Words

Day Ten of 'The Daily Post' (and it's not about laundry).

The difference between British English and American English is not just a question of accent. It's not just that we have different words for the same item: torch for flashlight, rubbish bin for trash can. It's the phraseology, the emphases, the tone, the whole way of speaking.

I'm English, but lived in Scotland for 6 years immediately before coming to the US. I have been intrigued to hear some of the colloquialisms from Scottish English in people's conversation here. Of course it isn't intriguing at all, really, but quite obvious. When Scots emigrated to America they brought their way of speaking with them, just as much as English people. Here are a few examples.

If you are English, you say "the cat needs feeding", or "the cat needs to be fed". In Scotland or over here, this would be "the cat needs fed". It sounds odd to English ears.

In England, you say "I would have gone". In Scotland, I often heard "I would have went", and I've heard that here too. Again, it sounds very odd to English ears.

But my favourite is a word that has no real English equivalent. Your bottom/bum/backside/butt/seat (that last one courtesy of my grandmother) in England, is in Scotland, your bahouki. I'm sure that must be where the American patouti originated from. I'm so glad the Scots brought their bahoukis with them when they crossed the Atlantic. It's a word that deserves to be passed on and preserved in another culture.

.