Canada uses the verb "to table" to mean to place on the agenda, which is the opposite of how it's used in the US, where it means to remove from consideration indefinitely.
Imagine meetings during WW2 with American and British generals, where the Americans proposed an urgent plan, and to which the British enthusiastically responded "Let's table that immediately!"
Interestingly, the UK/US language divide directly led to consequences in the Korean War. When a British general understated the severity of conditions faced by UK troops, an American general took the words at face value and did not provide reinforcements or told him to withdraw. That led to a last stand, where only a tiny fraction of British troops were able to escape. From The Guardian [1]:
"[W]hen the British brigadier reported the position to his American superior in the United Nations joint command, he did so with classic and — as it turned out — lethal British understatement.
""Things are a bit sticky, sir," Brig Tom Brodie of the Gloucestershire Regiment told General Robert H Soule, intending to convey that they were in extreme difficulty.
"But Gen Soule understood this to mean "We're having a bit of rough and tumble but we're holding the line". Oh good, the general decided, no need to reinforce or withdraw them, not yet anyway. [...]
"The programme says: "Any hopes of relief were dashed by an American misunderstanding of British understatement.""
fl7305|2 years ago
_6ywn|2 years ago
"[W]hen the British brigadier reported the position to his American superior in the United Nations joint command, he did so with classic and — as it turned out — lethal British understatement.
""Things are a bit sticky, sir," Brig Tom Brodie of the Gloucestershire Regiment told General Robert H Soule, intending to convey that they were in extreme difficulty.
"But Gen Soule understood this to mean "We're having a bit of rough and tumble but we're holding the line". Oh good, the general decided, no need to reinforce or withdraw them, not yet anyway. [...]
"The programme says: "Any hopes of relief were dashed by an American misunderstanding of British understatement.""
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/apr/14/johnezard
camkego|2 years ago