What are some differences between American English & British English?

The pronunciation of words we share can also be different. For example, Americans would say LAB-or-tory and the Brits would say La-BOR-atory. Well, at least they would in London.

Sometimes we all use the same word, but it means different things depending on where we are. In the US, “fanny” is a more polite way to say “butt”, however, in the UK, “fanny” means a woman’s, er, front-facing nether bits.

And Brits say “bits” a lot more than we do.

Oh “u” kid.

@aprilsimnel I nomally just say lab…

I’ve heard that the Brits refer to the English we speak in the U.S. as ‘American’ rather than ‘English’. Can anyone confirm?

Singular vs plural verbs.

In American English, if a noun is singular, but refers to more than one item or person, we use the singular verb. In British English, they use the plural verb.

American:
“The class is going to the zoo today”
“The group wants five toys”

British:
“The class are going to the zoo today”
“The group want five toys”

Obviously, differing dialects in the two countries.

There are also some differences in the usage of grammar. Plural nouns are different, verb tenses vary. Instead of saying “hospital patient”, Brits might say “in hospital”. “Student” could be “at university”. Those are some examples, but other grammatical differences exist.

There are various differences in word meanings and vocabulary too. Sometimes I have had difficulty understanding them in our informal conversations.

Differences in the use of the perfect aspect.

A speaker of American English is more likely to say something like “Did you go see your father…?”, whereas a British speaker is more likely to say “Have you gone to see your father…”

The most telling differences are pragmatic rather than grammatical or lexical – there is a stereotype that Americans just don’t get British humour – while this is obviously a generalisation, I’ve noticed that there are certain differences between what is considered an acceptable way to make a joke in British English and American English. Sarcasm is a clear point of departure between the two dialects.

Americans say “You-tube” while Brits say “You-chube”. Americans say “Tom-ay-to” while Brits say “Tom-ah-to”.

American British
trunk (of a car) boot
table (remove from agenda) table (open up an item)
fender bumper
knock on wood touch wood
a new lease on life a new lease of life
tempest in a teapot storm in a teacup
store shop

There is so much more . . .

color vs. colour

realize vs. realise

Thank you-all! Very helpful and informative answers :)

cigarette – fag

There are so many differences that I have collected a list for years, but a minor sampling is dumping the articles “a” and “the” for “at university” and “in hospital”, making math plural “studying maths” and
phone booth call box
studied read
graduated went down
soccer football
dough lolly
gas petrol
hood [car] bonnet [car]
trunk [car] boot [car]
windshield[car] windscreen[car]
margarine oleo [oleomargarine]
diaper nappy
carry-out take-away
bud mate
bangs fringe [hair above the forehead trimmed to stay above the eyes]
to telephone someone: call up[us] ring up[brit]
drop by/knock[on the door-us] [brit]knock up [that makes for mistakes!]
can loo
trash can dust bin
butt bum
ass arse [proper English!]
cig fag [that makes for mistakes!]
parking lot carpark
beater [crappy used car] banger [crappy used car]
tv telly
ad advert
potato chips potato crisps
corn maize
boss guv, guv’nor
officer [policeman below sergeant] constable [policeman below sergeant]
circle rotary roundabout circus
oreo [not black enough] coconut [not black enough]
public housing/project council estate
station wagon estate car also caravan
development/subdivision housing estate
jimmy jemmy
chick bird
apartment flat
pleased chuffed
mail post
cans tins
run [term for damage to pantyjose, stockings, tights] ladder
main street high street [?]
major newspaper [these newspapers have larger size pages than tabloids??} broadsheet
dress [someone] down sort [someone] out
grief aggro
scotch tape sellotape [brand names]
boy [derog] lad [derog][lad also relates to working with horses]
pack of cigarettes packet of cigarettes
fanny pack bum bag
wrench or monkey wrench spanner
row houses terraced housing

One of the biggest differences is with rhoticity . They also call erasers ‘rubbers’ which is hilarious.

interesting… i never know which way to spell grey and this question got me thinking… this is apparently another difference… dictionary goes to “gray” when typing in “grey” but says that (Brit. grey) next to it!

My favorite TV show has taught me many British equivalent terms/phrases:

American English first:

get lost – clear off
back off – steady on
i’ll get it (door) – i’ll go
vest – waistcoat
underwear – pants
piece of ass – bit of stuff
taken a dislike to – gone off
fight/argument – row
cool/great/awesome – monster

(I could be wrong on some of these)

US prep school/private school [high school level]—equivalent to UK ‘public school [which means a private or ‘independent’ school]
US public school is UK grammar school—[ages]
—in UK a ‘prep school’ is a private institution for the junior high school level…
this is very confusing to write.

@anartist

“major newspaper [these newspapers have larger size pages than tabloids??} broadsheet”

Well the difference between tabloids and broadsheet is much more than just larger size pages. Tabloids are focused on the lowest level of news. Also do a lot of coverage of scandals and celebrities and what not. Broadsheets would be more serious news and much more in depth coverage.

@VohuManah About the rubbers, I’ve heard Americans call units “condoms”, short for ‘condominium’, which I find hilarious – can you confirm this?

@FireMadeFlesh Actually it’s short for ‘condiment’.

@FireMadeFlesh Americans are very careful about that since the word ‘condom’ is used here too. “Condos” for owned apartment units —- the only time ‘condom’ is used in this context is in a [usually pretty poor] joke.

@FireMadeFlesh No. We do not call apartment units “comdoms”. The short word for Condominium is “Condo”.

Thanks for clearing that up guys.

Tea – Coffee?

@lloydbird Tea and Coffee are different drinks. The question is asking about spelling, grammar and nomenclature differences.

High tea
In US it is the fancy tea with scones, individual teapots and cucumber sandwiches in the afternoon
in UK high tea is more utilitarian, pedestrian, similar to US dinner or supper and maybe served 5–6 pm
afternoon tea in UK is what US thinks is high tea

Winston Churchill refered to the United States and England as two nations seperated by a common language.
Schedual, which begins with the same sound as Shed, and Schedule, which begins with the same sound as Sked.

@FireMadeFlesh
Oh I see! Thanks for pointing that out.
Faucet – Tap
Band aid – Plaster
Meatball – Faggot

Literal superficiality – Subtle irony ;-)

@LeotCol We make the same distinctions about tabloids in the US. We just do not use thee word ‘broadsheet’—the mainstream papers are just called newspapers, as distinct from ‘tabloids’—however the term ‘broadsheet’ makes sense as the paper is larger and it is folded differently

Some spellings and some sentences difference between American language and British language.

Americans go dumpster diving, Brits go skipping

my favourite of all time
—words ending in ’‘er’’ are pronounced like an ’‘a’’ in british english. e.g brother = brotha

@mistik04 that’s not a difference in the language. That’s simply an accent.

@MrItty – Ok, I thought differences in pronunciation counted also.. oops!