Friday, Jan. 27, 2006 - 8:36 a.m.
AZ-Amber is No More
For a year and a half of my life, I was AZ-Amber. Now AZ-Amber is no more. As most of you know by now, I've moved to London! I have been here four weeks now, and I'm slowly, but surely, getting settled in my new life. I still have moments where it hits me that I'm actually here, that I really do live in London! While having lunch last weekend with a guy I met while living in Phoenix, we were talking about how much of an adjustment it is to move here from the States. The way people speak is especially different. At one point during our conversation, my friend commented "sometimes I feel like I'm in a whole different country." We both cracked up since we really ARE in a different country! Sometimes the differences are more "in my face" than others.
I figured that because I was moving to a country where they speak English, I'd have no troubles. Apparently, I was wrong. I'm constantly encountering new words, words that are pronounced differently, and I am often painfully aware of how different I sound! My husband thinks he's going to teach me how to speak "properly." Likewise, I'm trying to teach him how to speak. I think I need to be the one to teach our kids to speak. After all, I want my children to know the difference between "third" and "terd." Martin, with his sexy Irish accent, pronounces his th's just as t's, whereas many Brits pronounce them as f's. What do you FINK about that?
Here they say TOMATO; I say tomato (with a soft "a"). They say PROgress and PROcess, while I use softer o's. There are tons of words that are pronounced differently and even more words that I'm having to learn the meaning of.
Here's my short list of words I've learned so far that are different over here:
Trash can = Rubbish bin
Biscuit = cookie
Garden = yard
Skip = dumpster
Boot = trunk of car
Pants = underwear (use trousers NOT pants)
Wardrobe = closet
Solicitor = attorney
Git = jerk
Slag = slut
Mingin' = butt ugly
Tramp = homeless person (this one really upset me!)
Yank = American (used to describe me very often)
Mate = friend
Sprog = baby (have heard people say she's about to "pop out a sprog")
Begger off = leave
Wanker = jerk
Taking the piss = making fun of
Out on the piss = out getting drunk
Quid = a pound, same as "buck" in America
Way out = Exit (seen in all tube and train stations)
Mind the gap = Watch your step, don't fall in the hole between the train and the platform!
Give me a bell = Call me
Cashpoint = ATM machine (they don't know what you're talking about when you ask where the ATM is)
Chemist = drugstore
Lift = elevator
Okay, the list could go on and on, but I'll stop there. I think you get the picture!!!
Cheers from London!!! (Seems to often be the end of a conversation here...)
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The Long Loneliness... - Saturday, Feb. 18, 2006
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