Never ask for a rubber to delete a mistake in an American-speaking environment. In the US, a rubber is a condom. Can you imagine? "Excuse, me. May I borrow your rubber? I made a mistake."
What you should ask for in the US is an eraser.
The word rubber is the British way of asking for an eraser. It refers to the rubber bit at the top of pencil that you can rub away mistakes with.
About the Author and Teacher
Ilene Springer is:
- The ESL teacher for McDonald's in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
- A native-English speaker from the U.S., with an understandable American accent, but also well versed in British English.
- The recipient of the internationally recognized CELTA, issued by Cambridge University, England.
- A teacher of English (American and British) in language schools in Malta from 2009-2014.
- A writer for major American publications including Cosmopolitan, Ladies' Home Journal, The Boston Globe, among others.
- Author of The Diary of an American Expatriate, published by AUK in London, and available on hundreds of sites, including Amazon.com.