16 de agosto de 2011

How to understand the differences between British and American English



Man: Hey! Nice pants!
Woman: Excuse me?
Man: I said nice pants.
Woman: You can’t see my pants, can you?
Man: Of course I can.
Woman: How can you see my pants?
Man: They’re on your legs!
Woman: Ha. You haven’t been to America recently, have you?
Man: Oh I er …I er actually just got back from LA! That’s “Los Angeles” by the way....
Woman: I know.
Man: Yeah, I picked up some of the American words, and now I forget which ones to use! So confusing!
Woman: We call these “trousers” in Britain.
Man: Of course we do...you know there are so many things …that’s it’s exactly a completely different language sometimes!
Woman: Really?
Man: Yeah!
Woman: Would you like a crisp?
Man: Crisps? In the States, they’re “chips”!
Woman: Oh. So if I want to order our chips in America, what do I ask for?
Man: French fries!
Woman: I see.
Man: And you know what that is, don’t you?
Woman: A fizzy drink.
Man: That’s a “soda”!
Woman: Hmm…
Man: You know the lift over there?
Woman: Yeah?
Man: That’s an elevator.
Woman: Oh really?
Man: You know in the States, you don’t go to watch a film...
Woman: You “watch a movie”!
Man: Exactly! And you don’t walk on the pavement…
Woman: You walk on the “sidewalk”!
Man: You got it!
Woman: I’ve watched a lot of films...oops...movies!