British English vs. American English. Is There a Difference? Give us your thoughts.
American English vs. British English. What are the differences? This discussion came about as a result of an AC chat box discussion about which Welsh version of the word milk (lleath – South or llefrith – North) you prefer to use. I am not sure that we had much agreement either way. At the end of the day, it can be concluded that while there are some differences in the varying dialects of Welsh (mainly North vs. South), they can understand each other. When I brought up the question of whether or not American English was that much different than British English, Swansea Jack quickly pointed out a number of words used in American English that are different that the word used in Britain (e.g. AE – Truck, BE – Lorry).
After digging a little deeper into the topic, I have identified the following differences.
Words Used:
British English American English
anti-clockwise counter-clockwise
articulated lorry trailer truck
block of flats apartment building
boot (car) trunk
chips fries, French fries
crisps potato chips
flyover overpass
gearbox (car) transmission
lorry truck, semi, tractor
mad crazy, insane
naughts and crosses tic-tack-toe
pavement sidewalk
petrol gas, gasoline
pub bar
rubber eraser
spanner wrench
underground (train) subway
vest undershirt
waistcoat vest
wallet wallet, billfold
wellington boots rubber boots, rain boots
whisky whiskey, scotch
windscreen windshield
zip zipper
Word Spellings:
British English American English
Licence License
Enrolment Enrollment
Fufil Fufill
Cheque Check
Racquet Racket
American English drops “e” from suffix and British English keeps the “e”
British English American English
Ageing Aging
Arguement Argument
Sentence Structure
There are some differences in sentence structure as well. However, I am not all that well versed in the difference. I need some help here.
Nevertheless, share what you know about the differences between British and American English. Do you prefer one over the other? Is one version better than the other. Please comment on the differences that you know exist.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Swansea Jack on
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Good blog, Brett. I'm sure I'll chime in at some point, but have to collect my thoughts. I have been here (in USA) so long (almost 42 years), I sometimes can't figure out if the word (or phrase) I'm about to use is from vestigial BE or from indoctrinated AE !
There are a lot of differences of INFLECTION of words, and also on use of appositional clauses (don't worry, he's a distant British cousin of Santa Claus - who, of course doesn't exist in Britain - there he is Father Christmas) - example to follow. Thirst things first -
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Permalink Reply by mona everett on -
jumper-sweater
car park--parking lot
bonnet--hood (of car)
lift-elevator
zebra crossing--crosswalk
torch--flashlight
soccer--football
nappies-diapers
'be upstanding'--stand up (all rise)
I might think of more, but these are the first ones that popped into my head. I believe there are lists like this on the net already. If you Google them you should find them.
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Permalink Reply by Brett Hull on -
Thanks for contributing Mona!!
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Permalink Reply by Ceridwen Keeley on -
Biscuits - cookies
Shortbread - biscuits
Crumpet - English muffin
Rise - raise (paycheck)
Defence - defense
Offence - offense
"S" in place of "Z" in some words (I can usually rattle a few off but, have a brain cramp.)
British uses more -st words - amongst, amidst, whilst - while American tends to use only the non-st forms: among, amid, while. I hear there's a slight difference in meaning. Don't know what it is.
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Without aid from google, I came up with these (plus a dozen or so already supplied by others):
British American bap bun / roll boots (for football) shoes / cleats braces suspenders brolly umbrella buggy cart (for golf) burberry raincoat cooker stove cutlery silverware dickey-bow bow-tie doiley place-mat drawers underpants dust bin trash can gamp umbrella knickers panties mac(kintosh) raincoat minced (beef) ground (beef) parcel package post-box nmail-box pullover sweater push-chair stroller queue line (stand in/on) range stove / oven rubbish (talk) nonsense rubbish bin trash can runners sneakers rugger rugby serviettes napkins settee sofa settle sofa sideboards sideburns starters appetizers swede rutabaga swede rutabaga sweets candy tinned (foods) canned togs swim trunks togs sports uniform trainers gym-shoes veranda small deck (portico) - by the way, mona - I know you knew, but 'soccer' is the American word for 'football' - not the other way around!
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Permalink Reply by mona everett on
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I was thinking about that gaff as I was trying to go to sleep last night, SJ!
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Permalink Reply by Brett Hull on
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Ceridwen, Thank you for contributing to this topic.
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Permalink Reply by Ceridwen Keeley on
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Went pear-shaped - went bad / turned bad (for a situation)
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More on the British English or American English debate. I wonder if the Hall’s Angels would call it Bringlish?
Pronunciation - a difficult topic given that there are so many different ways of pronouncing certain (most? all?) vowels in various parts of the US – and throughout Britain. Maybe vowel pronunciation should be a topic for a different blog?
British American
Ban-ARN-na Ban-AN-a
Ga-ridge (place to park your car) Ga-rahj
Tom-AH-to Tom-AY-to
ZED (the letter X, Y, Z) ZEE
ZEH-bra ZEE-bra
Aside from vowels, there are these differences in consonant pronunciations:
British American
ISS-ue ISH-ue
SHED-ule SKED-ule
Syllabic stress (may I recommend a sedative to relieve the stress ?)
British American
Alu-MIN-i-um (note the 2nd i) ALU-min-um
Ca-PIL-ar-y CAP-il-ar-y
I believe the British form to be more correct, in these following cases - where the stress is placed on the prefix-syllable; the one that distinguishes or defines the action(s) associated with the remainder of the word(s) – or makes sense when used as another part of speech:
British American
CON-tri-BU-ted Con-TRIB-u-ted [ try contribution ]
DIS-tri-BU-ted Dis-TRIB-u-ted [ try distribution ]
E-LEC-tri-cit-y E-lec-TRI-cit-y [ try electrical, electron ]
Just wrong! Some words are frequently enunciated incorrectly - no matter on which side of the pond they’re said:
1) Sec-et-ry 2) Sec-et-ar-y 3) Sec-re-try [ Sec-re-ta-ry ]
1) Feb-ur-y 2) Feb-u-ar-y [ Feb-ru-a-y ]
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Permalink Reply by Brett Hull on
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Good stuff Jack. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing this information.
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Permalink Reply by Brett Hull on
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I overlooked a fairly modern day term in which the British and Americans differ.
Mobile - UK, Cell or Cell Phone - AE
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Permalink Reply by mona everett on
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And to pronounce 'mobile'--
UK--mo-BY-el
US--Mo-BULL
Alabama--Mo--BEEL :)
One of those sz/swords--organizatio/organisation
Oh, and don't forget:
plaster--bandaid
pudding--??? fruitcake is as close as I can come, but they are not the same thing
jelly--jello (I think)
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