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UK or USA?

05/11/2010

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Today one of my students asked me about the expression "full of beans." He had been listening to a program on the radio given by a British speaker and he wanted to be sure that the meaning was "energetic or in high spirits."  Now remember that I'm American and the expression
"full of beans" has a completely different meaning. For us it means "talking nonsense."   Here are some examples:

She is full of beans tonight and doesn’t want to stop talking. (UK)

Don't pay any attention to Bill. He's full of beans. (USA)

Imagine for a minute that a Spanish speaker, who learned British English, has a meeting with some Americans and the Spanish speaker says. "John is full of beans today."  This could be a very embarrassing situation for everybody.

Remember that British English and American English do have differences and to be careful when using idioms and expressions.  
 


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    I'm a native English speaker from Boston who has been teaching English for over 10 years. I love the English language and anything to do with communications.

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