I Don't Believe This....

[Eva Elisabeth]

(08-23-2013 08:26 AM)L Verge Wrote:  Since we're on UK expressions, I have to share a personal experience. I spent the summer of 1971 in Europe, with my first week in England. One evening, we were invited to a private home for supper. It was a delightful meal, and as my hostess saw that I was finishing my first helping, she asked if I wanted more. My reply was, "Oh, no thank you, I am stuffed!"

The room immediately went silent, and I swear that some of the family even dropped their forks. I had no idea what I had said, but it obviously was not good. Seeing that I was perplexed, the hostess asked if I were PREGNANT! I was really taken aback, but the answer was NO.

They then explained that "stuffed" was a slang word for pregnant. At that time, also, the British were very use to American women coming to their country to have abortions because they were still illegal in the U.S. From that point on, I was very wary of what I was saying that could be misconstrued.

I had a similar experience when I was on vacation in America at the age of 14 (thus before we had any American English at school). I asked for a rubber in order to buy an eraser.