American English and British English

[FrancisB]

Whilst watching the numerous American shows on TV, I came across a number of differences between American and British English. For example:

They say 'restroom' or 'wasroom' whereas we call it a 'bathroom.' Also, they call a room with just a toilet and a sink a 'bathroom' even though there is no actual bath.

- They say 'drugs' instead of 'medication.' In Britain 'drugs' is used to describe an illegal substance.

- When they say 'football' they're referring to 'American football.' They call our football 'soccer.'

-For them, 'chips' means potatoe chips i.e. crisps.

Apparently, when people from this country go to America, they're greeted with: 'Can't you guys speak English?'

Can anyone think of any other examples?

[shaneystar2]

Loads ..they say pants instead of trousers and things like diaper for nappies,vest instead of waistcoat and hood instead of bonnet (on a car) .trunk instead of boot and so on .An estate agent is a realtor and why do they call a handbag a purse ?.
The one that always amuses me is "Eggs over easy "..which I presume means flipped over.
This site is quite good
http://esl.about.com/library/vocabulary/blbrit am.htm

[Clanad]

Not bad shaneystar, except "eggs over easy" means, as you say, "flipped" over, but with the yolks still somewhat runny. Other such egg orders could be, "sunny side up" (not flipped, yolks runny), "over hard", (flipped, yolks cooked through), "scrambled". (beaten slightly and cooked). Who was it, Churchill? that said "Americans and English are two closely related peoples seperated by a common language"...

[shaneystar2]

I always thought George Bernard Shaw said that Clanad ..but I may be mistaken
." Eggs over hard "is a new one on me !!
We scramble our eggs too but just say "turned over " if we want them cooked both sides and "sunny side up" is also used here.
♫
How do you like your eggs in the morning ?
I like mine with a kiss
Boiled or fried I'm satisfied as long as I get my kiss !! ♫

It's this purse/handbag thing that I don't understand .
Us ladies use a purse for our money and a handbag for all our worldly possessions ...so what do you call a handbag?

[Llamatron]

They call tramps bums and call bums fannies.
Bum bags are known as fanny packs.

Has me laughing every time.

[Quizmonster]

"England and America are two countries divided by a common language." (George Bernard Shaw)

"We have really everything in common with America nowadays except, of course, language." (Oscar Wilde)

Great minds think alike!

[pingping]

trash instead of rubbish,

this one gets me every time: they say aluminum instead of aluminium - where did the extra 'i' go?

they pronounce 'buoy' as booey!

and on spelling - they write color instead of colour.

and if they say pants instead of trousers - what do they call knickers and pants?

arrgghh!

[Quizmonster]

Re 'aluminium', Pingping, Sir Humphrey Davy - who discovered it - originally called it 'alumium' without an 'ni', before altering it to 'aluminum' without the second 'i'. A British scientific journal then changed it to 'aluminium' (quote) "in preference to aluminum which has a less classical sound." Presumably they wanted it to 'rhyme' with sodium, potassium etc.

However, it has to be said that the man who discovered it called it exactly what the Americans now call it, not what we call it! The "extra 'i'", you refer to didn't go...it came!

[pingping]

oh well, fair enough on the aluminium - sorry aluminum - front!!

[shaneystar2]

Ha ha.. I was indulging my crime novel fetish and in this particular book by Sue Grafton they referred to knickers as "step ins " !!!

[shaneystar2]

And while we are the subject why do they call their gardens "Yards" ..We do gardening ....they do Yardwork .!

[pingping]

any American ABer's out there who want to enlighten us?

[Clanad]

Well, two of my favorite people in the whole world at one taking, the venerable Q and the notably non-Pecksniffian shaneystar... Firstly thanks for the quote clarification, Q, and I hope your mid-winter days are beginning to noticeably lengthen. Ever the romantic, Shaneystar (nice ditty)... here in the U.S., purse to handbag evolution has occurred over the last relatively few years. My mother carried a pocketbook which was a purse/handbag. They are rarely called pocketbooks any more, and handbag is the preferred term. Ironically, my grandfather had a purse... a small leather snap top bag in which he carried small change and loose bills. this was always present in one of the top pocekts of his 'Bib" overalls, always worn by farmers. The one I have a hard time understanding is glovebox. This is the small storage area built into the dash of automobiles in which everything but gloves is carried...Oh well, such are the mysteries of life, no? (By the way, under no circumstances should one enter the words "etymology of purse" in Google and select the third listing unless you're prepared for an eyeopener).

[Clanad]

It appears that we Americans have opted for the original english definition of yard, as seen here from the Merriam-Webster: Pronunciation: 'y�rd
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English geard enclosure, yard; akin to Old High German gart enclosure, Latin hortus garden
1 a : a small usually walled and often paved area open to the sky and adjacent to a building : COURT b : the grounds of a building or group of buildings
2 : the grounds immediately surrounding a house that are usually covered with grass
3 a : an enclosure for livestock (as poultry) b (1) : an area with its buildings and facilities set aside for a particular business or activity (2) : an assembly or storage area (as for dry-docked boats) c : a system of tracks for storage and maintenance of cars and making up trains
4 : a locality in a forest where deer herd in winter

Additionally, women's (ahem) unmentionables are normally referred to as panties if the wearer is either a child or a youngish woman, whereas the term morphs into underwear as the woman ages. In the 1920's they were apparently called "bloomers"... They appear to be best described as missing if one is named Britney or some other equally inane nom de femme...

[pingping]

loving the Britney reference clanad!!

[shaneystar2]

Thats great Clanad !!
You say tomayto and I say tomarto !!

[Buenchico]

I met a guy from Colorado through AB. (He posted some questions about his forthcoming trip to the UK and I ended up meeting him in London to travel with him, on Eurostar, so that I could give him a guided tour of Paris).

Whenever I wrote (or spoke) to him, I tried to remember to use US English (or to explain the British version). However, I still inadvertently used some words which confused him. For example, he had no idea what was meant by a 'fortnight' and he was unfamiliar with 'dearest' being used to mean 'most expensive'.

Chris

[Le Chat]

I think the strangest of all, is the American term for a fringe, as in the short section of hair across the forehead. It's called a 'bang!'
Clanad, if you are still reading this thread....why? Bang doesn't explain anything.

[luna-tic]

A friend of mine told me while working in a supermarket that an American gentleman asked if they sold kwi-chee.My friend replied, "Oh I don't know, I've never heard of that,what is it?".The man said, "It's a sort of flan thing filled with egg and ham and sometimes tomato". My friend thought for a moment and then realised he mean't Quiche.
Some Americans also pronounce place names such as Leicestershire as Lee-cester-shire rather than Lester.

[Clanad]

As I thought, the term "bangs" for the abruptly cut off over the forehead style of ladies haircut is related to the style of horse tail cut that has been around for centuries. In the American Civil War, 1860-1865, several cavalry units all rode horses with this style of tail-cut (is that a word?). So much so that it came to be known as "bang-tailed", which also entered the American lexicon to denote a new or green army recruit. My suspicions were confirmed by Lycos-Q, who says: It appears that in the 1860's, when the horse's tail is cut 'flat' or abruptly across, it is called bangtailed. The hair related expression was recorded near 1870, so the origin seems to make sense.

"Fringe", here in the western U.S. is most often used to describe the strings of leather or other material hanging from typically western clothes, especially, deer or elk skin jackets and coats, seen here ...
This derived, quite obviously, from Native American dress, which had practical benefits of providing useful pieces of string as well as adornment... More than you ever wanted to know, I'm sure...

[Clanad]

We also pronounce the full name of that famous Worcestershire sauce... acquaintences from the U.K. assure me it's Wurstershur or some such...