Name This.....

The Irish writer George Bernard Shaw once said: 'England and America are two countries divided by a common language' Well not one to disagree but I can personally testify that this most certainly isn't the case.

I am not simply talking about the obvious - Elevator/Lift, Garbage/Rubbish, Parking lot/Car Park, Vacation/Holiday Line/Queue. All of these I was more than prepared for. I have after all worked for US companies most of my corporate life and I am lucky enough to call many Americans my friends. No, I have discovered on my USA assignment that many, many of my everyday use of the English language cause confusion, humour and worst of all fear.

Some funny examples are easiest to share, such as the time when we were in the lift/elevator and James pointed to a guy and said "Nice Tankard" a look I have become used to quickly spread across the guys face, as he frantically looked over his body to try and work out what the hell a tankard is! It turns out Copper Mug would have been the more appropriate description for his pewter tankard.

Or the moment we realised that a traffic circle was in fact a roundabout or the time I invited my team to lunch at the Canteen, to which one of the marketing managers asked me what street that restaurant was on.

Probably the most extreme example I can share with you is the time when I was in a meeting and could fill the energy dip, so I thought that it would be a good idea that we all stood up and do a Mexican Wave ( I know, I know I don't know why I thought that would be a good idea!) as I announced lets all do a Mexican Wave...... Silence turned very quickly into horrified looks across the room. A what...... You know I said and I frantically started waving my hands in the air. Oh... You mean "The Wave" At that moment it felt like the whole room breathed out. I then found myself in the strangest position. Having to now justify why I called it a Mexican Wave and not simply the Wave. A quick google search revealed that it was a phrase coined at the Mexico World cup and a headline in the Sun Newspaper, it is amazing what random facts I have now started to gather to justify why I use certain words to describe everyday things.

So I will leave you with the one that has perplexed me most of all. What is the picture above...... And I ask this in all seriousness, as it turns out that the English word for this object is an odd one and so far most Americans I have spoken to don't actually have a word for it. Please share your answers and thoughts in the comments.