7-percent:writingloud:7-percent:Let’s talk about British HousesOne thing that sets a non-native writ

7-percent:writingloud:7-percent:Let’s talk about British HousesOne thing that sets a non-native writer on a course to disaster is using American phrases for things that involve houses and flats. One of the most common mistakes is regarding floors in houses or blocks of flats (never “apartments”). The ground floor is just that- what an American would call the first floor is to a Brit the next one up from the ground floor. The “second” storey is what an American would call the Third Floor and so on. Then there is the lower ground floor for a lot of flats in London, which an American might call the basement. Basement flat is usually called a “garden flat” because it’s often the bit that opens up into the back of the house that has been converted into flats. A lot of London is on little hills that mean the entrance from the road is a whole floor higher than the back of the house. That’s a thing.- OLD houses.  A lot of housing in London in particular was originally built as terraced single family homes (more like townhouses in American English) and then split into flats later. 221b is a prime example, although it is complicated by having the front of the ground floor taken up by Speedy’s Cafe. Not mentioned in the pictogram above is the name of rooms. Sitting room is still common, although living room is creeping in. The previous generation might also call it a “lounge” and some aristocrats with big houses would call it the “drawing room”. Not because they drew pictures in there, but because it’s short of “Withdrawing Room”, which is what the ladies used to do, when they were banished from the table so the menfolk could drink brandy and smoke cigars. Almost no one I know ever uses the word “parlour” although a lot of American fic writers seem to think it is used over here. Kitchen is the same in the UK as it is in the USA, but bathroom is never ever called “restroom” except by Americans.  WC (Water closet) is something you’ll see in public places, but I’ve never heard it used when referring to the loo in a home. In a lot of old houses, the loo and a wash basin are in a separate (tiny) room from the bathroom, so both can be used by different people at the same time. Increasingly though, modern flats are built to house the shower, tub, basin and loo in the same room. Also fashionable are “wet rooms” where there is a drain in the floor. Old houses were built before indoor plumbing was a feature so it can be hard to convert them to this sort of thing. I live in a 17th century thatched cottage so plumbing and electricity (hell, even the kitchen) are “new fangled” things that had to be fitted around things like three-foot thick chalk and flint walls. One of my five fireplaces (yeah, central heating is new too) still has an old “kitchen range”- a cast iron cooking stove from the 1950s that vents out of the chimney. Taps (never faucets) in the UK are different- and deserve a whole post on their own, if the reaction of my overseas visitors is anything to go by. We tend to have a hot tap and a cold tap, and mixer taps are now found only in kitchens or bathroom sinks where the cold water supply comes off the mains, rather than the cold water tank in the loft space (attic to you Americans). No old houses have built in closets; people used wardrobes- big pieces of furniture to hang their clothes in. “Fitted wardrobes” became a thing in the 1980s, and a lot of suburban houses now have them. “Walk in closets” are for rich people who will have gutted the interior of their house and built in these spaces, but they might call them “dressing rooms” instead of closets. A yard in Britain usually refers to a paved area behind the house. What Americans call a “yard” is called a garden here. In Britain “garden” is also a verb, because it is a national past-time in a way it isn’t in America. This is perfect! The only thing I would add is most people don’t call sinks washbasins. Perhaps in older houses, but to me a washbasin is just a bowl or something that you wash yourself in, whereas a sink has a tap and is attached to the wall.@writingloud. I can see where you are coming from, you young thing. However, a quick perusal of plumbing websites comes up with this sort of thing: Contemporary basins: Achieve your Little Bathroom VictoryIf you’re looking for something that’s both on-trend and on-budget, why not choose from our range of beautiful contemporary basins? Whether you’re looking for a counter top, pedestal, semi pedestal or wall hung design, we have a huge array of stylish basins offering both sophistication and great value.https://victoriaplum.com/browse/contemporary-basinsIn terms of British plumbing, I’ve gathered that if one just assumes everything still works the way it did in the Downton Abbey era, you’ll get it right (save for yuppies living in Canary Wharf high-rises). -- source link

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