Differences in words-

DH says it's cute when I say "movies" (I guess it does sound funny when you start thinking that it must have come from "moving pictures").

Historyenne, please explain the closet/cupboard thing! I still haven't got the hang of that. I still call a bedroom closet (in the wall) a "closet" and the place in the kitchen where I put dishes and food the "cabinet". Is the dresser not the tall stack of drawers (free standing)? We have one and that's what I call it, but DH seems confused when I say dresser. "Cupboard" seems more of an outdated word around here. Like, I'd expect my mom's generation or older to say it, but we usually just say "cabinet."

Ok, now even as I type all that out, I'm confusing myself.

In Glasgow we normally say 'the pictures' instead of 'the cinema'... or sometimes 'the flicks'.

If you want to get really confused, tackle the whole cupboard/closet/cabinet/dresser issue

And in Scotland we also have a 'press', which is a specific type of cupboard, built into a wall recess.

How about:

Strollers - push chairs
Walkers - Zimmer frames
Cribs - cots (for baby)
Dinner/Supper  - Tea (in the north, anyhow)
Senior high - college
College - university
Trunk (car) - Boot
Front hood (car) - Bonnet

and then there's "fanny"...

P.S. I recently read a great book written by an American woman living in Scotland. I forget the title offhand, but maybe someone on here remembers. It consisted of a list of vocabulary words/differences that I sure wish I had on hand when I first moved to England.  Very funny book as well.

Heheheh we should do regional words too - that would really confuse anyone! 

In Glasgow we normally say 'the pictures' instead of 'the cinema'... or sometimes 'the flicks'.

Hm. Maybe DH has been living in London too long, but he never says "the pictures" (born and bred in E. Kilbride). We do have confusion over "lemonade" occasionally, though.

Hm. Maybe DH has been living in London too long, but he never says "the pictures" (born and bred in E. Kilbride). We do have confusion over "lemonade" occasionally, though.

Maybe it's generational... like people my age and older!   
And partially geographical, cos EK isn't technically Glasgow.

Oh, DH told me last night that canes (like old people use) are "walking sticks". I was groaning at an advert on tv here for a product called a "HurryCane". He didn't get what I meant and why I thought it was so dumb. I told him walking sticks are like for walking in the woods. He said "that's a different kind of walking stick!"

We do have confusion over "lemonade" occasionally, though.

So then what is lemonade in the UK?

I think I need to get a US>UK English translator book....  

So then what is lemonade in the UK?

Lemonade in the UK is carbonated lemon-flavoured pop... basically Sprite or 7-Up.

Maybe it's generational... like people my age and older!    

More generational than geographical, I think. My grandparents used to say 'the pictures', and they were from the southwest of England and from South Wales. But you wouldn't really hear any young people saying 'the pictures' these days.
 

So then what is lemonade in the UK?

I think I need to get a US>UK English translator book.... 

Well, American lemonade can be called lemonade (from what I've seen), but it's not very common. Lemonade UK is like Sprite basically. But in Scotland (Glasgow area at least), lemonade can be used to mean any soda. So then you have to ask what kind of lemonade. They also say "fizzy pop" and other variations! It's sort of like how we say "coke" to mean all sodas in Atlanta.

     UK                         US
cupboard                     closet   (built into the wall, in the UK often under the stairs*)
cabinet                      cupboard (in the kitchen, fixed to the wall)
dresser                       cabinet  (in the dining/living room, used for display)
chest of drawers          dresser  (in the bedroom, for clothes)
wardrobe                    wardrobe (yay!)(takes you to Narnia)

In the UK a dresser is sometimes called a Welsh dresser. 

*When I first read Harry Potter I was so confused as to how he could fit into a cupboard and what one was doing under the stairs

US-style lemonade is sometimes called "cloudy lemonade."

Hm. Maybe DH has been living in London too long, but he never says "the pictures" (born and bred in E. Kilbride). We do have confusion over "lemonade" occasionally, though.

Maybe a generational rather than regional thing.. going to school in Kent in the 1950s, "the pictures" and "the flicks" were commonly used alternatives to "the cinema."  And, talking about the word "cinema" in the US.  Maybe if you go to a multiplex to see the latest feature, you are going to the movies, but if you go to an art house to attend the Truffaut Retrospective, you are going to the cinema?  Not sure..

(sorry, I see someone else said this while I was typing!!)

     UK                         US
cupboard                     closet   (built into the wall, in the UK often under the stairs*)
cabinet                      cupboard (in the kitchen, fixed to the wall)
dresser                       cabinet  (in the dining/living room, used for display)
chest of drawers          dresser  (in the bedroom, for clothes)
wardrobe                    wardrobe (yay!)(takes you to Narnia)

In the UK a dresser is sometimes called a Welsh dresser. 

*When I first read Harry Potter I was so confused as to how he could fit into a cupboard and what one was doing under the stairs

Ok, see for me, dresser and chest of drawers are actually two different things. Dresser is low and often has a mirror and chest of drawers is the tall thing. I usually say dresser for both since I'm lazy. Is that a southern (US) thing, maybe? And I'm guessing for you, wardrobe=armoire (free standing thingy)? I think that's more northern or just old fashioned. (I've never had an armoire.)

And the one about the closet under the stairs.. hmm... we have a storage space under the stairs but it's not very big (a few feet high at the tallest bit?) I think I would still be confused as to how HP would fit inside!

At least now I know why DH looks at me cross-eyed whenever I say "dresser".