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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fancy some Spotted Dick off the sweet trolley, Guv?, February 21, 2002
Above all, DIVIDED BY A COMMON LANGUAGE is a book primarily of lists. So, it's probably not one you'll actually read from cover to cover unless you're an Anglophile like me.This volume by Chris Davies is not very long at 194 paperbacked pages. In roughly the first third, Chris writes short commentaries on a number of topics that serve to illustrate the differences in language and life styles between the US and UK: tips for the tourist (airport, hotel), practical information (automobiles, gas/petrol), technical information (plumbing, electricity), institutions/services (postal system, banks, currency, restaurants, bars, museums, theaters, school, government, shops, food, clothing), customs and etiquette, driving terminology (roads, road terms), punctuation, spelling, and idioms and expressions. These topics are sometimes accompanied by short lists of terms, provided in US and UK equivalents, to further illustrate whatever point he's making. Within a single topic, as under "customs and etiquette", his choice of sub-topics seems rather eclectic: phone manners, common conversational courtesy, church attendance, drive-ins and drive-throughs, utility bills, valet parking, window screens, air-conditioning, soda fountains, healthcare, sports, folklore monsters, and public and legal holidays. The majority of the book's pages comprise two long lists: a British-American lexicon, and an American-British lexicon. I suppose DIVIDED BY A COMMON LANGUAGE has a practical use, especially if you're a Yank visiting England for the first time, or a Brit going the other way, and you prefer to learn from printed material. I might have used such a reference before the first of my dozen trips across The Pond. (However, I'd rather learn by just immersing myself in the experience of being there.) For me, the principal merit of this book lies in its entertainment value, and the sheer delight of having my memories of England stimulated by the words and expressions one encounters there. Some of my favorites are: catseyes (reflecting highway lane markers), ice lolly (popsicle), full stop (period), dodgy (risky), crisps (potato chips), elevenses (morning tea break), plonk (cheap wine), The Tube (London subway), have a natter (shoot the breeze), bang on (right on), pull your socks up (try harder), spend a penny (use the bathroom), and wonky (unstable).[....]So, take a recce on (check out) this book. Perhaps when you're next in some remote English village, e.g. Twitchen, Splatt, Droop, Gweek, Upper Dicker, Briantspuddle or Barton In The Beans, and someone asks if you'd like some Spotted Dick, you'll know that it's a dessert and not an S.T.D. (That's Subscriber Trunk Dialling.)
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