John Cletheroe's
USA and Canada Holiday Hints

American English to British English Dictionary - E

E-Z

Pronounced "easy" (because the name of the letter Z is pronounced "zee" in the USA).

E-Z Pass

The Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system used on toll highways in most of the northeastern USA.

East

Road number geographical direction suffixes (North, South, East or West) on signposts and highway marker shields, and in instructions giving directions to destinations, always refer to the direction of travel. For example, "I-80 East" means I-80 eastbound.

Eastern, Eastern Time, Eastern Standard Time, Eastern Daylight Saving Time, EST, EDT

A time zone in use in parts of the USA and Canada.

Eastern Shore

See separate article.

Eat Crow

To "eat crow" is to eat humble pie, in other words to admit that you were wrong.

EDLP

Every Day Low Prices. A term used in the retail trade to describe the discount department store chains such as K-Mart, Pamida, ShopKo, Wal-Mart, etc.

EDT

Eastern Daylight Saving Time. A time zone in use in parts of the USA and Canada.

Efficiency

A motel room with kitchen facilities included. In other words, self-catering.

Lisa Fournier of Columbus, Ohio, kindly sent me this additional comment:

An efficiency is also a term for a studio apartment, often rented to students because of its low cost. It differs from a one-bedroom apartment in that an efficiency doesn't have a separate bedroom; it has a large central room, a kitchen, and a bathroom and that's usually it.

I also received a comment from a separate source saying that the word kitchenette is used in some parts of the USA for a motel room with kitchen facilities.

Egg McMuffin

See Muffin.

Egg Roll

Pancake roll, spring roll (a rolled-up pancake containing other food).

Eggplant

Aubergine.

Eight Bits

See Two Bits.

Eighth Note

See Musical Notes.

Eighty Six

To refuse to serve an unwelcome customer at a bar or restaurant. Idiom Site offers a possible explanation of how the term came to be used (external link verified Dec-02).

El

Chicago's elevated railway system.

El Niño

A climate phenomenon which occurs every two to seven years in the Pacific Ocean and which causes effects over large parts of the globe. In North America an El Niño event can cause heavy rain and flooding in California and unseasonably mild winters in the United States. In other places the effects of an El Niño can be considerably more serious.

Since the second "n" in "Niño" has a tilde (~) over it, the correct pronunciation is "El Ninyo".

The El Niño event of 1997/98, one of the most severe recorded, is widely thought to have been responsible for creating a long, severe and violent winter in some parts of North America (for example on the Pacific Coast in California, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, and in the northeast) but a milder winter than normal in the northwest.

Electrical Storm

Thunderstorm.

Electrician's Tape

Insulating tape.

Elevator

A lift - a device used to transport people between the floors of a building by means of a box suspended in a vertical shaft by cables.
Stonie Cooper kindly sent me an email reminding me of an additional meaning:
"Elevator" has a second meaning, in rural North America, as a place where grain is stored. Especially in areas of corn and wheat, "grain elevators" are the centre of the economy, as the owner of the elevator buys the grain from the farmers and then resells to a shipper or feedlot.

Elks

See Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

Emergency Room

The Casualty (A and E - Accident and Emergency) department of a hospital. Sometimes abbreviated "ER", pronounced as two letters.

Empire State

New York State.

Empire State Of The South

Georgia.

Enchilada

A Mexican food item.

Whenever I've tried them, enchiladas appear to be very similar to burritos but with different contents and flavour.

However, according to one source the difference is that a burrito has the tortilla folded so as to make an envelope which completely encloses its contents, whereas an enchilada has the tortilla wrapped around the contents so as to make a cylinder with much the same shape as cannelloni.

Another source claims that the difference is that a burrito is made with a flour tortilla whereas an enchilada is made with a corn tortilla. The same source says that enchiladas are sometimes rolled, sometimes served flat and stacked upon one another, that traditionally they are layered/packed with cheese and onions though meat is often available, and finally that enchiladas are often served with a fried egg or two.

Tom Wrona emailed me to say:

It seems an enchilada is always covered in a sauce while burritos are 'dry'. Cheese seems to be the default configuration of enchiladas.

Elizabeth Fox emailed me to say:

Comparing a burrito with an enchilada: An enchilada is usually open at both ends and is covered with sauce, so it would be served on a plate. A burrito is completely closed up, and is often wrapped in foil even at a place where you could eat it there, and is a little more portable. Some places make such huge burritos that the only practical way to eat them is with a fork and knife rather than out of hand, but the theory is that they're a to-go item.

A new trend is "wrap" places, with names like "World Wraps", where you can have a burrito-like thing made from a wider array of ingredients like sprouts.

Tom Sackett of Seattle emailed me saying:

Enchiladas are almost always made with corn tortillas, and usually covered in a red sauce made from mild chilies (and not tomato, as is generally assumed).

End

Often seen on road signs, meaning "end of". For example the road sign "End Construction" means "end of road works".

Engineer

The word "engineer" has an additional meaning in the USA: a train driver.

England

Often used by mistake by people in the USA to refer to Britain as a whole.

English Muffin

See Muffin.

Entrée

The main course at a restaurant. Pronounced "on-tray". I think the expression can also be used to refer to the number of customers, for example "three entrées".

Entry, Entry Level

The least expensive in a range of products. The term "entry level" is used with this meaning within the computer trade in Britain but is probably not understood generally. However, in the USA "entry" and "entry level" are used generally, for example when describing new cars.

EP

Extra Protection or Extended Protection.

EPA

Environmental Protection Agency (United States).

EPCOT

The Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. Part of Walt Disney World in Florida.

Equality State

Wyoming.

ER

Emergency Room, i.e. the Casualty (A and E - Accident and Emergency) department of a hospital.

ERA

Equal Rights Amendment. Tim Showalter kindly sent me this comment:

Equal Rights Amendment, not Equal Rights Act. Didn't happen. Women are legislated equal rights under the law, which most everyone now agrees is a good thing, but it isn't in the Constitution.

Eraser

Rubber, used to rub out pencil marks.

Erector Set

A child's construction kit (Meccano, Lego, etc). Tom Wrona EMailed me with this description which implies that it was a trade name, not a generic name:

It used metal struts, not bricks like Lego. May be extinct. Another popular set from my childhood was Lincoln Logs, miniature hewn logs that you could interlock to make cabins etc.

Tim Showalter sent me a comment saying that Erector Set is definitely a trade name. He says it goes in and out of production every few years, like Meccano.

Eskimo

According to most sources the name "Eskimo" for the indigenous people of the high arctic is considered derogatory and comes from a word meaning "eaters of raw flesh", a name given to the Inuit without justification by an Algonquian tribe. However, one source says this theory has now been debunked. In any case, the name "Inuit" is generally preferred and means "the people" in the Inuit's own language.

Eskimo Pie

A variant on the ice cream bar/choc ice theme. An ice cream snack for one person. I'm not sure if this is a trade name or a generic term.

ESPN

A television sports channel. My thanks to Eric Bury who kindly informed me that the letters stand for "Extended Sports Programming Network". Eric explains: "At the time of its creation, September 1979, there were no stations that broadcast primarily sports, thus the name."

EST

Eastern Standard Time. A time zone in use in parts of the USA and Canada.

ETC

Electronic Toll Collection (on toll highways). E-ZPass is the system used in most of the northeastern USA.

ETS

Edmonton (Alberta) Transit System.

European Plan

A term used in very expensive hotels in America, meaning that no meals are included, or just a minimal breakfast.

Some motels in the USA and Canada offer free continental breakfasts but otherwise no meals are included.

See also American Plan and Modified American Plan.

Evergreen State

Washington State.

EWR

Airport code for Newark International Airport, Newark, New Jersey.

Excise Laws

Alcohol licensing laws.

Excuse Me

An expression with a wealth of meanings depending on the context and the tone of voice. The first two meanings in the following list are the most common.

In a derogatory tone: "You have encroached on my personal space", "you have got in my way", etc.
In a derogatory tone: "You have said or done something which offends me."
In a sarcastic tone: "Your statement that I have been rude is incorrect, in fact what I did was nothing and you have been far ruder than I have by objecting to it". The word "excuse" would tend to be drawn out and the word "me" stressed in this case, as in "Well, ex-cuuuuse me!". This sarcastic tone can also be used to mean "I think you should have apologised, not me".
In an apologetic tone: "I wish to apologise for saying or doing something which might have offended you".
In an apologetic tone: "Could you please mind out of my way".
Usually in a commanding or assertive tone: "Mind out of my way, I'm coming through!".
In an apologetic or questioning tone: "I'm sorry, I didn't hear what you just said, could you please repeat it". Often asked in the form of a question: "Excuse me?".
In a questioning tone: "I heard what you said but I didn't understand it, it didn't make any sense, it was stupid, or I don't believe it". In the last case the second syllable of "excuse" may be stressed, for example: "How much is that item?" - "Two thousand dollars, ma'am" - "ExCUSE me?" (meaning: what a ridiculous price, it's not worth more than ten dollars).

Exit

Freeway or expressway junction, usually with a number based on the mileage from a state boundary or the start of a road, although occasionally exits are numbered sequentially. Almost all exits also allow vehicles to join the freeway or expressway. An exit slip road is called an off ramp and an entry slip road is called an on ramp.

Express

The suffix "Express" is often used to indicate a "mini" fast food restaurant located in a gas station, discount store, etc. Examples that you might see include names such as "Burger King Express" and "Taco Bell Express". The word "Express" is also used as a suffix to indicate a lower-priced brand motel chain, for example "Holiday Inn Express".

Compared to the normal full service versions, the "Express" versions of fast food restaurants often have a limited menu range, limited seating or no seating at all, and due to a low number of staff the service is often extremely slow, making the name "Express" somewhat of a misnomer.

I feel that this "Express" concept of brand stretching (or "brand diluting") is undesirable from the customers' point of view and self-defeating. It is a current trend, but hopefully a dying one. I would recommend that visitors to the USA and Canada avoid "Express" versions of fast food restaurants wherever possible and keep to the normal full-service versions.

Expressway

See separate article.

Eyeglasses

Glasses, spectacles.

EZ, E-Z

Easy - from the American pronunciation of the name of the letter "Z" as "zee".

E-Z Pass

The Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system used on toll highways in most of the northeastern USA.

Numbers A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

American English to British English Dictionary

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Most recently modified 29-Dec-05