Learning the Queen’s English - Part 2

It hadn’t really dawned on me that things we’ve been saying for years could be considered funny or even taboo by Brits or vice versa.

* When discussing how to outwit the thieves of Rome, I told some friends I would be wearing a special secure “fanny pack.” After they finally stopped laughing, they informed me I should call it a waist or bum pack. Somehow when the word “fanny” crossed the big pond, it switched sides of a woman's anatomy. Makes for a funny image when I think of my friend Lisa telling her son to “sit on your fanny.”

* James made the tea cart lady blush at work when he said he was “ready for a stiff one”. Apparently that term doesn't refer to a cocktail there.

* Veronica’s classmates really giggled when she said, “My pants are wet .” Turns out Brits call their undies “pants.”

* I've had a tough time coming to grips that it is OK for a 7-year-old to say, “Mum, do you have a rubber?” I was shocked the first time I heard that request and then watched my friend dig into her purse, but busted up when she pulled out an eraser. Even over a year later, I'm still juvenile enough to giggle when the girls say, “Where did I put that rubber?”