American and British words and expressions

[tansy]

British people have no doubt picked up a lot of American words.

But which words and expressions do we use either differently (for example, sorry, only one springs to mind at the minute, but Americans have the name 'Randy', but here it means being sexually excited - can't imagine anyone here naming their child that, though I may be wrong) or we simply use different words for the same thing?

For example, on a road, we'd say 'bend', but I think Americans say 'curve'?

We say pavement, Americans say sidewalk.

Do Americans say 'bloke' or 'chap' colloquially for 'man'?

I've noticed also when an American shop (store?) want some staff they seem to advertise in their windows 'Help Wanted'. But in Britain we would put 'Shop Assistant Wanted', or 'Sales Assistant Wanted'.

Can you think of any other examples?

 

[tansy]

Years ago, where my husband worked, there was a chap from somewhere like Alabama or N Carolina, and they were at a Christmas work's party. One bloke asked him if he wanted another drink, and the Americn drawled 'Oh yes, I'll have a mu-u-ule's ea-ea-rful'.

 

[Darkhorse]

In the U. S., "fanny" means "butt" or "bottom";

In the U. K., it means...another body part (of women) on the other side.

 

[Darkhorse]

Randy is indeed a male name here, short for Randolph.

And I've never heard an American say "bloke" or "chap" when referring to a man.

 

[tansy]

In the U. S., "fanny" means "butt" or "bottom";

In the U. K., it means...another body part on the other side.

Oh yes, I think I may have heard that one..some room for confusion there!
That's the thing isn't it sometimes? I read a book years ago where (and if I remember rightly) a British minister or preacher or something went and stayed in an American family's house whilst he was over there to preach or whatever. Anyhow, he said to the husband 'your wife's very homely' He couldn't understand why the person was offended, because apparently 'homely' in America means something like 'plain' or 'ugly', whereas in Britain it means more like 'comfortable', 'cosy', 'pleasant'..he'd meant it as a compliment!

 

[tansy]

Randy is indeed a male name here, short for Randolph.

And I've never heard an American say "bloke" or "chap" when referring to a man.

No, I thought I'd never heard it on American films

 

[Darkhorse]

"Pavement" over here can be any type of artificial ground-cover using stone, such as cement (used for sidewalks), "blacktop" or "McAdam" (a slurry of small stones in tar) used for roads, or others.

 

[Darkhorse]

No, I thought I'd never heard it on American films

I've known several Randys - and they were!

 

[Darkhorse]

Yes, "homely" means unattractive...

"Domestic" would probably match your meaning.

 

[tansy]

"Pavement" over here can be any type of artificial ground-cover using stone, such as cement (used for sidewalks), "blacktop" or "McAdam" (a slurry of small stones in tar) used for roads, or others.

Ah yes, we call it 'tarmac', short for 'tarmacadam', after the person who invented it I believe (unless it's actually a concrete road which we do get sometimes). Obviously that's why you call it 'McAdam'

 

[tansy]

Yes, "homely" means unattractive...

"Domestic" would probably match your meaning.

Yes, the British person who said it really did mean it as a compliment...I think he was trying to say that she was a very comfortable, pleasant hostess with a very nice home or something. So easy to put one's foot in it isn't it, with misunderstandings?

 

[Chesterton]

Do Americans say 'bloke' or 'chap' colloquially for 'man'?

No, we don't.

Can you think of any other examples?

There's a word you use for cigarette which I'm not sure I can even type on CF. It starts with "F" and means a male homosexual over here. When I was young it was very common to insult your friends with that word whenever they did something stupid, but these days the "powers that be" say it's verboten.

Years ago, where my husband worked, there was a chap from somewhere like Alabama or N Carolina, and they were at a Christmas work's party. One bloke asked him if he wanted another drink, and the Americn drawled 'Oh yes, I'll have a mu-u-ule's ea-ea-rful'.

I've never heard of that one.

In the U. S., "fanny" means "butt" or "bottom";

In the U. K., it means...another body part (of women) on the other side.

I've heard that American tourists sometimes wear "fanny packs" when they're walking around, but they get stunned looks when they call them that.

 

[tansy]

Yes, that word beginning with 'F' has also been used over here with that other meaning...but a [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse] is also a kind of meatball. there are also faggots of wood. '[bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse]' was also used in public boarding schools here decdes and decades ago, meaning a younger pupil who would do jobs for an older pupil, such as cleaning their boots, making them toast or whatever.

 

[tansy]

You're right , they wouldn't let me post the word, even though it has perfectly legitimate meanings that are not disrespectful to anyone.
Stupid thing is that if one were to call someone a '[bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse]' that has exactly the same meaning as the shortened version which they censored. So really they ought to censor the unabbreviated word too. Although, as I said both versions have perfectly legitimate meanings and not currently taboo unless one were to use them derogatorally (sorry, misspelt)

 

[tansy]

And now, that's the weird thing, they didn't censor the word starting with 'f' and ending in 't' in my previous post, but now they have! Aaargh!

 

[Chesterton]

there are also faggots of wood.

I heard once that it was related to the Italian word "fascist", also meaning a tied bundle of wood.

Y'all say "petrol" for "gasoline" don't you?

 

[tansy]

Yes, petrol it is

Was going to post a link for Oxford English dictionary on meaning and etymology of that word starting with 'f' and ending in 't', but can't seem to figure out how to do it. Anyway, it was quite interesting if one goes into it .
Could have copied and pasted, but wasn't sure if that would breach copyright or anything, so thought better not

 

[rebornfree]

I'm a Brit who's visited the US a couple of times and I've noticed "line" instead of "queue", "john" instead of "loo" and "elevator" instead of "lift".

 

[tansy]

It makes me chuckle when on American films I see a pedestrian light on green and it says 'walk'. In UK it simply has a simple 'picture' of a man walking.
I suppose it amuses me because I subconsciously think, why don't they just put 'go' instead of 'walk'. Is one not allowed to run or crawl (inadvisable I do realise) or jog...or is one constrained to merely walking? I'm afraid that I do have this rather awful habit sometimes where I want to kind of work out the nitty-gritty or think 'that doesn't quite make sense'...and go through all the ramifications and different ways of looking at things..especially when sometimes things can be taken too literally LOL. Maybe it's a sign of age and where a lot of things can drive me mad if I take too much notice, especially when it's something one can't do anything about. At least not easily. (Not that I'm implying you should change your traffic lights or street signage lol...nothing to do with me!!

 

[Darkhorse]

Actually, many newer intersections in the U.S. have incorporated the "walking person" picture, and traffic signs without words (symbols only) have become much more common over the years.

Lots more of non-English speakers now.