In my second-year linguistics class at UBD today, I was talking about how English varies around the world. To illustrate the differences between UK and US English, I mentioned the car, where we have the following differences (amongst others):
- windscreen (UK) / windshield (USA)
- bonnet (UK) / hood (USA)
- boot (UK) / trunk (USA)
My students pointed out that, in Brunei, the bonnet of a car is at the back, not the front (as in British English); and my colleagues confirmed this.
This surprised me, and it led me to wonder about three things:
- Does the bonnet occur at the front of a car in any other varieties of English?
- Where does this shift in meaning originate from?
- How many other idiosyncratic word usages are there like this in Brunei English?
