Indian vs American Word Usage

The other day, I saw this movie called 'Outsourced', which is about an American guy who comes to India to train the employees of his company's BPO, located in a small Indian town. He lands there, and soon becomes part of tremendous chaos and confusion. He is unable to understand what the Indians are saying to him, and they are unable to understand what he is saying to them. It is hilarious! Well, here are some interesting and funny differences between Indian and American word usage, which will help save you from such a situation.

Food Items

• We say 'biscuits'. They say 'cookies' or 'crackers'. So, if someone asks you if you want some crackers, don't think that they are offering you fire crackers!
• We say 'brinjal'. They say 'eggplant', and that is not a plant which grows eggs!
• We say 'lady's finger'. They say 'okra'. If you asked for lady's fingers, they would be horrified!
• We say 'cucumber'. They call it 'zucchini'.
• What we call 'wafers', they call 'chips', as in potato chips.
• Finger chips are, of course, French fries.
• Maize is known as corn.
• Curd is called yogurt.
• Sweets are called candy.
• Cup cakes are known as muffins.
• Cold drinks like Coke, Pepsi, Fanta, etc. are called 'soda'.
• Milk comes in many varieties - whole, fat free, half and half, skimmed... And it doesn't need to be boiled.
• Prescription medicines are known as prescription drugs.
• Medicine tablets are called 'pills'.
• A chemist's shop is called a drug store. Note that you do not get illegal drugs here.
• Weight is in pounds(lb) and ounces(oz).

Outdoors

• There are four seasons in a year - Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall (i.e. Autumn).
• Daylight Savings Time: The clocks are switched forward by one hour in Spring, and turned back by one hour in Fall.
• Flyovers are called overpasses.
• Roads are called Streets, Avenues, or Boulevards.
• The surface of a road is called tarmac, or pavement.
• What we call 'pavement', they call 'sidewalk'.
• You can't go 'anywhere' you want. You can go 'anyplace' you want.
• 'Somewhere' becomes 'someplace'.
• A hoarding on the side of the road is called a 'billboard'.
• You don't go to watch a movie in the theater, you go to 'the movies'.
• You don't say, "Can you give me a lift?", you say, "Can you give me a ride?"
• You don't call a taxi, you hail a cab.
• You don't go on a holiday, you take a vacation.
• You don't carry luggage, you have baggage.
• A return ticket is called a 'round trip'.
• You eat in a 'restaurant', and ask for the 'check', not the 'bill'.
• You don't go to a 'pub', you go to a 'bar'.
• And, in case you need to use the bathroom, ask directions to the 'restroom'.
• You don't 'wait in a queue', you 'stand in the line'.

Vehicles

• A car is referred by types - coupe, convertible, compact, sedan, SUV (sports utility vehicle).
• Cars come in two variations – automatic shift and manual shift. Shift refers to gears.
• Tyres are spelled as 'tires'.
• You sometimes use 'chains' for the vehicle's tires, so that they don't skid in the snow. These are called 'tire chains'.
• The bonnet of a car is called a 'hood'.
• The 'boot' of a car is called a 'trunk'.
• And you don't clean the car, you give it a car wash. You can even take it to an automated car wash, which is cheap, and saves you a lot of effort.
• However, nothing compares to a 'brush less' hand car wash (one that is not automated).
• You don't fill petrol or fuel in your vehicle, you fill it with 'gas', which is short for gasoline.
• And you don't take your vehicle to a petrol pump, you take it to a gas station.
• Gas is measured in gallons and not liters. 1 gallon = approx. 4 liters.
• You don't puncture your tire, you get a flat.
• The silencer of the car is called a 'muffler'.
• A bike is called a motorcycle, and a bicycle is called a bike.
• You drive on the opposite side of the road!

Indoors

• A bungalow is called a house.
• A row house is called a town home.
• A condominium or a 'flat' is called an apartment.
• The garden in front of the house is called a yard, and the garden in the back of the house is called the backyard.
• The ground floor is called the first floor, and the first floor, the second floor, and so on.
• A 'lift' is an 'elevator'.
• You don't comb your hair with a hair comb, you brush it with a hair brush.
• You don't go for a bath, you take a shower.
• Taps are called faucets.
• If you're in the dark, you need a 'flashlight', not a 'torch'.
• The flashlight needs batteries to operate, not 'cells'.
• You wear 'flip flops', not slippers.
• You use a 'purse', not a 'handbag'
• If you need a haircut, you go to a 'salon', not a 'beauty parlor'.
• If you are tired, you sit on the couch, not the sofa.
• A baby cot is called a crib.
• A pram is called a stroller.
• A nappy is called a diaper.
• A wardrobe is called a closet.
• Curtains are called 'drapes'.
• A 'rubber' means a condom, so please don't offer it to anyone for 'rubbing"!
• What we call a 'rubber' is known as an 'eraser', and it is not used for 'rubbing', it is used for 'erasing'.
• A cellotape is called a Scotch tape.
• A dustbin is called a 'garbage can', or a 'trash can'.
• Post is called 'mail', and postbox is called 'mailbox'. The postman obviously becomes the mailman.
• The pincode is called the 'zip'.
• And the zip is called a zipper.

Education

• The American education system is categorized into preschool, elementary school, middle school or junior-high, high school, college, and grad school.
• Standards are called grades. For example, first standard would be first grade, second standard would be second grade, and so on.
• Your papers are not marked, they are graded, such as A, B, C, D.
• The school staff is known as faculty.
• What we call 'graduation', they call 'under-graduation', and what we call 'post-graduation', they call 'graduation'. If you are not careful or you may end up having a higher or lower qualification.
• They have four time zones – Eastern standard time, Central standard time, Mountain standard time and Pacific standard time, starting with the east coast, and ending with the west coast.
• We write the date as dd/mm/yy, they write it as mm/dd/yy.
• Last, but not the least, it is night here, when it is day there!

Hope this has been an entertaining and enlightening article for you.