Differences Between American and British English

[atreides]

Following a previous discussion. Here is a hort list of some differences between the 2 languages... Hope it helps....

This is an advanced topic for English learners, most people will easily understand both English and the American dialect.

Spelling Differences...
Note: These words are spoken the same (well almost).
The American version is just a 'simplified' version of the British.

American - British

(or and our)
color - colour
favorite - favourite
honor - honour

(ize or ise)
analyze - analyse
criticize - criticise
memorize - memorise

(er or re)
center - centre
meter - metre
theater - theatre

(og or ogue)
analog - analogue
catalog - catalogue
dialog - dialogue

(missing e)
argument - arguement
judgment - judgement

(other)
check - cheque
program - programme
defense - defence
license - licence

(irregular simple past and past participle)
dreamed - dreamt
leaped - leapt
learned - learnt


Different Words
There are many words that are different between British and American English. There are also variations in other dialects of English. Again most people should understand both. (almost). You will find all words in an English dictionary, but different regions prefer to use different words.

Here are some examples...

apartment - flat
argument - row
baby carriage - pram
band-aid - plaster
bathroom - loo or WC
can - tin
chopped beef - mince
cookie - biscuit
diaper - nappy
elevator - lift
eraser - rubber
faucet - tap
flashlight - torch
fries - chips
gas - petrol
guy - bloke, chap
highway - motorway
hood (car) - bonnet
jello - jelly
jelly - jam
lawyer - solicitor
license plate - number plate
line - queue
mail - post
motor home - caravan
movie theater - cinema
muffler - silencer
napkin - serviette
nothing - nought
overpass - flyover
pacifier - dummy
pants - trousers
parking lot - car park
period - full stop
pharmacist - chemist
potato chips - crisps
rent - hire
sausage - banger
sidewalk - pavement
soccer - football
sweater - jumper
trash can - bin
truck - lorry
trunk (car) - boot
vacation - holiday
vest - waistcoat
windshield (car) - windscreen
zip code - postal code


In general, Australia and New Zealand will more likely use the British forms. Canadians may tend towards the American.

[Katherine]

Looking at that list you would find that Australians will use some of the American words (not the spelling) however most Australians would understand either and many definitions are interchangeable over here.

K

[PapaG]

[ThistleWind]

Just learn the core of the English language and you should understand all English speakers (Irish, Scottish, American, British).. even Australian. I had no idea that they called a faucet--"tap" or most of those words for that matter. I wouldn't learn them unless I was visiting England.

[whipback]

I am not positive if you have this up there or not but, Americans use the word silver ware and the English use the word cutters. I believe.

[AMERICA12]

Also in England the slang word for cigarette is fag. But in America this means gay male.

[Хулиганка]

[smithy0]

[ceigered]

Apparently according to my all-knowing chemistry teacher the whole rules with 'ize' and 'ise' are quite complicated, and 'ize' apparently is the old way to write, at least in Australia, and that 'ise' is the gradually more acceptable way to write . And while we Australians speak essentially British English, I would assume that 'ize' use to be the way they spelt things in Britain?
And do you Americans seriously spell 'dialogue' 'dialog'?
Also some additions (Australian colloquial):
(sorry if I repeat some information)

-baby carriage - pram - pusher
-band-aid - plaster - bandage
-bathroom - loo or WC - toilet, lavatory
-cookie - biscuit - In some cases 'cookie' refers to round chocolate biscuits and 'biscuit' refers to plain varieties
-fries - chips - In Australia 'Fries' refers to thin chips, and 'chips' are the larger variety.
-movie theater - cinema - theater, movies
-potato chips - crisps - [cold] chips
-sausage - banger - snag
-sidewalk - pavement - footpath
trash can - bin - [the] rubbish[/b]

Good post, I already know English and I found it informative

[Geneva]

[kidkboom]

sorry for un-timely reply to this thread, but... what's so weird about "dialog?" Formed from Latin root "logo" (word/study) and Latin prefix "dia-" (through, across, between)... the "-ue" ending is not truly a vestige of the Latin language, but rather from one of the many middle European languages it passed through to arrive to us.. If I had to guess, I'd go with French... "-ue" may serve a purpose in French, but in English it is truly an unused, vestigial tail appended to the word... the letters are never pronounced, and in English it is awfully rare to have to use the ending to decline the word differently, as I have (so intensely) struggled with in learning Russian.... so in my opinion, "dialog" is just an easier, more straightforward, modern version of the same word.... For the most part, English (US) doesn't take the liberties other dialects or languages will when sharing etymological concepts from other languages.... Japanese is a language which takes these liberties with almost every word it borrows... If there is (and I'm not saying that there is) a sensible trait to American English, it's the simplicity... in a world where the rigid rules of language are adhered to with great respect, often American English states something so simple as to have its own elegance... like the word "fish"... I've always loved the way this word is used in our language... No matter where you put it or how you use it, it's the same word... it doesn't even have to change going from noun to verb, and even in past tense, it's just "fished" and that's it...

For the most part, this is the concept behind the Americanized English... I have always thought that "armour" looked cooler than "armor," but if they're both phonetically roughly the same (US: "aRRRmrrrrr;" Eng: "aHHRmeh"), why use a "our?" If it's out of respect for the etymological history of the language, I can totally understand, of course... but as far as function is concerned - shrug..

anyway, ignore me - apparently i'm off on tangents today...

[Reagan Republican]

I knew most of the examples, but do Brits really use these?
Sausage - banger (Is that cockney? My mom seems to think it is.)
Truck - lorry
Pharmacist - chemist
Pacifier - dummy (boy, that's an insult to the baby)
Diaper - nappy
Chopped beef - mince

Oh, another one that should be pointed out is 'mother':
British-English
Mum-Mom/Mommy

[svenskjulia]

Hey folks. I just made a member here because I thought this thread seemed interesting, plus that Russian kind of fascinates me.

Being from Sweden, I am no native English speaker. But around 2 years ago, I moved to Ireland where I learned English fluently.

I'm not sure if there is a big difference between British English and Irish English, but I think we tend to use some American words as well.

Like for toilet, we can also use bathroom, and WC. They all make sense.
For biscuit, we can also use cookie. Like ceigered said, cookies are usually referred to round chocolate ones and biscuits are more plain. We also tend to use "crackers" which usually are the salty ones. You get what I mean?
As for the torch, we can also use flashlight. Torch is also referred to the wooden stick on fire.
And we usually say sausage, and not banger.
We also use vacation as well as holiday, and you can use vest here instead of waistcoat.

Of course, this is in a town in Ireland where we go around saying "deadly" all the time. And I'm no prof., just a 14 year old girl.

For mother as well... we tend to use a lot of different words.
Mum - Mum/Mom/Mommy/Mam/Mammy

And to Reagan Republican:
Yeah, I think they use most of them. Nappy, Lorry, Chemist, Mince are for sure. Not that sure about banger though.

I hope my post was kind of interesting.

[timothy57]

Hai

This topic is very interesting.

I really like that I found this post that is interesting.

I will continue coming back to this thread on ... to get any new ideas about this discussion.

[joetraff]

Well said.
Really interesting topic it is.