New languages

I have been reading Frugal Freedom and learning American. I know what a 401 is (contributory pension scheme), an RV (actually I know it means recreational vehicle but I am still not quite sure what that means. Maybe a 4 x 4 or maybe a big camper van - we will see). I read quite a few blogs and they are pretty much all from the USA, Canada, Australia, NZ or here in Britain. Obviously this isn't a coincidence as we are all English speaking nations but what I like is how much we say things differently rather than the same.

Sometimes I get confused but I like it that way. I love reading American recipes (not so much those from Down Under as they tend to be much the same as our own - tasty but way too easy to understand) but I prefer not to know what the mystery ingredients are. It makes really interesting reading. Popsicles turn out to be ice lollies (not like lollies from NZ - sweets without sticks). For some reason I expected something more exciting. Crisco sounds like it would be crispy and crunchy like a delicate French biscuit. Half and half is a good one. Half what and half what? I imagine beer and lemonade. Biscuits and gravy. Biscuits are sweet here,and crunchy, not like cookies, you really wouldn't want gravy with them. Did anyone in the UK read about the amazing & very sweet Michael Phelps' breakfast and not wonder a)why is he not huge! b)what is a bowl of grits? Grit means small stones here, yum. Australian can be good too, we definitely mean an entirely different thing with 'thong'.

I am interested in languages and how they develop and move around, like the Elizabethan phrases still existing in US English, 500 years ago we used to say Fall instead of Autumn too. So anyway I will continue to read my recipes without referring to Wikipedia because I appreciate the variety. Vive la difference!