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English vs English


deanb
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I guess this is generalising but it seems Americans are more clued up on drugs than people over here - I think we generally just go to the doctors and take whatever they offer us without putting too much thought in to the fact there may be alternatives.

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@Revan: Over here you're only allowed to buy so much paracetamol at once, since it's pretty cheap (about 16p a pack...though I usually get ibuprofen which is about 30p) and available way of offing yourself. And paracetamol overdose is generally considered a not so great way to go.

 

 

@Gerbil: I think the "more clued up" is ultimately due to the advertising thing. Which same goes for the alternatives, generally the same thing just different brands.

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Normally I'd say that's the better way to do it. I mean sure, if you have some kind of bad reaction to a specific drug or category of drugs then it might be good to ask for an alternative, but otherwise let the doctor do their job.

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So here's one that's kind just been at the back of my mind and someone just made the quote so here goes:

 

In america do boxes of chocolates not come with the instructions?

e.g

IMG_3560.jpg

 

Or am I just not seeing the deeper meaning in it and as Forrest is mentally retarded he didn't know to just look at the instruction and not get the really shitty chocolates (though he's American so not much choice there I guess :P)

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  • 2 months later...

It'd seem to be a very mixed usage name http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zucchini#Name Some of Europe calls it Zucchini, some call it Courgette, and then Scandinavia calls it Squash. I know when younger you kinda call it a baby Marrow(as it says it's called in Oz), since it pretty much does look and taste like one just..baby sized.

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I guess it makes sense we use the French term rather than Italian. I believe we do with most of our food terms, e.g. for meat names. And I'm not sure if it's just stereotyping but there seems to be a stronger Italian-American culture in the USA than French so it would make sense that you use zucchini over there.

 

I'm guessing any Brit that uses zucchini is because they are reading about it on the internet which tends to be America-centric. Brits are exposed to Americanisms a lot more than Americans are exposed to Briticisms. Sometimes they just seep in. I nearly caught myself calling a lift an elevator last week. 

 

On a similar note I finally have arugula (rocket) and cilantro (coriander) straight in my mind as I always got the two American terms mixed up.

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  • 2 weeks later...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/nadiaarumugam/2012/10/25/why-american-eggs-would-be-illegal-in-a-british-supermarket-and-vice-versa/

 

Now here's a weird one. Something as simple as eggs and US and UK go about them completely differently.

 

In the UK we vaccinate our chickens and produce unwashed eggs. Means the egg retains the natural barrier against infection, so it'll last longer and doesn't need to be kept in the fridge, as well as drastically reducing the risk of salmonella(150K versus 500/yr). In America where the chickens are left to own devices (vaccination is encouraged but not mandated) and the eggs are washed (it took me a bit to process F v C, I was like "90 degrees?! that'd soft boil the egg!") to remove dirt and shit. No points for working out which system is cheaper. (US hens are also "force moulted", a process where they're starved for 1-2 weeks which triggers a moulting which also reboots egg production. In UK that's not allowed. When they're done they're shipped off to become chicken nuggets.)

 

US eggs also come from a different breed of chicken(leghorn), hence them being white. They're not white from the washing process.

 

Also on topic of salmonella, a few weeks back I found out why rabies came under my same mental list as quicksand as "things childhood books tell you about, but is near mythological". UK is a rabies free nation. Bonus of being on a tiny island I guess.

 

Anyway, yeah. Eggs. Interesting things.

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I think Farmers Market ones might be an exception. I haven't asked them though but considering the eggs are fine being left outside during the market and sometimes the eggs appear slighty dirty, I would assume that they are unwashed.

 

Great eggs nonetheless... I should eventually keep backyard chickens.

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