You say sidewalk, I say pavement

[adderslj]

As I work through these redlines, I can't help but be amused at the differences between British and American English. Often it's in phraseology as much as word choice. After four or five years of getting redlines from Americans, it still makes me smile.

There was one particular occasion when a developer was really sarcastic about something I wrote that made perfect sense in the Queen's English. I got a particularly satisfying apology for that once the misunderstanding became clear.

Comments

[sailormur.livejournal.com]

so is "pounding the pavement" a British term? I've heard it over here but never really understood how sitting and punching the road implies you're looking for a job...

[adders.livejournal.com]

The pounding in question is done with the feet and refers to the old days when you could walk all over town looking for a job. Ah, the happy days before CVs, interviews and aptitude tests.