You’re writing along—a text message, a Facebook update, or something a little more important like an online article—and all of a sudden you type a word that’s a contraction. Contractions? you say. Hint: I just used two of them in my first sentence. Merriam-Webster defines a contraction as “a shortening of a word, syllable, or word group by omission of a sound or letter.” And I’ll add that when the letter or sound is omitted, an apostrophe takes its place. By the way, the contractions I used are “you’re” and “that’s.”

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Many Americans who arrive in the UK for the first time can find things very confusing, not the least of which is the language difference.

While Americans speak English (after a fashion), it’s not only the spelling of many words that is different between American English and British English, it’s the use of words and phrases that will very often completely confuse the visitor.

This is the tale that recounts some of the problems that a naïve American visitor to the UK might experience. I hope you enjoy it.