OK, this is going to be a strange mix.
WHAT DO YOU CALL:
1. A body of water, smaller than a river, contained within relatively narrow banks.
A stream.
2. What the thing you push around the grocery store is called.
A trolley or a cart. Depends if the back wheels swivel or not…
3. A metal container to carry a meal in.
I suppose a lunchbox? I never had a metal one.
4. The thing that you cook bacon and eggs in.
A frying pan.
5. The piece of furniture that seats three people.
A couch, a sofa or a settee.
6. The device on the outside of the house that carries rain off the roof.
The gutter and the drainpipe.
7. The covered area outside a house where people sit in the evening.
The patio, but it’s not covered. Maybe the back porch or the verandah. These are learned terms though.
8. Carbonated, sweetened, non-alcoholic beverages.
Soda. Soft drinks if I’m distinguishing from alcoholic.
9. A flat, round breakfast food served with syrup.
A pancake.
10. A long sandwich designed to be a whole meal in itself.
Probably a baguette. Or a sub.
11. The piece of clothing worn by men at the beach.
Shorts? Swimming shorts?
12. Shoes worn for sports.
Trainers.
13. Putting a room in order.
Tidying.
14. A flying insect that glows in the dark.
A firefly.
15. The little insect that curls up into a ball.
A woodlouse isn’t an insect.
16. The children’s playground equipment where one kid sits on one side and goes up while the other sits on the other side and goes down.
A seesaw.
17. How do you eat your pizza?
With a knife and fork.
18. What’s it called when private citizens put up signs and sell their used stuff?
A yard sale.
19. What’s the evening meal?
Dinner.
20. The thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are?
The basement. And it’s a playroom or den.
21. What do you call the thing that you can get water out of to drink in public places?
A bubbler. (Or an “Alan”).
Heh. A millipede also curls up, but it isn’t an insect either. I don’t know of any insect that does.
That is quite a mix. I though you’d have more strange words for things, but you use my words for most things. Here are some differences, local to my hometown, perhaps:
2. What the thing you push around the grocery store is called.
shopping cart, shopping basket, or basket
10. A long sandwich designed to be a whole meal in itself.
subs, but back home, a prevalent store called “Wawa” made “hoagies” a popular alternate term – just hearing the word makes me salivate 🙂
11. The piece of clothing worn by men at the beach.
bathing suit, though I agree I’m not bathing, and swimming something would be more appropriate (I’ve heard “swimming trunks” used)
12. Shoes worn for sports.
sneakers
13. Putting a room in order.
cleaning/straightening [it] up
15. The little insect that curls up into a ball.
we called them roly polys growing up – never knew they weren’t insects!
17. How do you eat your pizza?
I used to like to eat certain pizza with a knife and fork, especially from local, small pizzerias, with the very thin, somewhat tough crust, little burnt edges here and there, very little sauce, and a bit of flour underneath – everything was always quite powdery in those places
20. The thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are?
I’ve always wanted a basement rec room – they’re one of the most fun places to me – my family interchangeably called our tiny basement ‘the cellar.’
21. What do you call the thing that you can get water out of to drink in public places?
Both of your terms here are completely new to me. I’ve always used water fountain, or in certain company, could be influenced to start calling them drinking fountains.
WHAT DO YOU CALL:
…
2. What the thing you push around the grocery store is called.
A trolley or a cart. Depends if the back wheels swivel or not…
But that’s just what I call what it’s called, you understand. What I actually call it is a secret. 🙂