I have a funny story that involves "blocks". When I first came to the United States of America way back in 1986 I visited Washington DC with a Dutch acquaintance. We were a bit lost and struggling to find a museum (where are the signposts???) so I asked a passerby in my best English accent "Is the museum near by?" Blank stare. "Is it a couple of blocks away?", I persisted. "Whaaat?", was the reply. At this point my friend, Jan, interjected, "I think he means 'blaaacks' ". "Oh, 'blaaaaaacks'!", she replied, " Yes, it's two blaaacks down the road".
The UK and the US -- so near and yet so far. Separated by a common language they say :-)