I just returned from a trip-of-a-lifetime with my family —  Northern Ireland, with a day trip to Dublin, and almost a week in London. So many sites and many fond memories.

But this blog isn’t a travel memoir, it’s about writing and language, so I’ll limit my reflections to that topic. I find it interesting that dialects within English can be so distinct that it’s often difficult for two native English speakers to understand one another. For example, I had the following conversation with a typically friendly taxi driver in Belfast about our visit to the just-opened Titanic exhibit (FYI: the ship was built in Belfast).

Taxi Driver: Did you see the starkiss?

Me: Sorry?

Taxi Driver: I hard they were goon to raplicate the starkiss. Loyk in the movie.

Me: No, I didn’t see it (wracking my brain to remember something called a “starkiss”).

Taxi Driver: Maybe they nahver built it.

Me: (sudden revelation) Oh! The staircase! No, they didn’t have a replica of the staircase.

I was so pleased with myself for finally figuring out that starkiss was Northern Irish for staircase.

Wee

The Irish, like the Scottish, love the word wee. Everything is wee. A check-out clerk actually said this to me:

“Just swipe your wee card through the wee slot. That’s it. Now, wait a second and I’ll give you your wee receipt.”

Words I’m Keeping

I’ve decided to adopt several British idioms that I find endearing. We’ll see how long it lasts. Here are a few I want to begin using:

Brilliant Instead of Awesome

Brilliant in the United Kingdom is as ubiquitous as awesome in the U.S. A movie is brilliant. My daughters’ dancing is brilliant. The weather is brilliant.

It’s worth stealing; I’m tired of awesome.

Clever Instead of Smart

One of the cutest things I overheard was a five or six-year-old boy at a museum ask his mother, with all sincerity, “Mum, am I a very clever boy?” A tour guide in Cambridge told us Prince Charles wasn’t nearly clever enough to get into the school (his mum made a phone call, however). We Americans use clever to mean a particular kind of intelligence. Brits use it when they mean generally bright.

Cheers Instead of Thanks

Cheers is sort of a blend of thanks and goodbye. It’s more than just see you later. It seems to mean “thanks and all the best to you.” It’s a little thing, but I liked it when we parted from a waiter, cashier, or taxi driver and they said, “Cheers!”

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I’d like to think that I’ll be more consistent with posting, but I’m off to Alaska early tomorrow. We’ll see. In the meantime, feel free to chat amongst yourselves!

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