Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Y is for Yankee

Today, Y is for Yankee.  Sometimes I'd hear us Americans referred to as "Yanks", but it actually wasn't that common.  But since the population of Americans (and other nationalities, really) was fairly sizable in our area, we did get questioned about quirky things. 

One I got a few times was if we'd ever lived in Florida.  It seems that Florida (the I is pronounced in UK English..."Flor-i-dah" as opposed to "Floor-duh" in American English) was a hot spot for Brits eager to get out of the chilly damp weather and escape to somewhere where not only is the language similar, but the exchange rate is favorable.  Our gardener--hey, we didn't have a choice; we had no outdoor storage and couldn't keep any machinery--went to Florida every year or two and stocked up on his work clothes for a ton less than he'd pay in the UK.  I don't blame him!

Meatloaf also seemed to throw the Brits off...I remember being asked a couple of times what it was, exactly.  I couldn't figure out where the confusion was--it's literally a loaf of meat.  But we explained how it's made in different flavors and such, and that seemed to answer any questions of theirs.

When we'd ooh and ahh over the delicious scones (with clotted cream and jam, of course!) at the tea rooms, we'd inevitably be asked about the scones in the U.S.  After a short explanation about how they're triangular abominations dry enough to sand furniture, and no, we don't know why this is the case, the waiter or waitress would leave, pleased at the UK's scone's superiority. 

That's it for now!  Z is tomorrow.

xoxo Sarah


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