“Here lies the victim of untied shoe laces.”

Todd and I were in London briefly in October. I’m ever surprised by English English. A recording repeated that our city bus was “on diversion.” In the States we’d say “detouring.” I saw 3 signs with the word “bespoke” in them: bespoke jewelry, bespoke immigration proceedings, and bespoke tours for groups. It’s an adjective meaning “made-to-order.” I had no idea.

I’m not surprised that a “truck” is a “lorry” in the UK as much as I am surprised that it isn’t a lorry in the US, too. If you use the word lorry in the States, most people won’t know what you’re talking about. When most of the words in the language are the same on either side of the Atlantic, why are some completely different?