Differences between English and English (UK vs. US)

[B.D.F.]

Yeah, self- explanatory. Add to those:

Shedding a tear, having a squirt, etc.

Brian

Ok a few more.

<snip>

Spending a penny/watering the daffodils/taking a whizz/having a slash

[mikeyw64]

I meant to respond on this and forgot

yes thats more commonly known as a spanner here, a wrench  looks more like this

Nice Marty, throwing Mike off like that.

Mike- that is a picture of a spanner. There, saved your bacon Marty. 

Now the funny thing is that we have spanners in the US as well but they are not wrenches. They are used to tighten and loosen things, often things like gland nuts (Easy Boys!) and they come in two basic flavors: the outside 'hook' style used to grab onto notches cut into the periphery of a nut, and the true 'spanner' which has two protruding pins on the face of the tool that engage with holes in the edge of a round nut. The advantage of the later system is that no extra room around the nut is required to allow for a tool because the spanner grabs onto the face of the nut, not the outside. I have no idea in the world what 'our spanners' are called in the UK. ??

Brian

[mikeyw64]

although "having the squirts " is slightly different

Yeah, self- explanatory. Add to those:

Shedding a tear, having a squirt, etc.

Brian

[mikeyw64]

you forgot to mention black pudding, which I really love especially deep fried in batter

Yeah, we call them erasers. But we also have a use for the word rubbers, which brings up an interesting question: in the UK, you could actually borrow a rubber, use it and return it to the person you borrowed it from? Would they take it (without 10' long tongs)? Can multiple people use the same rubber?

And on the dishes made with organs, which seem to be both plentiful as well as odd (steak and kidney pie..... not that must draw in a LOT of tourists). This too brings up a question: what do you Brits. do with the part of the animal we colonists call 'meat'? Cut it out of the way in order to get at the kidneys?

NOW this is getting fun! 

Brian

[mikeyw64]

and given that 1 litre of water weighs 1kg then 1 cubic meter of water weighs 1 metric tonne

So a swimming pool measuring 10m x 5m x  3 m deep  holds 150 tonnes of water

And as an added treat, the various systems cross pretty well in that cubic meter is 1,000 liters. Slick. Quick, how many fluid ounces in a cubic yard (get fresh batteries for your calculator.....).

Brian

[B.D.F.]

Interesting- I had no idea what you call that. We call it a 'pipe wrench'.

Brian

I meant to respond on this and forgot

yes thats more commonly known as a spanner here, a wrench  looks more like this

[mikeyw64]

this I would call a "C" spanner

Nice Marty, throwing Mike off like that.

Mike- that is a picture of a spanner. There, saved your bacon Marty. 

Now the funny thing is that we have spanners in the US as well but they are not wrenches. They are used to tighten and loosen things, often things like gland nuts (Easy Boys!) and they come in two basic flavors: the outside 'hook' style used to grab onto notches cut into the periphery of a nut, and the true 'spanner' which has two protruding pins on the face of the tool that engage with holes in the edge of a round nut. The advantage of the later system is that no extra room around the nut is required to allow for a tool because the spanner grabs onto the face of the nut, not the outside. I have no idea in the world what 'our spanners' are called in the UK. ??

Brian

[B.D.F.]

Yeah, that unpleasant term (and the associated.... well, you know) works on this side of the pond also.

:-(

Or as my brother has said: "I hate those unorganized -----!".   

Brian

although "having the squirts " is slightly different

[mikeyw64]

Just a wrench or (and this goes back to the hoover debate) many people refer to them as "stilsons" although pipe wrench is also acceptable.

Whilst these are known as either pipe spanners or pipe pliers

Interesting- I had no idea what you call that. We call it a 'pipe wrench'.

Brian

[mikeyw64]

molegrips?

[B.D.F.]

Well, if we ever meet up for a meal, you are welcome to my share.....

Shiver me timbers. I was really wary of running into blood sausage in Germany to the point where I asked Germans how to find and avoid the stuff. They claimed it was actually quite rare, only showing up at something like Oktoberfest, and even then one would have to ask for it specifically.

Brian (who does not eat blood, organs, fur, skin, horns, beaks or feet)

you forgot to mention black pudding, which I really love especially deep fried in batter

[mikeyw64]

we used to chuck rubbers around the classroom at school which often led to the teacher chucking his duster at you if he caught you !!!

Yeah, we call them erasers. But we also have a use for the word rubbers, which brings up an interesting question: in the UK, you could actually borrow a rubber, use it and return it to the person you borrowed it from? Would they take it (without 10' long tongs)? Can multiple people use the same rubber?

And on the dishes made with organs, which seem to be both plentiful as well as odd (steak and kidney pie..... not that must draw in a LOT of tourists). This too brings up a question: what do you Brits. do with the part of the animal we colonists call 'meat'? Cut it out of the way in order to get at the kidneys?

NOW this is getting fun! 

Brian

[B.D.F.]

Yes, it is almost as if someone actually sat down and designed a measuring system.   

Maybe we (the we being native English speakers around the world) do not like it because it is a French invention? If so, that is too bad 'cause one can have all the disdain in the world for a group of people and still use their good ideas.

Brian

and given that 1 litre of water weighs 1kg then 1 cubic meter of water weighs 1 metric tonne

So a swimming pool measuring 10m x 5m x  3 m deep  holds 150 tonnes of water

[B.D.F.]

Yep, that is a 'spanner' in the US. This is the 'pin' type, also just called a 'spanner':

https://www.google.com/search?q=spanner&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi_oYeS3NDZAhVF42MKHRpaCKgQ_AUICigB&biw=1920&bih=1070#imgrc=bC-axMlozrjwOM:

Brian

this I would call a "C" spanner

[B.D.F.]

Interesting- I myself have never had cause to use a rubber in a classroom. But if I did, and tossed it around the room, it would lead to more than someone tossing something at me.....

 

Brian

we used to chuck rubbers around the classroom at school which often led to the teacher chucking his duster at you if he caught you !!!

[mikeyw64]

or was it those damned Froggies

http://www.metricationmatters.com/who-invented-the-metric-system.html

Yes, it is almost as if someone actually sat down and designed a measuring system.   

Maybe we (the we being native English speakers around the world) do not like it because it is a French invention? If so, that is too bad 'cause one can have all the disdain in the world for a group of people and still use their good ideas.

Brian

[B.D.F.]

Perhaps 'invent' was a poor choice of words. I really do not know who 'invented' it but I suspect it was more than one person and over a period of time.

Still, it was the French who formed it into a cohesive system and presented a workable system to the world. And it was and is a good system IMO and IME.

OFFTOPIC: funny story: at the tool show (Easy Boys! Machine tools, not the other kind) in Chicago some years ago, I wandered around and found this great pizza place in the outskirts of the city. Hardwood fired ovens and they made both the deep- dish, Chicago style as well as the flat crust, more common, types. So I took two friends to the place, German nationals there for the tool show. They both spoke / read English very well and so had no trouble reading the menu and ordering. But then the pizzas all arrived and they were stunned at the size; both ordered 14" pizzas that no normal human could possibly eat. When the pizzas were delivered both sat there stunned until Dirk say 'Damned American inches!". Too funny.

Brian

or was it those damned Froggies

http://www.metricationmatters.com/who-invented-the-metric-system.html

[just gone]

(and they keep doing that- anybody remember the Wentworth system? ?? ?? ??).

Ahhh, no. I remember the Whitworth ..that was the wrench...er spanner I through in the mix. See the "W"?

[mikeyw64]

Ahhh, no. I remember the Whitworth ..that was the wrench...er spanner I through in the mix. See the "W"

Whitworth Fine or British Standard Whitworth

(Wentworth is an Aussie TV series set in a womens jail)

[B.D.F.]

OK, Whitworth, not Wentworth. 

It was another 'standard' as applied to tools, fasteners and similar. A 1960's English thing I believe but am not sure, might have started earlier. What I do know was that it introduced another complete definition of tools and bolt, screw and nut 'sizes' and it made absolutely no sense in that the wrenches were huge compared with their stated value.

OFFTOPIC: if you want to see something truly impressive regarding 'standards', look up machine taper standards. There are literally dozens and dozens of them and they are all unique and none are interchangeable. No reason or rhyme at all, whatsoever. There are a handful of general guidelines (such as lathe tailstocks are <usually> Morse tapers) but no rules. It is beyond a mess. Another one is wire and gauge sizes..... there are again dozens and dozens of 'standards' in that arena also. Truly, the very best thing about standards is that there are so many of them. 

Brian

Ahhh, no. I remember the Whitworth ..that was the wrench...er spanner I through in the mix. See the "W"?