British Things My Kids Have Said This Week
The British vernacular is slowly seeping into our household. Catch up with the latest lingo my kids have been using.
- Mate - G's new favorite term to say, but not in a kind way. "Hey, I was using that, mate!"
- Cross - As we were reading a book last night, C asked me why one of the characters looked cross. I actually prefer how phonetically pleasing cross sounds compared to mad or angry.
- Match - G now refers to any sporting event as a match. On his Christmas list he added "To go to a Cubs match". I didn't have the heart to correct him.
- Half past - I caught Nick saying this to someone. Usually, as Americans we would say 9:30, but no one really says that here. They would say "half past nine" or "quarter to" instead of 9:45.
- Rocket - At the butcher, the young guy who takes me order knows I am American, and he asked me if I called it arugula. I said, "In America I would say arugula, but I know better than that after living here for a year and a half. If I was ordering something I would say rocket."
- Quid - R told me something only cost a few quid. I see it as the equivalent of saying bucks in the States.
- Pants - Although my kids still call pants, pants not trousers and underwear, underwear not pants, I did hear R make a joke about pants (not underwear) yesterday.
- Taps - It's not a faucet. It's a tap. I've definitely heard C and G say this, and admittedly, I've said it from time to time. I blame it on the 1,000s of "taps" I've looked at over the last few months.
- Cheers - No one in our house technically uses this term yet. And to be honest, I'm still a little uncertain about the context in which to use it. Is it a thank you? A good-bye? I did find the strong urge to use it at the bakery the other day - maybe it was the rocket talk. Next time.
- Splashback - What I would call a backsplash is referred to as splashback here. Again, I've reluctantly switched to that term to avoid confusion when talking to trades with our renovation.
Two of my three kids have at least a semblance of a British accent. R doesn't have one, but he does use British terminology from time to time. Nick nor I have one, but I do find myself altering my language in conversations. This is complete voluntary and more so to avoid confusion than to try to hide my American vocabulary, especially with the pants thing 😅.
