Shroffs, flats and lifts

"As;lkj werpo iuxz awer lkj adsf;alkdfj..."

I puzzle over it for a minute and then give in and just deliver one of my raised eyebrow looks. [Picture the one most commonly seen after a pop culture question/reference.]

"Ah, there you go again. When you don't know what I'm saying, you just fall silent, don't you?"

I have to admit, it's true. My questioner is one among many in our program that are from the UK, but the single person I find the most difficult to understand. Perhaps it's because he speaks rather quickly (I know, who am I to complain...) but I think namely because he uses many phrases/terms that are completely unfamiliar to me. Talking to him and the others is good practice though, I suppose. The North Americans in our group consider daily whether we want to wage the cookie-biscuit debate or whether we should throw our rubbish in the bin or our trash in the garbage can. It took me years before I finally converted from pop to soda but if you asked me what I did last weekend, I would tell you I went flat hunting. Flats, lifts, biscuits, lorries, having the Queen on the money... I've been able to take the leftover British-isms here in stride for the most part. But seriously now, how many people know what a shroff is??

(And no -- no luck securing a flat as yet. The search continues...)