"Doug Miller" wrote in message
. net...
In article , Tony Williams
wrote:
I was 19, sitting around the dinner table in Tucson,
with my aunt's neighbours... "to see the nephew from
England".

We were talking about taking a hike on the Sunday, and
one of them remarked how she had difficulty in waking
up on the weekend. So I leant over and casually said
"shall I come over an knock you up then?".

Sudden silence.

I guess you learned pretty quickly that that phrase has a *very* different
meaning here. grin

When sitting down to dinner, we habitually put "napkins" in our laps to
protect our clothing from spills, and to provide something to wipe our
hands
on. As I understand it, you use "serviettes" for that purpose, and
"napkins"
for something altogether different.

I believe the phrase "keep your pecker up", which in England is meant to
extol people to be cheerful in the face of adversity, has a very
embarrassing meaning in the States.

A few years ago we took a train trip across Canada and fell in with a group
of Americans. By the end of the trip I had them calling the railroad: the
railway, switches: points and ties: sleepers. Oh and the engineer was the
engine driver.
--
Keith Willcocks
(If you can't laugh at life, it ain't worth living!)

Keith Willcocks wrote:
A few years ago we took a train trip across Canada and fell in with a group
of Americans. By the end of the trip I had them calling the railroad: the
railway, switches: points and ties: sleepers. Oh and the engineer was the
engine driver.

And Americans drive on the parkway whereas we park on the driveway.
--
Bruce Fletcher
Stronsay, Orkney
www.stronsay.co.uk/claremont
(Remove teeth to reply)
"Some days you are the pigeon. Some days you are the statue"

Bruce wrote:
Keith Willcocks wrote:
A few years ago we took a train trip across Canada and fell in with a
group of Americans. By the end of the trip I had them calling the
railroad: the railway, switches: points and ties: sleepers. Oh and
the engineer was the engine driver.

And Americans drive on the parkway whereas we park on the driveway.

I got a reprimand for saying that 'the law is an ass' on one US forum.

On Wed, 20 Dec 2006 09:53:33 +0000, Bruce
wrote:

Keith Willcocks wrote:
A few years ago we took a train trip across Canada and fell in with a group
of Americans. By the end of the trip I had them calling the railroad: the
railway, switches: points and ties: sleepers. Oh and the engineer was the
engine driver.

And Americans drive on the parkway whereas we park on the driveway.


Except on the Garden State Parkway, where you're actually
parked, just wishing you were driving.

Goedjn wrote:
On Wed, 20 Dec 2006 09:53:33 +0000, Bruce
wrote:

Keith Willcocks wrote:
A few years ago we took a train trip across Canada and fell in with a group
of Americans. By the end of the trip I had them calling the railroad: the
railway, switches: points and ties: sleepers. Oh and the engineer was the
engine driver.
And Americans drive on the parkway whereas we park on the driveway.


Except on the Garden State Parkway, where you're actually
parked, just wishing you were driving.

Sounds very much like the M25 around London - often referred to as
largest car park in the UK
--
Bruce Fletcher
Stronsay, Orkney
www.stronsay.co.uk/claremont
(Remove teeth to reply)
"You've turned into your dad the day you put aside a thin piece of wood
specifically to stir paint with"

"Bruce" wrote in message
...
Goedjn wrote:
On Wed, 20 Dec 2006 09:53:33 +0000, Bruce
wrote:

Keith Willcocks wrote:
A few years ago we took a train trip across Canada and fell in with a
group of Americans. By the end of the trip I had them calling the
railroad: the railway, switches: points and ties: sleepers. Oh and
the engineer was the engine driver.
And Americans drive on the parkway whereas we park on the driveway.


Except on the Garden State Parkway, where you're actually parked, just
wishing you were driving.

Sounds very much like the M25 around London - often referred to as largest
car park in the UK


I live very close to the busiest bit of the M25 (Surrey/Heathrow section)
and we refer to it as a rotary car park.

Having said that, my wife and I drove from New Hampshire to JFK Airport in
New York in the summer and the last 10 miles made the M25 look like Brands
Hatch or Silverstone. It took 3 hours and we were told that that is
perfectly normal on a Sunday.
--
Keith Willcocks
(If you can't laugh at life, it ain't worth living!)

Keith Willcocks wrote:
I live very close to the busiest bit of the M25 (Surrey/Heathrow section)
and we refer to it as a rotary car park.

Having said that, my wife and I drove from New Hampshire to JFK Airport in
New York in the summer and the last 10 miles made the M25 look like Brands
Hatch or Silverstone. It took 3 hours and we were told that that is
perfectly normal on a Sunday.

Makes me quite glad to be up here where the only "hectic" time is when
the ferry is due to arrive. Sometimes there are as many as 7 or 8 cars
waiting in the queue.
--
Bruce Fletcher
Stronsay, Orkney
www.stronsay.co.uk/claremont
(Remove teeth to reply)
"You've turned into your dad the day you put aside a thin piece of wood
specifically to stir paint with"

On Wed, 20 Dec 2006 16:23:30 +0000, Bruce
wrote:

Goedjn wrote:
On Wed, 20 Dec 2006 09:53:33 +0000, Bruce
wrote:

Keith Willcocks wrote:
A few years ago we took a train trip across Canada and fell in with a group
of Americans. By the end of the trip I had them calling the railroad: the
railway, switches: points and ties: sleepers. Oh and the engineer was the
engine driver.
And Americans drive on the parkway whereas we park on the driveway.


Except on the Garden State Parkway, where you're actually
parked, just wishing you were driving.

Sounds very much like the M25 around London - often referred to as
largest car park in the UK

Is that the one with the interchange described in
the book _good_omens_ as "a prayer wheel to satan"?
(or maybe that was _sympathy_for_the_devil_..)

In article , wrote:
Goedjn wrote:
On Wed, 20 Dec 2006 09:53:33 +0000, Bruce
wrote:

Keith Willcocks wrote:
A few years ago we took a train trip across Canada and fell in with a group

of Americans. By the end of the trip I had them calling the railroad: the

railway, switches: points and ties: sleepers. Oh and the engineer was the

engine driver.
And Americans drive on the parkway whereas we park on the driveway.


Except on the Garden State Parkway, where you're actually
parked, just wishing you were driving.

Sounds very much like the M25 around London - often referred to as
largest car park in the UK

It wasn't always so. Back in about '86 you could do 125mph on
the stretch between the M3 and the M4. And I have a ticket
and 6-week disqualification to prove it :-(

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In article , "Keith Willcocks" wrote:

I believe the phrase "keep your pecker up", which in England is meant to
extol people to be cheerful in the face of adversity, has a very
embarrassing meaning in the States.

Keeping one's pecker up would be embarrassing if it's publicly visible, I
guess, but in private, it would likely be a source of pride to the pecker's
owner. g



--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.