If you want to learn about vocabulary differences between British and American English this is the post for you! I have written about differences in British and American English in previous posts, but I recently came across another great review of some vocabulary differences between British and American English I wanted to share with you today.
The following pictorial* review comes to us from Bigstock (a company that sells pictures) so there are wonderful pictures to illustrate the different uses of these various words which you can see by clicking here.
Bigstock’s picture post gives a great visual review of how these words are used differently, but in this post I am going to provide the written definitions of these words (as pictured here) and how they are used differently in America vs. Great Britain.
Let’s begin…
jumper
American English: a person about to jump, often associated with a person about to commit suicide by jumping off something far off the ground
British English: a sweater
trainer
American English: a person who trains people or animals, such as a gym trainer
British English: tennis shoes or running shoes
pants
American English: trousers, long pants
British English: underpants, underwear
bird
American English: an animal with feathers that flies
British English: a young woman
bog
American English: wet muddy soft ground
British English: the bathroom
rubber
American English: a condom (slang word)
British English: an eraser
braces
American English: supports on the teeth used to straighten the teeth
British English: suspenders, an article of clothing used to hold pants up
trolley
American English: a vehicle that runs on tracks and is powered by an electric cable
British English: a cart with wheels
chips
American English: thinly cut and fried potatoes that are very crispy
British English: potatoes cut into strips and deep-fried
coach
American English: a person who teaches or trains athletes
British English: a bus
biscuit
American English: a type of bread that is flaky and buttery
British English: a cookie
shag
American English: a type of carpet with long yarn pieces
British English: sexual intercourse (a slang word)
dummy
American English: a model or replica of a human being
British English: a pacifier, a small piece of rubber that babies suck on
lift
American English: (v) to pick up or raise
British English: (n) an elevator
hooker
American English: a prostitute, a woman who sells sex
British English: a rugby player (the name of a specific position on a rugby team)
flannel
American English: a type of material made of wool or cotton that is often used to make warm shirts or pajamas
British English: a washcloth or towel
football
American English: the American football game
British English: soccer
hamper
American English: a large basket with a lid used for laundry
British English: a small basket with a lid that is used for picnicking
vest
American English: a close-fitting sweater with no sleeves or collar that is usually worn over another shirt
British English: an undershirt
*pictorial = expressed in pictures
Comments:
Hilary:
I run a transcription company and the differences between the Queen’s English and American English is a real problem. We receive audio dictation which we are then required to convert into a typed document via our transcription service. However, being British, when typing the document we naturally use proper Queen’s English spelling. When we return the transcribed document to our client they open it in Microsoft Word and see almost every other word underlined in red to indicate a spelling error! Our spelling is perfect, but it does not look good, particularly when the client may be situated outside of the UK and unfamiliar with proper English spelling.
The most annoying part of this story is that when using Microsoft Word the user is presented with the option of selecting “American English” or “International English”. I wonder if it ever occurred to the people at Microsoft that the clue to the provenance of the word “English” is in the word itself which is quite evidently derived from the word “England”!
gabriele:
@Hilary Hilary,
Thank you for sharing how the differences between American English and Queen’s English (or British English) is a problem not just for ESL learners, but also native speakers.
-Gabriele
Tom Goodwin:
Gabriele,
Enjoying your blog and TheTalkList is following it on our Facebook page. Thank you for putting together these explanations as it helps our ESL students better understand American and British usage of common words.
Tom Goodwin
CMO, TheTalkList