IX
AMERICAN ENGLISH

On landing in New York, I soon found that
there was some difference between the English
which Americans spoke and that used by the
English. As I arrived on Thanksgiving Day,
there were no cabs to be had ; and I had to get to
my friend's by other public conveyances. I asked
a man if I could find a tram. He seemed not to
undcstand me ; I repeated my question, but again
he did not understand me. Now, I could not
believe my English was so poor that I could not
make myself understood in such a simple question.
But I was soon reminded that I was using the
wrong term, for in America the tram-car is called
street car. I said, therefore, street car, and I was
understood at once. This was my first experience
in American English.