| The BG-Map English (British) - American Dictionary Compiled by Mark Glicksman with the Assistance of Crinan Alexander, The Royal Botanical Garden, Edinburgh and Malcolm Manners, Horticultural Science Department of Florida Southern College And with Additional Suggestions by Iona Dawson (IULM University, Milan), Lowell Whitney, Ron Peeples, Jim Blacker, Lauralyn Pilakowski, Michael Wardle, Shimona Carvalho, R W K Gardiner, Elazar Sheffer, Linn Barringer, Mitchell A. Leitman, Caroline Andrews, Nick Wagg, Michael C. Berch, Tim Diggins, Ed Kendall, Keir Shiels, John Berrie, Stephen Draper, "Jennifer", Olive DePonte, Stephen J Cuzzone, Benedict Walmisley, Kevin A. Dougherty, Russ Campion, Richard Erickson, Roy Davis, Linda B., Giancarlo Mariot and Angela FergusonIn compiling this list, I have tried to avoid slang terms, which certainly could fill up an entire website on their own. I've also omitted simple differences in spelling between U.S. and U.K. versions of the same words, e.g. color and colour. |  |
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| Part 1 UK-US - Cars and Driving:
UK US
aerial antenna
("aerial" used regionally
in the past but has
faded from use)
articulated lorry tractor-trailer
bonnet hood
boot trunk
car park parking lot
cats eyes reflectors
(embedded in road)
central reservation median
demister defroster
defogger
dipped lights low beams
diversion detour
drink-driving drunk driving
driving licence driver's license
dual carriageway divided highway
dumper truck dump truck
estate car station wagon
flat battery dead battery
flyover overpass
gear box transmission
gear lever gear shift
give way yield
glove box glove compartment
hire car rental car
indicators turn signals
jump leads jumper cables
lorry truck
main beams high beams
(or full beams)
metalled road paved road
motorway freeway (Western U.S.)
expressway (Eastern U.S.)
Interstate See Notes
number plate license plate
petrol gasoline
gas
propeller shaft drive shaft
recovery towing
ring road beltway (Eastern U.S.)
(or orbital)
roundabout circle
rotary (New England)
Interestingly, the terms
roundabout, traffic circle
and rotary are all used in
the US state of Iowa to
denote different types of
circular road arrangements.
saloon car sedan
silencer muffler
slip road entrance or exit ramp
straight straightaway (as at a race track)
top up fill up
top off See Notes
transmission power train
tyre tire
unmade road dirt road, unpaved road
verge shoulder (of road)
windscreen windshield
window heater defroster
defogger
wing fender
wing mirror side mirror,
side-view mirror
zebra crossing crosswalk
 | Part 1 US-UK - Cars and Driving:
US UK
antenna aerial
beltway (Eastern U.S.) ring road
(or orbital)
circle, traffic circle roundabout
crosswalk zebra crossing
defogger window heater
demister
defroster window heater
demister
dead battery flat battery
detour (noun) diversion
dirt road unmade road
divided highway dual carriageway
drive shaft propeller shaft
driver's license driving licence
drunk driving drink-driving
dump truck dumper truck
expressway motorway
(Eastern U.S.)
fender wing
fill up top up See Notes
four lane road dual carriageway
freeway (Western U.S.) motorway See Notes
gas petrol
gasoline
gear shift gear lever
glove compartment glove box
high beams main beams
(or full beams)
hood bonnet
Interstate motorway
jumper cables jump leads
license plate number plate
low beams dipped lights
median central reservation
muffler silencer
overpass flyover
parking lot car park
paved road metalled road
power train transmission
ramp (entrance or slip road
exit)
reflectors cats eyes
(embedded in road)
rental car hire car
rotary (New England) roundabout
sedan saloon car
shoulder (of road) verge
side mirror, wing mirror
side-view mirror
station wagon estate car
straightaway straight
(as at a race track)
top off top up
towing recovery
tractor-trailer articulated lorry
transmission gear box
truck lorry
trunk boot
tire tyre
turn signals indicators
unpaved road unmade road
yield give way
windshield windscreen
|
| Part 2 UK-US - Food:
UK US
aubergine eggplant
biscuit cookie
candy floss cotton candy
chips french fries
conserves preserves
cornflour cornstarch
courgettes zucchini
zucchini squash
crisps potato chips
fish fingers fish sticks
jacket potato baked potato
jam jelly
jelly jello
mince ground meat
hamburger
porridge oatmeal
pudding dessert
rocket arugula
sweet dessert
tinned canned
| Part 2 US-UK - Food:
US UK
appetizers starters
arugula rocket
baked potato baked potato
jacket potato
canned (in metal) tinned
cookie biscuit
cornstarch cornflour
cotton candy candy floss
dessert dessert
sweet
pudding
eggplant aubergine
fish sticks fish fingers
french fries chips
ground meat mince
hamburger mince
jello jelly
jelly jam
oatmeal porridge
potato chips crisps
preserves preserves
conserves
zucchini courgettes
zucchini squash
|
| Part 3 UK-US - Others:
UK US
aerial antenna
aluminium aluminum
antenatal prenatal
anticlockwise counterclockwise
at hand (meaning to hand
readily available)
autumn fall
("autumn" is used,
but only in formal
or poetic language)
baggage reclaim baggage claim
(airport)
bicentenary bicentennial
bill check
(restaurant) See Notes
bin liner trash bag
bookings reservations
(verb - to book) (verb - to reserve as
in restaurant, hotel)
botanic garden botanical garden
braces suspenders
cashback (noun) rebate, cash back
charity non-profit organization
not-for-profit
cheap inexpensive
(not necessarily in a
negative light)
chemists pharmacy, drug store
cinema movie theater, theater
"clued up" "clued in"
coach bus
coach (railway) car (railroad)
"come to that" "for that matter"
cot crib (for a baby)
cutlery silverware See Note
cuttings clippings
(as in news clippings)
despatch shipping (as in shipping
department)
DIY do it yourself
dodgy tricky, chancy
downmarket downscale
dummy pacifier
dustbin trash can
(see Australian Variants)
engaged (as in telephone)busy
fee (for schooling) tuition
fit (verb) equip, fit out
fittings fixtures
fix (verb - as in set
"fix a date")
flat apartment
football soccer
freephone toll-free
freepost business reply mail
(no stamp needed)
frock dress (noun)
full stop (punctuation) period
gents men's room
headmaster principal
hide (noun) blind
(noun - as in duck blind)
hire (hire a car) rent (rent a car)
hob stove, stovetop
holiday vacation
homely homey (pleasant)
(In the U.S., "homely"
describes a person as
plain or unattractive)
hoover (noun and verb) vacuum (noun and verb)
vacuum cleaner (noun)
ill sick
"in future" "from now on"
See Diggins' Notes
in hospital in the hospital
See Notes
"join the train" "get on the train"
jumper sweater
licence license (noun)
license license (verb)
lie in sleep in
lift elevator
laundrette laundromat
lorry truck
marquee tent See Notes
maths math
mobile (phone) cell (phone)
momentarily for a short time
(but not "in a second")
mum mom
nappies diapers
nil nothing, zero
note bill
(currency) See Notes
on stream on line
open day open house
pitch (for playing field
sports)
polo neck, roll neck turtle neck
post mail See Notes
pram baby carriage
push chair stroller (baby)
queue line
(noun as in "bus queue"
verb as in "queue up")
railway railroad
read
(verb - "read a study
subject in college")
See Diggins' Notes
redundancy (verb "to layoff (verb - "to lay off")
make redundant")
removal (as in removal moving
van)
reserved to (as used reserved for
in Diggins' Note)
return round trip
(as in round trip ticket)
reverse charge call collect call
rise (noun - in salary) raise
rubber eraser
(in U.S., rubber is
slang for condom)
rubbish bin trash can
rucksack backpack
sack (verb - from fire
employment)
secateurs pruners or clippers
shoddy cheap
shopping trolley shopping cart
sport sports
solicitor lawyer
attorney See Notes
See Additional Notes
See A Canadian Perspective
See Diggins' Notes
"sorry" "excuse me", "pardon me"
spanner wrench (noun)
stand (for election) run (for election)
starters appetizers
straight away right away
(meaning "immediately)
suspenders garter
swear word curse word
subway underpass
tap faucet
tariffs rates, prices
tarmac asphalt
(tarmac is used in U.S.
only in airport context)
tea towel dish towel
dish cloth See Notes
telephone box telephone booth
tender (noun or verb) bid
(as in bid for a building
contract)
to hand (meaning at hand
readily available)
to let for rent
to trade (as in "a by trade
toilet restroom
torch flashlight
trainers sneakers
treble triple
transport (noun) transportation
trousers pants
trolley cart
tube subway
tucked up (as in "The tucked in
baby was tucked up
for the night.")
tuition for (noun as study of
in "tuition for the
flute")
underground subway
upmarket upscale
valve vacuum tube
vest undershirt
walking frame walker (device to assist
the elderly)
washing up doing the dishes
waistcoat vest
| Part 3 US-UK - Others: US UK aluminum aluminium antenna aerial apartment flat asphalt tarmac attorney solicitor See Notes See Diggins' Notes baby carriage pram backpack rucksack baggage claim (airport) baggage reclaim bicentennial bicentenary bid (as in bid for a tender (noun or verb) bill (as in currency) note See Notes blind (noun - as in hide duck blind) botanical garden botanic garden business reply mail freepost (no stamp needed) busy (as in telephone) engaged by trade (as in "a to trade carpenter by trade") bus coach car (railroad) coach (railway) cart (noun as in a trolley shopping cart) cell (phone) mobile (phone) cheap shoddy check (in a restaurant) bill See Notes clippings (as in news cuttings clippings) "clued in" "clued up" collect call reverse charge call counterclockwise anticlockwise crib (for a baby) cot curse word swear word diapers nappies dish cloth, dish towel tea towel See Notes doing the dishes washing up downscale downmarket dress (noun) frock drug store chemists elevator lift equip, fit out (verb) fit eraser rubber "excuse me" "sorry" fall autumn faucet tap field (for playing pitch sports) fire sack (verb - from employment) fixtures fittings (as in plumbing) flashlight torch for rent to let "for that matter" "come to that" "from now on" "in future" See Diggins' Notes garter suspenders "get on the train" "join the train" homey (pleasant) homely (In the U.S., "homely" describes a person as plain or unattractive) in the hospital in hospital See Notes inexpensive cheap (not necessarily in a negative light) layoff redundancy (verb - "to (verb - "to lay off") make redundant") laundromat laundrette lawyer solicitor See Notes See Additional Notes See A Canadian Perspective See Diggins' Notes license (noun and verb) licence (noun) license (verb) line queue (noun as in "bus line" and verb as in "line up") mail post math maths men's room gents mom mum movie theater cinema moving removal (as in moving van) nothing nil non-profit organization charity on line on stream (as in "forthcoming") open house open day pacifier dummy pants trousers "pardon me" "sorry" period (punctuation) full stop pharmacy chemists prenatal antenatal principal headmaster (school) pruners secateurs (or clippers) railroad railway raise (in salary) rise range (see "Stove") rates, prices tariffs rebate (noun) cashback rent (rent a car) hire (hire a car) reservations bookings (verb - to reserve (verb - to book) as in restaurant, hotel) reserved for reserved to (as used in Diggins' Note) restroom toilet right away straight away (meaning immediately) round trip return (return ticket) (as in round trip ticket) run (for election) stand (for election) set (verb - as in fix "set a date") shipping (as in despatch shipping department) shopping cart shopping trolley sick ill silverware cutlery See Note sleep in lie in sneakers trainers soccer football sports sport stove, stovetop hob stroller (baby) push chair study read (verb - as in "study a subject in college") See Diggins' Notes study of tuition for (noun as in "study of the flute") subway tube underground suspenders braces sweater jumper telephone booth telephone box tent marquee See Notes toll-free freephone transportation transport (noun) trash bag bin liner trash can dustbin (see Australian Variants) tricky (chancy) dodgy triple treble trash can rubbish bin truck lorry tucked in (as in "The tucked up baby was tucked in for the night.") tuition fee turtle neck polo neck, roll neck underpass subway undershirt vest upscale upmarket vacation holiday vacuum (noun and verb) hoover vacuum cleaner(noun) vacuum tube valve vest waistcoat walker (device to walking frame assist the elderly) wrench (noun) spanner zero nil |
A few notes by Malcolm Manners, who teaches at the Horticultural Science Department of Florida Southern College.
You mentioned motorway being equivalent to freeway or interstate. Note that "freeway" is a Western (mostly California) term, which sounds as foreign to a Floridian as does motorway.top up vs. fill up -- we do "top off" our gas (petrol) tanks, after filling up, i.e., after the pump valve clicks off, one "tops off" the tank to the nearest 5 or 10 cents.
bill vs. check (in a restaurant) -- in the Southeast, we tend to say "bill"
While we do call a dollar a "bill" rather than a "note", all U.S. currency has the words "Federal Reserve Note" printed on it.
If one borrows money from a bank, one "takes out a note."
How does a barrister differ from a solicitor? They're all lawyers here.
I've never got (sic!) very clear on how our usage of "post" vs. "mail" compares, but we seem to reverse meanings in at least some cases.
In the U.S., a mailman or mail carrier carries the mail, while working for the Post Office. He is a "postal worker." He puts the "mail" in one's mail box. The large receptacles outside the post office or on a street corner, where one mails a letter, are called drop boxes.
You listed tea towel vs. dish cloth and dish towel. That's also a regional thing. In Pennsylvania, where my family is (not "are") from, one washes dishes with a dish cloth, then dries them with a tea towel. In Florida, we wash with a dish rag and dry with a dish towel. I don't know of a site in the US where dishes are dried with a dish cloth.
Have you read "The Mother Tongue -- English and How it Got that Way", by Bill Bryson? I think it was originally published in Britain. It's a fascinating look at exactly this subject. Another favorite (without the "u") book is "Brit Think -- Ameri-Think". It also has sections on difference in language, "correct" vs. "horrible" things to name a child (one will meet many boys named "Randy" in the U.S., but never a Crinan and seldom a Malcolm. It also looks at our national psyche -- what makes us "tick." It is quite insulting to both sides, but an embarrassing lot of truth among the insults.
I thought of another area of differing speech: our use of prepositions and articles with certain nouns. I believe you are "at" school or university, are you not? We are "in" school or "in" or "at" THE university.You are in hospital; We are in THE hospital.
A few notes by Crinan Alexander, The Royal Botanical Garden, Edinburgh:
We only use 'marquee' for the large solid tents used for entertaining large numbers of people at weddings etc. Otherwise we say 'tent'.To us a van is usually a (commercial) vehicle without any side windows to the rear of the front seats, though people sometimes loosely call estate cars (shooting brakes) vans. Minibus andminivan are both used to mean vehicles in which say 12-18 people can be transported, as distinct from a coach which takes larger numbers.
Additional notes by Michael Wardle of Australia:
There seems to be some confusion between the meaning of the terms "barrister" and "solicitor". I am an Australian, an I deal regularly with those from the United States and the United Kingdom, so I believe I have some insight into the differences between US and UK English.My understanding of the term barrister is that a barrister is qualified and registered to represent a client in a court room, while a solicitor is not; a solicitor is merely able to give legal advice. This may be similar to the American distinction between "attorney" and "lawyer", however the distinction is greater.
I hope this clarifies the use of and difference between these terms.
(submitted April 24, 2002)
Editior's Note: In the US, attorney and lawyer are synonyms - attorney is considered a bit more formal language, and lawyer a bit more colloquial.
Notes on Barrister vs. Solicitor by Mitchell A. Leitman of Canada:
For your information, I am a Canadian barrister and solicitor. In Canada, we merged the two professions a very long time ago. In England and Wales (not necessarily all of the UK, as Scotland and Northern Ireland have different legal systems) and other countries in the commonwealth, barristers and solicitors are two different types of lawyers. In England and Wales solicitor is a lawyer who has limited rights of audience in the courts. His or her role is primarily that of first instance, a client who has a legal matter, be it litigation, corporate commercial, criminal, etc., goes to their solicitor. Should the legal mater require pleading in a superior court, the solicitor engages a barrister on the client's behalf. One cannot retain a barrister directly.In Canada, a lawyer can wear different hats. If I draw up a will for a client, I do so as their solicitor. If I appear in the Superior Court (where I am required to don a robe), I do so as my client's barrister.
I hope this clears up the matter of attorney vs.. solicitor/barrister. Or at least from the latter perspective.(submitted January 29, 2004)
Comments by Tim Diggins, London
A note about in future vs in the future....There is a great subtle differences between UK and US usages of the definite article, and I am not totally reliable as I have moved backwards and forwards between the UK and the US every few years until I was twenty. I would however recommend the US equivalent of the UK "in future" as being "from now on", whereas "in the future" in the UK always means the speculative future of science fiction. "In future everyone we come to school on time or there will be trouble", "In the future, everyone will come to school on jet-propelled backpacks".
A further note on articles. Someone (reference lost) once remarked that if Jane Austen had been writing her novels as an American (particularly in the South), she would have written "The Pride and The Prejudice", but I think this was half jest.
One more note on the difference between barrister and solicitor in the UK. I believe that what has been said on these pages is more historical - while people still tend to train and to practice either as barristers (in court) or solicitors (in offices), I believe the legal distinction between them has been removed
One great thing missing from your list are the complicated equivalences for educational study. You talk about "read" (as in "He read English at Hull" (meaning "He studied English at Hull") - but also US "school" - what school did you go to - in the UK, more likely to say, where did you study, or what university did you go to (or use of the word "uni" which tends to be reserved to undergraduates). "college" (UK) tends to mean "sixth form college" (ie. a school limited to 16-18 year olds, largely preparing people), although at "collegiate" universities, does also mean "university". The word "graduate" in the UK means someone who has graduated with an undergraduate degree, whereas in the US, it tends to mean "someone undertaking "graduate" study, masters or PhD (which is called "postgraduate study" in the UK. I believe that postgraduate (US) means "postdoctoral" (UK).
Let's just not get started with "public school"
Tim Diggins, London (submitted March 22, 2005)
Comments by Australian, Stephen Draper
The homepage is great it would be even better if you added Australian English and New Zealand English and maybe Canadian English.I am Australian and some of the words we use in Australia can be a mixture of American English and British English ie ,rubbish truck, garbage truck, tip truck, garbage can, garbage tin, rubbish bin,dustbin, otto bin wheelie bin. So you can see in Australia many other variants have evolved.
Editor's Reply: I'm afraid I wouldn't have time to maintain more variants of English on my page. But your comments are well stated and interesting.
Notes on Silverware/Cutlery
A Note by Linda B: I live in Canada, so we use a lot of "Britishisms" in our English. USAians use the term "silverware" to mean "cutlery". It could be made of any material. It doesn't have to be silver. They never use the word "cutlery". I'm not sure of exactly what Brits mean by silverware, but in Canada, it has to be made of silver, at least be silver plated.
Editor's Note: People in the U.S. do sometimes use "cutlery", but it almost always refers to knives only.
A Note by Angela Ferguson: I do have a note about the use of the word "cutlery", though. I am from the Southeastern United States, and have heard the terms "cutlery", "silverware" and "flatware" all used interchangeably to mean the utensils with which we eat. We say "silver" (as in, "Let's get out the silver for tonight's dinner"), when we mean cutlery made specifically of silver, and "silverware" can be made of any material, including plastic.
A Note on Collective Nouns by Mark Glicksman:
An easily recognizable difference between US and UK English is in the handling of collective nouns. Collective nouns represent groups of persons (or animals) in a written form that is appears to be singular but is not - for example: committee, faculty, family or audience. In the US, a collective noun is always coupled with a verb in the singular form, but in the UK the opposite is often true. For example: "The committee was debating the proposal." (US) or "The committee were debating the proposal." (UK) This can be especially jarring to American ears.
Links to Other Sources of Information
- The focus is on slang in The Septic's Companion, an "A-to-Zed dictionary of British Slang words and phrases, written by a Scotsman living in America.", Chris Rae.
- Test your knowledge with Charles Kelly's British English - American English Vocabulary Quiz
- Divided by a Common Language, by Christopher Davies, is a book that covers this topic in far more detail than is possible here.
- Teacher Karen Barnes provides lists of the differences between American, Canadian, and British English - both in Spelling and in Vocabulary.
- The English Club's BritSpeak British - American Dictionary
- Asterisk.com has a comprehensive page on Language Resources, including "The Cutting Edge Glossary of British Business and Finance Terms" ", "Jeremy Smith’s Dictionary of American and British Usage", and "The Dictionary of American Regional English".
- The Best of British, by Mike Etherington, is a comprehensive list of British terms and their U.S. equivalents, spiked with humorous details. He's even written a book!
- US2UK, by Bruce Longman, explores not only language, but cultural and lifestyle differences between the US and UK as well.
Updated March 14, 2011Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Glicksman Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.
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