US Lexicon

Last update:
22-Mar-2005
©1996-2009
Mike Todd

Where it's not obvious: BE = British English, AE=American English and

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Tag
	Licence plate In the US, licence plates work differently to the UK, and the rules vary from state to state. For instance, in many states the licence plate belongs to the owner and when teh car is sold, the plates are removed and held for use on a new car. In some states you have to have a plate at the front and the back, but in others only at the back, and you may be able to choose a plate design to support a cause or charity, and choose the number and letters that appear. In some states the licence plate has to be renewed regularly (in Florida, for instance, every five years), and in some states (California, for instance) you may have to stick a renewal tab on the rear plate to indicate that the vehicle registration is up-to-date.
Tailgate Sale
	Car boot sale
Tea
	Americans drink a lot of tea - but it's usually iced tea. In fact, almost everywhere you go, a request for "tea" will bring you a long glass of fairly weak tea poured over lots of ice, with a slice of lemon. A very pleasant drink, but not what you might be expecting. You'll have to ask specifically for hot tea if that's what you want. What you will then get varies widely - you might be lucky and get a small teapot, a couple of tea bags, and a pot of reasonably hot water. On the other hand, you might get a cup, a tea bag, and a glass of luke-warm water. On one occasion, in an otherwise "average;" restaurant, a beautiful wooden box was brought to the table, and with a certain degree of ceremonial the choice was offered of dozen or more varieties of tea bags.
Teeter-totter
	See-saw
Tenderloin
	Fillet steak
Tex-Mex
	A term applied to food (and occasionally to music) in Texas, but which has Mexican originas
Thanksgiving Day
	4th Thursday in November This is a very big family holiday, and members of the family will often travel long distances in order to be together for Thanksgiving Dinner. The holiday represents the first Thanksgiving, in 1621, which was a feast held in Plymouth Colony by the Pilgrims to give thanks for their survival through the first year. For two hundred years afterwards, various Thanksgivings were proclaimed by different states. In the first half of the 19th century, a writer and editor called Sarah Josepha Hale started a campaign to make Thanksgiving a national holiday. Through her very popular magazine Godey's Lady's Book, she continued the campaign for thirty years until, in 1863, Abraham Lincoln was convinced and it became an official and annual holiday. For more general information, see American Holidays
Thrift shop
	Charity shop (approx) These are often very large and well-organised second-hand stores.
Through or thru'
	Up to an including So that, Monday through Wednesday means Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
Thruway
	Motorway Another form of motorway!
Toboggan
	Sled (approx) An American toboggan is specifically a long flat-bottomed sled that curves up at the front. It may have hand-rails, but it has no runners on it. The British toboggan has runners, and is what the Americans would call a sled.
To go
	Take away (food) Although the Americans may well understand you if you said you wanted the meal to take away, they're more used to hearing to go.
Toll Free
	Freephone numbers Like the UK, the US has numbers where the person or company that you're calling pays for the call. They're usually dialled as though they are long-distance calls, and the numbers will begin with 1-800-, 1-855, 1-866, 1-877- or 1-888-. But beware any numbers like 1-9xx-xxx-xxxx as these are premium rate numbers and can cost many dollars a minute!
Tootsie Roll
	A chocolate fudge sweet, created by Leo Hirschfield in 1896. It led to the Tootsie Roll Pops, a lollipop with a fudge centre. It is from the nickname Tootsie of Leo's daughter, Clara.
Traffic circle
	Roundabout Extremely rare in the US!
Transfer
	A special ticket that allows you to change to another bus or train in order to complete your journey
TriBeCa
	A nickname given to a region of Manhattan renowned for its expensive apartments, and its independently wealthy residents. It gets its name from "TRIangle BElow CAnal" (Canal Street is a major street in Lower Manhattan).
Trick or Treat
	An apparently American tradition for Halloween where children, dressed in costume, go round calling at neighbours' houses. The children expect a "treat", which is usually a wrapped sweet or possibly money. In some areas, the local government declares a different night for trick-or-treat, where it is known as Beggar's Night. In its current form, both the name and the tradition date from America in the mid 1940s, but its real origins date back much further. In the 18th century, Britain had the tradition of souling, where children and the poor of a parish would go door to door, hoping for cakes (because many households will have baked soul cakes for All Souls Day). In reality, this tradition may date back as far as the 9th century. At some point, there appears to have been an addition to the tradition where prayers would be offered for those who have died. In the 19th century, Scotland had a tradition of guising where children would dress up on Halloween and go door to door in the hope of receiving small sums of money. The idea of paying a forfeit (a trick) if no treat was given appears to have originated in Ireland in the 19th century. However, the tricks were often malaevolent.
Trunk
	Boot (of a car) Boot is something you wear on your foot!
Turnpike
	Motorway A motorway on which tolls are charged, the name coming from the revolving gate in Medieval England which was used to control access to somewhere. You may also come across a turnpike which doesn't have tolls - but it would have done at some time in the past
Twat
	Female genitalia This is a word well worth avoiding. In BE it has a number of meanings and, although it has the meaning of the female genitalia, it is also commonly used as a term of rebuke with relatively little offence given (the old meaning of the word has somehow been forgotten). However, in AE it has only the one meaning, and is highly vulgar and should be avoided (in much the same was as snatch)!
Twinkies
	Cream-filled cake Twinkies were invented in 1930 by James Dewar, a Chicago bakery manager. They're more fully known as Hostess Twinkies, and consist of an outer cake with a cream filling.
Twinkies
	Because the Twinkies come packets of two, two people who look or dress alike may be called twinkies. This is not to be confused with twinks, which is gay slang for someone young and hairless.