Differences in words-

I had no idea 'pudding' meant dessert- interesting. Thanks! I needed to know that one for sure!! 

Took me awhile as well, always thought it was actually PUDDING that we were having for dessert. Often it's shortened to "pud", as well. Which falls along the lines of baby words like someone had mentioned earlier in the thread!

Hmm, that actually sounds more like the use of the wrong word than a different meaning, because I'm British and that conversation didn't make sense to me either .

To me, the phrase "I didn't appreciate what you said last night." means 'I didn't like and am not happy about what you said', or 'I wasn't too impressed with what you said' (complete with a disapproving look). It doesn't mean 'I didn't understand what you said last night'.

Not sure about this Ksand, or maybe it's regional?  In Scotland, I definitely hear (all the time at work/in business) 'i can appreciate that' to mean 'i understand' and 'i didnt have an appreciation of it at the time' to mean 'i didn't understand it previously', or 'surely you can appreciate the situation I'm in' to mean 'surely you can understand my predicament'.

Not sure about this Ksand, or maybe it's regional?  In Scotland, I definitely hear (all the time at work/in business) 'i can appreciate that' to mean 'i understand' and 'i didnt have an appreciation of it at the time' to mean 'i didn't understand it previously', or 'surely you can appreciate the situation I'm in' to mean 'surely you can understand my predicament'.

Yeah, I've heard this and do it myself, but in Meghan's case I would have used "understand." I think when you use "appreciate" instead of "understand" there is supposed to be a sympathetic element to it? Of course you can "understand" with sympathy as well, but you can also "understand" algebra which doesn't require sympathy.

I am wondering if it's a regional thing as well. His kids say it to him all the time in the same way. I will ask the ladies at rugby practice tonight what they do.

Speaking of food...

US | UK

sandwich | butty or bap (depending on whether the roll is hard [butty] or soft [bap])

Well, sandwich is perfectly acceptable. But butty is a slang term for sandwich and at least in Yorkshire bares no resemblance to the type of bread it's in, it can be 2 slices of bread or a bread roll.
Bap becomes terribly confusing depending on location....to me in Yorkshire it's a teacake, in Lancashire it's a barm cake etc.

When DH is talking about baps, he's not referring to rolls!

Can I add "pudding" (referring to dessert) to the list? Drives me bonkers!

I think anything to do with food is complicated, because the way we eat in different cultures changes pretty radically over time and existing words are often adapted for the new realities.. meaning, in this case, different nuances for the same word in different countries. 

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the oldest meaning of pudding is

The stomach or one of the entrails (in early use sometimes the neck) of a pig, sheep, or other animal, stuffed with a mixture of minced meat, suet, oatmeal, seasoning, etc., and boiled; a kind of sausage.

So, sounds like a haggis or similar.  Then by early modern times you have boiled puddings, sweet or savoury, like our familiar English steak & kidney pudding, Christmas pudding, jam roly-poly pudding etc.

According to the OED, it was not till the middle of the 20th century that the modern British use of the word pudding, to mean dessert in general, was first current.

Then we have modern American usage of the word, where (I believe) it specifically means one kind of dessert, a blancmange or custard flavoured with vanilla or chocolate etc.  Can also be rice or tapioca etc, but wouldn't include Spotted Dick for instance, which I don't think they have in America, except in the British Food section of Wegmans..

Oy Meghan282, what a mess! Does he do that often?

I was also so confused and left waiting for the 'punchline'. Is your husband British?

Hmm, that actually sounds more like the use of the wrong word than a different meaning, because I'm British and that conversation didn't make sense to me either.

To me, the phrase "I didn't appreciate what you said last night." means 'I didn't like and am not happy about what you said', or 'I wasn't too impressed with what you said' (complete with a disapproving look). It doesn't mean 'I didn't understand what you said last night'.

I thought so too and then was thinking maybe it would make sense if it were a case of someone saying "I didn't appreciate it" more meaning "I thought about it and realized I didn't appreciate it as much as I had showed or should have"... or something like that.... 

US | UK

granola bar | flapjack
crepe (kind of) | pancake
tuna salad |tuna mayo (if salad is listed, it means lettuce but no mayo!)
shrimp | prawn
breaded chicken cutlet | chicken escalope
sandwich | butty or bap (depending on whether the roll is hard [butty] or soft [bap])

Good grief, this is going to be a lot of trial and error, isn't it? I guess I will only be going to places where they have pictures of foods, or the actual food sitting there for me to eyeball and see if it looks edible. 

Not sure about this Ksand, or maybe it's regional?  In Scotland, I definitely hear (all the time at work/in business) 'i can appreciate that' to mean 'i understand' and 'i didnt have an appreciation of it at the time' to mean 'i didn't understand it previously', or 'surely you can appreciate the situation I'm in' to mean 'surely you can understand my predicament'.

I hear all of those things too (and I'm currently dividing my time between Exeter, Bristol and Lincoln, so I'm all over the place), but as PlainPearl said, they don't have quite the same meaning as a straightforward 'I understand'.

In my mind, what they are really saying is:

- 'i can appreciate that' = 'I get it and I understand why you feel that way' (possibly followed with a silent 'but I don't necessarily agree with you')
 
- 'i didnt have an appreciation of it at the time' = 'I didn't get what the big deal was then, but now I've realised the error of my ways'

- 'surely you can appreciate the situation I'm in' = 'for God's sake, have some sympathy for me!' .

...but wouldn't include Spotted Dick for instance, which I don't think they have in America, except in the British Food section of Wegmans...

Reminds me of custard! 

Growing up & living in the US, my grandma used to occasionally bake a custard pie - essentially egg custard in a shortcrust pastry shell.  Or make 'coconut cream' or 'banana cream' or 'pineapple cream' pies - these were homemade custard pies, with the pie's custard filling flavoured with coconut or banana or pineapple & then a meringue topping on the filling.  (I realise other US cooks may make those pies differently, but that's what I grew up with.)

As a grownup living in Tampa Bay, I used to frequent a frozen yoghurt shop that also sold British/Australian/South African groceries, and my friends & I would sit there pondering what on earth the cartons of custard sold there could possibly be for, as well as the custard powder.  I remember thinking - do the Brits like to sit there and just eat thick sweet gloopy yellow stuff out of a carton like that?!  How bizarre.  And why powdered custard?  My grandma's pies were made of 'made from scratch' ingredients (sometimes we got to eat the excess fresh, what didn't fit in her pie), and I just didn't see how a pie made with these cartons of runny custard (or the powdered stuff?) could possibly be any good!  Never occurred to me that that custard is for pouring warm over warm puddings...    I mean, ice cream is what you put with warm desserts (like fruit pies & cobblers), isn't it? 

When DH is talking about baps, he's not referring to rolls!

Mine's the same! 

Yup, DH is British. Has lived in the South East his entire life except for University which was in Leicester. (Did I spell that right?)

Yes, it's really disconcerting when they pull out the "I didn't appreciate what you said..." or something like that. Now that we are aware of it, DH is quick to repeat himself to say "Understand."

When DH is talking about baps, he's not referring to rolls!

fnarr, fnarr 

I've gone from working in a very large publisher that had its own American office to Americanise British text to working in a very small publisher where we do it all ourselves. As I am the only American actually in the office, I am finding myself being asked these questions regularly. Yesterday it was explaining how "pudding" is something very specific to Americans - and then being asked if a picture of yogurt could pass as pudding, lol. Today the topic was turnips! Apparently called turnips in Scotland and the US, but they're called swedes in England. And then I had to find a picture of turnips that looked like turnips to me.

There are also little differences rather than the actual words but the way they're used. Such as "hospital". In the US one "goes to THE hospital", but over here we just "go to hospital".

My favourite issue with producing books in the UK that also get published in the states was when we had a picture of a sink with separate taps. The US office queried this: "why are there two faucets and not one? This does not exist here and must change!" It was of course changed immediately by a designer. If only I could use that approach with all British plumbing!