Americanisms and British...isms?

[Dahni]

I was lying in my bed thinking "I really want some chips". Then I got thinking about how if I said that to American, they'd assume I meant these:

Spoiler: crisps!

Because they're known as chips in America, if I'm not mistaken?

& what I know as chips, are fries in America, I believe, though perhaps not quite the fries they're used to.

I can't think of any more examples of words like this though, and I'm quite curious to see how many different words there are that are used by Brits and taken to mean something else by Americans & vice-versa.

 

[El_Chubba_Chubba]

LAYS!!!! I THINK

 

[Valkyira]

Yeah they aren't called Walkers in the USA, they're called Lays.

 

[Cpt_Oblivious]

Well, having recently had a guy from Colorado stay with me, I can reel off some, English first:

Chips - Fries
Crisps - Chips
Lift - Elevator
Toilet - Bathroom
Trousers - Pants
Jam - Jelly
Tap - Faucet
Garden - Yard
Pound - 1.52 Dollars


There were a few others but I can't think of them right now. There was a group of us and we discussed this stuff a lot.

 

[Cpt_Oblivious]

Yeah they aren't called Walkers in the USA, they're called Lays.

They're only called Walkers in the UK for some reason. Like Opel cars are Vauxhall. And German Shepherd dogs are Alsatians, though that comes from the anti-German policy of the World Wars, like our royal family going from Sax-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor.

 

[Camembert]

Sidewalk = Pavement
Highway = Motorway.

Hm. Can't think of anymore right now either. There are a hell of a lot more, though, I'm sure.

British fanny = vagina
American fanny = arse.

That one can lead to some horrible misunderstandings.

 

[Retodon8]

Well, there are quite a few examples.
Open this Wikipedia article [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_differences], and choose from the box at the top right.

There is also the article on pseudo-anglicisms [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudo-anglicism] which is about incorrectly borrowed English words by non-English speaking countries which is interesting.

 

[Danzaivar]

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.

 

[JackTHerbert]

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...

 

[Camembert]

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...

Jell-O! Or is that a brand name?

 

[Slash2x]

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

Edit: Imagine my surprise when I was asked if I wanted one while stationed overseas.

 

[Eldritch Warlord]

Lift - Elevator
Jam - Jelly

Not very good ones, in the American Midwest jam is more frequently used and throughout the US very large elevators are often called cargo lifts.

 

[Danzaivar]

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

Edit: Imagine my surprise when I was asked if I wanted one while stationed overseas.

Hah yeah, requesting a cigarette in England: 'Scuse me, could I bum a fag off you?'

Can't see it happen in America meself.

 

[George Palmer]

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

Cookies = Biscuits
Apartment = Flat
Trunk = Boot
Hood = Bonnet
Faucet = Tap
Friends = Mates
Can = Tin
Make out = Snog
Aluminum (pronounced 'ah-loo-min-num') = Aluminium (pronounced 'ah-loo-min-ee-yum)
Z (pronounced zee) = Z (pronounced zed)
George Palmer = Drop Dead Sexy

 

[GAME OV3R]

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

 

[Pariah87]

Bonnet(UK) = Hood
Boot(UK)= Trunk
Windscreen(uk)= Windshield
Registration Number(UK)= Liscence Plate.

Also a few brands are the same thing but called different names. Lynx deoderant over here, is called Ax/Axe in the US.

Edit: wow, first time I've been ninja'd. -.-

 

[Megacherv]

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...

 

[Slash2x]

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.

 

[deus-ex-machina]

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.