English vs. American

My advice is, if you want to know British/American words IN CURRENT USE, don't use the internet, just ask somebody on this site.

McMourning wrote:

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

Well, I'm sorry. I took English as the language not as the people. Therefore it would not be just the UK and US but also Ireland, Puerto Rico, Australia, etc.

Sorry.

Oh, no, I wasn't saying it was your fault. I'm sorry about that. I see what you mean, though.

-Kaz

McMourning wrote:
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.

[/quote]

I'm not disagreeing with you ... I'm saying it how it is. Me Brit, you not. But yeah, I wasn't meaning to imply you didn't know, but the way you put it down could have mislead some poor soul, so I had to clarify. Then a really tall horse got in there somewhere, and I just couldn't help myself ... And that correcting Americans on Uk terms thing ... not just referring to you.

*Steps off block*

Nice talking to you.

Thanks!
I understand you didn't mean just me, but it was important for me to say that I wasn't trying to start a fight.

MM

McMourning wrote:English: Biscuits
American: Cookies
(This one confuses Americans, I've noticed.)

Oh... well that explains a lot.

English: Nappy
American: Diaper

"Nappy". So. English.

English: Rubber
American: Eraser

"Rubber"? Call me immature.

English: Accident (or Casualty) Department
American: Emergency Room

I think I like the way "Casualty Department" sounds better.

English: Chemist
American: Druggist

I've never heard nor used the term druggist, but OK.

English: Bobby
American: Police
I'd consider Bobby to be slang, not the actual word for policeman.

So it's more Bobby vs. Cop than Bobby vs. Police?

English: Football
American: Soccer
Why do Americans call it that anyway?

Yeah, being American, we call a game that involves throwing things "football". What else would be expected?

I've never ever heard the term "traffic circle", either.

English: Bobby
American: Police
I'd consider Bobby to be slang, not the actual word for policeman.

So it's more Bobby vs. Cop than Bobby vs. Police?

No. The English use cop or police and the Americans use police. Bobby is very old slang.

I use "Fuzz" every so often for the police.

Quote:
English: Chemist
American: Druggist


I've never heard nor used the term druggist, but OK.

I've always said pharmacist...

I think you also need to account for regional variations in the US. Would druggist/pharmacist be one? The only one I know of is soda/pop/cola. Which is just weird. Every time I go to NY to visit the family: Do you want a pop? But it's soda...

"Fuzz" is just a weird word.

I think "fuzz" disappeared after the fifties or so (think The Outsiders; I think that's the only place I've ever heard it used seriously)

I think soda is more east coast and pop is more west coast, but that assumption's not based off much.

Well, New York is to the east, and all I hear there is "pop".

I'm currently in central America, I hear "soda" a lot. I used to leave to the west (Nevada), and have some family out there, I believe "soda" is also used?

It'd be interesting to look up the regional difference...

In reply to above, here's a survey compilation: http://popvssoda.com:2998/

Here's a link to a USA todayarticle: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2002-09-12-soda-pop_x.htm

And here's a page about American dialects in general (btw, #80 on the list made me laugh): http://cfprod01.imt.uwm.edu/Dept/FLL/linguistics/dialect/maps.html

Claudette wrote:I think you also need to account for regional variations in the US. Would druggist/pharmacist be one? The only one I know of is soda/pop/cola. Which is just weird. Every time I go to NY to visit the family: Do you want a pop? But it's soda...

Well yes, it's exactly the same in the UK. Roundabouts, for example, are called 'islands' in the Midlands. The North uses different words from the South. It's all so complicated :S

For the police most people in Oban call them "The pigs" XD

Roundabouts? You wouldn't happen to mean traffic circles or rotarys? Seriously, even in America, there are words like rotary/traffic circle/roundabout/island that I don't even know which one to use. I feel rather stupid saying any of them.

Firestarter wrote:I still want to know what the British call a sofa.

I'm not sure if this was mentioned earlier or not, but some people in my family refer to it as a "settee". That may or may not be the word you're looking for.

My mom is from Minnesota and my dad is from East Yorkshire, so I get a pretty weird mix of vocabulary in the house. Just know that a lot of those internet lists list things that are really rare, or completely regional. For example, if we have a packed lunch, in Yorkshire it's referred to as a "pack-up," but I've been told that people who live in the south of England don't say that. A "bairn" is a child, a bread bun is a "bap" and "clarted up" is dirty or caked with material, but others on this site might have never heard or used those words in conversation.

I bought a dictionary of "American English vs. British English" words, and I have to say that there are several that I've never heard of - on both sides.

It's funny - I think that Europe has more dramatic differences than the US in dialogue, and I'm not really sure why. I would think that because of the "melting pot" nature of the US, there would be more cultural pockets in the way people talk. I moved from Tennessee to Texas and I can only think of a couple of phrases that are any different.

Usually I can keep straight what words I'm supposed to use in the respective countries, but the ones that really screw me up are more subtle than things like "trunk" and "boot". Apparently a British billion is more than an American billion, and American drop the s off of words like "towards" and "backwards," which sounds really awkward for me. "Burnt" and "Burned" throws me off as well.

Pushca wrote:

English: Rubber
American: Eraser

"Rubber"? Call me immature.

Yeah, that one has gotten my dad in trouble at work a couple of times. Poor dad. XD XD