John Cletheroe's
USA and Canada Holiday Hints

American English to British English Dictionary - I

IA

Iowa.

IAD

Airport code for Washington Dulles International Airport, Washington, DC. Mnemonic: "International Airport, Dulles".

IAH

Airport code for Houston George Bush International Airport, Houston, Texas. Mnemonic: International Airport, Houston.

Ice Cream Bar

Choc-ice. A cuboid shaped block of ice cream, covered with chocolate. A snack for one person. See also Eskimo Pie.

Icebox

Refrigerator (the whole of a refrigerator, not just the ice-making compartment).

Ice Chest

Cool box. A portable insulated container for keeping food cold.

ID

  1. Idaho (the state).

  2. Means of identification - driving licence, passport, etc.

IDS

Intruder Detection System, i.e. a burglar alarm.

IHOP

International House of Pancakes, a restaurant chain. Always pronounced "I hop", never as four individual letters.

IHS

International Historic Site.

IL

Illinois. Pronounced "ill in oy" (the s is silent).

Illegals

Illegal immigrants.

IN

Indiana.

Inc, Incorporated

Ltd, Limited (after a company name, to indicate that the owner's liabilities to creditors is limited).

IND

  1. Airport code for Indianapolis International Airport, Indianapolis, Indiana.

  2. Independent. A subway (underground railway) system in New York City. Originally an independent company but now part of New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (NYMTA). The lines built by IND are still commonly known by that name. See also BMT, IRT and PATH.

Indian Giver

Someone who gives a gift only to later demand its return.

Industrial Park

Industrial estate, trading estate.

Inland Empire

See separate article.

INS

Immigration and Naturalisation Service (USA). This Government Department's responsibilities include the border patrols intended to prevent illegal immigrants entering the USA across its borders with Canada and Mexico.

Inside Passage

See separate article.

Instalment Plan

Hire purchase.

Instant Replay

Action replay, of an event during a sports match on television.

Intermission

Interval (in a theatre performance or cinema programme, etc).

Intermodal

Dave Krupka of Bolingbrook, Illinois kindly sent me this explanation:
Intermodal means shipping goods in a way that they can easily be transferred between rail, truck and sea without repacking. The standardised cargo containers you see are examples of intermodal transport. The large boxes can be offloaded from a ship onto a special trailer and transported wherever needed by truck, or taken to a "intermodal yard" and on-loaded to special train cars, and directed to another destination where the containers are put on trailers for delivery.
Some trains are truly pure intermodal trains, as setting out the entire train in an intermodal yard is much more efficient than having to spot the individual cars and switching them off into the yard.

Interpretive Program

Those operations of a National Park, National Monument, State Park, Provincial Park, etc, concerned with explaining the history, geology and other features of the park to its visitors. This includes the provision of informative signs around the park, the creation of the displays in the Visitor Centre, and the activities of those members of the park's staff and volunteers who interact with visitors (such people sometimes being called "Interpreters").

Intersection

Road junction.

Interstate, Interstate Highway

See separate article.

Intimate Apparel

A euphemism used by some shops for underwear.

Intracoastal Waterway

See separate article.

Inuit

The indigenous people of the high Arctic. According to most sources the name "Eskimo" for these people 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.

IRA

Individual Retirement Account, a personal retirement savings account on which income tax is deferred. The amount of contributions are deducted from a person's current taxable income, then the income tax is paid on the payments made from the scheme after the person retires. Such schemes are popular, especially with people who cannot benefit from a company pension scheme. Many thanks to Edmund Szamborski [sysop@locnet.com] who provided the information for this entry.

I also received this comment:

In the US, the deferred tax is cancelled if the amount is drawn after a certain age and the money has been in the account long enough.
The British meaning of "IRA" is also widely understood in America and Canada.

Iroquoian

My grateful thanks to Isabel Bliss of Calgary, Alberta for the following information:
The Iroquoian Confederacy included five or six (over time) nations, and they had related but distinct languages. So, for example, the word Canada is "Iroquoian" in a sense, but it's like saying that a word in English/French/German/etc. is "European" - not a very exact description. Canada is a Mohawk word. The Mohawks are one of the Iroquoian nations / language groups.

IRS

Internal Revenue Service, the government department responsible for the collection of Income Tax, equivalent to the UK's Inland Revenue. In the USA a self assessment system is operated universally, with tax being collected annually. Companies such as H and R Block provide a tax preparation service.

IRT

Interborough Rapid Transit. A subway (underground railway) system in New York City. Originally an independent company but now part of New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (NYMTA). The lines built by IRT are still commonly known by that name. See also BMT, IND and PATH.

ISOO

(United States) Information Security Oversight Office, a department of the National Archives and Record Administration (NARA). The ISOO oversees security classification programs in both Government and industry.

ISS

International Space Station, currently being gradually assembled in orbit.

Italian Beef Sandwiches

 This mouth-watering description is courtesy of Dave Krupka, a police officer who lives near Chicago:
Predating Arby's in the Chicago area are "Italian Beef" sandwiches, available at small non-chain restaurants and stands in the area. The origin of the name is not precisely known, but if you get to this neck of the woods, try one. Arby's forms its roasts from various cuts, seasons it and slices it. It's good, but...
An Italian Beef is usually made from a seasoned whole beef roast, thinly sliced and then placed in its own juices to simmer and await purchase. When you order it, the clerk will ask you if you want it wet (or 'dipped'). If you say yes, they place some of the beef in a crusty bread section and then dip the entire item in the juice. Add hot or sweet peppers. Life is good.
As a police officer, one learns the best of the fast food...! Thank goodness it's dinner time over here, I just made myself very hungry.

Ivy League

 The name given to a group of eight long established universities with the highest academic reputations in the northeast of the USA. The name comes from the idea of their buildings being old enough to have ivy growing on their walls. Apparently the alternative theory associated with the Roman numerals IV ("Ivy") is a complete myth.

The Ivy League universities are as follows:

Perhaps surprisingly, the highly renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is not a member of the Ivy League.

All external links in this article checked Aug-99.

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Most recently modified 1-Mar-06