Is it a soda, a fizzy drink, a soft drink? Are these pants or trousers? And what even is the loo? While it is spoken universally, there are still differences in English in different parts of the world. Let’s take a little tour.
Pants vs Trousers, Soccer vs Football: American English versus British English
If you're an Englishman in New-York (or an Englishwoman or non-binary anywhere in the United States) and someone says to you they will only be wearing their pants. They absolutely do not mean they will only wear undergarments. Pants in the United States mean trousers. In the clothing area, there is also a dispute on whether the sports shows are called sneakers or tennis shoes (America) or trainers (England). And which is it? A sweater or a jumper? Can you all decide already?
And yes, differences in British English and American English can give rise to pretty comical situations. Americans are often puzzled when they get to England and someone says to them “I'm quickly going to pop to the loo”. What on Earth does “pop to the loo” mean? The Brits use the expression “pop to” to refer to “going to”. They also say “pop to the shop”, “pop to my granny” or “pop to the chemist”. So what is a loo then? Is it a pub? Well, as much as the Brits love popping to pubs, the loo in England means “the toilet”. A special one, huh?
And then, of course, there is a whole argument over what different foods are called. If an American goes into a pub in England asking for a soda, he will get sparkling water when he was expecting a fizzy drink. If you are English, you likely use the term fizzy drink, soft drink or simply refer to the brand of the drink you want. And if you're American and you order chips in Britain, you will end up with fries, while if an Englishman orders chips in America, he will get a bag of crisps. And cookies! There is a big dispute over cookies. On one side of the Atlantic Ocean, cookies are those round, flat, sweet baked goods usually with chocolate chips or nuts while in America, all types of biscuits are referred to as cookies!
And then there's the land down under…
Australian English is also (almost) a whole different language, especially colloquially. So let's take a tour, shall we mate?
If you're an English speaking expat in the US, you would have come across the famous barbie, in the summer. Indeed, when one is invited to a barbie, do not go over expecting to find Barbie dolls but rather a barbecue! If you're having a barbie in Australia, you will be having grilled meat/chicken/veggies for tea. No, we do not mean at 4pm with biscuits and a cuppa. Tea in Australia means dinner, the evening meal. And if you're being told “Here is your cut lunch”, it means you're about to be given a sandwich!
Clothes in Australia are also a whole other thing. Because in the land down under, you don't wear a bathing suit or a swimming costume, you wear bathers. And you will top your bathers with sunnies and not sunglasses. And if you're a man, you don't wear undergarment or boxers, or briefs… you wear jocks! And once again, we are faced with the trousers versus pants dilemma. Except in Straya, it is called a pair of daks, or strides.
Let's chow braai in South Africa
And then you have South African english… one of the richest English around because South Africans also speak a plethora of other languages including Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana among others.
South Africans do love a good barbecue in the summer, and that's what they call braai. And do you know what you can do with leftover braai? A sarmie, in other parts of the world known as a sandwich. And you can have slap chips to accompany your braai, which are basically french fries with a good serving of tomato sauce instead of ketchup. And if it is very hot and you ask for a cool drink, you will be served a soda/fizzy drink/soft drink.
