Re: CHAT: "have a nice day"

Nik Taylor:

>> along with jelly/jam
>
>Hmm, I always thought of jelly and jam as being different things.
So did I.  "Jelly" has a lot of pectin in it, making it quite firm--almost
like gelatin.  "Preserves" (or, as marketers now call it, "spreadable
fruit") has little or no pectin in it, and is a lot runnier--almost like a
lumpy sauce.  "Jam" is somewhere in between.  At least that's how
things work in my idiolect...

>> sidewalk/pavement, trunk/boot, fender/bumper,
>> rubber, fanny, etc. etc., and that brits/USans pretend to misunderstand each
>> other about.
>
>I dunno, I think alot of people don't know those differences.
I agree.  The British terms are far from well known on this side of the
Atlantic--except among avid fans of Monty Python and "Absolutely Fabulous",
and other Anglophiles.  As a Canadian expatriate, it's a constant source
of surprise to me how little most Americans know about the more subtle
differences between American culture and the cultures of the other English-
speaking countries.  My boyfriend, for example, was totally unaware that
Z is pronounced "zed" by most of the civilised world.  In fact, he refused
to believe me at first, and we got into a big argument over it.

Matt.