You Say 'Hoover,' I Say 'Vacuum': A Linguist's Journey Across The Trans-Atlantic English Divide

I flew Lisa from England to the USA to get engaged. We celebrated, gave her a quick taste of America, etc. She marvelled at all the scents that items came in. There was apple scented shampoo, orange car cleaner, etc. So when we got married and she moved over for good, she was at home while I worked and she was cleaning and needed something to clean the shower with. She found some "Jif" in the kitchen and thought "wow - those crazy Americans having peanut scented sink and tile cleaner..." When I came home from work I asked what desert she was making as I smelled peanuts. I then saw the jar of Jif with a handi-wipe in it. We still laugh about it to this day...

Have to love British humor, it's great stuff.

I've always thought it fascinating how the American language assimilated many foreign words over the years - often using American pronounciations of the word that make it difficult to be understood in the original country of origin. Other countries use American words often pronounced "unintelligably" back to Americans...... Usually commercial names of products remain easiest to read or understand.