Sprechen Sie Englisch?

Last night I was talking to an English flatmate in the kitchen about girls, and she said, "Yeah. They really put a spanner in the works." (I'm italicizing her words to emphasize her English accent) I gave her a confused look, so she repeated herself several more times. Finally, I said, "I don't understand what you're saying." "You know. They put a spanner in the works. It's a really common phrase. Have you not heard of it?" "A what in the works?" "A spanner. You know what a spanner is, right?" "No." "It's something you turn to make something work. Do we need to get Remy in here to translate?" (Remy is a Swiss flatmate whose parents are English and American) When she made this explanation, I first thought she was saying something positive about girls, but I still didn't understand 'spanner.' She asked, "Do you not call it a spanner?" "Do you mean a wrench?" "I guess, but when you put a spanner into a cog, it messes it up." "A cog?" "You know, those round things with teeth that turn and make other cogs turn. They're in watches." "Do you mean gears?" "Well, I guess." "So you say they put a wrench in the gears?" "That took way too long to explain."

So last night I learned that "spanner" is a British word for "wrench." I'm still surprised by the small differences between American and British English. At least she doesn't call "soda" "pop." Or maybe she does... I'll have to investigate that.