“Diversion” vs “Detour”

When you have to go another way because of construction in the road it is called a “diversion”. This sign tells you where to go. They call road construction “road works” as well.

“Dull” vs “Cloudy”

Watching the weather and they said it was the “dullest” May in Ireland. That means it has been very cloudy.

“Fancy Dress” vs “Costume”

The picture shows a number of Britishisms. “Fancy Dress” and “Mascot” are what this shop has on offer. It’s what we’d call in the states a cosume shop. Also notice in the window it talks about “Hen & Stag Nites”. We’d call these “bachelorette and bachelor parties”. We’d also spell “nites” nights. Don’t know what…

“Give Way” vs “Yield”

Brits say “Give Way” instead of “Yield” on the roadways. The sign is the same shape as in the US, a triangle, and the colors are like one version of the sign in the states. In this picture the blue circle with the arrows indicates a roundabout. Every intersection in Brentwood is a roundabout.Even simple…

“Collection”

Collection is how you order a pizza when you plan to go pick it up. We’d say “carry out”, to differentiate from delivery.

Britishisms of the Day

I once told a Brit I was interviewing on my EMS podcast “We’re two countries divided by a common language.” They speak English here, but there are lots of little difference and those fascinate me. So for the trip I’ve been collecting Britishisms. When I get to Scotland maybe there will be Scotisms. Look for…

Day 1: Abilene to Dallas

We don’t trust the Abilene airport. That’s why we aren’t flying out of there. Instead our flight starts at the DFW airport. Our original plan was to have a friend or relative drive us to Dallas, but that didn’t work out. We didn’t want to leave a car in Dallas for 3 months, so we…