The differences between American English and British English are a lovely thing. Even lovelier is that some– okay, the majority– of the English-speaking world favors British English over American. Could be the whole colonization thing. Could be the queen. Could be the Beatles. One can never be too sure.
Anyway, so because more people speak British English than American English, I thought it might be bonny to have a good chinwag over some differences to note. And in this post, I will address…. you guessed it… lorries, trucks, and caravans.
Now, while I’d like to say I have all these things on pretty darn good authority, I think there may be some variances in what is understood to be what. Here’s what I’ve been told.
A lorry is a truck of any size that has the cab attached to the back trailer part. There is no separating the cab from the bed and vice versa. They stick together like fingers with superglue. (No wonder the name Lori isn’t hugely popular in England.)
An articulated truck is what we call a semi-truck or a tractor-trailer. They also call it an “articulated lorry.” Sounds like a well-spoken lady, eh?
And then there’s the caravan. The caravan in the USA is a mini-van. However, in the UK a caravan is a motor home or a towed camper. So careful when you’re talking to the car rental place and ask for a caravan. You might get more than you bargained for. Literally.
So… Bob’s your uncle.
