The Mrs has been having back problems since we got to the UK. In the US she’d make a couple of trips to the chiropractor and this would be fixed. In the UK, there are no chiropractors. The are osteopaths, which are like chiropractors, but have a different methodology which uses a slower method of…
To British or Not To British
I’m using the term British to refer to all of the UK, ie England, Wales and Scotland. I do this because I need a word for that, and because technically the big island is Britian. (The smaller one is Ireland). This can be a point of contention for some in the UK. The Mrs submitted…
Different is not equal to Bad
Since I learned the word ethnocentrism from Gaylen Van Rheenan in Missionary Principles and Practice way back in college, I’ve understood that just because another culture does something differently than I do, that doesn’t make it bad. I thought I should make a point of mentioning this since I’m writing a lot about how things…
“No Dog Fouling” vs “Cleanup After Your Pet”
I’ve seen this sign in a few places and “No fouling” signs with no picture around the UK. They almost always make me smile or even laugh out loud. I love they went to the trouble of coloring the poop and making it steam. And the dog looks to proud of itself.
UK Myth: The Metric System
You know I thought everyone but the US was metric. I switched my GPS to kilometers in the US to get a feel for those distances. The UK is NOT metric. Speed limits and road signs are in miles. The sign at the right tells you the hospital is in .5 or 1/2 a mile….
“Humps” vs “Speed bumps”
They have the same annoying piles of concrete in their roads, but call them humps.
“Thank You For Your Custom”
I saw this on one of my receipts and thought it interesting. Most Britishisms make sense if you have a good vocabulary. They are just using words we don’t use anymore, or use them in a different context. This is an example, but you have to think about it a little. We all know that…
Our May In the UK
We’ve come to the end of our first location in the UK. Ten days in Brentwood, Essex staying with our expat friends Jonathan and Angela. Wasn’t what I expected, since I thought they lived in a suburb of London and that Jonathan worked in London. Brentwood is kind of a suburb of London, one train…