It's different in America!

I'm quite sure that almost everybody in Britain and America knows that a word can mean one thing in Britain and a very different thing in America. It's also common knowledge that a "thing" can have one name in Britain and a different name in America.

Pants, vest, jumper, rubber, casket, blinkers and many other words all change their meaning as you cross the Atlantic.

Examples of things with different names on either side of the Atlantic: bonnet = hood, pavement = sidewalk, holiday = vacation, etc.

I've known all those things for as long as I can remember but I learned something today which truly surprised me and I would love to know how many BCG members are also ignorant of this important difference.

As a small child, I learned that 1 ton = 2240 lbs and my mind still operates in non-metric fashion.

A few minutes ago, watching an American TV quiz show I learned that in America 1 ton = 2000 lbs.

Not a lot of people (in Britain) know that.

Or do they?

Quote: Rood Eye @ 4th January 2019, 8:28 PM

A few minutes ago, watching an American TV quiz show I learned that in America 1 ton = 2000 lbs.

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It's the same in Canadiastan, too.

Long tons and short tons, I think they're called.

I learnt about short ton and long ton from flight simming but until then I thought there was one definition of a ton. It's the same with the gallon which has a different US definition so both these weight measurements need calculating for fuel loads. Surprisingly there are no internationally used weight measurements in aviation and it varies from country and carrier.

Quote: Rood Eye @ 4th January 2019, 8:28 PM

As a small child, I learned that 1 ton = 2240 lbs and my mind still operates in non-metric fashion.

A few minutes ago, watching an American TV quiz show I learned that in America 1 ton = 2000 lbs.

Not a lot of people (in Britain) know that.

Or do they?

View original

Does anybody care?

Quote: Chappers @ 4th January 2019, 10:57 PM

Does anybody care?

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Apart from me and all the people in the world concerned with fuel and freight loads for international travel?

I think the answer is "Yes".

I can imagine a British person in a number of situations in the USA (buying building materials, driving a vehicle across a bridge with a "warning - weight limit" sign, etc) in which the difference might have significant consequences.

It was these significant consequences that made me sit up and take notice when the difference was revealed to me.

That, and the fact that I (a relatively knowledgeable person) simply didn't know that the difference existed.

Another interesting fact about America that I learned only recently: in California, a person's weight is printed on their driving licence.

That presumably enables police officers to look at the photo on the licence, look at the person driving the car, and decide whether the driver is the licence holder or merely a scale model of the licence holder?

If California doesn't already have a database of residents' weights, it can't be long before they create one in order to fine fatties. It's the progressive way.

Quote: DaButt @ 6th January 2019, 5:50 PM

If California doesn't already have a database of residents' weights, it can't be long before they create one in order to fine fatties. It's the progressive way.

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There must be something in the Constitution that mentions everyone has the right to eat themselves to death if they so choose. They don't get free health care so what would the fines be for?

Quote: Rood Eye @ 6th January 2019, 5:41 PM

Another interesting fact about America that I learned only recently: in California, a person's weight is printed on their driving licence.

That presumably enables police officers to look at the photo on the licence, look at the person driving the car, and decide whether the driver is the licence holder or merely a scale model of the licence holder?

View original

So this doesn't really allow for weight fluctuation.

Quote: Definitely Tarby @ 6th January 2019, 7:55 PM

They don't get free health care so what would the fines be for?

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"For their own good," would be the response.

They heavily tax tobacco and alcohol, so it's the next logical step. Berkeley already has a tax on soft drinks, energy drinks and sweetened iced teas, I believe.

Taxing is different to fines though. Innit though.

In Britain, if you are determined to see somebody fail or come to a bad end, it is said that you "have it in" for that person.

However, in the last week, I've seen a couple of American films in which, when expressing the same meaning, it's been said that somebody "has it out" for someone.

Quote: Rood Eye @ 7th January 2019, 10:03 PM

I've seen a couple of American films in which, when expressing the same meaning, it's been said that somebody "has it out" for someone.

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How silly. Having it out for someone means your cock is out.

Back when The Simpsons was still good:

Lionel Hutz: Now don't you worry, Mrs. Simpson, I... uh-oh. We've drawn Judge Snyder.
Marge: Is that bad?
Lionel Hutz: Well, he's had it in for me ever since I kinda ran over his dog.
Marge: You did?
Lionel Hutz: Well, replace the word "kinda" with the word "repeatedly," and the word "dog" with "son."