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How to Confuse Your English
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Though
it is the same basic language,American (and much of Canadian) English is quite different from English as she is spoke in England
in certain details. For example; if you go into Woolworth's in London,England and ask for 'thumb tacks' they won't
know what to give you; any more than if you go into Woolworth's in London,Ontario or Oxford, Mississippi and ask for 'drawing
pins'. They are , of course, the same thing |
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An
American hangs his clothes up in 'the closet' , but in England we use a 'wardrobe' or 'cupboard' |
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In
America, the law 'enjoins' you (forbids) from spitting on the side walk; while in England,the law 'enjoins'
you (compels or requires) to drive on the left hand side of the road |
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You
can get into a lot of trouble if you don't know some of the different usages. |
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For
example you could go to the wrong address. If you have a friend lives on the 'first floor' in America, they live on
the ground floor, or the floor that is the same as the one with the entrances. In England, some one living on the 'first
floor' live on what the Americans call the 'second floor'.English people, in common with other Europeans,begin
with the ground floor and call the next floor up the first floor and so on..... |
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