8 August 2014

One Day. UK/Aus Communication Barrier

Who would have thought that moving to another English speaking country would require a translator – but it really is true, the Brits speak a different language to us Aussies. It’s probably partly the accent and partly the different words we use for things but I have definitely encountered a bit of a communication barrier. Here are a few words and phrases that I’ve come across so far:


If someone asks “you alright?” it doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you, to Brits it simply means “how are you”. It has particularly been causing a bit of a translation problems when anyone says sorry to me and being Aussie my reaction is to say “you’re right” like “no worries”. I bumped into my housemate in the hall yesterday and she said “sorry” and I said “you’re right” and she goes “I’m fine”. Honestly, so confusing. 
It’s not a doona, it’s a duvet; people here have never heard of a doona so don’t use that word – you’ll get funny looks in store.
Likewise with pants, here they think you’re talking about underpants, if you mean pants the word is trousers.
Lollies are referred to as “sweets” – makes sense.
Thongs are always “flip flops”, no exceptions.
If you’re sick you are “poorly” – I giggle because it makes you sound so pathetic.
I’ll update the list as I encounter more, I’m sure there will be. This list is merely two weeks in.

Photo via Pinterest.