It's all OK I used a rubber.....

It has taken me ages to come up with an idea for EDM 206 'Draw something familiar to you that you know is called something else in another region', but I have had real fun with this.  I'm not trying to match the comedic level of the extremely talented Andrea Joseph when she tackled the whole 'fanny' issue (insert lots of English blushing & - see her post for February 19th HERE - you will need to scroll down a couple of posts to see it).

I have had the odd idea for this one then last week, while going over my Paris sketches I found a page I had abandoned.  In true EDM spirit I decided I should try to mend it, but I just seemed to make a bigger mess.  That's when I thought about using my rubber.... and that was it, an idea was born. 

I set to with the already messed up page, made an even bigger mess - and loved every minute of it!!  Then I painted a RUBBER on some watercolour paper, cut it out and stuck it on top of the pencil scribbles. 

You see I know that generally speaking a 'rubber' to my lovely friends across The Pond has an entirely different meaning - you know what I mean boys and girls ;o)  Yet here in the UK it is absolutely an everyday term for well, a rubber.  You would never get anyone here asking to borrow an eraser to rub out pencil marks. Even typing the word doesn't seem right!  It's funny isn't it how things can have such varied meanings?  But it all leads to fantastic innuendo (or as I prefer to call it 'In Your Endo) - which is VERY British humour.  Google the 'Carry On' films sometime (Oooh, Matron!).  And, more importantly it's all part of the beauty of the English language that adapts and adopts fer more than any other language (probably).

I found this British - American glossary online and think it's wonderful, thought you might like to see it too?  You can swap it round between countries, which makes it even more useful.

Armed with this glossary my American chums can now also appreciate this little anecdote from my childhood:

I would have been possibly 10 or 11 years old and at school pen-pals were being organised between the school I was at and the school we were partnered with in Lille, France.  We all had to write a letter to a pupil at the French school.  These letters were to be passed around the pupils in the equivalent French class and they would reply to us.  I was very taken with this idea and laboured long and hard over my letter, illustrating it (of course) and sticking pictures to it.  After a couple of weeks, friends in my class started to receive responses from the French pupil who had picked them.  I began to get more excited.  Every morning I ran downstairs and asked if my French letter had arrived.  I was obsessed with receiving my French letter.  I told everyone I met, family, friends, complete strangers, that I was going to get a French letter through the post.  I didn't flinch when I noticed the strained looks and stifled grins on the faces of the adults I told this to.  After I can't remember how long, my lovely Dad could take it no more, sat me down and told me why I should re-phrase what I was saying.  I have never been so mortified in my entire life.  Well I have, but those are other stories  ;o) 

Now I leave it to you to look up French Letter in the glossary I have supplied you with!!!  More blushes!!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend xx