Sunday 13 March 2011

Britishisms

When we first started talking about moving here, everyone said, "Do you think Elizabeth will come home with a British accent??" Now that we've been here a short while, I think probably no - given our circle of international friends, she will probably end up with a Chilean-Cypriot-German-with-a-touch-of-Britain accent.

However, there are certain words that have already slipped into my vernacular - words that are decidedly Brit, and most un-Canadian. For example:
  • back garden vs backyard
  • cycle vs bike
  • roundabout vs traffic circle
  • car park vs parking lot
  • tissues vs kleenex
  • shops vs stores

I have avoided others though, thank goodness:
  • it's an elevator, not a lift
  • it's six-thirty, not half-six (What is that about? Half-six would be three o'clock, duh.)
  • it's still a cookie, not a biscuit
  • I will never say, "I was stood there..." - hello, you were standing there. 
  • 'up the road' - everyone says everything is 'just up the road'. Example #1: "Where is the nearest grocery store?" "Oh, in Milton - just up the road" (truth: 20 min bike ride). Example #2: "How far is the walk to the playground?" "Not far, just up the road." (truth: 20 second walk). Example #3: "It's not far, it's just up the road in London." (truth: 1 hour by train).
The best one that both Elizabeth & her parents have adopted is "Peepo!" instead of Peek-A-Boo. She loves to play:
"Where's Elizabeth???"





"PEEPO!!!"




Prettiest Baby Girl!!!

1 comment:

informel said...

Her smile totally makes my day :3