"Fancy"

"Do you fancy going on your hike?"

Fancy...now that is British English if I ever heard it. Funny, my husband and I were discussing his upcoming weekend hike with friends when I asked if he was excited about it...ha...excited?! Now, I may use the word excited a bit loosely, but I consider it looking forward to something...he considers it being REALLY thrilled about something. So, he says "You should say: Do you fancy going?" I about fell out of my seat laughing. Fancy...that means something really rich and extravagant...not "excited about"! I told him if he said that in America people would look at him really funny. He said they would think him upper-class and well spoken. HAHAHA...just one of those little language issues that frequently arise in our life as a bilingual family.

And to further the language issue, when I was out with friends last night, one asked me what "fenny" was...I had no idea...she says "Well, it's English." I finally got that she meant FANNY! Those little differences in pronunciation really do make all the difference in the world (literally). We had a good laugh, and what is better therapy for the soul than that?