Afternoon Tea with the Brits

My friend here, Wendy, invited Carol and I to afternoon tea at the Ritz-Carlton hotel.  It was really during dinner time but was called afternoon tea.  We had a fantastic time eating tiny sandwiches, sweets, scones, and drinking tea.

Here is a taste of some of the fancy cars seen here in Doha

Now that we have these two families of British friends, I have learned lots of funny differences in our languages.  We continue to add to the list every day, and die laughing as we realize most of them.  Esther will just be talking normally and then will say something like, "she always has a fag hanging out of her mouth", and I bust out laughing!  She, of course, means a cigarette, but I was thinking of something very different!  Here is the list so far: (if you are reading this on your phone, it won't show up correctly in list form but you will still get the idea)

American                                    British
Mom                                            Mum
Shovel                                         Spade
Cooler                                         Coolbox
Z (the letter)                                Zed
Backpack                                    Rucksack
Stroller                                        Push chair
Shopping cart                              Trolley
Yard (like backyard)                   Garden
Bangs (hair)                                 Fringe
Elevator                                       Lift
Line (like waiting in line)            Queue
Semi (18 wheeler)                       Lorry
Man                                             Bloke
Friend                                          Mate
Vacuum                                      Hoover
Cotton candy                              Candy Floss
Trunk of car                                Boot
Oven                                           Cooker
Parking lot                                   Car Park
Take out (ordering food)             Take away
Sweater                                        Jumper
Undershirt                                    Vest
Vest                                              Waistcoat
Shot (injection)                             Jab
Pacifier                                         Dummy
Cabinet                                        Cupboard
Closet                                          Wardrobe
Chips (potato)                              Crisps
Cookies                                        Biscuits
Exhausted/tired                            Shattered
Gay (homosexual)                       Camp

Some of my personal favorites that have gotten the most laughs:

Pants                                            Trousers
Underwear (boys)                        Pants
*We have had several laughs with this one.  For instance, I said, "is George wearing pants or shorts to the brunch, and Esther laughs and says, "He is wearing pants either way, but shorts, not trousers"  Hee Hee
*I told everyone at the table at the tea that I needed to stop and pick up Bobby's  suit pants from the dry cleaners on the way home and the whole table (all British) erupted in laughter.

Pink Panties (the expression)         Big girls blouse
Really drunk                                  Pissed as a newt
It tastes good                                  That's lovely
Cigarette                                         Fag
Sex                                                 Rumpy Pumpy, Shag, or Rumpy
Panties                                            knickers
Basil (how we say it)                     Basil (Bah-zil)
Panties in a wad (the expression)   Knickers in a twist