WINSTON CHURCHILL - To Table or not to Table... That is the question!

Wikipedia has this excellent article on the differences between American and British English.

In his history of the Second World War, Winston Churchill records that differences in the interpretation of the verb "to table" caused an argument between British and American planners. The British wanted a matter tabled immediately because it was important, and the Americans insisted it should not be tabled at all because it was important. In British English, the term means "to discuss now" (the issue is brought to the table), whereas in American English it means "to defer" (the issue is left on the table).

Stuff likes this comes up every week for me. Being British in America can certainly throw you a googly once in a while (i.e, curveball).

I first read about this "table" issue when reading Winston Churchill's EXCELLENT six volume history of World War 2. If you have plenty of reading time, this is a fascinating insight from the very heart of the conflict. The first volume especially (The Gathering Storm) is a harrowing tale of how Germany re-armed and how Churchill was desperate to get back into office to tackle the problem. It was the basis of the recent BBC/HBO docudrama of the same name which I enjoyed very much. The film featured a rare post-retirement appearance from the much missed Ronnie Barker as Churchill's butler.


This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "American and British English differences".