Queen's English as a Second Language Part 7

Gran--nickname for grandmother, as in "As my gran always says..." In the US we typically say grandma (pronounced more like gramma) and sometimes nana. 

Well--very, as in "That museum was well cool." This sign below is saying, "[Are you] very up for Wonton?"

 Dual carriageway--Divided highway

Cloakroom--coatroom

Here they say "to hire" when talking about renting clothes. In the US this sign would probably read, "To Rent: Tuxedo Jacket and Pants...Tuxedo Suit with Shirt and Bowtie..." We also learned that black is reserved for more formal attire like these dinner suits so people typically wear blue or grey suits to the office.

Stockists--retailer, as in "Find stockists in your area."

Banger--sausage, as in "I'll have the bangers and mash, please" (mash=mashed potatoes). The term was coined during World War I and came from the sound the sausages made when heated too quickly in a pan. 

In Part 6 of this series I mentioned the difference between "stuck in" and "tuck in". I finally found "tuck in" written out. It refers to eating with enthusiasm, as in "I can't wait to tuck in to these bangers and mash." 

 Peckish--somewhat hungry, as in "I can't figure out why I'm so peckish this morning." 

 Stones--pit, this might be used in the US but pit is much more common back home. 

These next few are things that are just spelled different here. I changed my computer's spell check to British English when we moved here so I didn't end up spelling words incorrectly when communicating. Now when I see words like analysing or analyzing neither one looks correct. 

Whilst at Waitrose looking for cough drops this box caught my eye. Diarrhoea? This is a difficult word to spell in the US as it is (diarrhea) but adding an 'o' makes it even harder to spell.

In the US these are spelled Zyrtec and Claritin, not Zirtek and Clarityn. 

Knickers--underwear, as in "your knickers are showing." 

Sod is a soft curse word here. It can be used to express anger, as in "Oh sod it, I forgot my pen." It can also be used to describe someone or something in a rather unpleasant way, as in "I hear he's a sod to work for" or "stupid sodding water heater." 

Pissed means two completely different things in American and Queen's English. In the US it means really mad but here it means drunk. This can cause a lot of confusion, for example: 
"I was so pissed last night." 
"Why, what happened?"
"Nothing, I just drank a lot."