List of American English vs British English words

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ASPartOfMe
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20 Dec 2019, 12:01 pm

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OutsideView
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20 Dec 2019, 1:14 pm

stick shift (?) = gear stick
college = university (usually)
homely = unattractive (no negative meaning of homely here, just nice cozy home)
faucet = tap
oatmeal = porridge
cottoncandy = candyfloss


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MagicKnight
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20 Dec 2019, 2:13 pm

I'm not a native English speaker, so I expect to be wrong about some/many of these expressions.


UK - US
-------------

Ace - Awesome, great
Arse-to-face - Reversed
Baccy - Cigarette, tobacco
Belted - Beaten up
Bird - Chick (girl)
Black [Scotland] - "very much" ("black awful" = very, very bad)
Brilliant - Awesome
Chin wag - Chit chat
Copper - Cop
Dog's dinner - Mess
Fag - Cigarette
Fannybaws [Scotland] - Coward
Fried Eggs - Flat chested
Funny - Weird
Half-arsed - Upset
Hanky Panky - Make Out
Jammy - Lucky
Jesus Juice - Booze
Knackered - Exhausted
Mental - Crazy
Motor - Car
Nancy boy - spoiled
Necking [Manchester] - Looking for
Nesh - Stupid
Nicked - Busted, taken to jail
Nosh - Blowjob
On your bike! - Go away!
Posh - Rich
Properly [Manchester, Liverpool] - "A lot", "Very much" ("properly happy")
Pure [Scotland] - "very much" ("pure brilliant" = very, very good)
Quality - Great
Rat arsed / bladdered / pissed / twatted / erse'oled / melted - Drunk
Sacked - Fired
To Slug - To Poke (one's privates)
Uni - College
Willy - Dick



Last edited by MagicKnight on 20 Dec 2019, 2:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

OutsideView
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20 Dec 2019, 2:33 pm

MagicKnight wrote:
I'm not a native English speaker, so I expect to be wrong about some/many of these expressions.


UK - US
-------------


That'san interesting list, there's a few there I've never heard before! Here's some I think might not be quite right:
To Slug - To Poke (one's privates)
If you said you'd slugged someone I'd think you'd punched them.
Motor - Car
Don't think we really use motor.
Half-arsed - Upset
To do something half-arsed is to not put much effort in and do a bad job.
Nesh - Stupid
My dad always calls me nesh if I say I'm cold, as in not very tough.
Nancy boy - spoiled
Always thought that one was a guy who was feminine or gay.
Necking - Looking for [Manchester]
Necking to me would be making out / kissing. For looking I might say having a decko, a skeg or a ratch.

Properly [Manchester, Liverpool] - "A lot", "Very much" ("properly happy")
That one made me laugh, never noticed before that I often call things "proper good" :mrgreen:


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MagicKnight
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20 Dec 2019, 2:52 pm

OutsideView wrote:
To Slug - To Poke (one's privates)
If you said you'd slugged someone I'd think you'd punched them.


Hi. I think this one depends on the region. I'm certain I've heard that expression with that exact connotation. The girl asked the guy to "stop slugging her". They were kissing, and something else was going on down there.

OutsideView wrote:
Motor - Car
Don't think we really use motor.


That's probably Scotland-only too. For one, a friend from Scotland told me some time ago: "let's hop on my motor and get to see stuff".

OutsideView wrote:
Half-arsed - Upset
To do something half-arsed is to not put much effort in and do a bad job.


You're right. Half-arsed = Half Baked. I am probably wrong about this one.

OutsideView wrote:
Nesh - Stupid
My dad always calls me nesh if I say I'm cold, as in not very tough.


I'll check this one.

OutsideView wrote:
Nancy boy - spoiled
Always thought that one was a guy who was feminine or gay.


Oh. I'm probably wrong about this one too. Sorry!

OutsideView wrote:
Necking - Looking for [Manchester]
Necking to me would be making out / kissing. For looking I might say having a decko, a skeg or a ratch.


I heard once from a Mancunian friend: "I was necking mushrooms" = Looking for mushrooms.

OutsideView wrote:
Properly [Manchester, Liverpool] - "A lot", "Very much" ("properly happy")
That one made me laugh, never noticed before that I often call things "proper good" :mrgreen:

[/quote]

Yes, I reckon that goes unnoticed to many.

Thanks for all the pointers.

Cheers! :D



OutsideView
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20 Dec 2019, 5:40 pm

MagicKnight wrote:
I heard once from a Mancunian friend: "I was necking mushrooms" = Looking for mushrooms.

Didn't occur to me until I read that but to neck something can also mean to drink it fast "She necked that pint of beer".
You're probably more right about the Scottish ones than me, I have a few Scottish mates but don't get to talk to them that often.


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Magna
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20 Dec 2019, 7:47 pm

US "Fanny pack" = UK "Bum Bag"



Joe90
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21 Dec 2019, 5:53 pm

Leish (for dogs) - Lead


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naturalplastic
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22 Dec 2019, 8:33 pm

In the UK (and Australia) "pissed" means "drunk".

In the US "pissed" (short for "pissed off")means "angry".

"Railroad" is more American, and "railway" is more British.



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26 Dec 2019, 6:16 pm

Arugula = Rocket lettuce
Plastic wrap = Cling film
Flashlight = Torch
Maize = Corn
Grilled cheese = Toasted cheese sandwich
Counterclockwise = Anticlockwise

Americans remove the "ly" from a word, e.g. "We do things different" vs (English) "We do things differently".


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kraftiekortie
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26 Dec 2019, 6:38 pm

Supposedly, it's the Brits who call corn "maize." I heard they now call it "corn," like we do.

I do know that "corn" meant "all grains" back in the 19th century in England----think "Corn Laws."



ASPartOfMe
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26 Dec 2019, 6:51 pm

smudge wrote:
Flashlight = Torch

Torch in America is a device flame comes out of used to light or burn something. What would that be called in the UK?


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26 Dec 2019, 6:54 pm

Corn originally meant "all grains". And it still means that in England. The Brits use the word "maize" for the grain introduced to Europeans by the American Indians.

In America the indigenous tribes showed the English settlers how to grow the stuff that they, the Indians, called "Maize". Ironically folks back in Britain call it by the Native American word, "Maize". But the settlers in America called it "Indian corn", and then just "corn" - thus Americans narrowed the word "corn" down to meaning just that one kind of grain. And ironically Americans virtually never use the American Indian word "maize" for the biggest crop in America which was first domesticated in North America.



kraftiekortie
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26 Dec 2019, 7:18 pm

I know my wife's son, who is a resident of SE London, calls corn "corn-on-a-cob."



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27 Dec 2019, 3:38 am

kraftiekortie wrote:
I know my wife's son, who is a resident of SE London, calls corn "corn-on-a-cob."


It's a corn on the cob, not a. It's called that when it's still on the cob, otherwise we just call it sweetcorn, and never call it maize.


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smudge
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02 Jan 2020, 11:42 am

Faucet = tap.


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