Language differences, among others

This is going to be, by far, my dad's favorite post, I'm sure. Every time I Skype with my dad, he asks me about the slight language differences ALL the time. He flew through London a little less than a year ago on a business trip, and sent this email: 

"I didn't say anything right at the airport in London.

Me: 'Can I place an order to go?'

Them: 'So you want place at order for take-away?'

Me: 'Do you have a lid for the drink?'

Them: 'Sorry, but we're all out of covers.'

Hilarious.  "

So now he can't stop asking me about it. 

So far, here's what I've got:

1. What we'd call a wallet has two different words: if you're a woman, it's your purse, if you're a man, it's a wallet. 
2. What we'd call a purse is a handbag.
3. They'll ask "are you all right?" instead of "how are you?" Meghan gave me a heads up on that one, if she didn't I'm sure that would have taken me ages to get used to. It's still weird to hear "are you all right?" all the time though. 
4. My cell phone is my mobile.
5. They put a heavier emphasis on the "s" in schedule. 
6. Baseboards are skirtboards. 
7. You give someone a ring, don't call them if you need anything. 
8. You're not vacuuming, you're hoovering.  
9. Rainboots are called wellies. 
10. There are SO MANY coins here. £2, £1, 50p, 20p, 10p, 5p, 2p, 1p. I tried to explain to Kari how ours are easily identifiable and there are only FOUR, but she didn't get it. 
11. Ranch dressing basically doesn't exist here. But they have "Cool Original" Doritos...which are Cooler Ranch from America. Silly geese. 
12. Lays potato chips are called Weavers. 
13. They don't sell alfredo sauce. 
14. They have Dominos Pizza here too!

Today, Kari, Ellie and I went up to High Wycombe to go to Primark. It's so hard for me to describe some of the stores here. Primark reminds me of Forever 21 because of the clothes they sell and the prices. But, they also have a ton of mens clothes, kids clothes, and home stuff. Almost like a Kohl's, but cheap! I bought some wellies [much needed!], a cute sweater top, a hoodie [I left all mine at home...]. We ate some pre-made sandwiches from Tesco, which is a lot like WalMart, but more of a grocery store than anything else. It seems to me [at least so far] that almost all of the grocery stores also sell clothes. 


The trains here remind me of a mix between BART and Muni. The pricing varies based on where you're traveling/if you're an adult or child, and they seem to be VERY on-time [ala BART]. Actually, now that I'm writing this, I can't tell you why I thought it was like Muni. It's really not. OH! And they have TOILETS ON THE TRAINS. Crazy!!

Tomorrow I'm heading into London for the "Bank Holiday Weekend" and my birthday. It's also the Notting Hill Carnival in London this weekend, so I'm really excited. I have Monday off as well, but I'm not sure how long I'm going to stay in the city. Two friends from Australia are letting me stay with and go around with them, and I'm so glad! 


I'm going to do the picture post now, I promise this time!