Minor ponderings… or wool gathering…
Though supposedly deep in work, I just wandered off in the weeds to contemplate the difference between British and American English. What led me there? I got an email from a British shoe site advertising “court shoes,” what in the States we would call “pumps.” And I wondered if it might be considered rude to call them pumps in the UK, the way a Yank can get herself into trouble if she asks a British friend which pants she out to wear to a social occasion. “Court shoes” put me in mind of footwear for judicial appearances, or perhaps a quick set of tennis, but not — being a lower-case republican — to wear to see the Queen.
As G. B. Shaw said, we are “two peoples separated by a common language.”
Rubi Sez 
10 comments
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May 8, 2013 at 9:34 am
materfamilias
Here (on Canada’s West Coast) if we say “court shoes” we mean a shoe you’d wear for basketball, maybe tennis — something with enough traction not to slip, but less of the support/structure you’d have in a running shoe. . . I made a few faux pas with my French last trip, and although I happily provided giggles for our friends, I’d just as soon not do that again. . . . I can see some danger potential in “pumps” . . . đŸ˜‰
May 8, 2013 at 11:21 am
rubiatonta
Those faux pas are easy to make in Spanish, too. When I first got here back in the 80’s, I made plenty!
May 8, 2013 at 11:21 am
neki desu
yep.i remember the rubber and the fag issue
May 8, 2013 at 6:25 pm
Tiffany
We use ‘court shoes’ for pumps in Australia, but less so as Australian English becomes more Americanised. And we call flip flops ‘thongs’, which can lead to rather unfortunate misinterpretations …
May 14, 2013 at 11:09 am
rubiatonta
Yup, “thong” is a loaded word now — but that’s what we called flip-flops when I was a kid, too. (Also shower shoes!)
May 15, 2013 at 8:59 am
Duchesse
I’m sure you know not to refer to the waist-worn sporty purse as a “fanny pack” in England.
May 15, 2013 at 9:06 am
rubiatonta
Yes, I’ve been warned, thank goodness! But it’s such a fashion faux-pas, that I’d likely only be referring to it in the “Why would you wear a…??”
May 16, 2013 at 11:40 am
lagatta à montréal
You’ll get used to it as you translate more in Europe. Interpreters have to have at least some familiarity with major variations, and translators should at least be aware of them so as not to make “major errors”. There are also things you say in Spain that are also obvious no-nos in some American countries and vice-versa.
Of course (English) Canadians are used to navigating between the two, but as Tiffany said about Australia, usage has become more Americanised here and I’ve even seen “colour” written without a u on a major company’s online ad. Complained about it of course, and it was changed…
Our French is so much in the minority that it is essential to be familiar with the “continental” variety (and I know some of the differences between France and Belgium and Switzerland as well) but nowadays a major factor is the importance of words and expressions from French-speaking Africa. Good thing, too!
For example, in the wake of the genocide, women in Rwanda have done muc to rebuild their country. Francophone African women use terms such as “capacitation” to refer to what is called “empowerment” in English.
May 16, 2013 at 12:36 pm
rubiatonta
Oh, I know about those words that are “dangerous” on the other side of the Atlantic — when I lived here in the 80s, every time I said I was going to “coger un autobus,” an Argentine friend of mine used to say, “No te hagas daño”! đŸ˜‰
Fortunately as a native English-speaker, my translations go from Spanish into English and I have less to worry about…
May 16, 2013 at 5:13 pm
lagatta à montréal
Yes, that is one of the best ones, along with “concha”.
Though even translating (and especially interpreting) into mother tongue, it has to be understandable at least to speakers of “standard English”, which would certainly include both UK and US.