Language

 How about Khaki pants?  Don't google that in the UK

RIGHT! Guillotine as in a paper cutter. *facepalm* I always just called it a paper cutter.

How about Khaki pants?  Don't google that in the UK

Dang it... Now I WANT to know... How bad is it?

It's a bit of a stretch, but cack can be poo, like cack handed.  So khaki pants would be underwear with poo

By the way, what should you do if you are forced to fight a gang of evil clowns?  Go for the juggler!

Once when I first moved here I was describing my wildly behaving son and used a term that over here is a very offensive term for someone with cerebral palsy. Luckily nobody held it against me but I felt awful!

Once when I first moved here I was describing my wildly behaving son and used a term that over here is a very offensive term for someone with cerebral palsy. Luckily nobody held it against me but I felt awful!

I think I know what word you mean. I have said it before here too not meaning it in the UK way!

I can back up the guillotine thing, we've got one at our house.  I wonder if that word existed before the French Revolution?  If I remember, I'll ask the wife

Named for Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, a French doctor who wanted all executions to be done using a quick beheading method... he claimed it was the most humane means of execution, which to be fair in a time of immolations and draw-and-quartering, it probably was. It was introduced during the French Revolution, though, so the answer to your question is "no."

I'm sure your wife knows all this, it's taught in French schools

ETA: Pronounced /ɡijɔtin/, gee-yo-teen, not /ˈɡɪlətiːn/ gill-uh-teen, as the British say. The British butchering of French words is a pet peeve of mine.

I think I know what word you mean. I have said it before here too not meaning it in the UK way!

There used to be a UK cerebral palsy charity with that word in the title (I.e. It was on their charity shops), but the charity was renamed in 1994 after the word started being used as an abusive term.


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RIGHT! Guillotine as in a paper cutter. *facepalm* I always just called it a paper cutter.

I still call it the paper cutter.   

ETA: Pronounced /ɡijɔtin/, gee-yo-teen, not /ˈɡɪlətiːn/ gill-uh-teen, as the British say. The British butchering of French words is a pet peeve of mine.

That bothers me, as well! 

There used to be a UK cerebral palsy charity with that word in the title (I.e. It was on their charity shops), but the charity was renamed in 1994 after the word started being used as an abusive term.
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I'm guessing you guys mean 'spaz' or 'spastic' ? Husband said it was the correct word at the time.

I'm guessing you guys mean 'spaz' or 'spastic' ? Husband said it was the correct word at the time.

Yes - back when I was a kid there were 'Spastics Society' shops all over the place, and I'm sure we occasionally used the term in the playground.

Then, in the 90s they changed the name of the society to Scope because spastic was being used as a derogatory term for people with cerebral palsy.


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RIGHT! Guillotine as in a paper cutter. *facepalm* I always just called it a paper cutter.

Yeah, that was one I came up against early on.  There were a whole bunch of library based words that I found interesting.  For one, the spelling of catalog as catalogue.  The check-out desk was called the issues counter or just counter.  The reference desk was enquiries.  Library cards were tickets.  Parentheses were curved brackets or curves.  Brackets were square brackets.  The period at the end of a sentence was a full stop.  I still get confused by the pound sign or hashtag -- isn't that a symbol for number or is it a sharp in musical notation?  # or £ or what?

I've always used a hashtag as an alternative way to say number.  For example -
    number 10
or
    #10

It's something I did quite a lot actually, but not anymore since it clearly doesn't mean that at all here.  Usually my husband is at least familiar with US usages if different from UK, but he was completely baffled by that one.  I guess now that it's being used differently in the cyber world, that number usage will go away anyway?

Yeah, that was one I came up against early on.  There were a whole bunch of library based words that I found interesting.  For one, the spelling of catalog as catalogue.  The check-out desk was called the issues counter or just counter.  The reference desk was enquiries.  Library cards were tickets.  Parentheses were curved brackets or curves.  Brackets were square brackets.  The period at the end of a sentence was a full stop.  I still get confused by the pound sign or hashtag -- isn't that a symbol for number or is it a sharp in musical notation?  # or £ or what?

This made me laugh because I struggle every day.  Most of my colleagues understand what I mean but I get some strange looks from customers when I use my Americanisms.

Also wrote out a clue on a kids' treasure hunt using the # symbol to stand in for the word "number," never had so many confused children (and parents) in my life!