I’m Canadian, my wife is American. I’m from the West, she’s from the East. So naturally, each of us has a different vocabulary set. There are a few items that I call one thing, and her by another.
Monday for example, we were at Office Depot to get a laser pointer for a presentation she was doing. At the last minute, she remembered she needed something called postal tape. She tells me to go get the postal tape. So I head off and then realize that I have no idea what postal tape is.
Me (staring blankly): Huh?
Her: Postal tape!
Me: Postal tape? What the heck is this postal tape you’re talking about?
Her: That clear tape you use for packages!
Me (understanding finally dawns on my face): Oh, packing tape!
The same thing happens when I try to tell her what the temperature is outside or give her anything in metric units. She just stares at me blankly until I break down and work out the conversion in my head.
She occasionally pokes fun at some of my Canadian pronunciation. I occasionally mock her accent, which she occasionally slips into when she gets excited or is talking to friends from back home.
Pop vs soda, postal vs packing tape, C vs F, zed vs zee. Yes, we’re different. And that’s probably the way it will stay.
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