Because nary a second goes by where I am not thinking of the nuanced differences between the language and culture of Brits vs. Yanks… my momentary favorite is “air con”. What an American might refer to as “AC” is air con here and I love it for many reasons. One is that it sounds maybe like a Nick Cage movie. Oh, I said Nick alright. Another is that abbreviating conditioner to con makes me think of a law school class (con law, crim pro, civ pro, etc.) or even better, reminds me that Brits also say “fruit & veg”. Never, ever waste your time with the rest of the word in vegetable when in England. Or do so at your own peril.
So air con. No one has it in their flats. Well maybe rich people do. But not the rest of us. And there is a heat wave here this week. 80s and maybe even 90s. In Celsius it’s um, well whatever it is, it’s CRAZY. Or as the locals say: mad.
So Jonah and I sit around a lot with little plug-in fans. You know what a fan is, right?
Also, I spend quite a bit of time fantasizing about lemonade. It’s actually reaching disturbing proportions, this fantasy. For example, I almost bought lemons the other day to make it myself. You see, in England “lemonade” either means Sprite, 7-Up or lemon juice mixed with sparkling water. I still sometimes fall for it on menus and I order what sounds like a delicious drink only to be brought Sprite in a can. Effingpot verifies this sad state of affairs:
Lemonade – Lemonade in England is a clear, sparkling, lemon flavoured drink that is either drunk as it is or added to lager to make shandy. Seven-up and sprite would both qualify as lemonade in England.
So I will just sit here in the heat and think about non-carbonated lemonade.
(Travesty.)
