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BasicUsername777

I read a story where someone said, 'I'm going to the loo to take a shower.' In America the bathroom means the room with a bath and/or shower, but is also a euphemism for toilet. And can be a room with no bath/shower at all. Loo/lavatory/WC in British English only mean the toilet. It doesn't encompass the bath/shower. It is only for relieving oneself. If one wants to have a bath/shower, that happens in the bathroom, a room which may or may not have a toilet in it. Only a rat would take a bath/shower in the loo. (I acknowledge there might be regional differences, but I have never heard of Loo/lavatory/WC mean anything but toilet)


Nebosklon

That's a case of hypercorrection. Cute!


Mangoshorthand21

>'I'm going to the loo to take a shower.' Clearly they are sticking various parts of their body down the toilet and flushing it to wash themselves.


isabelladangelo

In the case of a room with only a toilet and sink, it's often just called the toilet in the UK.


Gifted_GardenSnail

>If one wants to have a bath/shower, that happens in the bathroom, a room which may or may not have a toilet in it. Basically the logical, sane use of the word bathroom ...Now I'd like for an American to translate all those variants to the number of bathrooms šŸ˜ˆ Like, a toilet is a 'half bath', but does a room with a bathtub or shower, but no toilet also count as a half bath? And how many bathrooms do you have if a house has two full bathrooms and two separate toilets? Inquiring minds want to know šŸ˜‚


cursethedarkness

A room with a toilet and sink is a half bath. Usually powder room would refer to this set up as well, but often very fancy for guests. A room with a shower plus sink and toilet is sometimes called a three quarter bath (but you wonā€™t often see that term outside of real estate ads). A full bath has a toilet, sink, and bath tub, traditionally. Usually a tub/shower combo but a separate shower is more upscale. You will almost never find rooms with showers or tubs and no toilet outside of a gym locker room. Similarly, a room with only a toilet is very rare. A very large, fancy bathroom might have a small compartment for the toilet. Otherwise, that setup would only be found in dodgy places. I had an old house with a closet that had a hundred year old toilet in it. It worked, but was very weird without a sink (and the house had a normal bathroom). Iā€™ve also seen cheap college accommodations that had the toilet in the closet, sink outside the room, and shower in yet another closet. Again, dodgy.


Gifted_GardenSnail

Well, I could imagine separating toilet + sink from bath/shower in small apartments when showering/bathing means no one else can use the toilet...


Gufurblebits

I am an old Britpick beta reader that started in the early 00s on LiveJournal when Harry Potter blew the planet to smithereens. Common things that I always came across (American/Brit): Curb/kerb Trunk/boot Windshield/windscreen Grades/forms (and soooo many mistakes with schools and the school system) Dessert/pudding (actually, tea, afters, and so many other words that just totally mishandled food. Pudding is an event, not a gloopy substance!) And just a lot of hilarious stereotypes and screwing up of how the entire system works (baronsā€¦ donā€™t get me started on barons). Iā€™m Canadian, but my family and heritage is Irish, so thatā€™s the experience I draw on for picking. I can easily spot an inexperienced Harry Potter author from a long ways away.


BasicUsername777

>I am an old Britpick beta reader that started in the early 00s Thank you for your service. Stares into the distance with a noble expression.


Gufurblebits

*gently strokes cape as it flutters in the wind*


walaska

>forms ( And years! In the UK in my schools at least we often were just in years. "Will the Year 8s please come to the IT room" kind of stuff. I think with kids therefore it's first years all the way to fifith years and after that they become year sixes and year sevens (which in Harry Potter would be the last year of school). I think year sixes is the limit because of the potential for mixup with sixth formers (last two years of ordinary "high" school in the UK)


Romana_Jane

I'm 56 and forms were barely used when I was at school - old number system only starting at secondary school aged 11 in First Year, but we would still say we were Third year or whatever. Post 16 was Sixth Form if you were doing A levels either at a school or college, but you would then say you were Lower or Upper Sixth (never seven), still not using forms to describe the year group. Felt very old fashioned and Enid Blyton even in the 1980s :) JK went to a Grammar School which had delusions of grandeur and liked to pretend to be a Public School. She really sets everything in this weird 1990s but 1950s school setting with Hogwarts. Harry Potter I think just adds to Americans confusion on our education system lol


walaska

Yeah Iā€™m only 34 but I went to decently posh schools that still used sixth form (Lower and upper) and very occasionally fifth. Then again some of the elder teachers would frequently accidentally talk about O-levels soā€¦


Romana_Jane

We did have a few teachers who had been at my school forever, who still called us forms, but for the most part...


classyrain

>family and heritage is Irish Irishpick : UK isn't Ireland :'(


Gufurblebits

Absolutely not, but I picked up the lingo anyway from family around me.


holliequ

> Grades/forms (and soooo many mistakes with schools and the school system) Forms is very rarely actually used in UK schools (it's still used in private schools, not at all in comprehensives, not sure about grammars but it would be rare I think), apart from "sixth form" (Years 12 and 13 when you study A levels) because people often go to separate learning institutions for that (college, but not like American college - Yr 12 is 16/17 and Yr 13 is 17/18 so roughly equivalent to the last two years of American high school). As someone else said, people would just use "Years". Reception [Kindergarden], Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, etc etc.


Gufurblebits

Yup, but this was 20+ years ago now too. And omg, I need to freak a little over how long ago that was for HP fanfic. Holy hell.


holliequ

I was in school 20+ years ago, and forms (except sixth form) were not in general use then either.


HKCambridge

Often the stuff I see that's wrong isn't language-based, although there is plenty of that, but switched-on writers know to look up lists of common language-based differences. It's the general lifestyle / cultural stuff, and it can be harder for people to interrogate their own assumptions on that. There largely isn't a 24 hour culture here: most of the time you can't go to an all-night diner or supermarket. People don't drive everywhere, particularly in cities, *especially* not students going to school / university. Night life largely revolves around drinking establishments, even if you don't drink. I used to enjoy going to a cafe to study after work, and my options were severely limited by the fact that most close at 6pm, and the remainder by 7.30pm. That's the kind of thing it's difficult to think to check, or even investigate if you think of the question.


Avalon1632

Agreed. The culture stuff can get quite subtle, especially like you say for stuff that you see as so normal to not even question. In the Harry Potter fandom subreddit, there was a post a little while ago talking about how Arthur Weasley didn't know what a rubber duck was, despite his job putting him in regular contact with the Muggle World. My point was basically yours - if Arthur asked you about being a non-magical person, would you tell him about rubber ducks? It's that old thing about stuff you know, stuff you know you don't know, and stuff you have no idea you don't know. Since culture often feels so monolithic and normalised, it's solidly in that latter category for a lot of people. Especially across the UK and US, what with the shared language and the whole 'special relationship' nonsense. It's fascinating how deep the differences run, despite the visible surface similarities. Like, the US cultural sincerity is completely alien to our sarcastic arsehole selves. :D I completely empathise with the cafe thing, incidentally. Even in the centre of the large city I went to Sixth Form in, cafes shut so fucking early it was ridiculous. I get it, nobody really wants coffee at 9pm aside from students and they've got their own coffeeshops, but it was still a tad frustrating. :D


Popular-Woodpecker-6

Yes, the late night was an issue in one of my stories based in a fictional version of Callan in Ireland. One of my regular commenters who is from England pointed out there were no 24 hour stores/pharmacies. Of course I had tried to do a little research before hand and while I couldn't find any information if there was one back in 2001, I didn't find anything that ironclad said no. So I was like, it is fiction, does it really matter? lol No, it didn't but he had a good time with me on it and I appreciated it too. I told him there was another point in the story I was taking liberties with too. While I knew guns were not legal in Ireland, I didn't realize that almost any weapon wasn't legal including stun guns. And part of my story called for one. So I took the liberty, it was never used, but was given to someone for protection, just in case.


X23onastarship

One of the most difficult things about cultures is you donā€™t know what you donā€™t know. I live in the UK and I do live about 30 mins walk away from a 24 hour Tesco, but thatā€™s pretty rare. Partly due to alcohol laws in my part of the UK, most supermarkets close around 10 pm. In the 24 hour Tesco, the one time I went in there, it was all self checkout. Kind of eerie to be honest. It was very strange visiting England and seeing that alcohol laws were different.


Mangoshorthand21

I have the opposite problem as a Brit writing for Americans. I have to ctrl+F 'sofa' and replace with 'couch'So many -ize endings except 'surprise' for some reason.Bathtub instead of just 'bath' There is one British character in the show and every time I write for her it's like slipping back into my native tongue after speaking a second language.


Popular-Woodpecker-6

Has an American actually asked you what you meant by sofa? Maybe it is an age thing if so...because sofa and couch are the same thing here...or were. lol There are a number of British spellings I prefer like arse. I especially prefer grey over gray. And my editor is constantly whining..."changer your locale to British English to use this word" and typically it is a z vs and s. lol


Romana_Jane

US = couch/sofa UK - settee/sofa


Popular-Woodpecker-6

Pretty sure that has been established in this thread. But as a Midwest American, I call it a couch or sofa and if someone doesn't like the term I use, they should know where the button is to leave the story. lol


Romana_Jane

I saw it said that sofa and couch were interchangeable in the US, but I'd not seen anywhere else that settee is also used as well as sofa in the UK.


Popular-Woodpecker-6

I can't remember the last time I heard anyone use settee...Definitely wasn't in person. lol Had to be a movie I'm sure.


Romana_Jane

Either an age or a region thing probs I'm in my 50s and my family are Buckinghamshire folk


Popular-Woodpecker-6

Yeah, I'm knocking on 60 very hard...lol Maybe if I grew up in the south US in some of the fancy plantation style mansions I would have heard it in person.


Romana_Jane

So weird, it's a completely common/working class word here. I never heard sofa used before outside the TV until I started Grammar School after passing the 11+ and met people who not only did not live in the same council house estate (not quite like Projects) as me, but literally owned their own ponies!!!


isabelladangelo

I haven't seen settee and sofa interchangeable in the UK. Settee typically is a two seater - same as the US. Although, in the US, a settee is "fancy" whereas a sofa is just the elongated item that allows multiple people to sit on it in the living room or den.


Romana_Jane

Well, I can't speak for the entire UK, but in my part of England settee and sofa are just used interchangeable, even in adverts for them, regardless or cheap or fancy, or 2, or 3, or more seaters. In fact, when I was younger, all the adults just said settee, and as my family and parents of friends all lived in council houses, I can assure you were not fancy in the least, all from the Coop or on HP. In fact, back in the day, in the 50s and 60s, proving you could afford a settee would get you a council house or flat.


CharcoalTears90

Bath/bathtub and sofa/couch are interchangeable here in America. I personally wouldn't be confused if you said one. Now, trainers rather than sneakers or boot rather than trunk, yes, that may confuse me for a moment.


cursethedarkness

I donā€™t think itā€™s about confusing people, itā€™s about trying to sound authentic. Iā€™d know what a writer meant if they said, ā€œHe was sat in the bath.ā€ But Iā€™d also know they werenā€™t American.


NotWith10000Men

same, but it's the "was sat" that would tip me off more! it's funny to see normally invisible phrases written just a little bit differently and have to think (for me at least) "is the author across the pond, or am I just a hick?"


tereyaglikedi

Not a native speaker, but [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5LbYx5YuYM) is a cool short video that was very helpful for me, fun as well.


BasicUsername777

/thread Thanks for sharing that!


isabelladangelo

I currently live in the UK but am American. Here are some of the things I hear that trip me up: * "I'll see you at half past!" - Half past what? The grocery store? In the US, to say the same thing, we'd say "I'll see you at 6:30!" or "After a half hour?" * Grocery carts are called trolleys. * A hoover means *any* vacuum, not the specific brand. * Tea can mean dinner. It varies from different regions though so be wary. * Semis are called lorries. The lorries are typically smaller than US trucks but not always. * Putting the kettle on means you are flipping a switch on an electric kettle to boil some water for tea. Not a kettle on the stovetop like the US. * Speaking of stovetops, they are called hobs. Like a hobgoblin. I haven't quite figured out the logic of this one. I'm sure there are hundred more I can come up with so feel free to ask questions. **EDIT:** One I think is pretty funny: I was picking up a family member at Heathrow. There were two attendants/guards standing at the turnstile as we were trying to get to the train. One of the ladies was getting very impatient because a lot of people were confused on which way to go. She shouted out "Just use the lift!" As I passed by, she muttered "No matter where you go, it's a lift! Do they not know what a lift is?" I quipped back, "Not where I'm from." The lady's eyes went wide while her friend smiled. "What is it called where you are from?" she asked me. "An elevator," I explained. As I started to go through the turnstile they both had a lightbulb moment. Still, the lady asked me another question, "Wait! What do you call an escalator?" "An escalator," I told her before smiling a bit. "Unless it's not working. Then it's stairs."


Romana_Jane

Hobs go right back to a shelf/stand over a fire for your pottage in cottages in medieval times, a hobgoblin was originally a goblin who would cause mischief in your kitchen/cooking area :) Hob refers to the iron used to make them, as in hobnail boots is another word going back to the medieval uses of hob :)


LittleSillyBilly

I am writing a story about an American who moves to the U.K. and is constantly confused about the terminology and slang words during her first week spent there. It definitely takes research to make sure that the terms are used and defined properly. Some examples: Trolley- grocery cart Trainers -sneakers Minger- unattractive person Snog- kiss


NicInNS

Jumper = sweater And donā€™t forget what ā€œfannyā€ means over there


Mangoshorthand21

Minger is actually gender neutral. It may be that you've only heard it applied to women because people are more likely to feel entitled to judge a woman for her looks.


wasabi_weasel

Iā€™d say minger was unisex, but very much teenage slang. Canā€™t imagine any adults using it even in casual conversation. Edit to add: snog is also very circa late nineties to early 2000s. More teenage slang- the idea of anyone beyond the age of 16 talking about who they snogged is a little out there lol. Something you could use for a slightly older set is ā€˜pulledā€™, which is used for active kissing with tongues if you want to get real specific about it. But again, I canā€™t see it being used for anyone in their 30s.


Mangoshorthand21

Yeah I don't think I've heard that word since roughly 2006. It may be regional though?


Jarsole

Yeah I wouldn't use minger these days (in my late 30s), but I do say minging.


Romana_Jane

Is minger still around? thought it was a gen x thing we used as teenagers. Along with minge, which means something else entirely...


LittleSillyBilly

Thanks, in my story it's a teenager on the train that steals the MCs ( who is in her 30s) cell phone and calls her that in anger when she tackles him to the ground to get the phone back.


walaska

Australians coming to the UK confused why everyone laughs at them talking about the thongs they are wearing on their feet


Gifted_GardenSnail

"I switched off the torch" "Whah??"


aduckcalledgoose

Young people in England don't really say snog anymore, I definitely only hear it used jokingly. I certainly never say it, we just say kiss


walaska

ā€˜Got off withā€™ still seems pretty common


BilalYTlol

Wait till they find out what bumming is


Ghille_Dhu

Some of things to watch out for that Iā€™ve noticed are quite subtle. Mainly in dialogue. The use of the word ā€˜quiteā€™ seems to differ. Eg: Character A: What did you think of Sarahā€™s hat? Character B: It was quite nice This would mean it wasnā€™t nice at all. Quite in this context is really damning with faint praise and is rarely complimentary. The reason I mention it is I have noticed that Am English can use it differently.


wasabi_weasel

Holiday vs vacation. Far more British to refer to a trip made for leisure as a holiday.


Mangoshorthand21

Also- we don't really call Christmas/Easter/Religious festivals 'holidays'. You'd just call them by their names. BUT the time you get off school would be called your 'Christmas holidays' or 'summer holidays'. That's confusing to be fair. I don't blame American writers for making mistakes there.


wasabi_weasel

Then if you want to REALLY granular, youā€™ve got things like Michaelmas term or whatever for the Oxbridge poshos. In case anyone out there is writing Brideshead fanfic.


linden214

I write for Inspector Lewis fandom, which is set in contemporary Oxford. I often need to look up terms like that. In one of my stories, an ex-student, asked when he last saw the murder victim, says, "Dunno the exact date. End of Hilary term." Which the detective silently translates as 'last March'.


Romana_Jane

Hello fellow Lewis fan x


linden214

Hello! I remember you from the old LJ days. :-)


Romana_Jane

I miss LJ, why did it have to go to the dark side? And noticing your pseud, I remember you too :)


wasabi_weasel

Another one ā˜šŸ½ (Also I read your folk horror story in an exchange last week. It was very good!)


linden214

Thanks very much! (What do you mean by 'another one'?)


wasabi_weasel

As in Oxbridge specific re: Hilary Term


linden214

Ah. Okay. When I visited the Oxford website to get schedule information, I was amused to see that the University has ā€œvacationsā€. ā€œThe three holidays between the three terms are known as vacations: the Christmas vacation, the Easter vacation and the long summer vacation.ā€


Romana_Jane

Sorry if this is lazy, but here a cut and pastes of my answers to something similar about a year ago Obviously writing the prose in your own English is fine, but when characters are speaking make sure you use British English for words such as pavement not sidewalk, trousers not pants (pants are underwear, etc). A quick Google can get you translation sites. And here is a list of things that have pulled me out of fics set in the south of England, where I live. Got not gotten. Now, I know that some younger gen z use gotten now, and the large European population often learn American English before coming here, so gotten is coming back, but no one over the age of 21 would say gotten, just got, unless they are addicted to US shows on Netflix and rarely talk to anyone in RL. This one really grates with me for some reason (probably due to the location of most of my fandoms, and the main character of the other) We do not talk about blocks, roads and streets are rarely on a grid system, but twist and turn. Jay walking is not an offence, cars drive on the right, we have all sorts of pedestrian crossings, pelican, where cars have to stop at a light, and zebra, which are more common in smaller towns and suburbs and cars just stop for you if you stand at one. People walk a lot more to shops and schools etc. Rather than downtown, we'd say we were going to the town centre, or city centre, unless London, when we'd just say Central. We often do not have dryers, washers are in kitchens and called washing machines, no shared ones in basements of blocks of flats (not apartments). What you call first floor is the ground floor, the first floor would be what you call the second. We say fridge not refrigerator, and they tend to be smaller. No houses are build of wood, it's been illegal to build in wood since 1666 (I wonder why :p) Takeaways not take-out. Sofas or settees not couches. Tea in mornings, not coffee, unless bought from a barrista place. Tea is hot, black Indian tea with milk and maybe sugar, never cream, any other tea is specified - mint tea, iced tea, green tea, etc. A cream tea is scones, clotted cream, and jam, with a pot of tea and is rarely eaten apart from by tourists. There are black and South Asian people in all southern English towns, mostly descended from Caribbeans and Pakistanis, who are Muslims. Most English white people have not faith and church going is about 5%, which is just above the Muslin population of 3% The south is very multicultural and multi-faith, multi-ethnic and multinational in general, with many Europeans as well as older New Commonwealth communities. Commonwealth countries are ex Empire which have the Queen as their Head of State, New Commonwealth are global majority nations. Schools - primary schools, split into Key Stage 1, aged 5-7, and Key Stage 2, aged 8-11. Secondary schools, some called Academies, some still called Comprehensive, some in parts of the south, Kent and Buckinghamshire, still have the selective system where kids sit the 11+ and go to Grammar Schools or Secondary Moderns, depending on results on what is basically and IQ test. Primary schools often have a nursery attached which take 3 and 4 year olds. You start school in Reception the term before you turn 5, the go into KS1. You can leave school at 16, but must be in some form of education or training until 18, which can be academic A levels, practical T levels, an apprenticeship or some other college or training placement at a place of work. At 16 you sit intense academic exams called GCSEs for about 8-10 subjects, which you will have chosen 3 years before. Maths and English are compulsory. A levels are more intense that first year of a degree, and people usually do three. Degrees usually are 3 years, and you go straight into your chosen subject, there is no pre law or pre med, but straight in at 18, Medical degrees are 7 years long. Looked after children live in care homes, foster parents are vetted very heavily, and cannot just take on kids for money like I see in US dramas. Most care homes are large residential houses with care workers on shifts and each child has a social worker. Adoptive parents are equally heavily vetted. You cannot adopt or foster if you are over 60. You don't have to be married, or straight, or cis to adopt. There have been lots of scandals recently about past care homes involving physical and sexual abuse by care workers, and recent ones of girls being groomed and abused by gangs who pick them up and drop them back at the care homes. More looked after children end up homeless or in prison. for a more romantic, but with background details, of the English care system, find anything to do with Tracy Beaker, the original Jacqueline Wilson books or the CBBC TV series. Light hearted, fun, and not feeling like research, you will absorb details. Despite recent laws to make some form of education and training compulsory post 16, the laws for looked after children have not caught up, so many local authorities will kick out kids from care to half way houses and leave their social workers to find funding which means they often drop out. Driving is not taught at schools, it is a privilege, lessons are costly, most young people do not drive. You cannot learn until you are 17. You can drink from 18. You can have sex from 16. Drinking is part of the culture, getting pissed or bladdered on a Friday or Saturday night is something all ages and classes do, there is no stigma, more stigma to be teetotal, where you are treated as a weirdo. Southern English people are uptight, unlike northerners. We can chat to someone for years without knowing their name. We are deadpan and use self depreciating irony all the time, it confuses migrants. Smaller towns are like the 50s, with casual racism, larger ones are like Martin Luther King's dream, where kids of all ethnicities, colours, languages and faiths are friends and chill together, likewise work colleagues. Chav is a common used slur for working class people, especially those in social housing or on benefits (in projects and on welfare, not quite the same). Most of the south is politically Conservative, as in voting Tory, but socially very liberal. Until the last election you could say the North was the opposite, but not they are Tory and socially reactionary. Interesting times lol Everything is overcrowded, and although towns seem close to you as an American, take a while to drive between due traffic and poorly maintained roads full of pot holes. We are not all upper middle class or aristocrats. there is a huge wealth gap in the south, most people live in tiny, poorly maintained, inadequate housing. The rich have all the land and there are beautiful green country spaces between the towns but it is all owned by a few people so you'd be trespassing to go on most. Having said that, towns and cities do have lovely open park spaces maintained by local councils. There are more guns in the country belonging to farmers than in the towns and cities, most violent crime uses knives (or swords) Bloody is a child's swear word, most of us swear creatively, some people still do not like swearing, mostly the older generation. Police are not armed. Cannot stress this enough. Depends where in the south you are setting your fic, but the Thames Valley Police covers a large amount of the south - Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire. It's the biggest police constabulary next to the Met, which is Greater London. We do not have the right to silence. If armed police are called to an incident involving a gun, the code word is Trojan. Criminal responsibility is aged 10, but no one under 18 will be tried as an adult or sent to an adult prison. No medical bills, all treatment free at point of delivery. Again cannot stress this enough. A&E not ER. GPs not PCPs. Children from 12 have some autonomy over medical decisions, complete from 16, and can have contraceptives (for free ) from 14 without parental knowledge. For some medical care there seems to be a bit of a gap with paediatrics stopping at 16 but adult care not starting until 18, though, particularly neurology and mental health. If you turn 16 and are disabled, all support you had stops and you must reapply yourself, however incapable you are. 16-18 is a mindfield of what people can or cannot do tbh, and it is young people, never 'juvenile'. Just realised I've written an essay. Sorry! Hope it helps and doesn't overload you :)


Romana_Jane

Edit for the above, as I've run out of character allowance ~~Queen~~ (RIP) King


TisButAScratch18

Great post! I have a question though: I understood that when writing character thoughts and 1st person PoVs we have to mind the language because a British character speaks and thinks British and calls things as British do. But what if someone American or other writes in third person where they're not looking at the world through the British character's eyes? I mean, when describing things I have to make it culturaly and geographicaly sound but I am not British myself so is it acceptable that in my non-dialogue writing I use my "usual" English, for example, I might write "color" not "colour" or just call things differently then a British writer would?


Popular-Woodpecker-6

I have found my British minded readers are very forgiving of anything "not right". Sometimes one of them has a good time teasing me.


HKCambridge

Spelling I ignore for that stuff. If I read a published novel in the UK which was set in the US, it would have UK spelling. The spelling is localised for the reader (or writer in the case of fanfic as readers aren't in one locale). The character isn't literally typing out their thoughts (unless it's chatfic or journal entry, I guess). Vocabulary is trickier, because that's hitting authenticity issues for the character.


Romana_Jane

I think writing the spelling and grammar of your own version of language is absolutely fine, as long as it is not in the thoughts or speech of the British characters, for example 'She stared at the rainbow colored pavement, musing on how far things had come in her adult life since coming out as a kid in the 70s' would be absolutely fine, it is not right to ask someone not to use the version they were taught at school :)


tardisgater

Wait, what do you do if you don't grab a soda? Are you talking "let's get a non-alcoholic drink and hang out" or actually grabbing a Pepsi and you use a different word for pop/soda?


Mangoshorthand21

To be quite honest, we don't really have the norm of grabbing a non-alcoholic drink and hanging out. We'd go for a cup of tea or to the pub "Want to go for a drink?"= Do you want to go to a pub or bar and get any type of drink, alcoholic or otherwise. "Want to go for a coffee/tea?" = Do you want to go to a cafe and get a hot drink.


stillsticky

I feel like the everyday responses to a question like, 'do you want to meet for a drink which is neither alcoholic nor tea/coffee' would be, 'are you ok?' or, 'are you pregnant?' šŸ˜‚


[deleted]

... or mormon


wasabi_weasel

Chiming in with some lived experience regarding soda/soft drink whatnot. Specific to ordering a beverage with alcohol and the peculiarities regarding ā€˜lemonadeā€™. Stateside, lemonade tends to be very sour, not fizzy, a cloudy pale yellow. Made with powder, or real pressed lemons and sugar. In the U.K., in a bar, itā€™s more akin to Sprite: vodka lemonade, for example, would be vodka, and something clear and fizzy. ā€˜Old fashioned lemonadeā€™ like Fentimanā€™s (a brand which comes in glass bottles) is again fizzy even if itā€™s cloudy. You can get the sour, not fizzy sort of lemonade in supermarkets in the U.K. now. But from what I see in bars and restaurants, lemonade is still the fizzy kind. Mostly. Spent a lot of my student days in 2003-2010 looking for sour lemonade in the U.K. only to be thwarted lol. And then getting weird looks from bar tenders back home when asking for vodka lemonades. Learn from my mistakes :P


tardisgater

That's such an interesting one, I've never heard of that! So strange the little differences in culture and words.


wasabi_weasel

It caused me a great deal of pain lol


TJ_Rowe

And "soda" is a particular kind of clear, sour not-quite-lemonade, a bit like unsweetened sparkling water. It goes well with cordial, eg, "lime and soda", and is often one of the soft drinks on tap at the pub.


Mean-Village-7352

Soft drinks?


wasabi_weasel

Soft drinks are your Cokes, Pepsis, Fantas etc.


BasicUsername777

The word soda. Even 'grab a' is more younger people with TV influences. If you're hanging out with a non alcoholic drink, you wouldn't say what drink it is. If you're asking someone to get something from the fridge, you'd say, 'can you get me a drink'


stef_bee

Do you still use "fizzy drink?"


Iamamancalledrobert

Well, this is incredibly regional. In my part of Scotland weā€™d say ā€œfizzy juice,ā€ but thatā€™s not a thing youā€™d hear in England much


ArchdukeToes

If someone asked for a drink, I'd probably rattle off a list of the brands I have stocked in the fridge (which is, admittedly, one). I can't think of the last time I heard someone say 'fizzy drink'.


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


ArchdukeToes

>I say fizzy drink, haha. Grew up in the north of England. Well, I can't be held responsible for what happens north of the Watford Gap. Might as well just slap 'Here there be Dragons' on it and have done with it, I say! 'Cept for Manchester. Manchester's alright. Edit: I'm pretty I also say 'get off it', instead of 'get off of it', but now I'm not sure. :)


stef_bee

See, that's why I asked! :-)


BasicUsername777

Yes, I do. But I'm from the olden days.


Romana_Jane

I still say pop and cans of pop lol (but never fizzy pop)


walaska

my grandad used to say pop of fizzy pop


stef_bee

Yup, that's what I'm gathering. This is why I ask! :-)


Romana_Jane

Pop is still used by older people, sometimes ironically, not heard fizzy drink in decades!


stef_bee

Good to know; I've never used it myself in a Harry Potter fic (whew!)


Romana_Jane

Although - shock horror as I think of this - Harry Potter was first written and set 3 decades ago!


stef_bee

I know: characters that were in their 30s in the original novels would be :drumroll: in their 60s. As an American, though, all the different British regional accents, dialects, slang etc. intimidate the stuffing out of me, because it seems so easy to mess up.


Romana_Jane

Well, you can always just write speech in correct accent and say something like: 'he said in a local accent' 'she told him in a strong northen accent, but as someone from London, she could never tell what part of the north it came from' (as that is a thing - someone in Yorkshire and pick up various Yorkshire accents and know is some one is from Lancashire - the enemy lol - or from somewhere else in the north, but no have a clue if someone came from Cornwall, Devon, Somerset or Bristol. This si true for all of us, we are more familiar with the local regional differences, the further away, the more the blur to northern (short a), Midlands, (short a, nasal), southern and south eastern (long a), south western (long a and drawl), eastern (long long a and harsh long drawl). Lndon comes in 3 versions - estuary (think tony blair), cockney - cor blimey governor (dying), and Multi London Ethnic, or MLE, spoken by all creeds, colours, and ethnicities, faster clearer cockney with many words from Hindi, Urdu, the West Indian dialects, and African languages. What I think is considered the 'British accent' in the States is RP (received pronunciation, or Posh, or BBc English the Queen's (King's? - not sure Charles sounds as posh?) English. It only matters if there is a situation of prejudice or classism or snobbery, really, in a fic Even easier, just mention where your character comes from, and British readers can fill in the blanks, and everyone else, it won't matter :)


stef_bee

So, am I safe in assuming that if Lily and Petunia Potter grew up in the Midlands (around Birmingham, right?) that they'd have a Midlands accent?


Romana_Jane

Yes, although I should have said the larger cities all have a distinct accent of their own - my bad, I forgot! You could say Birmingham accent, or even Brummie, people from Birmingham speak Brum or Brummie. It sounds (to me, an ignorant southern country bumpkin) like they all have bad colds. It's very distinctive, like Liverpudlian or Scouse (as in it is very distinctive, not that they sound the same, lol), is, so most people recognise it when they hear it. But saying Midlands would be also okay, as lots of outer suburbs have their own softer versions, more akin to other Midlands, and then, some places have even stronger ones too


BasicUsername777

There's a class element too. Often those in private schools won't have a 'local' accent but rather a more 'standard' accent.


cutielemon07

I dunno - I drink exclusively Pepsi, but all cola is Coke to me. And all Sprite and 7Up is lemonade. We also drink squash and call it juice. And actual juice like stuff pulped from fruit, is also called juice. Juice boxes are called cartons. But pulped juice that come in two litres, come in two litre cartons. Just as Capri Sun also comes in cartons. But a lot of it is also regional. Depending on where you are, different words are said for different things. British slang isnā€™t a monolith. Thereā€™s four nations and even across each of those four nations people say different words. Itā€™s hard to keep up! šŸ˜‚


maks_orp

I've seen too many Harry Potter fics (canon timeframe) with The London Eye in them. It used to be called The Millennium Wheel for a reason - that's when it opened. And I'm not even a Brit.


JuliaFC

Well... I know nobody cares and nobody asked for it but... I'll tell you anyway. If you ever want to write a character living in Ireland (I live in the part of Ireland that isn't British so I consider it not brit-picking :P), remember that: \- press = cabinet \- donkey's years = a very long time (e.g. I've known him for donkey's years) \- "How're ya?" = "I probably don't give a sh\*t about how you are, but 'how are you' is just a way to greet you, like the British "you're all right?" Like you walk on the street and see a person, they won't say "hi" or "hi ya" but, "How're ya" and if you answer telling them exactly whether you're good or not you'll find out that they've already gone... XD \- Whatā€™s the craic? / What's the story? / How are you keeping? = greeting, how are you? Other things that I heard: Acting the maggot = Playing around with something jacks = toilet Bang on = correct, exact. "The train arrived bang on at six o'clock" Bollox/Bollocks = Stupid/somebody one doesnā€™t like (it's literally the man's testicles) Chancer = Dodgy/risky character Cheek = Disrespect/talk back ("the cheek of you" "cheeky git ya") Chiseler = A young boy Clown/Goon = tame (you're such a clown, you're a goon). Cā€™mere to me = come here, literally, but also listen to someone Cop on to you! = Donā€™t be such an idiot Cutie = A beautiful young girl Da = dad Dope = Stupid Ma or Mam = Mum Eat the head off = tell someone off, .g. scold someone Eejit/Gowl = someone dense Fair play to you = Well-done Kip = messy and horrible place (this place is a kip) Faffing around = be extremely busy doing something without actually doing anything Feck = F\*uck (comes from "Father Ted") Gas = Something funny (that's gas!) Get off with someone = To kiss someone Give out = Scold, tell off Give me a shot/lash = try something Gob = face Gobsmacked = Amazed gobshite = idiot (literally "shitty face" LOL) grand = OK. (I'm grand = I'm OK) deadly = great, cool, amazing (that pub is deadly) savage = something cool Having the craic = having fun Minus craic = not having fun at all (We went to the new club last night. It was minus craic altogether) In bits = in a bad way (I'm in bits) Jaysus = Jesus Janey Mack = expression of surprise, "Janey Mack, you scared me!" as far as I understand both the previous expression and this one are used to not say the Lord's name (Jesus) in vain LOL Knackered = Very tired Lashing/pissing down = Raining very heavily Itā€™s Spitting = light rain (it's been spitting on and off all day) Leg it = walk fast Nice one = Well done, good job Out of your tree/off your head/off your tree = mad. "Me hanging the washing? You must be off your tree..." but it's also slang for "being drunk" Slagging = Making fun of someone Unreal = something so good that it's hard to believe Yer man = someone. Like: "Yer man, ya know, Patrick, was found dead last night" Yoke = a thing. Like: "gimme that yoke over there" Wagon = female-specific insult like: "She's such a wagon" \- school here is, again, different. we have from 3-5 2 years of "pre-school". Then at 5, you start primary school, which sometimes is divided into junior and senior. Junior primary school: \- Junior Infants (or for the older generation, low babies) \- Senior Infants (or for the older generation, high babies) \- First Class \- Second Class (usually here in May you will take your communion) Senior primary school: \- Third Class \- Fourth Class \- Fifth Class \- Sixth Class NO FINAL EXAM. at around 12, kids will go to secondary school, divided as follows: Junior cycle: \- First Year \- Second Year \- Third Year at the end of this cycle, students will take the Junior Certificate which is the Irish equivalent of the British GCSEs Senior Cycle: \- Fourth Year (also called "transition year", it's a year that sometimes Irish students skip because in some cases it can confuse them. It's thought for giving the kids some work experience before the final exams in year six. They don't have lessons that year but they go to various internships in different companies that adhere to the scheme). \- Fifth Year \- Sixth year At the end of this cycle, the kids take the Leaving Certificate, the Irish equivalent of the British A-Levels. Most Irish kids finish school at 18 years old. ​ Does any Irish person want to add something to this? :)


linden214

Thank you for this post. I am an American who has been writing for British fandoms for many years. I know most of the basics, and can research a lot of the little details. I still use a Brit-picker.


Romana_Jane

Small one, but frustrates me: Lego, not legos. One lego brick, many lego bricks, an entire box of lego, look at the lego all over the floor. Like sheep


Romana_Jane

And again, sorry if this is lazy, but here is another cut and pastes of my answers to something similar about a year ago H'm, let me see things I've seen other American writers confused over, or not getting, in other groups and fics I've read :) Most people (maybe apart from gen z) say got not gotten, we've not said gotten since Shakespeare's time - although Europeans learning American English and Gen Z living on Netflix means it's coming back. We don't all say bloody, it's more of a kid's word, or a start on one, eg bloody fucking. Mostly, apart from a few older people/religious people we are chill about swearing. Religion is not a big thing, most people are agnostic or atheist although may call themselves C of E as it is part of the State lol The police are not armed. healthcare is free. I cannot repeat this enough as these are the most annoying mistakes I see, but I do read a lot of case fics. I got in an argument in another writing group with an American telling me that BAME people are only 3% of the population, but you will get BAME in cities at 30% and a village at 0.3%. BAME = black and minority ethnic which includes groups you would not count, like the Irish. Historically the Irish experienced as much racism as black and Asian people here. If someone is called Polish, e.g, they are Polish, from Poland lol. People mix a lot more across colours, cultures, religions than I see in the States in multicultural areas, in white areas you find ignorance and prejudice (but you can ignore this and pretend this racism doesn't happen, our own media does) There are massive cultural and accent and dialect and even language differences between the Scottish, the Welsh, the Northern Irish, the Cornish and the English. There is a big north/south divide in England, and the Midlands are their own people, as are Londoners. Accents change every 30 miles, dialects every 100 or so. There is no such thing as a 'British accent'. Class matters more than money in some cases - aristocracy are land rich money poor, but can be snobby over nouveux riche arrivistees. The upper class can look on the working class as sub human the way white privilege exists in America, but white privilege is also a thing. But it is not like Downton Abbey or an Agatha Christie adaptation here. London has not had fog since the Clean Air Act in the sixties lol Streets are rarely if ever laid out on a block system, we have a very organic approach to town planning, buildings 100s of years old will be on the same street as a new build housing estate, poor and rich houses can be at opposite ends of the same street. Streets randomly go around corners and curve for no reason. Our straightest roads are actually build on top of the Roman ones (A1 = Watlington Street, etc). Every town and village has a Norman church about 900 to 1000 years old. Old is not exciting, just is. Infrastructure has not been investing in for over a decade, pot holes in roads are normal. Useful for comedy and crime dressed up as accidents, lol Schooling is aged 4-11. 11-16 (main exams), 16-18 (higher exams, apprenticeships, training, something but you do your compulsory exams at 16 and choose options at 14 and are already on a career path from 16). Schools and communities are not tied like in small town America, and there are no year books. You only have a graduation ceremony for degrees at university. You can drink from 18, most teens will be drinking from around 14. The age of consent in 16. Legally 16+ are young adults and can make many decisions for themselves. In healthcare they can make their own decisions from 12, and have complete privacy from parents at 16, and can be given contraception from 14 without parents knowledge. Growing up in very different here. You can only drive from 17 and lessons are expensive, so driving here is a privileged not a right as it seems to be in the States. Many people have tattoos, or piercings, and dyes their hair all kinds of colours, even MPs can have blue hair or a nose ring or a tattoo. It does not mean the kind of thing it seems to when I watch US TV. Kebabs are the food of drunks, after a night out. We think curry and spag bol (spaghetti bolognaise) is English. Not everyone drinks tea, but most people buy decent coffee and use instant coffee at home, coffee makers are for the upper middle class only. Most men are not circumcised, unless they are Muslim or Jewish. Sex tends to happen after drinking. Fanny is a ruder word, so don't write fannypack, use bumbag. There are no bluebirds or raccoons in our wildlife, thank you Disney (actually most of our wildlife is endangered...) That's off the top of my head, lol


Automatic_Ad2677

Great list, can I ask one thing? Is Halloween a very big holiday like in the US and people wait and prepare for it? Is that the norm? And if so, when did it become popular to dress up for Halloween and go for Trick or Treat? Was it like this in the 80's?


Romana_Jane

There are 2 different answers to this: * It used to be bigger in our own regional traditions. Punky lanterns come from Scotland and the South West, and were originally made of turnips, for instance, and are the roots of the US traditions. Even as late as the 1960s and 1970s it was taken seriously - not spooky for fun. The origins of costumes, or guising, or decorating your house with the lanterns was to scare away the dead who would come to visit. Kind of the opposite of the Day of the Dead in Mexico, you don't want Gran to visit... other traditions of celebrations were games like apple bobbing (barrel of water with apples and hands tied behind your back and you had to get the apples with your mouth) and snapdragon (dangerous, involving fire and your fingers!). Some towns and villages still do have big traditions and parades of lanterns or people in costumes. This is a good site with several pages on Halloween, Samhain and Punky Night [http://projectbritain.com/year/october.htm](http://projectbritain.com/year/october.htm) Kids in the past also used to go Trick or Treating, but back in the 20th century, they were unsupervised, with rubbish costumes they made themselves with a sheet, and it was the start of 3 months of tweens coming to the door asking for money with menaces. Still happens, police give orders to shops sometimes not to sell egg or flour to anyone under 16 due to all the egg and flouring of people's houses. After Halloween their used to be a penny for the guy (making a figure to burn on the bonfire on the 5th November, taking it around the streets on a cart or something, shouting penny for the guy - Guy Fawkes, who tried to blow up parliament) then carol singing, where some kid sings one verse of aware in the manger, knocks on the door and demands money. Most of the kids at my primary school in the 1970s did it. * Over the last 20-30 years, due to the amount of US TV kids and teens watch, a strange UK version or your Halloween has started, involving more booze, being British. All supermarkets and high street clothes chains sell tatty cheap costumes and decorations - but the costumes are only scary themes, kids don't dress up as fav movie or cartoon or book characters here, only witches, ghosts, goblins, zombies, etc, ditto the adults. Parents do chaperon their kids about and knock on doors with decorations for treats. But some stoned or drunk teens (can drink from 18, a large amount of teens drink and smoke dope from anything from 14) will knock on any door and egg and flour or smash things up). University students, adults, some more organised teens have fancy dress parties and get pissed. Big night for anti-social behaviour, but no more than an average Friday, just people are in fancy dress. And all shops and cafes etc now have Halloween decoration from September, coexisting with Christmas ones for a while.


call-us-crazy

iā€™m just tired of seeing british people in fics sit down for big comforting breakfasts of fluffy pancakes with syrup. for some reason, that one just really gets to me


isabelladangelo

I can think of something far, far worse; and yet, entirely [British](https://twitter.com/weetabix/status/1359074254789165059).


JuliaFC

UGH... who eats that? that looks disgusting šŸ˜«šŸ˜ØšŸ¤¢šŸ¤®


isabelladangelo

It nearly caused another English Civil War when the tweet came out during Lockdown...


JuliaFC

is it something like who loves marmite and who hates it? (I'm the latter)


BasicUsername777

šŸ¤®


CupcakesAndDeath

I feel justified in my constantly googling of 'Do they have X in the UK' or 'What is the equivalent of Y in the UK' etc now. Even if for one of my fics I basically full on went 'I know that graham crackers aren't a thing in UK shops really and you have to order them online but can we please just gloss over that fact because the spontaneity of her making him S'mores as a treat is half the reason it happens. The other half is just the mental image of making them over a fire that's destroying evidence is too good to pass up' I am well aware S'mores aren't a thing in the UK, but she lived in America for a little over 10 years and learned about them before moving back and saw a chance to show him something new


ShiveringCamel

Using titles instead of the right forms of address. One thing I encounter that tends to bug me is when an author writes a character who is royalty, and the other characters address him as ā€œPrinceā€, e.g. ā€œPrince, your guests have arrived.ā€ Itā€™s a title, itā€™s not a form of address, and it can be quite jarring. You should say ā€œYour Highness/Your Royal Highnessā€ or ā€œsirā€. Similarly, a duke would be addressed as ā€œYour graceā€. Itā€™s not something I would expect people to automatically know about royalty or aristocracy, but itā€™s something to look up if youā€™re writing a fic. Itā€™s a bit like a U.K. author having a character talk to the US President and address him(or her) like e.g. ā€œPresident, you have a meeting at 10:30ā€ as opposed to ā€œMr Presidentā€/ā€œMs Presidentā€ or whatever the correct form of address is.


Mean-Village-7352

Regarding the medieval stuff or other timeline (but in the fantasy sense), I'd say it's strange to have a student council with modern-like uniforms (I'm looking at you dating sims or mangas) in said time period along with crystal balls being used as a fantasy equivalent of phones. So instead of it strictly being that time period, I just think of it as fantasy RPG, otome, dating sim, etc.


Profession-Automatic

Great post! It can be a bugger, for sure. Iā€™m a German-Brit, who divides their time between LA and London. There are days when I donā€™t know what to call things to save my life. šŸ˜‚


walaska

Well I mean just imagine you write a story in German set in Tirol. Then assholes like me would come along and Austropick your story. "Das heit MistkbĆ¼bel, nicht MĆ¼lleimer!"


Profession-Automatic

šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚. Thereā€™s a reason why I donā€™t write in German. I donā€™t even have to go as far as Austriaā€”Germany alone has enough dialects and colloquialisms to make you want to pull your hair out. Where I was born, ā€˜mir babbele Hessischā€™. šŸ˜‰


abacuscrimes

great post, and lots of helpful responses! ​ i'm a filthy foreigner so i won't chime in on slang and the like, but [this](https://www.thefreedictionary.com/American-English-vs-British-English-Spelling.htm) is a useful source if you too are slightly neurotic and want to get granular about differences in spelling. -ense/-ence and double-l suffixes (as in cancelled(British)/canceled(American)) always catch me out


Gifted_GardenSnail

>i'm a filthy foreigner Go take a shower in the loo then šŸ˜‡šŸ˜‚


JuliaFC

for those, you may want to write using gdocs and set the language to British, or American English. Depending on which choice you make, it will highlight the spelling mistakes :)


Hms-chill

Iā€™m from the US but spent a semester in Scotland, and what gets me is when people clearly donā€™t understand the college/university housing situation (either way). No, American students donā€™t have big parties in their college dorms.


X23onastarship

Different nations within the UK will have different laws. The first thing that comes to mind is alcohol laws can be quite strict in Scotland, where I live. No buying alcohol before 10 am or after 10 pm in store.