blouse, shirt, sweater, cardigans, jacket = all the same right?

The difference in terminology for the upper garment clothing made shopping with my cousin challenging to say the least lol. We survived.
Blouse (UK) = shirt (US)
Shirt (US) = T-shirt (UK)
Confused yet?
If its a nice top, its called a blouse in England. But in America we call that a shirt. But what's called a shirt in London is actually a T shirt. So when I yelled at her to come and look at a 'shirt' she was wondering why I was calling a blouse a shirt.

Similiarly in England a jacket is a heavy thick thing that people wear in extreme cold, but what we call a jacket is a light full length zip up hoodie that I may grab to take to the movies with me (see picture)

So if you like to shop make sure you know the differences when you visit!!

R u mad?

One of my cousins in England wrote to me and said that he thought that this was an important difference. Said that when he visited America he noticed that when Americans used the phrase mad - they were referring to someone being crazy, but in the UK when someone says mad - they mean angry.
I haven't seen that too much actually or encountered a problem with offending someone or meaning something else and it being interpreted differently.

It's boiling

I love the phrase - It's boiling. I can't believe that I almost forgot it from living in the UK. I've recently begun to adopt it and the staff where I work sometimes look at me like I'm crazy but I think they're starting to understand what I mind.

People generally think of the term 'boiling' to refer to something in a pot that is boiling away, like water etc.

In London, the term 'its boiling' refers to the weather. Its just another way of saying 'its hot'. But I think the term 'its boiling' does a better job of expressing how you feel especially when it is super hot and you feel like you are actually boiling.

The driving game

It seems like people in the UK seem to spend a large portion of their time reversing, whereas that is not true in the US. I actually began learning to drive in England. And almost every single lesson there was an exercise where I had to reverse around the corner. It was prettlucy tedious and exhaustive especially because 90% of the time there was usually cars waiting to move past me and were really aggravated with the extended amount of time it took me to reverse around the corner.

In addition, people also reverse park in London. On occassion I've seen people (mostly just my parents) who reverse park (back into a driving space) but this is not common in Florida. I think that the biggest reason why it is done so much in London is because the parking spaces are smaller and also there is more traffic.

Roundabouts luckily for me are not present much in Florida but they are everywhere in England. I wonder why. The lack of roundabouts makes it easier for people who come to America to drive, because they are less likely to drive on the wrong side of the road. Are roundabouts that helpful at the end of the day?
Of course I can't comment on all the US states just on the ones I happen to reside at.
To be honest - I'm kinda glad about not having roundabouts here... I never did like them.

And lastly.... in London if you are learning to drive you have to display a L plate which is prominently displayed on your car. And when you pass you have to display a P plate. But that isn't seen in Florida. I know that at school they offer drivers ed classes but usually most people learn how to drive from a family or friend member and they usually just have someone sitting next to them while they drive around. But I have never seen any indication on a car that it is a driver in training. Maybe that would explain all these crazy drivers I see on the road.

That's naff

Naff is used in the UK to say when something is rubbish. 'That's naff' - i haven't heard that saying in a long time.

Air conditioning

Florida is the warm state.. there's no discussion about that. And that's why I love Florida but what I don't understand is that when you go into shops, the cinema or whatever the air conditioning is on something like 60 degrees so its freezing. You wear clothes based on the weather outside, so when its 90 degrees outside, you're wearing shorts and t shirts etc but then you go into a store and the AC is on 60 degrees and you're freezing. Doesn't anyone realize that this fluctuation between 90 and 60 degrees is enough to get anyone sick.

Coke no ice please

What's the deal with ice? Growing up in the UK I was never used to ice. Never had ice with my water or in my drinks. On the few occasions when the waiter asked if I wanted ice I declined because it seemed like the drink was watered down with the addition of the ice.

In the US you have to specifically state when ordering a drink that you DO NOT want ice because otherwise you will get ice. And sometimes when you do request no ice, you still get it ANYWAY. I hate ice in my drink, what's the deal with that anyway. It waters down whatever it is you choose. I guess if the drink has been kept out and is really hot, you may need ice to cool it down but otherwise if the drink is cool, I'll take it without ice.

'coke, no ice please'