It All Depends

In the last 2 days I have been tripped up by the language difference between the US and the UK. The 1st wasn’t technically a language difference but a product name in a joke. The joke went like this, “John McCain was asked whether he wears boxers or briefs, and he replied ‘Depends’.” I had to get Jen to explain the joke to me. Depends are a type of rubber pants for adults who have incontinence. Once I had the joke explained I understood it and gave a little chuckle.

The 2nd instance was a colleague of mine offering to give me a ride. A ride here is perfectly acceptable terminology for giving someone a lift. So whilst in the UK I would offer to give someone a lift to Sainsbury’s (I was going to say the gym but I wanted this to be a realistic example), here I would offer to give them a ride to Safeway. Ride does not have the same sexual connotation as it does in the UK.