triangular boxes. The sandwiches are cut diagonally so anyone whoever likes it down the middle is out of luck.

3. The groceries stores sell everything in single formats. T.V. dinners are huge here but the quality is so much better than in the States. A large percentage of the city is single (over 50%) so I'm thinking they cater to this market. People run to the market every day basically to pick up just what they are going to eat that night. Their stuff is wrapped basically for one so it's really easy.

4. Wherever you go there is usually one line. For instance if you're at the market and there are 3 cashier boxes. Instead of picking the one with the shortest line like we do... everyone stands in one line and branches off as soon as the first cashier finishes. It seems faster for some reason.

5. American DVDs don't work on British DVD players and visa versa. Apparently companies make special DVDs and DVD players for certain regions. I didn't know this.

6. Brits are behind on every American show in the world. For example, they are just finishing the 1st season of Lost. I dont' watch it, but apparently its old news. However, the good thing is that when one season ends the other starts right back up since they are behind.

7. They love all our FOX shows. You see ads for shows like "Prison Break", "Boston Legal" and "O.C." everywhere.

8. None of the channels have names. For example, in the U.S. we have the WB, FOX, NBC, CBS, ABC etc. Here their channel 4 is called CHANNEL 4. Their MTV is some off channel and so is there Vh1 so it looks like generic brand channels.

9. Burger King charges you to use the bathroom. You have to pay equivalent to 40 cents to use it and there is a security guard standing outside the door.

10. Scarves really do have a functional purpose. I walked around today without one for awhile and I felt really cold. I put one on for the rest of the day and it made a huge difference. I thought people wore them for style like ties or something.

11. Being a cab driver is considered presitigous. They have to study for something like 5 years before they can take a test which they have to pass. The test consists of memorizing all the streets and the quickest routes there. Also, they won't drive you further than 6 miles.

12. There's this store called ARGOS, I took a picture but I haven't uploaded it yet, but I thought it was really cool and different. It's a tiny store about the size of a store in the mall, not very big. It's located off Tottenham street and it looks just like any other store. Well, it's anything but ordinary. This is like their Wal-Mart. What people do is run into the store. The store is lined with tables and shelves that border the entire half of a room. The other half is a check out counter and a pick up counter. You walk up to a table and located on the table are two items. A catologue about 10 inches thick with everything you can possible imagine divided into home, furniture, technology, kids etc. You flip through the catologue to find what you're looking for. Once you find the item you want (they have a wide selection, various prices, sizes etc. but no clothes). Once you find the item you look for the Cat No. Also featured on the table is an oversized calculator like thing. You type the number in the box and on the screen it will tell you how many items of that specific object are available and the price. If you want the item you take a slip of paper and right down the number. You then proceed tot he checkout counter to pay for it and you can pick up right after. I just thought it was really cool way of shopping. It's sort of like shopping online or catologue and picking up in the store. Or like service merchandise. The thing is you never see the items on the shelf and there is no inventory anywhere in the store. It's also suppose to be really cheap so people flock there. It's a fun way to shop. You can spend hours there.

13. Solicitors are everywhere in this city. No matter where you go they will stop you in your tracks and try to sell you something. It's like live telemarketers. They not only flier but they'll talk your ears off. It's incredibly annoying and such a worthless job.

14. Also on the streets there is what I consider BUM equivalents. What they are, are these people who are hired to literally stand on the side walk in the freezing temperatures for hours. Their job is to stand with a 8 foot sign... just stand with the sign... and on the sign it advertises a restaurant, store or whatever. So they stand fairly close to the store because the sign features an arrow that points in the direction of where to by SUBWAY subs for £1.99. It's a completely pointless job and you should see these people becasue they are literally bundled up from head to toe and the only part of their body that shows is their eyes. I also took a picture of one to show you guys. ( I haven't uploaded it yet though).


15. All their cellphone plans are pay as you go. It's so much cheaper to have a cellphone here and they all get free incoming calls.

16. At starbucks if you dine in they serve your coffee in actual porcelain coffee mugs not the paper cups. Also there aren't starbucks on every corner here. There are more independent chains and little shops than anything.


That's really all I can think of for right now, but it's just a few interesting things that I came across that I wanted to share.