Two countries separated by the same language
Herne Consultants Ltd

Owning a home in Florida may be the dream for many Brits but choosing a stateside holiday home can be a simple task in comparison with understanding the natives.

The majority of Brits can't pop a hood, buy a rutabaga or have our bangs trimmed, according to research by British Mortgages Abroad (BMA), part of First National Bank, an Abbey National subsidiary. From a list of forty commonly used American words, less than a third of those surveyed realised that a courgette is a zucchini in the US and a derby is not a race or a Midlands town, but a bowler hat.

Many other words from ‘over the pond’ gave Brits some translation problems:

• Only 15% knew that cleats are football boots;
• Less than 1 in 5 knew that a sophomore was a 2nd year undergraduate;
• Just over a quarter of those surveyed realised that a Texas gate is the American term for a cattle grid;
• Only 1 in 3 of those surveyed knew that for an American, a spring onion is a scallion;
• 41% were aware that a two seater chair translates as a love seat.

More familiar words to the Brits were:

• A convincing 97% understood zip code to be a postal code;
• Nearly 9 out of 10 of them knew that an eggplant is an aubergine;
• Just over a quarter of those surveyed realised that a Texas gate is the American term for a cattle grid
• 84% of the survey knew fish sticks as fish fingers.

The above article was originally published as a result of a survey by British Mortgages Abroad (BMA), part of First National Bank, an Abbey National subsidiary. .

They publish a fascinating glossary of US property related terms and their UK equivalents.

Learn more about cultural diversity by by taking part in one of our cross-cultural seminars

email us for further information, or fill out our enquiry form.

---

back to previous page

languages

multi-cultural management

culture shock

cultural diversity?

©2006 Herne Consultants - Last updated 18^th October 2006