Calendars vs. diaries

Donald's diaryI’ve been emailing some friends in the U.K. to plan some get togethers when we visit London. Curiously, all of them have mentioned that they’ve put our visit dates “in their diary,” a British term I’ve completely forgotten and not to be confused with the “Dear Diary, I’ve just met a boy” diary variety, which also does exist in the U.K. (Exhibit A: “Bridget Jones’s Diary.”)

I guess in British terms, a calendar is used to let you know what date it is (they have the same kind of themed wall calendars as we do), but it’s not quite the same as a datebook or whatever device you use to record your comings and goings. Google Calendar in the U.K. may need a renaming…

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Posted on 31, January 2013, in British, Language and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink. 3 Comments.

  1. So true. I’ve had to learn to say ‘planner.’ People look at you very strangely here in the US if you are discussing plans with them and say you will put them in your diary – like they think you are planning some reveal-all exposé in years to come.

  2. It would never have occurred to me that the phrase was particularly British. 🙂

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