US/UK Dictionary

© Juliana Press 2008

After spending two years in Glasgow, I realized there are a lot more cultural differences between the UK and United States than I anticipated when I first arrived. One of the things I noticed was the ambiguity of certain words thave have very different meanings depending on which side of the ocean you are on, such as “pants”, “rubber”, “fag” and “fanny”. I wanted to use the typographic style and language a dictionary uses to show the difference in the definition of “fanny”, but to also use an image to physically show the ambiguity of the meaning. I cut out of paper a shape that could represent either the British meaning of the word or the American. The definition is used in a way that still leaves the image open to interpretation. I placed the poster in the context of a meeting for international students at GSA that provides a cultural introduction to life in Britain.