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Words known better in the US than in the UK, and vice versa

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Re: Words known better in the US than in the UK, and vice versa

#31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait is it really called a "kerb" in the UK?

The “kerb” in the UK is the step between the road surface and the bit the pedestrians walk on. More properly “kerbstone” I guess.

in the US its just called a curb and a curbstone

Re: Words known better in the US than in the UK, and vice versa

#32

As a Brit who lived in the US for roughly ten years, I knew most of them... which I guess is unsurprising. I didn't know albuterol, we called that ventolin when I was a kid. I also didn't know kwanza and manicotti, I guess those are due to the Italian and Jewish cultural influences in the US.

As a Brit I can say that Kwanza I know only from Futurama.

Re: Words known better in the US than in the UK, and vice versa

#33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which big supermarket only stocks cheddar?

Probably one in a country that exited their trade bloc full of countries known for a variety of cheeses.

I think you're hinting at the UK, but even if it were true that imports of cheese has fallen to nothing (it hasn't), there are a lot of local cheeses.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_cheeses

Re: Words known better in the US than in the UK, and vice versa

#34

I was surprised to find the word "to abseil" being known in the UK. It clearly is of German origin and used literally (eg. to descend a mountain on a rope = Seil) as well as figuratively (to sneak out of an unpleasant situation).

There quite a few climbing related words in English that come from German, according to this list: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_German_expressions_i...

There are also a lot of „expedition“ related words (e.g. Rucksack) that made their way to Japanese.

IIRC the Germans did a lot of expeditions/Mountaineering in the Himalaya, etc. and I assume that this is how these words transferred to English/Japanese.

Re: Words known better in the US than in the UK, and vice versa

#35

I was surprised to find the word "to abseil" being known in the UK. It clearly is of German origin and used literally (eg. to descend a mountain on a rope = Seil) as well as figuratively (to sneak out of an unpleasant situation).

There are a lot of very obviously German words used in the UK quite commonly: kitsch, poltergeist, doppelganger, angst, karabiner, flak...

Re: Words known better in the US than in the UK, and vice versa

#37
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

cheese variety such as the Italian provolone Provolone seems to be a fairly 'American' cheese. I almost never see it anywhere in Europe, even in stores that otherwise have a wide selection of quality French and Italian cheeses. In the US it's far more of a staple cheese. I've also noticed that at least some cheese sold as "Provolone" in the US isn't actually from Italy, something which would not be allowed in Europe.

> Provolone seems to be a fairly 'American' cheese. It's definitely quite common in Italy (together with the smaller "provola"), but not so much in other EU countries. > I've also noticed that at least some cheese sold as "Provolone" in the US isn't actually from Italy This doesn't surprise me... I hear that there is also plenty of "Parmesan-like" cheese sold in US supermarkets too (not sure how good or bad it resemb…

In Europe does champagne need to the from the Champagne region of France? Burgundy wine?

Re: Words known better in the US than in the UK, and vice versa

#40
post #39

Is acetaminophen not available OTC in the UK? I am baffled by the disparity otherwise.

We call it paracetamol. You will also find Aspirin is rarely used OTC here.

> We call it paracetamol.

And at that looks like acetaminophen is the "adopted" (made up) name -- huh.

The chemical name is N-acetyl-para-aminophenol, which explains why I see it called "APAP" in medical contexts.

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