English V American

I've been thinking about doing a post recently about the experiences I have come across since moving to America involving vocabulary differences.....most people know of the usual ones such as Petrol garage/Gas station, Primary school/Elementary school, Playtime/Recess, Toilet/Restroom, Lift/Elevator and so on, so here is a list of some of my vocabulary challenged experiences so far......

I took my youngest into a hair salon to have her fringe trimmed and was mildly taken aback when the friendly lady said 'oh you mean you want her bangs cut' eeerrrr what??

We went out for dinner one night with a couple from New York, my hubby unfortunately still smokes so when one half of the other couple came back from the restroom they asked where had my hubby gone? I said 'he's just popped out for a fag'......in wide eyed hushed tones they said 'you can't say that over here'....turns out Americans in no way ever use the word fag to describe a cigarette!

I had heard numerous times in public toilets and in homes Americans say to their children 'do you need to use the potty' which is actually still a toilet....as it turns out adults 'do not need to use the potty' this is only said to children luckily I made this mistake in front of a friend who corrected me whilst laughing loudly of course!

I recently said to an American I was planning to wear hotpants to ACL - the Austin music festival - I could tell by her wide eyed smiling face I'd maybe said the wrong thing...please read below for the American definition of hot pants "a  female who can't control her sexual appetite- nympho" turns out over here they are just called short pants...one to remember that one!

That awkward moment when an American asks 

"Do British people love the American accent as much as we love yours?"