I’ve seen other bloggers with partners from other countries share snippets of the hilarity that can come from language differences, so I’d like to start posting some of ours.
Two Saturdays ago, we were at the grocery store to pick up a few items because we had friends coming for dinner that night. We walked down the beer aisle and this is what happened from there:
Me: Do we need some more beer? I can’t remember how much we have in the house.
R (in his best attempt at an American accent): Hmmm…maybe we should get a six-er.
Me: What is a six-er?
R: A six-pack of beer. It’s what you say in the US.
Me: Ummm no. We call them “six-packs.”
R: No, you don’t. I’ve seen the movies.
Me: Wrong. It’s a six-pack.
R: Call your mum and put her on speakerphone.
Later in the day, we had a conversation (on speakerphone) with both of my parents in which they confirmed that we do in fact call them six-packs.
Funny!! I have conversations like these all the time, I can totally relate. My co-workers site American movies as being correct for American phrases. Always gives me a bit of a laugh….
So many random things come up because of the influence US pop culture has on the world, right?! I knew I wasn’t alone in this and am glad others partake in similar hilarious conversations!
I love the “I’ve seen the movies.” Mostly because that’s EVERY American EVER who expects English people to walk around saying “Cheerio, Guv’nor!”
It definitely can go both ways with seeing it in the movies!
I always love US/UK linguistic mishaps!
On the subject of beer, my US husband and were talking to my grandparents on Skype while my husband was sipping a beer. My grandad asked if it was “an English ale” and my husband looked VERY confused. I explained “no, it’s Sam Adams, from Boston”.
Much later in the day my husband asked “what’s an English owl?” – it took me forever to realize that he was referring to what my grandad had said earlier in the day. He’d totally misunderstood the question!
Haha, that is so funny! I love those silly little cross-cultural misunderstandings that come out long after the fact!