What’s the Difference?
by The writer looks at a few differences between the UK and the USA.
Because of popular culture, cinema, music, TV etc, most people assume that the United Kingdom and the United States of America are virtually interchangeable. We may all look similar, talk similar and who knows, even smell and taste similar but there are subtle differences between the two countries.
Try these for size!
Late Starters
The US is the new kid on the block. In the UK some people are living in houses built centuries before Columbus was born. Saltford Manor House near Bristol and Luddesdown Court, near Gravesend in Kent are but two of the houses continuously inhabited since the 1100’s.
Old Chris wasn’t born until 1451.
As for the House of the Lord, England’s oldest church, St Peter on the Wall at Bradwell-on-Sea, Essex was built in 654 AD. The oldest in the US, the San Miguel Chapel, Santa Fe, New Mexico was built almost a millennium later in 1610 AD.
Geography
The US is in the western hemisphere, the UK is in both the western and the eastern hemisphere.
The Prime Meridian runs through Greenwich in south east London in a north south direction, any place east of the line is in the eastern hemisphere, any place west is in the western hemisphere. Simple!
This places Oxford University in the west and Cambridge University in the east.
Three English counties, Kent, Suffolk and Norfolk, are situated entirely in the eastern hemisphere.
No major city of over 1,000,000 population in the US, or indeed on the North American continent, is as far north as London.
Most British people are under the misconception that, because it has heavy snowfalls every winter, New York City is in the frozen north, when in fact it shares exactly the same latitude with Madrid in Spain.
Language
There is a difference between the English and the US English language, for example, in the UK, suspenders hold a lady’s stockings up, in the US they hold a man’s trousers, or in US English, pants up.
Talking of pants, if an American lady says ‘My pants are wet!’ it probably means that she has sat in a puddle. If a British lady makes the same statement it probably means that she is incontinent! In Britain, pants are underwear.
US speakers have many regional accents but it doesn’t matter if it’s a Tennessean redneck or a New York cabbie that’s doing the talking, an American and a Brit can both understand what they are saying.
The UK has many regional accents but some of them are unintelligible to even the British, let alone a foreigner. It’s doubtful if a native of Surrey would be able to hold a conversation with his Northumbrian counterpart. In Britain it’s not only the accent that has to be overcome, it’s also the dialect!
The UK also has sub-languages. What American could translate, “I put on my whistle and flute and then we went down the frog and toad to the rub-a-dub. I had a pint of pig’s ear and the trouble and strife had a Vera Lynn.”?
If you’re wondering, that’s Cockney rhyming slang for “I put on my suit and then we went down the road to the pub. I had a pint of beer and the wife had a gin.”
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Post Commentrichard reed
On June 21, 2009 at 7:11 am
great write,very interesting,,stay blessed my friend,,your fan Rich
Melody SJAL
On June 21, 2009 at 7:50 am
A very enjoyable piece. Liked it.
Mr Ghaz
On June 21, 2009 at 8:26 am
Great work!!..Very interesting and informative article..I liked this statement ‘My pants are wet!’ lol..vry funny indeed..Thanx bro
C Jordan
On June 21, 2009 at 8:26 am
Great fun. I enjoyed reading that George.
Katie Marie
On June 21, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Thanks for writing this George. I learned a few new things about our differences. I will correct you on at least one though. In the US the legal drinking age etc is determined state by state (as are many things), so it might be 21 in one place and 18 or 19 across the state line.
George W Whitehead
On June 21, 2009 at 4:14 pm
Thanks everyone. Sorry Katie, put it down to artistic license (or lousy information on the web!)
By the way, the layout and font size in the ‘Politics’ section is Trionds fault.
Louie Jerome
On June 21, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Very interesting article, George. With regard to the layout..a recent article of mine had my carefully arranged layout butchered in the same manner!
Mystique
On June 21, 2009 at 11:08 pm
Love your work and thank you for commenting on all of my blogs. Very cool.
Cheers!
maranatha
On June 21, 2009 at 11:20 pm
Interesting and informative. I enjoyed this very much!
Nosa
On June 22, 2009 at 9:40 am
very intersting subject.You asked what the diffence was and I say there not much difference except that it is possible to have a black president in America but in the UK,the dreamer may have to dream for another five hundred years to get a place as a MP then dream for another five hundred years to get the chance to contest for Prime Minister.
goodselfme
On June 24, 2009 at 2:48 am
I learned from your well done post.TX
Deep Blue
On June 24, 2009 at 3:33 am
Great contrast, I haven’t read a piece which has the convincing power as yours. You really are a writer in your own right.
Regards,
Will
rizzei
On June 24, 2009 at 4:35 am
nice comparison..you really are convincing:)
Rajiv Sighamony
On June 24, 2009 at 7:33 am
It seems, you had probably stayed in both countries for considerable period of time.
payge
On June 24, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Now that was an intersting article to read,wasnt aware of all this untill now.Got a kick out of the suspenders thing though…
Thank you for your continued support of my work,its deeply apprecited.
RS Wing
On June 24, 2009 at 7:22 pm
No Katie needs to stand corrected, with all due respect, it was written into federal law that you must be 21 to legally drink or get served…it was legal when I was 18 and now that I have more life experience I look back and say wow,…that was crazy…but then there were times I travelled down south and couldn’t understand a word of south carolina’s english…wow another language barrier with a native south carolinian, and your def right about history…america has no real culture too draw upon but the uk, we’ve only been around 230+ yrs, so that’s why we don’t get that much respect around the world, among many other reasons where there is no more room for me to write about here. Very good, well written piece, really makes you think, great piece George!
Princess Dre
On June 25, 2009 at 5:37 pm
Okay George I have to comment on a few things:(1)geography-I will agree re: no city with 1Mil+ is more north than London in North Americ.cont. but Anchorage is part of US connected to US and is more north than London 60.8877,-149.326172. (2)Language-wet pants can mean potty in pants here too and if you heard a real southern person speak or the cabbies who a lot are foreign-good luck on understanding that-uncomprehensible at times-(3)US is a democracy- We have ya beat there-No Queens and kings rulin’ here (4)Freedom-kids have too much of it.-Consent to premarital sex- Show me a mom who gives it even at 18- can we watch kids 24/7 – No- but the catholic religion for example preaches abstinence before marriage and hopefully the kids adhere. As parents we try to teach them that a responsibility comes with it and good morals and values. Hopefully they listen. We were all teens and know how it is. However give consent to your kids for it and put an age on it- Never- Good luck- put an age on it if you want but show me some teens anywhere in the world who don’t try to break rules. Good write George- Don’t mean to be tough – God Bless my friend – Princess
Ruby Hawk
On June 25, 2009 at 8:16 pm
another I like,
George W Whitehead
On June 26, 2009 at 1:13 am
#17 Princess Dre.
Thank you for your comments. No need to apologise for being tough, that’s what comments are for! I’d rather have constructive comments like these, than sycophantic ones, and of course I know that you realise that this is just a tongue in cheek article!
In response:
(1)You are correct in that Anchorage is further north than London, but it’s population, indeed Alaska’s population, is less than one million.
(3)The Queen, although technically has the last word, takes no part in the day to day running of the UK. She is more or less just a tourist attraction!
(4)The Christian church along with its morals have all but disappeared in the UK, ergo no spiritual guidance. Couple this with a breakdown in parental guidance over here and we are left with kids from twelve years old onwards going at it like rabbits!
Kind regards
George
Diverseblogger
On June 26, 2009 at 3:53 pm
Beautiful article. Keep the writing coming and thank you for all that you do.
Yours Truly, Mystique
R J Evans
On June 27, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Have to disagree with Princess. America is not a democracy. It is a republic. Very different!
R J Evans
On June 27, 2009 at 3:36 pm
As for the layout – do you paste straight in to the online editor or use the button on the toolbar? If you use the latter there should be no problem with the text. If the former then you will retain some of the formatting from your WP, especially if it Microsoft Word. It can screw the HTML code up good and proper.
Ruby Hawk
On June 29, 2009 at 5:41 pm
and another,
gab7
On July 23, 2009 at 10:47 am
WoW!
I didnt know there was such a gaping array of difference between the two super powers of the world!
Bohemian Bystander
On July 26, 2009 at 12:36 am
I am fast becoming a great fan of yours – very surprising article in that a lot of what you said I had no idea about, especially the geography section.
This quote is sublime, by the way – “The UK has been invaded by the Romans, Vikings and Normans, all leaving their mark on everyday life. The US has been invaded by tourists.”
ashan1614
On August 5, 2009 at 10:51 pm
Got a kick out this, George. I have to add that there are some accents here in the US that I have a hard time understanding as well; from the New Englanders who refuse to pronounce the letter “r” (i.e. “caw” rather than “car”) to Southerners who put “r’s” where they don’t belong (”warsh” rather than “wash”). True, we don’t have to deal with many dialects save the Cajun population in Louisiana, who I don’t understand at all.
Good article!