One thing I have learnt in my many years going back and forth to the US, is that there are some very big differences in the way we speak!
I thought it would be fun to compile a list of the things I could think of from the top of my head.
To begin with, here's some vocabulary that is completely different:
Trousers - pants
Pants - underpants / underwear
Jumper - sweater
Chips - fries (fries to us are still fries though)
Crisps - chips
Courgette - zucchini
Aubergine - eggplant
Plug (electric) - outlet
Plug hole (bath) - drain
Tap - faucet
Bumbag - fanny pack
Aluminium - aluminum
University - college
Badge (one with a pin) - button
Petrol - gas (gasoline)
Lorry - truck / tractor trailer
Four by four - truck
People carrier - van
Camper van - RV
Manual transmission - stick shift
Holiday - vacation
Bank holiday or national holiday - holiday
Sweets - candy
Chocolate bar - candy bar
Candy floss - cotton candy
Mobile phone - cell phone
Rubbish - trash / garbage
Bin (as in rubbish) - trash can / garbage can
Rubbish man - garbage man
Rubbish truck - garbage truck
Postman - mail man /lady /person (in the UK postman doesn't always define wether they are a man or not, just like human)
Post - mail
Letters (plural only) - mail
Voucher - coupon
Soft drink / fizzy drink - soda or pop (regional)
Icing - frosting
Duvet - comforter (I'm still not even sure about this one!)
Autumn - fall
In line ("I'm waiting in line") - on line
Queue - line
Till - cash register (or just register)
Bank note - bill
Bill (in a restaurant) - check
School year / year group - grade
Woodwork / workshop / DT - shop
Maths - math
Fag (slang but commonly accepted) - cigarette (yes, I'm serious!)
Crash (mainly as in car crash) - wreck ("car wreck")
Christmas decoration (one that is like a figure, plastic, glass etc; for a Christmas Tree) - ornament
Lametta - tinsel
Tinsel - garland
Money box - money bank (or just bank)
Biscuit - cookie (our cookies are still cookies also)
Camcorder - video camera (we use video camera too)
Toilet (as in "I'm going to the toilet") - restroom or bathroom
A toilet cubicle in a public toilet - stall
Loo or bog - toilet/restroom etc
Hash key (on a phone) - pound sign/key (not to be confused with the British pound)?
Full stop - stop or period (no, for those wondering, a comma is still a comma, not a half stop!)
Exclamation mark - exclamation point
Speech mark(s) - quotation mark(s)
Trainers - sneakers or tennis shoes (I think actually sneakers and tennis shoes are slightly different styles in the US, but in the UK, they are all trainers)
Shopping trolley (or just trolley) - shopping cart (or just cart)
Loft - attic (although, we do say attic too. Loft to us is more in a regular house, with a hatch. An attic would be more like in a huge house that has a staircase leading up to it)
Lift - elevator
Pudding or afters - dessert (dessert is quite common in the UK too though. In the US, pudding is more specific, and more like mousse - like chocolate mousse for example)
Shopping centre or precinct - mall (in the US they also have strip malls, which to British people would sound funny, as we have no nearest equivalent. The best I can describe would be a shopping plaza, I think. A precinct would be a local police department in a city)
Nursery or reception - kindergarten
Primary school (infants and juniors) - elementary school (although elementary school ends a bit earlier, and US kids go off to middle school - see below)
Secondary school - middle school and high school (in a lot of the US they separate out the years and have three schools to attend)
Cheers - thanks
Alright? (as a greeting) - how are you? (definitely not asking if you've injured yourself!)
A&E - ER
Driving license - drivers license
Spelt - spelled
Dreamt - dreamed (I know Americans also use dreamt, but it seems less common)
Cinema - the same, but Americans also use 'movie theater' a lot, whereas we don't
Pictures (mainly old fashioned, but still in use. I guess it comes from picture house/moving pictures) - cinema
Elasticated - Americans don't have a separate word for something having having elastic, it's just simply elastic. For example, we would say elasticated trousers, Americans would say the pants have elastic.
Paracetamol - I think this is like Tylenol, but I could be wrong! Mainly for headaches and mild aches and pains
Tablet or pill - drugs or medicine
Medicine (to us usually fluid) - medicine
Washing - laundry (though we do say this too. Similarly, washing basket is laundry basket)
Washing up - the dishes ("let's do the washing up", "let's do the dishes")
Dressing gown - bathrobe
Settee - couch/sofa
Hay fever - allergies (but allergies are also allergies!)
Hoover - vacuum cleaner
Torch - flashlight
Diversion (when driving) - detour
Detached house - a single home, with no adjoining property
Semi-detached, mid-terrace or end of terrace house - town house
Interestingly the word house on its own in the US usually means a detached home, but in the UK is interchangeable with any type of home
Motorway - nearest equivalent for the type of road would be a freeway or an interstate. A highway in the US could be equivalent to a UK 'A' road.
Back garden (often just garden) - yard or backyard
Call in sick - call out sick
Phone, as in "I'll phone you" - "I'll call you"
Toilet roll - toilet paper (we use this too)
Single bed - twin bed (I never get this one - twin means two!)
Physiotherapy - physical therapy
The Hokey Cokey - the Hokey Pokey
Boot (car) - trunk
Bonnet (car) - hood
And this is something that we don't even have in British English:
1st year of high school and college are called freshman years
2nd year high school and college is sophomore
3rd (which is the last) year of both is called senior year
Accordingly, a student can be a freshman, sophomore or a senior.
Confused yet?
Words that are spelled almost the same, but not quite (although they all sound the sane either way):
Mum - mom
Collectable - collectible
Labour - labor
Harbour - harbor
Colour - color
Valour - valor
Theatre - theater (though this can vary)
Centre - center
Cheque - check (only as in monetary form. We would still use check if we were saying "check that off the list". In British English the idea is that there is a clear difference between a cheque and checking something)
Pyjamas - pajamas
And to be totally confusing, words that are spelled the same, but are spoken not just with a different accent, but actually sound like different words!
Parmesan - British English parmeSAN, American English parmeJARN (I can't exactly describe how it sounds in American English)
Fillet - British English filLET (said exactly as spelled, basically), American English filLAY (like from the French pronunciation)
Caramel - British English carAmel, American English carmel (the middle 'a' disappears)
Ferry - British English fErry, American English sounds like fairy. Ferry and fairy are indistinguishable in the US
Most words with a middle 't' - British English, for e.g. butter in American English would sound like budder to a British person.
There are many more with the 't' thing, too many to list!
There are undoubtedly hundreds more examples of language differences, and even as I was editing this to publish, I thought of more. I'll post more in another blog when I have big enough list again!
Dan.
