British sense of humour.....

How funny is this?  I couldn't resist posting it today.  For the life of me, I cannot recall where I originally came across it. Must have been floating around the Internet somewhere. Apparently, they do have these posted outside the public restrooms in the city.  Good advice.  Would certainly save one from certain embarrassment should your "knickers" as they call them, be showing.

Between the Queen's Diamond Jubilee coverage, rereading an English novel by Miss Read called Thrush Green, and reading Susan Branch's detailed accounts of her current trip through England, I seem to have a lot of the British English language floating through my head.  I found myself warning the dogs this morning during our walk to "mind the sprinkler" as they tugged me down the sidewalk.

As I've mentioned before, it used to be quite comical when our girls were little and the Englishman would speak to them using phrases familiar only to him.  "Tidy up your room, hang up your jumpers and dressing gown, and put away your rucksack" would cause three tiny heads to whip around in my direction for a translation.  "Clean up your bedroom, hang up your sweaters and bathrobe, and put away your backpack." was the response.

Daughter #1 recently relayed that she used to get the strangest looks and comments from friends when she would say the milk was "off".  "Off where?" one might inquire.  She said she thought that's what every one said.  The milk was off or the meat was off, meaning it was spoiled or gone sour.

There are in fact so many different phrases between the two countries that there are books, written as you would a dictionary, explaining them.  I find it all rather interesting. It also made for some great fun when I would use British phrases when teaching.  And one can get away with the odd British curse word when surrounded solely with Americans.

If you have an interest in virtually visiting England, I urge you to read Susan Branch's blog posts, listed on the right hand side.  Today she took us to Emma Bridgewater's factory in Stoke.  Her products are fabulous - I highly recommend them!

Cheers for now!