#is really different

Haha, I remember oh, I used the word ‘sook’ or ‘sooky’ in SAL and I honestly, honestly thought it was universal, and then I got like three comments like ‘wtf is this word?’ and it was like OH NO IT’S AN AUSTRALIANISM lol. (Or at least a Britishism/Australianism). I’ve had a few things like that? Like we use the word ‘sook’ all the time irl, but I try to keep it out of the fics now.

Also it’s a crying shame you folks don’t have ‘rug up’ because it’s so much fun to say. Heh. Incidentally, I remember as a kid it legit took me years to work out that ‘gas / gas station’ was the same thing as ‘petrol / petrol station.’ Years. Partly because I’m a bit of a dope, partly because you can get gas as a separate form of fuel at a petrol station, and just because it’s really not in any common usage here. We just say petrol or petrol station or ‘get fuel.’ Like when people in sitcoms were like ‘we’re out to get some gas’ and I’m like why do you need it? Doesn’t it just come through that little port thingie in your home? I don’t understand. Are you going to have a barbecue?

I can’t remember how old I was when I realised, probably a young teen, but I remember up until then it was like ‘idk what they do at the gas station or what the gas is for but they sure look like our petrol stations.’

Excuse me while I lie down in regret of what a dope I can be. :D

I also thought s’mores were meant to be like one of the most delicious things ever and then I heard it was graham crackers, chocolate, and a toasted marshmallow and it was like ‘oh, that’s it? Seriously?’ And I’ve since had them, and it’s like ‘what? Seriously?’  (I think that’s one of those ‘you had to be there in a camp at a very young age to appreciate it’ kind of things maybe). I also thought red velvet cake was its own flavour, and that was what gave it the unique red colouring. And I always wanted to try it because of that because I love experiencing flavours I’ve never had before. My supreme disappointment in my 20s to find out that no, it’s just a relatively regular cake with a nice texture and colouring is like - to this day I’m like ‘get fucked red velvet cake.’* So betrayed.

Also red velvet is slowly coming into Australian consciousness so you’ll occasionally (rarely) see it in menus now and it’s like… *sigh okay.* We don’t do pumpkin spice yet, give it time. And Western Australia doesn’t have a Starbucks. Tbh I don’t think it would be terrible if we did, I just think locals would hate the coffee and teenagers would love the sugar. 

Actually you know the list of things I’ve discovered about the US that fall around the category of ‘you mean it’s this???’ or ‘that’s a thing????’ or ‘you have bears???’ is so long. :D It’s so long. Because I started talking to folks on the internet when I was like 14/15, in the mid-90s, and suddenly all these things I’d learned from TV were dispelled or confirmed, and I just became a question machine. ‘Is it true the seasons are reversed? Do you get snow? No we don’t have kangaroos as pets. Do you have wolves in your state? What’s a beignet?’ etc.

Also a lot of it is about food because I love food differences from country to country, and often spend too much time talking with friends overseas about what they like to eat, how they make it, and try and figure out how I can make it here if I want to, lol. This is how I learned how to make brigadeiros thank you @sulamoon!