English vs. American

McMourning wrote:English: round-about
American: traffic circle

Razorblade_Saint wrote:And also, I'm not sure of this one. I've never heard a roundabout referred to as a traffic circle. I always thought traffic circle was the politically correct term.

Insanityabounds wrote:So I guess new Zealand English is really messed up.

McMourning wrote:Okay, these aren't different spellings, just a preference of word choice.

In England: tube
In America: subway
In other English speaking countries: metro
I thought the metro was French?

English: Biscuits
American: Cookies
(This one confuses Americans, I've noticed.)
Interestingly, we have biscuits AND cookies in Britain, and they're slightly different things. Cookies are yummier.

English: tin (of soda)
American: can
Actually we have 'cans of pop(soda)' or 'cans of cola' or whatever. A TIN is what you get baked beans in. And it's fairly interchangable--I often call 'tins', 'cans'.

English: sweets
American: candy
If you ask me, they're the same thing...
They ARE the same thing, but we never use 'candy', except for in 'candy floss', with you guys call 'cotton candy'. Candy floss sounds way better. :p

English: cross-roads
American: intersection
Also 'junction', depending on the type is it ...

English: Chips
American: fries

English: Cinema
American: Movies
Do you guys call them 'move theaters' then? I never thought that the word 'cinema' wasn't used at all ...

Also, we call 'movies' 'films'.

English: engine
American: motor
It depends what context you're using it in. It's only an engine if it's in a car or machine or something, if it's, say ... a fan, it's just the fan motor.

English: Daft
American: Crazy
Although, I use mad...
I can't remember the last time I head anyone use 'daft'. We use 'crazy', 'mad', 'insane', 'nuts', and many other words. It tends to change with phases.

English: Berk
American: Fool
Holy chocolate I've never heard anyone call anyone a berk, nuless it was on a cheesy American show with a stereotypical Brit. Again, we use many words. 'Idiot', 'fool', 'moron', and others that aren't suitable for me to type here. :p

English: Clever Dick
American: Smart Aleck
Never heard anyone say 'clever dick' either, actually maybe once ... anyway, it's been thoroughly replaced with 'smart Alec', because 'clever dick' is a lot ruder.

English: Accident Department
American: Emergency Room
Wrong. It's 'A&E', or 'accident and emergency' or the 'A&E department', or 'accident and emergency department'--but usually only if you're already at the hospital.

English: Vicar
American: minister
I'm not sure if that isn't a regional or denominational thing, rather than a UK/US difference

English: beastly
American: unpleasant
XDXDXDXDXDXD Do you read a lot of Enid Blyton or something, because half of these are horribly outdated. 'Beastly' went out in the 1950s, I think. I also suspect that most US people don't go around saying 'yes, it was unpleasant'. How about 'nasty', or 'horrible', y'know, normal words that don't make you sound like a stuck-up ass?

English: Chemist
American: Druggist
We also use 'Pharmacist'

English: Bobby
American: Police
I'd consider Bobby to be slang, not the actual word for policeman.
Hardly anyone calls them 'bobbies' anymore. Nor do we call them 'peelers'. It's generally either the police, the cops, or the coppers. There are probably other names too.

English: Bathe
American: Swim
That's where the word bathing suit comes from...
Again, really old-fashioned. Nobody 'bathes' anymore, they swim.

There's also a whole bunch of spelling ones (ou versus o and s versus z), or like theater versus theatre. But, I'm not going to get into those. It's easier just to type your piece and then send it through a English or American spell checker, if you're planning on publishing it in another country.

Imelda wrote:I thought the metro was French?
It's one of those words that is used in several languages: English, French, Spanish.

I'm not sure if that isn't a regional or denominational thing, rather than a UK/US difference.
I didn't realize we were just talking UK/US. I thought is was American versus non-American.

Again, really old-fashioned. Nobody 'bathes' anymore, they swim.
I'm just saying that's why we call it a bathing suit not a swimsuit.

Do you read a lot of Enid Blyton or something, because half of these are horribly outdated. 'Beastly' went out in the 1950s, I think. Well, they're important to know if you're writing a piece that takes place in the 1950's or earlier.

I also suspect that most US people don't go around saying 'yes, it was unpleasant'. How about 'nasty', or 'horrible', y'know, normal words that don't make you sound like a stuck-up ass? No, of course we don't say that. But, I'm pointing out that is what beastly means, since in America it is awesome or "the best" (That ride was beast, for example).

Generally you'll have been published in your own first, and by that time you qualify for an editor or whatever to do it. No, they are plenty of books that are published outside their country of origin. Novists do it just to find someplace to start.

Imelda--correcting Americans on English terms since 2005.
:lol:Why don't we just agree to disagree, instead of turning this into a debate thread.

McMourning wrote:I didn't realize we were just talking UK/US. I thought is was American versus non-American.

KazSmurf wrote:Nope, the thread is 'English [ie. British English] vs. American.'