Counting in American

Ah the Americans .......... in Maggie Smith tones

It's all the Juniors and first,second and firsts that amuse me with sons. Half our family are American so we are more or less used to the lost in translation of English(es). Then Of course there are fanny packs ..........

I never understand grades eg 8th grade, sophomore and other year groups etc. SATs pronounced ess ay tees are also confusing. What age group is high school and what comes next? University is also called school which is odd. What is a little league? Is a semester the same as a term?

However this business of graduating at every stage with cap & gown is catching on here too and I hatevit. Degrades a real graduation ceremony ie gettig a university degree.

Ah, the English....said in Barack Obama tones.

Is this odd and confusing of habit of complaining of another nation’s language recent? ? and sigh.

My American grandchildren call me something that is untraditional in both countries. It’s just a made up name.

Oops .. crazy of popped up there.

But can you explain it all ffinochio? Id really like to know what it all.means.
I have a feeling that american children start s hool a year lTer than in Britain so that first grade would be our year 2 etc but not sure if its right. It often pops up in novels eg 'when I was in eighth grade' and its difficult if you dont know how old that is. Would that be yr 9 ie 13-14 yr old or an I completely wrong?

My son lives in the US and it is puzzling at times. My granddaughter starts in kindergarten school next month, at the age of 5yrs 6mths. My grandson in the U.K. is also starting school, in reception, in September. He is still 3yrs old until the end of August!

Where my American GC live, they also have the three school system, not just primary & senior school as in Scotland.

pp ... Sophomore is a student in 2nd year of High School study.

Basically, year groups = grades, broken up into 3 stages:
Elementary KG 2 >>> 5th/6th grade
Middle >> 6, 7 >>8, 9 grade
High School 9 >>> 12 grade

So... Kg2 will be a 5 - 6 year old

Grade 1 = 6 to 7 year old
Grade 2 = 7 - 8 year old
Grade 3= 8- 9 year old

...and so on.

And put the month before the day how back to front is that? 10.3.1966 is going in small to middle to large ....day, month, year but in US it would be 3.10.1966 month, day then year now where’s the sense in that middle to small to large

Well, it makes sense to the Americans!

Perhaps the Americans think our way of dating very strange!

BlueBelle when DH and I holidaying in US we got to our hotel in San Francisco but could not find a record of our booking (thankfully made through a 3rd party & not by us!) to discover the problem was the transposition of day/month. We were there on 3 May and they thought we were no show on 5th March! Luckily they had a lovely room available!

It's counting of a sort. I do a lot of crochet and use patterns from the USA. I'm okay with the terminology, but the hooks aren't in mm but are lettered G hook etc. I always have to find a conversion table to find out which one to use.

The use of the word Gotten seems to be coming into use over here in the U.K. and I must say it does irritate me?
The date thing, does become confusing I agree. I was at my GP surgery the other day when an American lady was trying unsuccessfully to use the automated check in machine, after several attempts the receptionist came over and asked her for her date of birth 10/22/53 she declared? receptionist was puzzled and asked her to repeat, lady again in an irritated voice 10/22/53 to which being able to stand it no longer I chirped up with she means 22nd of October 1953?

Thanks ffinochio. So I was completely wrong!!
High school 1st year freshmen?? 2nd yr sophomore . 3rd year = ?? It comes in films and books all the time and is very confusing (to us). Doubtless our ways are confusing to americans. I know they don't understand why our public schools are actually private ones!
I understand about dates ne has only to think of 9/11 which we all know was 11th Sept so we would say 11/9.

^ gotten^ is of English origin.

Still find it annoying ?

It's archaic though (or was until recently.) I find the Americans us a lot of words which seem old fashioned to us. Pitcher for jug is one example. It's because the
language evolved differently in the two countries.

hmm lets see.some of us say twenty-five hundred some say two thousand five hundred,1st one is faster
being so large our states are almost like countrys in that each region has its own ideas.also the west side of the country was settled much later than the east(by europeans)
for example school in the northeast starts in the bigging of september and ends in the middle of june.in the southeast.they will be starting 2-3 week of august and finish for the year 2-3 week in may.

depending on when the schools were built even schools can be different
first is preschool can be from 3-5 yrs can be a babysitter or actual infants school.its up to the parents.they learn either way
grades school or grammer school or elementary school
kindergarten-4.5-5.5 yrs old
1st grade-6-7+ or - ages here can fluctuate up to a year
2nd 7-8
3rd8-9
4rd 9-10
5th 10-11
6th 11-12
this is where it gets tricky
the school (elementary) i went to continued to

7th 12-13
8th 13-14
then to high school
9th freshman 14-15
10th sophmore15-16
11th junior16-17
12 senior17-18
then off to college/university

more common now with" new" built schools since the late 60s
elemntary school ends at 6th grade and
middle school starts
7th
8th
9th
then off to high school 10th
11th
12th
how people designate thier childrens age is totally arbritrary,actually have never heard any go past 23 months and then to the terrible twos!
grannies are called everthing under the sun including granny,mimi,nana.nonna,yahyah,lola,abuela, these are just the ones in my multinational family.
usa is called a melting pot for a reason.so many immigrants,settlers,convicts ,slave came from all over the world that these terms are ingrained and varied.grandma is also acceptable
and just out of curiousity why would we be like the uk?
our original population was american indians followed by viking,spanish,dutch,english irish.and thats the just the first century or so.
my maternal family has been here since the 1600s,my dads has always been here..
differences should be celebrated
hope this helps
ran into the same problem reading contemperary fiction and watch shows, from uk,ireland and europe.australia not so much lived there for a long time.

sorry for bad spelling

many others too cooktop,worktop,cupboards,lounge,garden......

American recipes, how do I measure a cup of butter ?
Or a stick of butter?
Plus I have to google what some of the items are, then I find out that it’s a processed mix that I can’t buy over here.

Part of my job as a writer and editor of cookbooks which sold in both the USA and the UK was Americanisation – cup measures, eggplant, zucchini, arugula, skillet, bring to a boil, °F for oven temperatures, serial commas, etc. At one point I was handling so many American books that I even wrote my shopping list in "American".

I made an American pudding recipe for myself a couple of nights ago. It's a bit like blancmange when it's cool. The recipe called for 1 tablespoon of butter. I had to ask Mr Google how much that was in ounces. I'm very old school when it comes to cooking, I've never taken to grams and kilogrammes. The pudding was very good when I ate it.

I understand that many American recipes evolved in Pioneer days, and the measuring was simplified.
I have a set of American ups for American recipes.
Measurements are simple when you think that they are Imperial.
What amuses (or annoys) me is that 60 years ago I made the decision to do everything in metric - that is what our science teachers were using, and it was coming in in other things. Now, when DH does woodwork, and I do dressmaking, we both find that the majority of information on the internet, and good quality supplies are American - and in Imperial measurements! Fortunately, I am now 'fluent' in both methods! Same for babies' weights, and ages (have to say that I find 21 months easier than one and three-quarters though!)

PS: contrarymary, you can usually find a simple conversion chart - I have one on my kitchen wall.
I do however, find the use of brand names very off-putting. My son did a stint in an American company and bought me a charity cookbook as a gift. There was one recipe I wanted to try, with a brand name product in it, and I emailed an old family friend in the US for information - she had never heard of it!
My favourite American measurement is oven size, in pies (which I am told comes from homesteading days). I would love to buy a "20 pie" oven!!!