Visiting the UK always brings little surprises
like temporarily forgetting to look on the sides of buildings for street names,
having to look in opposite directions than you’re used to for oncoming traffic,
and remembering that although we speak the same language (roughly) there are
differences between US and UK English.

Just for fun, I thought I’d try to assess some of
our language differences on the basis of word economy and precision.

For example, even though baggage reclaim is two
letters longer than baggage claim, it’s far more precise. We don’t just get to take any bag we want.  We
have to take the one we brought with us! UK wins.

As you can see, we come out pretty even (in my
small sample).

Note: I decided lift and elevator were both
inadequate since they only define half of the function of the apparatus to
which they refer.

See you all when I get to the other side!