UK English vrs US English - light thread

amother

Scarlet

Tue, Jun 22 2021, 5:21 pm

I thought of another one
Rota - carpool.
Also we use caesarean rather than c section

Blimey and bloke are quite old fashioned, I dont think you'd find anyone under the age of about 50 using those words

amother

Mimosa

Tue, Jun 22 2021, 5:26 pm

amother [ Scarlet ] wrote:

Lol I can hear that!

amother

Linen

Tue, Jun 22 2021, 5:33 pm

I wouldn't rely on classic children's literature such as Enid Blyton books as being a representative of english culture and language in today's society. They are quite dated and although most children will read them, they bear no resemblance to modern society. Slang changes a lot over the decades. Who nowadays would say something was absolutely ripping or spiffing?

bigsis144

Tue, Jun 22 2021, 5:42 pm

This is bringing back such memories! I had an English roommate in seminary.

Here are some I haven’t seen listed yet:
Serviette - table napkin
Swot - nerd/overly serious student (we got custom sweatshirts made that said SWOT TEAM 😉)
Fringe - bangs
Vest - undershirt (like pants, this mixup would lead to awkwardness if the American was talking about the outerwear)

Last edited by bigsis144 on Tue, Jun 22 2021, 5:45 pm; edited 1 time in total

Brownies

Tue, Jun 22 2021, 5:44 pm

I don't know if this is another difference between US and UK English, but what we call daddy long legs in the UK are not spiders at all - they are insects, also called crane flies.

scruffy

Tue, Jun 22 2021, 5:47 pm

Brownies wrote:

I don't know if this is another difference between US and UK English, but what we call daddy long legs in the UK are not spiders at all - they are insects, also called crane flies.

What I call daddy long legs is a spider like insect with alarmingly long spindly legs. No wings.

(American)

ETA found an article on this, interesting.

https://www.lexico.com/explore.....pider

Brownies

Tue, Jun 22 2021, 5:53 pm

scruffy wrote:

What I call daddy long legs is a spider like insect with alarmingly long spindly legs. No wings.

(American)

ETA found an article on this, interesting.

https://www.lexico.com/explore.....pider

Interesting...much as I dislike the English daddy long legs, I think the American ones look worse! 🤪 Good thing they can't fly at least...

amother

DarkYellow

Tue, Jun 22 2021, 6:06 pm

amother [ Scarlet ] wrote:

I’m in my 30’s, a Brit living in the US for quite a number of years and blimey is one of my fave words! I use it all the time!!!

nechami1

Tue, Jun 22 2021, 6:12 pm

Bugs-creatures or insects
Ladybug-ladybird
You say someone is mad at you that would mean angry at you, mad here means someone is a little crazy
Someone dressing neat to us Brits means dressing smart
Smart to you is intelligent to us
Gas- Petrol
Carriage - pram
Hoisery - tights

amother

NeonBlue

Tue, Jun 22 2021, 6:13 pm

amother [ Catmint ] wrote:

What does "cheeky" mean in British English and is it positive or negative?
And how do you say "it's crazy", referring to a situation that's unexpected or has a lot of problems?
There's also "watch" vs. "look after".

Mischievous Tongue Out

Calling someone mad is like calling someone crazy
Australian here pretty much same is British English

scruffy

Tue, Jun 22 2021, 6:15 pm

amother [ NeonBlue ] wrote:

Mischievous Tongue Out

Australian here pretty much same is british english

Though according to the article I linked a daddy long legs is yet a third species in Australia Smile

amother

DarkYellow

Tue, Jun 22 2021, 6:24 pm

In England they call school crossing guards lollipop ladies. Mind u, that may have changed in today’s world, but when I grew up in England that’s what we called them!!! 🤣

amother

Pansy

Tue, Jun 22 2021, 6:28 pm

amother [ DarkYellow ] wrote:

In England they call school crossing guards lollipop ladies. Mind u, that may have changed in today’s world, but when I grew up in England that’s what we called them!!! 🤣

Yes we still do, or if a man he's a lollypop man 😂 my kids school call him something else, more official sounding. The crossing patrol or something, I forgot now.

amother

Scarlet

Tue, Jun 22 2021, 6:55 pm

amother [ DarkYellow ] wrote:

I’m in my 30’s, a Brit living in the US for quite a number of years and blimey is one of my fave words! I use it all the time!!!

Lol it is a good word!
Truth is, I can think of only one person I know who uses blimey in regular conversation. And my father uses bloke!
I loved enid blyton as a kid, I gave DS9 a bunch to read over the last lockdown and he told me he loves how children spoke in the olden days, they sound so posh Very Happy

but I did have to translate some expressions for him

Has anyone seen the Michael McIntyre show where he discusses British vs American English? Hysterical

amother

Dahlia

Tue, Jun 22 2021, 7:59 pm

amother [ NeonBlue ] wrote:

Mischievous Tongue Out

Calling someone mad is like calling someone crazy
Australian here pretty much same is British English

I always thought cheeky meant chutzpadik!
It interesting, as I was reading I was wondering if Australia vernacular is the same as England, because I recognized alot of the words from my Australian friend.
Also was surprised to see how many British words are used in Canada. I've also seen alot of these words in books. Would american books use British words to sound more sophisticated?

Is cupboard used in England?

Also expressions/ way of speech is somewhat different such as I've got - I have/need.

Fun thread!

amother

Natural

Tue, Jun 22 2021, 8:09 pm

My first year of college I had a British roommate. We had two particularly embarrassing exchanges that we still laugh about now, one where she asked if I had a rubber (she needed an eraser, I thought she was asking for a condom, so yeah, things got a bit awkward there) and then one time I asked her to hand me a napkin as she was standing near a pile of napkins, and she went into the bathroom and came back with a pad LOL

#BestBubby

Tue, Jun 22 2021, 8:15 pm

torch - flashlight

bonnet - hood of car

boot - trunk of car

petrol - gas

wellingtons - rain boots

mad - crazy

green grocer - vegetable store

chemist - pharmacy

football - soccer

cricket - similar to baseball

chips - french fries

crisps - chips

I read a lot of British books growing up.

amother

Puce

Tue, Jun 22 2021, 8:18 pm

amother [ Dahlia ] wrote:

I'm an American in Australia and most of these words are pretty similar, although dh grew up in the UK so sometimes I'm not sure if a word is UK English or Australia English.

Capsicum - pepper
Coriander - cilantro

We also use "reckon" a lot more than we did in the northeast US. I suppose it might be used more in the south.

Aussies like to shorten words to no more than 2 syllables (and nickname things even when they were only two syllables to start with).

Aussie- Australian
Brekkie - breakfast
Avo - Avocado

amother

Molasses

Tue, Jun 22 2021, 8:19 pm

You mentioned the boot, but what about the bonnet!? (eta: that's the hood btw)

I'm still embarrassed years later after I told someone that we just "broke up" - meaning school was out. She must have thought I was being very open about my dating life

Hey, anyone got some tipp ex?

cbsp

Tue, Jun 22 2021, 8:42 pm

For reasons too long to explain here I use a British voice to announce my Waze turns while driving in the USA.

Roundabout vs traffic circle
Roadworks vs construction

And my favorite :

E Zed Pass (as opposed to saying it EZpass)

Last edited by cbsp on Wed, Jun 23 2021, 10:20 pm; edited 1 time in total