Britishisms

I spent a year in London earning my master's degree, and returned in the fall. I had spent time there before; I did summer school for six weeks at LSE. I love London, and loved living in England, but I must say there were some things about differences in the language that gave me pause, and got me into a little bit of trouble.

Salad cream.
Eww, right? 'Salad cream' is the term that they use for a dressing that is widely availiable, often in packet form. Say it to any American though, and invariably they will shudder. This tends to be very amusing to locals, to whom something like 'salad cream' is a normal, if not desirable part of a meal. For me, the term is about as appealing as 'salad ointment.' Even 'salad goop' sounds better (and more honest) to me.

Sex aids.
This is another interesting one. We call them 'sex toys,' but 'sex aids' sounds much more serious. I guess because I was only recently exposed to the term, it also calls up images of ointments and splints. In my mind, you go buy sex aids in a place that is bright with flourescent lighting. What is a better word though? 'Sex tools?' I have known people for whom this styling of it wouldn't be inaccurate...

Trousers vs. pants.
This one actually did get me in trouble. In England, what we would refer to as pants are termed trousers, and what we would call underwear are called pants. Now to me, 'trousers' are what you wear to work, and more often than not have a crease down the front... so I had a little trouble with this one. One of my better moments occured in the locker room of my yoga center. I get a little anxious in locker rooms full of straight women as it is... so when I said to one of them something along the lines of "Dude, I really like your pants" and got a look, it was a bit of a headslapper. But really, yoga trousers?