This brought to you by Andrew saying he left a glass of water for me on the side

[cosmolinguist]

In many ways I'm envious of the British variant of our fair language; I don't think we have such a good word for wellies, or anything quite like faffing about. I like trainers better than any of the words I grew up with for such shoes.

But it's just not worth it. The thing in the kitchen, for which I use the perfectly good word counter, is here called the top¹ ... or the side. <sup>2

1</sup> Which I can almost see because I could call it a countertop without getting weird looks.

² Which not only makes no sense (except maybe from sideboard?) but is also not allowed to be in any way equivalent to the top of anything.

Comments

[taimatsu]

I use 'side' or 'worktop'. In my family kitchen we had a counter like a peninsula which poked out into the room. It was known as 'the middle bit'. ('I think it's on the shelves under the middle bit!' 'I left it on the middle bit!') That seems weird to me now :)

[taimatsu]

Also, the worktops are usually at the side of the kitchen, no?

I am going to bed now! :D

[donttouchmyhat.livejournal.com]

Of course, if one had to choose a nickname, Yank's easier on the heart than Limey.

[toastedtuna.livejournal.com]

Aussies talk funny, too.

[dyfferent.livejournal.com]

I never heard it called the side, only the worktop. Is this a northern-git thing?

[myfirstkitchen.livejournal.com]

Worktop, definitely. Though I might say I'd left something out on the side, but that would just mean I'd left it on anything that wasn't a table, including a window ledge to be honest.

[miss-newham.livejournal.com]

I'll give you 'counter', that's a good one.

[mrs-leroy-brown.livejournal.com]

Reading stuff like this makes me remember all those confusions and whee!s and discovering that I was going through nearly ten years ago, complete with 'but is this a Yorkshire / Northern thing'? Though I didn't have the internet / LJ to help :)