Thesaurus

Who would ever have thought that two societies speaking the same language could speak it SO differently ....

You think it won't matter;  but it does.  In the initial stages, you'll open your mouth to speak, completely taking for granted it is being received with the meaning intended.  After a few short months you'll become afraid to speak.  Even ordering a simple scone at a bakery becomes confusing --- as it's no longer a scone (pronounced sconn), but rather a scone (pronounced like stone).  It's not even shaped like a scone;  but that's another story altogether.

When I first relocated I could at least, at home, live in the safety of my little Aussie world -- and venture out when I had strength and courage and had established a reliable and loyal network of friends who were silently (and oftentimes outwardly) amused by my words and accent.  But when I married the American things changed!  All of my communication had to be reworked - as my sweet articulate and highly intelligent husband would completely misunderstand the context of what I was saying purely due to a few word choices that carry very different connotations back home.  Exhausting!  He didn't realize that "you idiot" could be a term of affection.  More on that in the cultural section ....

In a lot of instances we just have different word preferences which means that we can both understand each other as we're still speaking English.  However, many Australian/British English words are simply not used in the US and until you change your word choices you're going to hear the response "excuse me" a great deal.  Of course, even this expression "excuse me" which simply means "I beg your pardon" is not something we hear people saying back home.  Likewise, in ten years I've never heard any American say "I beg your pardon".  If not "excuse me?", get used to "huh?" or straight out "what?" which you can no longer view as impolite or you'll be spending your days quite offended.

Apart from differences in spelling, differences in preferences and differences in lingo, there are other challenges with language.  For example, there are many words where we use a "t" on the end, while Americans use "ed":
burnt becomes burned
spellt becomes spelled
dreamt becomes dreamed

Once again, when you combine the word difference with the accent you could unintentinally create confusion.

It is easier to work on adapting your word choices and emphasizing your "r" (which I discovered we do not pronounce) as this will enable smoother communication than holding on rigidly to Aussie lingo.

Oh, there's one expression that makes me laugh -- that is, "made from scratch".  Imagine.  This simply means that you made the cake or biscuits yourself (apparently quite a rarity) rather than buying some kind of pre-pepared mix from the supermarket.  It doesn't mean you harvested the wheat, raised the egg laying chickens, milked the cows and churned the butter - which would be my version of made from scratch (and not something I'm about to take on).  In short, made from scratch is home baked.


In the Kitchen


America
USA

Bicarbonate of Soda
Baking Soda


Icing Sugar
Powdered Sugar


Chick Peas
Garbanzo Beans


Coriander
Cilantro (the dried version is referred to as coriander)


General

Biscuit
Cookie

Booze, Grog
Hard Liquor

Couch
Sofa

Drivers' Licence
Drivers' License

Footpath
Sidewalk


Ensure
Insure

Holiday
Vacation

Jumper
Sweater

Lemonade
Sprite, 7-Up

Lollies
Candy

Old Fashioned Lemonade (made with lemons)
Lemonade
Push bike
Bicycle

Serviette
Napkin

Shopping Center
Mall

Singlet
Undershirt / wife beater

Supermarket
Grocery Store

Trolley
Cart

Shop
Store

Soft Drink
Soda

Sticky Tape
Scotch Tape

Tissue
Kleenex

Traffic light
Stop light

Tyre
Tire

Phrases

In the city
downtown

over the road
across the street

nurse the baby
hold the baby / cradle the baby
THIS ONE is VERY IMPORTANT.  You can imagine the embarrassment both my friend and I experienced when I offered to nurse her baby.  In the US, nursing is breastfeeding --- not a good faux pas).

Other Things Worth Knowing

Ever heard of a stoop?  That's the step outside the front door.

Bleachers?  This is the spectator's stand at the side of the football field -- ie. the Grand Stand.  It doesn't just describe the grandstand, however.  At many sporting fields there is just a small section of tiered seating which is also referred to as the bleachers.

(in compilation stage)