100+ Differences between British and American English | British vs. American Vocabulary Words

Medusa said:
This is really getting interesting. My BF says tin, currently and apparently so does @Pam. We should poll our English members about it and see who is using can and who is using tin to find out if it's regional / temporal and if so, where/when.
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Pam is a Northerner...
 

Medusa said:
This is so freaking interesting, the way language, word meaning and usage changes over time and space (or doesn't).

Your husband and my boyfriend are from the South of England and, like your husband, my boyfriend says, "dinner," as opposed to, "tea." However, he does use, "trousers," and used to be amused at my use of "pants," because to him that means "underpants."

What used to really get him was when I used the term, "fanny pack." Apparently, "fanny" means something very different in our two countries. 🤫

EDIT: Added a sentence.
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whereabouts is you boyfriend from ? yes pants here mean underwear... trousers/jeans/chinos.... but never Pants..

Fanny is a Ladies Front bottom... ...we call the Pack that you're talking about a Bum Bag... :LOL:
 
hollydolly said:
whereabouts is you boyfriend from ? yes pants here mean underwear... trousers/jeans/chinos.... but never Pants..

Fanny is a Ladies Front bottom... ...we call the Pack that you're talking about a Bum Bag... :LOL:
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Yes, BF told me about, "bum bags" when explaining why, "fanny pack" amused him so much.

He's from Suffolk, but also spent 20 years working in London so I think he's influenced by both regions (that is if they're different at all in their speech.)
 
Medusa said:
Yes, BF told me about, "bum bags" when explaining why, "fanny pack" amused him so much.

He's from Suffolk, but also spent 20 years working in London so I think he's influenced by both regions (that is if they're different at all in their speech.)
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Suffolk isn't far from London... is he from Ipswich per chance ?
 
Pam said:
But


My husband died a number of years ago but for the first 5 or 6 years of our marriage we lived in the south of England. Never do I recall him - or any of his family - use the word can in reference to food. It was always tins of beans, peas, fruit/whatever.
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yes that's what I said.. decades ago we always said Tin... now it's almost always Can...
 
Most varying words are logical if we think about them. It’s the expressions that really need translating. TG on the streaming shows we can get the subtitles.
 
Jules said:
Most varying words are logical if we think about them. It’s the expressions that really need translating. TG on the streaming shows we can get the subtitles
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That's what is so fun and interesting about the entomology of words. I love the constantly changing "river" of language and, sometimes, ferreting out the origin of a certain word, which often starts out meaning the opposite of its current definition.
 
Wolfhammer said:
For what it's worth, as an Englishman and a southerner, I've always said "tin" but of course if another English person was to say "can" to me, I wouldn't curl up in a corner and die.. or even flinch.. I'd probably say "Can I what?" and they may say "Pass me that tin of beans!"..
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are you anywhere near a place called Bramford?... where Medussa's husband is from ?... :D I just looked it up..it's almost in Ipswich...
 
Medusa said:
No, I said my boyfriend, who is English, is from Suffolk. Why are you trying to figure out where the men in my life are from?

Weren't talking about cans? And tins.

EDIT: Added "tins"
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not trying to figure out where anyone is from I thought you said your husband was from Suffolk.. I didn't realise you had a boyfriend as well.. just asked Wolfhammer because he's from Suffolk also... no big deal... !..you mentioned Suffolk first.. :oops:
 
hollydolly said:
not trying to figure out where anyone is from I thought you said your husband was from Suffolk.. I didn't realise you had a boyfriend as well.. just asked Wolfhammer because he's from Suffolk also... no big deal... !..you mentioned Suffolk first.. :oops:
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Holly, you are kill'n me, girl! :ROFLMAO:
I will admit to mentioning Suffolk. LOL -- You guys have more than one man there, right? :ROFLMAO:

(Yes, I know my polyamorous state gets a little confusing at times; my bad.)
 
hollydolly said:
are you anywhere near a place called Bramford?... where Medussa's husband is from ?... :D I just looked it up..it's almost in Ipswich...
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Suffolk isn't huge, so, yes, I am somewhere near Bramford and Ipswich, But I'm also near all the other places in Suffolk.. I'm also, apparently, the only man who lives in Suffolk..
 

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