@cstross and lets not talk about the rubber-eraser confusion when you tell a yank you get issued a rubber in primary school that has to last you a whole year and you write your name and address on it in case you lose it
@quoidian@neia Er, no. (Originally "drugstore" was derived from Dutch, for dry goods. It came to be a synonym for a general store in American use. In the UK, at least, an apothecary was a medical herbalist: this gradually evolved into a pharmacy, known colloquially as a Chemist's shop.)
@cstross@tomhannen yesterday it was ANZAC day here. I got vociferously shouted at for using the phrase ‘ANZAC cookie’ rather than ANZAC biscuit.
It’s gets worse though. This is Australia where ‘fanny’ is specific and obscene, but ‘cunt’ is often a friendly form of address.
@thorne @cstross@tomhannen
In the UK "cookie" seems to have become a very specific word for american-style biscuits. Anything that is thick, chewy, and often with chunks of chocolate or other frills, is a "cookie". Everything else is a biscuit.
@cstross You know, I've always wondered if the Americans using phrases like "car park", "driving license", and "air-con" in Merchant Princes were that same kind of mistake, or an intentional clue that something was off, like the line about Paris Hilton.
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