Drinks

Drinks don’t always come with ice and garnish, so to avoid all confusion make sure you ask for them. Example: “May I have a gin and tonic with ice and a slice, please?”

Beer

Most people drink pints of beer as opposed to splitting pitchers. A lot of places don’t have pitchers. Also, you can order half-pints, which are super cute.

Eggs

If you’re getting fried eggs, they come how they come. “Over easy” is not a well-known term, but most full English breakfasts come that way.

Red Meat

You have to pick one: medium, rare or well done. If you say “medium well,” people will look at you like you’re a bit crazy.

Shopping

England has adopted some things green (although the recycling system still kind of sucks). If you want a plastic shopping bag, be prepared to ask. Or bring your own canvas bag!

Coffee

If you just want a ‘normal’ black coffee, the term is “black Americano”.

Movie tickets

Make sure you arrive early to purchase movie tickets, because your tickets will have assigned seats and the best ones always fill up quickly! Also there is “Premium Seating” in some theatres, which costs more but you get a bigger seat with more leg room.

Postage Stamps

First class stamps – arrives in 1 day within UK, £0.39
Second class stamps – arrive in 3 days within UK, £0.30

Eat in / Take away

Most Canadians are familiar with the saying “For here or to go?” which translates to “Eat in or take away?” in the UK. Often times food & drinks cost more if you are eating in, since many shops are small and there is limited seating.

Sandwiches

brown sauce = BBQ sauce
mustard = Dijon mustard
yellow mustard = American-style mustard
salad cream = mayonnaise (or something similar)
tomato ketchup = normal ketchup (they just say it differently)
brown bread = whole wheat bread (this is obvious)
salad = lettuce, cucumber, tomato (usually)

• slag: slut
• chav: guy who wears sporty clothes and is a bit rough around the edges
• pikey: ‘trailer trash’
• bugger: jerk
• git: someone with sub-par behaviour
• cheeky git: lippy / rude person with sub-par behaviour
• tosser: implies that the person masturbates excessively
• wanker: implies that the person masturbates excessively
• twit: someone who’s really dumb
• nutter: someone who’s a few crayons short of a full box
• ponce: someone who thinks they are overly smart / stylish (and aren’t)
• todger: if you call someone this, you’re literally calling them a penis

Better in Canada

Better in England

• Peanut Butter: okay, I know, I’m a peanut butter snob
• Roads: While Canada has wider roads, larger shoulders, less curves, no hedges or stone walls to crash into, we do have bigger pot holes and bumpy surfaces. I still prefer driving in Canada, though!
• Restaurant prices: give me Swiss Chalet anyday! $15 gets you a huge rotisserie chicken meal and a drink (including taxes and tip!)
• How bars & clubs operate: I prefer the tipping system because it motivates bar staff to work harder and ensures you’ll be served quicker if you tip better.
• Subway: Choose from three types of cheese and yellow mustard. How I miss yellow mustard.
• Public Toilets: I much prefer American toilets. The water levels are so low in the UK / Europe that more often than not the entire bowl smells like pee
• Recycling: You wouldn’t believe how bad the recycling system is in Bath & North East Somerset… Plus I have a feeling it all ends up in the dump anyhow. There should be a bottle deposit on alcohol cans and recycling bins beside public trash cans…
• Central heating: I prefer vents to radiators, and in Canada we keep our houses warmer, generally.
• Television: namely Comedy… I don’t ‘get’ British comedy
• Coffee: You know I love my Tim Horton’s!

• Dairy products: Skim milk is actually delicious and cheese is incredible
• Cider: There are are so many different kinds – my favourite is Pear
• Checkout queues: aside from Lloyds bank, they keep the queues moving faster here
• Fashion: always a step ahead of Canada, but prices are double (or more)
• Traffic intersections: traffic circles make so much more sense than traffic lights or four-way stops.
• Window shopping: I love having everything on a ‘High Street’ where all the shops are terraced and all the good shops are crammed together with nice window displays.
• Public transportation: trains, in general. They run so often and are much cheaper.
• Houses: gotta love the Georgian architecture in Bath!!!
• Fireplaces: there’s one in each room here, including the bathroom!
• Accents: you know all us North Americans are suckers for the accents…
• Slang: Not only is everyone familiar with American slang, but they have a whole set of slang
• Design: signage, menus, magazines, etc are much nicer here, on average
• Pub cleanliness: well, the ones I’ve been to anyways…