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American / British English

Secret Chief

Secret Chief

Veteran Member
I'm constantly amazed at the differences between American and British English. It seems like two different languages sometimes, how do we manage to communicate?

Share your examples here!

To get the ball rolling here is a new article describing British words that have migrated to the US (thought it was one way traffic!)

BBC News - 30 of your Britishisms used by Americans
 
Secret Chief

Secret Chief

Veteran Member
This could be a very educational thread!

Our American boss said he is going to 'reach out' to us. I think he meant send an email. Anyway, the reaction was just mass nausea...
 
Alex_G

Alex_G

Enlightner of the Senses
Ah there are so many! We call 'potato chips' 'crisps', and chips is our word for 'fries', but mostly its referring to thicker cut ones, sometimes calling the thin ones 'French fries'.

The spelling gets on my pip a bit too, 'color' and 'colour', 'honor' and 'honour' etc. It should have a 'u' in it!
 
Revoltingest

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
So.....how much is a "billion" in the UK these days?
Is it still a million million, or have they come to their senses?
 
oldbadger

oldbadger

Skanky Old Mongrel!
Revoltingest said:
So.....how much is a "billion" in the UK these days?
Is it still a million million, or have they come to their senses?
Click to expand...

Yep....thousand million, the same as you lot.
But only last week I had to check up on an astronomical billion, which I was told is the same as the banker's billion.:yes:
 
Breathe

Breathe

Hostis humani generis
Father Heathen said:
"Fanny" in the U.S. is a word for butt, whereas in the U.K. "fanny" means vagina.
Click to expand...

I still remember first hearing that for the first time. My brother's wife (an American) said "You hurt my fanny when you smacked it last night".

I have to admit, I still find that funny.



Another British English is a particular type of food, that I can't write because of the stupid word filter.

*******. As in "******* and chips".

reboQ.jpg

Yes, they exist. They're also disgusting in my opinion, but some people love them.
 
sandandfoam

sandandfoam

Veteran Member
Neither the Americans nor the British speak English. They butcher it.

If you want to hear English you must listen to the Irish :D
 
Valjean

Valjean

Veteran Member
Premium Member
American English is just more conservative than the faddish British version, with all their newfangled expressions and simplified grammar.

We still retain grammatical number ("the team was defeated" vs "were defeated") and the distinction between got and gotten. We still retain the rhotic 'R'. We've even been heard to use subjunctives.
 
Breathe

Breathe

Hostis humani generis
Seyorni said:
American English is just more conservative than the faddish British version, with all their newfangled expressions and simplified grammar.

We still retain grammatical number ("the team was defeated" vs "were defeated") and the distinction between got and gotten. We still retain the rhotic 'R'. We've even been heard to use subjunctives.
Click to expand...
That's not conservative; y'allz just rednecks. :p

But that's okay. I'm an urban redneck. :D
 
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