What's in a Word 2: Cutlery

So, as part of the course here we have to do what is called M1 (confusingly also the name of the Visa I'm here on!).

M1 is basically seven hours a week of work somewhere around the Bible College and/or Conference Centre. There are various positions, from office work, AV, librarians, food prep, bakers, house keeping etc. I am a dishwasher. My shift is from 5am-8am and then 12:30pm-4pm on a Friday.

Basically I'm blaming this one on being tired from this 5 am thing.

It's like week three of dishwashing and I'm downstairs (in the Bible College part of the kitchen). One of the employed dishwashers comes into the back room, where things can be pretty slow and I usually do put backs back there, and asks me to check the silver wear.

I left the dish-room walking in an aimless direction, not sure what exactly I was supposed to go and check. Here's the inner monologue again.

"What did he say to check? Silver wear, what exactly is silver wear and where would I find it? What could silver wear mean? It's hardly silver polish, there's no silver down here... What about something you physically wear? Yeah... that could be it..."

Okay, so pause inner monologue a second. In the kitchen in CCBC/CCCC we have various coloured aprons, each apron colour is indicative of a different department in the kitchens. For example, green is the colour of dishwashers. There is also brown, black and white stripped, black, red and blue aprons. Back to inner monologue.

"There are various coloured aprons upstairs, maybe that's what he's talking about. Maybe some team is coming on shift soon and they wear the silver aprons, and so the dish team have to get the silver aprons ready for them to wear. That makes sense. I'll go and check the silver wear."

So, I went upstairs, walked through the kitchen to the entrance to the kitchen where the aprons are kept and checked for silver ones. There were none. I went back downstairs and informed whichever particular shift lead it was that day that there was no silver wear. He was a little shocked and handed me some forks and knives to put out.

That's the moment I realised my mistake. He meant cutlery when he said silver wear. I didn't think he meant cutlery because it's stainless steal, not silver... completely different element America!

American Words 2, Wavey 0.

But American Names 0, Actual English names 1.