Words that vary between British and American English

During your travels, readings or even taking part in the world-wide arena of social media, how often have you seen words that are expressed that don’t quite seem right? Then you realise it’s the expression used from another part of the world. There are a number of differences that can be isolated between both British and American English.

I have compiled a short list of the words that immediately come to mind. Some of these have recently been reinforced after seeing my American travel Tweeps on Twitter use such expressions. Yesterday was a great example. As we move into Spring here in Australia, everyone in the States and Canada were embracing the arrival of ‘Fall’ – we refer to Fall as Autumn. Can you add to the following list?

BRITISH – AMERICAN
autumn – fall
band aid – plaster
biscuits – crackers
boot (car) – trunk
bureau de change – currency exchange
cafe – diner
caravan – trailer
chemist – drugstore
cheque – check
cupboard – closet
dummy – pacifer
footpath – sidewalk
holiday – vacation
injection – shot
jumper – sweater
kilometers – miles
lolly – candy
mobile phone – cell phone
nappies – diapers
petrol – gas
phone box – telephone booth
post code – zip code
roundabout – traffic circle
rubbish bin – trash can
tap – faucet
taxi – cab
travellers – travelers
travelling – traveling

“Divided by a Common Language” has numerous positive reviews as a great travel companion.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 at 2:00 am and is filed under Travel General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.