For the copy editors in the house

My desk mate Lee, the business designer, is English. Not that we should hold that against him ;)...

Anyway, Lee has been making an effort to correct my English. Not so much to correct my grammar but more so the words I use for everyday things.

Me: Lee, do you have any more of those Cookies?
Lee: You mean biscuits.
Me: (Laughing) Whatever, give me some.
Lee: (Hands them over) These are biscuits, not cookies.
Me: What do you call chocolate chip cookies? Chocolate chip biscuits?
Lee: No, those are cookies.
Me: OK. So what makes a cookie a cookie?

He explains that a cookie is generally smaller and comprised of extras (chocolate, mint, etc.). Biscuits are Hob-Nobs and Digestives and other similar.... uh... edible objects.

Sure, everyone knows that the loo is bathroom, rubbish is trash and telly is television. But after spending two months with Lee... I've learned a ton of new terms for things I never knew were different in the first place. Words I am learning to replace include:

Nightstick: Long club/stick police use to hit people with or twirl.
The new term? Truncheon.

Thread: That stuff you use to sew on a button.
The new term? Cotton. Although it gets tricky when you cut off the cotton and then it becomes a thread of cotton.

Hood/trunk: That thing on the front/back of your car that covers the engine/storage space.
The new term? Bonnet/Boot.

Lee has also pointed me to this chart so I can brush up on my Cockney Rhyming Slang and to this test to see how many British words I know.

Before you know it I'll be using the term dog and bone... touch wood.