Wat fettle the day ma?*
Fortnight. What is it? Many Americans look at me blankly, because I forget that it is not a common word here.
Marmite. Why do we like it so? How come we are allowed to buy it in New York? Shouldn't it be banned by the FDA, like Solpadeine is?
First Christmas here. I was sent to buy two gallons of cider. I could only find tiny little bottles of weak fizzy stuff in the alcohol section, so that's what I came home with. Then I discovered that the commonly available 'cider' is unfermented in the USA. Not the 11% stuff we got mortalious on in Kent.
Why can't you get any decent beer in the whole of North America? Why is it all so unnatural and fizzy? Why don't they sell Tanglefoot?
(Converse: Why do the British drink warm flat beer?)
They sing the Red Flag with different words. When I sing the Red Flag with the words I know they think it's a song I made up (this really happened - I have performed it, albeit in the manner of a Burlesque comedy singer). Oh that I could write such stirring stuff. To begin with I did wonder why they played the Red Flag so much at Christmas.
Speaking of stirring stuff, the USA National Anthem is rather good though. Makes me proud to have been from the very naughty nation responsible for that little disagreement of 1812, and hence the inspiration for such a fine song.
Notes to Americans: Please stop referring to the Royal Army, and please start sending the Red Cross parcels again. Why did you stop?
Best,
Helen
*How are you today, my friend?
...well, we Americans are not all completely ignorant...(of course, it helps if you've spent a little time on the other side of The Pond)...some of us know that a 'fortnight' is two weeks (contraction of 'fourteen nights', perhaps?)...but I don't remember ever seeing or hearing of anything called 'Solpadeine' when I was over there...
...now, what kind of 'weak, fizzy stuff' did you find when you were looking for cider?...I've been able to find some Strongbow over here (although I had to travel to Massachusetts, and I'm in Maine...couple hours' drive), which I developed quite a fondness for...of course, Strongbow isn't 11%, but I think it's still awfully good...and don't EVEN get me started about the beer!...suffice it to say that I feel your pain, and seek out imported beer whenever I can...
...and by the way, the melody of our national anthem is, ironically enough, based on an old song from England...in fact, according to some accounts, it was originally a drinking song...I can't remember the name of it, although it contains the name 'Acheron'...
...but here are a couple of amusing anecdotes from our own experience living in England, with some humo(u)rous examples of the language difference...we were living in the village of Risby, right outside of Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, and my wife volunteered to help out with the local playgroup (we had two small children of our own)...well, one day the playgroup were going on a trip (I forget where), and they asked everyone to 'bring a lunch and a squash'...well, my wife was extremely puzzled when she read that; she wondered what she was going to do with a squash (not knowing that in the UK, a 'squash' is a type of soft drink...in the US, a 'squash' is one of several types of gourd, which was all she knew)...she was picturing herself showing up with a little bag and a Blue Hubbard (a particularly large variety of the gourd), and how 'daft' that would look...
...and then there was the time when one of the neighbo(u)rhood women came to the door, and after some conversation, said that she would 'knock us up' later (innocent enough in the UK, but in the US, 'knock up' means to get someone pregnant)...the look on my wife's face after that was priceless...
...oh, to have those days back again!...
Chanceux, peut-être!
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