Xrefer Americanisms - Wordsmith.org

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#53823 - 01/25/02 03:05 PM Xrefer Americanisms
Jazzoctopus old hand Registered: 07/03/00 Posts: 1094 Loc: Cincinnati & Loveland, Ohio, U...	Today's Xrefer Friday brain-teaser, with our favorite quote: George Bernard Shaw supposedly said that "Britain and America are two countries divided by a common language". So do you know your boardwalks from your pavements? It's time to find out... Good luck and have fun! 1. The Americans call it a thumbtack. What do the British call it? 2. The British call it paraffin. What do the Americans call it? 3. The Americans call it a billfold. What do the British call it? 4. The Americans call him a mortician. What do the British call him? 5. The Americans call it cotton candy. What do the British call it? 6. The British call it a bowler hat. What do the Americans call it? 7. The Americans call it a skillet. What do the British call it? 8. The British call it a fanlight. What do the Americans call it? 9. The Americans call it a vest. What do the British call it? 10. The Americans call it tick-tack-toe. What do the British call it? The answers are at http://www.xrefer.com/brainteaser/2002/01/01252002.jsp I personally think #3 is a bunch of bull. I know approximately no one who uses the term billfold.
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#53824 - 01/25/02 03:35 PM US'ns sez
Faldage Carpal Tunnel Registered: 12/01/00 Posts: 13667	#3 I've certainly heard billfold but I've heard their reputed British version at least as often. #4 Likewise. #7 The same or even more so.
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#53825 - 01/25/02 04:14 PM Re: US'ns sez
wwh Carpal Tunnel Registered: 01/18/01 Posts: 13858	Don't faint, Faldage, I agree with you exactly.
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#53826 - 01/25/02 04:52 PM Re: Xrefer Americanisms
TEd Remington Carpal Tunnel Registered: 07/17/00 Posts: 3467 Loc: Marion NC	1. The Americans call it a thumbtack. What do the British call it? pushpin 2. The British call it paraffin. What do the Americans call it? kerosene? 3. The Americans call it a billfold. What do the British call it? purse 4. The Americans call him a mortician. What do the British call him? undertaker? 5. The Americans call it cotton candy. What do the British call it? 6. The British call it a bowler hat. What do the Americans call it? derby 7. The Americans call it a skillet. What do the British call it? spider 8. The British call it a fanlight. What do the Americans call it? 9. The Americans call it a vest. What do the British call it? I used to know this! 10. The Americans call it tick-tack-toe. What do the British call it? noughts and crosses _________________________ TEd
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#53827 - 01/25/02 05:14 PM Re: US'ns sez
Jazzoctopus old hand Registered: 07/03/00 Posts: 1094 Loc: Cincinnati & Loveland, Ohio, U...	I've certainly heard billfold Yes, I've heard billfold used before, but I don't think I know anyone specifically who uses it, maybe my grandmother. Based on what I've heard, wallet is much more common.
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#53828 - 01/25/02 05:27 PM Re: Xrefer Americanisms
Capital Kiwi Carpal Tunnel Registered: 11/13/00 Posts: 3146 Loc: Northamptonshire, England	1. The Americans call it a thumbtack. What do the British call it? pushpin Drawing pin, actually. 3. The Americans call it a billfold. What do the British call it? purse Wallet, last time I reached into my hip pocket. 7. The Americans call it a skillet. What do the British call it? spider Frying pan? Oh well, Jim if you know it well. 9. The Americans call it a vest. What do the British call it? I used to know this! Try waistcoat (or sometimes a pullover). Could also be a singlet. Depends on exactly you mean by vest. _________________________ The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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#53829 - 01/25/02 06:10 PM Re: Xrefer Americanisms
of troy Carpal Tunnel Registered: 10/17/00 Posts: 5400 Loc: rego park	the trouble with 8 is, it seems no one under the age of 40 knows transom! or the most common idiom using it.. to come in over the transom-- transom windows are, i think are different than fan lights.. a fan light is a semi circle window above a door.. and it is fixed. a transom is rectangluar, and opens by turning on a pivot. the idiom come from the idea of poor (that is, lacking money) writers who would put manuscripts "in over the transom" and so save the postage, and its used to describe anything of dubious value that arrived unsolicited.. transoms where used alot in the days before A/C-- since they were above the door, and usually to small for a person to fit through, they could be left open, and the hot air would rise, and vent through the transom. when i was a kid, and live in "new law tenements" (circa, 1880) apartments, the apartments all had transoms.. _________________________ my other obsession
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#53830 - 01/25/02 08:41 PM Re: Xrefer Americanisms
wwh Carpal Tunnel Registered: 01/18/01 Posts: 13858	Somebody said "spider". I didn't know until a few years ago that a "spider" is a frying pan with three legs about three inches long for cooking over hot coals on an open hearth. You'd have a tough job finding one today outside of a museum.
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#53831 - 01/25/02 10:10 PM Re: Xrefer Americanisms
belMarduk Carpal Tunnel Registered: 09/28/00 Posts: 2888	Odd, parafin = wax in French not kerosene. Are you sure it means kerosene??
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#53832 - 01/26/02 06:39 AM Re: Xrefer Americanisms
Bingley Carpal Tunnel Registered: 04/09/00 Posts: 3065 Loc: Jakarta	I see no-one's answered no. 5. It's candy floss. Bingley _________________________ Bingley
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