Americanisms and British...isms?

[JackTHerbert]

Also there are pronounciation differences, for example, Herbs. That's not a silent H for us, but I think it is in America. I also noticed that some car manufacturer names were pronounced different when I went on holiday to America. Hyundai was pronounced Hun-day whereas here it is Hi-yun-die, and Nissan was pronounced Nee-saan whereas here it is Nis-ann. There could be more but they are all the ones I remember off the top of my head.

 

[Slash2x]

British = I couldn't care less (right context - you really could not care less)
American = I could care less (wrong context - you could care less, so you care to some degree)

There's a good book about how phrases and words have changed over the years called 'P.O.S.H' but I forget the authors name, but it emphasises how different countries end up with similar phrases or words which are intended to mean the same thing.

It explains why Americans are the only people in the world to call 'Aluminium', 'Aluminum' due to poor transcripts and general acceptance over many years. I think up until the early 20th century, Americans were on the whole still calling it aluminium. And before Americans dispute this, 'Aluminium' is the accepted IUPAC spelling and it was originally named by a British chemist.

I am an American and I agree. I see peoples names and places every day that are obviously spelled incorrectly from a proper word 100 years ago or more, when the average American was about as literate as a one year old. Hell the term OK was created by an American GENERAL in the army that thought it was an acronym for "All Correct" because he spelled it "Oll Korect".\

 

[Dahni]

I am an American and I agree. I see peoples names and places every day that are obviously spelled incorrectly from a proper word 100 years ago or more, when the average American was about as literate as a one year old. Hell the term OK was created by an American GENERAL in the army that thought it was an acronym for "All Correct" because he spelled it "Oll Korect".\

WOAH.
Seriously? "Oll Korect"? Are you being serious?

That has actually shocked me into submission. That puts a whole new argument forward for why (most, but not all) Americans seem a bit dim to Brits...

 

[Meggiepants]

Americans call a biscuit a cookie.

Likewise their biscuit is what we call a scone.

That confused the hell out of me when I got a McDonalds there years ago.

I dread to think what their scones look like.

Scones are similar to biscuits in the U.S., only biscuits are generally not sweet and not as dense. Scones are dense and tend to vary in size and shape. They come in all kinds of flavors, and are kind of like the upscale donut.

Also, you guys say indicate and we say signal when talking about driving. Indicate sounds much more polite. American's love to punctuate their car signals with non driving related hand signals

 

[Susan Arendt]

I know that what we call a cigarette you would call a term I can not type because it is considered a slur.

Yes it's quite funny when some people say "I'd love to have a fag right now".

i got a box of 20 fags this morning! =D

And that over here, a '******' is a type of meatball aswell...

I have one

Icing (as in the stuff on a cake) in the UK is Frosting in the US...you can actually see the logical connection there...

Actually, we use "icing" and "frosting" here, too. They're actually two different kinds of cake topping.

 

[twistedmic]

I know what Americans call gas (for cars) the British call petrol.

 

[MimsySnark]

One of my buddies told a British military guy that he "could not answer that question without potential punishment of military courts" when he asked if he "wanted to step outside for a quick fag" I laughed so hard I almost fell off my seat.

The American TV show "Arrested Development" played up these differences hilariously in one episode! They showed a flashback of a British soldier speaking to his lady love and he told her when he was lonely, "I'll put a fag in my mouth, and think of you." Then she said, "Oh, Reggie, you're such a pussy!" Because of the different meanings here, the TV station actually bleeped out fag and pussy, though!

OT: So yeah, "pussy" is another word with different connotations. In the US, it's calling someone a very weak man, as well as crude slang for a vagina. While, I believe, in England it means someone who is sweet, like a pussy cat.

 

[JackTHerbert]

I know what Americans call gas (for cars) the British call petrol.

I never understood why they call it gas, for it isn't a gas... Does anyone know where the term came from?

 

[wooty]

Others I guess are

Nappy-Diaper
Dummy-Pacifier
Trainers-Sneakers
Exhaust-Tail Pipe (whether thats just slang, I dont know)
Nursery-Kindergartden (even though its german, but still)
Petrol-Gas

All I can think of at the moment

 

[Slash2x]

I am an American and I agree. I see peoples names and places every day that are obviously spelled incorrectly from a proper word 100 years ago or more, when the average American was about as literate as a one year old. Hell the term OK was created by an American GENERAL in the army that thought it was an acronym for "All Correct" because he spelled it "Oll Korect".\

WOAH.
Seriously? "Oll Korect"? Are you being serious?

That has actually shocked me into submission. That puts a whole new argument forward for why (most, but not all) Americans seem a bit dim to Brits...

I found it on Wikipedia, but I first read it a few years back in a history book.

"Whig opponents attributed OK, in the sense of "Oll Korrect," to Andrew Jackson's bad spelling."

I misspelled his misspelling but same idea.

Think about that the next time you click OK on your computer.

 

[Sovvolf]

A Fag isn't a Cig in America... which caused a lot of confusion when we went to Florida. The look on that 7/11 clerks face when my mum asks for a pack of fags. The look on the young American couple when they heard my mum say "I'm going out for a fag"... classic.

(UK)Poorly educated, mentally Unstable and quite possibly dangerous - (USA) Creationists.
Hahahaha just kidding.

 

[Dahni]

I know what Americans call gas (for cars) the British call petrol.

I never understood why they call it gas, for it isn't a gas... Does anyone know where the term came from?

It is a gas, technically. When they distill it from crude oil, it's in gas form because it's been boiled out of the oil.

 

[Wicky_42]

British fanny = vagina
American fanny = arse.

That one can lead to some horrible misunderstandings.

Wow, ok - that one I didn't know. I guess that explains a lot... lol

 

[Extreme Tazer]

Actually, English people say some of those things:

In American a Rubber is not the thing on the end of a pencil you use to erase mistakes.

Cookies = Biscuits - English cookies are kind of softer biscuits.
Apartment = Flat - Mostly right
Trunk = Boot - Correct
Hood = Bonnet - Correct
Faucet = Tap - Correct
Friends = Mates - We say both in equal proportions, mates is more informal
Can = Tin - A can is what you drink 'soda' (which brits never say) out of. A tin is what you eat baked beans out of.
Make out = Snog - A snog is more like a type of kiss, making out is doing it repeatedly.
Aluminum (pronounced 'ah-loo-min-num') = Aluminium (pronounced 'ah-loo-min-ee-yum) - Correct
Z (pronounced zee) = Z (pronounced zed) - Correct
George Palmer = Drop Dead Sexy - Nah, not in any country [footnote]We love you really![/footnote]

 

[Prof.Wood]

I can only think of two.
Toyota Prius is pronounced differently
Also aluminum foil in America, in England is pronounced Tin foil (guess the comedian who share said this for cookie)

 

[Slash2x]

I know what Americans call gas (for cars) the British call petrol.

I never understood why they call it gas, for it isn't a gas... Does anyone know where the term came from?

It is a gas, technically. When they distill it from crude oil, it's in gas form because it's been boiled out of the oil.

The original term was petrogasoline. Apparently the Brits snagged the first half of the word and we Yanks the second.

 

[KimberlyGoreHound]

I believe that Jelly is something different in America then it is here in the UK, I think what we know as Jelly they know as Gelatin, or something. Their Jelly is more like our Jam. I think...

Jelly is closer to a liquid, as it's a spread made from the extracted juices of the fruit, whereas jam is more solid, because it uses the fruit itself smashed up and spreadable. Or maybe that's just 'cause I'm a Canadian...

 

[JackTHerbert]

I know what Americans call gas (for cars) the British call petrol.

I never understood why they call it gas, for it isn't a gas... Does anyone know where the term came from?

It is a gas, technically. When they distill it from crude oil, it's in gas form because it's been boiled out of the oil.

I suppose, but then couldn't you technically say that everything is a gas? Because if you heat up any element to a certain temperature it will become a gas.
[sub]AC, I'm just being picky now, sorry about that.[/sub]

 

[goldenheart323]

I know what Americans call gas (for cars) the British call petrol.

I never understood why they call it gas, for it isn't a gas... Does anyone know where the term came from?

It's short for "gasoline". Kerosene also gets refined from crude oil, so there's probably some chemistry related reason for the name "gasoline". (Just don't ask me why "diesel" is called what it is.)

 

[Meggiepants]

I believe that Jelly is something different in America then it is here in the UK, I think what we know as Jelly they know as Gelatin, or something. Their Jelly is more like our Jam. I think...

Jelly is closer to a liquid, as it's a spread made from the extracted juices of the fruit, whereas jam is more solid, because it uses the fruit itself smashed up and spreadable. Or maybe that's just 'cause I'm a Canadian...

Nope, sounds about right to me. At least from my memory of what my Gran did when she made the different types.

Except for grape jelly. I think that comes from space.