American English

Lightnix said:
Yeah, how exactly do they go about completely missing that 'i' in aluminium?

Edit: @above: oh.
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They found it, they named it... we changed it

Solari said:
Speedometer = odometer
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Speedometer and Odometer are different words, an odometer measures distance not speed

deuse said:
fried egg = over easy
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over easy isn't what they call a fried egg, it's what they call one that's been turned over as opposed to sunny side up
 
Justin said:
Elevator = Lift
Candy = Sweets
Pants = Trousers
Vacation = Holiday
Bathroom = Toilet
Soccer = Football
Fall = Autumn
Flashlight = Torch
Trunk = Boot
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Incorrect, in the UK it has always been called soccer, but most people call soccer the actual name for the sport group. What we call football is actually soccer footbal, rugby is actually rugby football, gaelic football etc..

Oh and pants, what do they call them? And why if pants are trouser are panties knickers? Should panties not be female trousers? If not then pants should be pants! Having said that pants probably comes from pantalons, which I think is the french for trousers?

Le_Petit_Lapin said:
First Floor = Ground Floor.

Not really what you're after....I hate the American way of pronouncing aluminium, and leisure!
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That makes far more sense, the second floor is the floor with the second set of windows lets say, ie. what you would call the first floor. It's the first floor in the building so called first floor (although you could call it the ground floor), but the next floor up should be the second floor.

int said:
Pronunciation of Aluminium is different because they spell it differently too (Aluminum).
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Aluminum is actually what the person who found it named it, then it was changed a couple of years later to Aluminium to conform with the rest of the element names.

I'll add one though.

Sulfur.:rolleyes: And at least, even though it is now supposedly the correct way of spelling sulphur people are still spelling it correctly in scientific papers.:p
 
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Soulja said:
Fanny = Bottom
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And fanny pack = bum bag

Can never get used to that one. I mean "fanny pack"?!



Incidentally, I had a nightmare getting Media Portal to recognise my TV series correctly because at first I had them sorted into folders called "series 1," "series 2" etc.

It was only after about 3 hours of trial and error that I twigged the program was looking for the labels "season 1," "season 2" etc.

Oh, and that's another one: programme = program; and program = program. Basically they've lost the distinct spelling attached to one meaning of this word. Bloody lazy yanks! :)
 
GarethDW said:
<off topic> I dislike the way American English bastardises our grammar too. For example, when they say, "Mary wrote me last week". She wrote you what...? Oh, and they use the letter z far too often. </off topic>
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People up north do that too. eugh.:p


Cybermyk said:
I don't mind the difference in words so much as the pronunciation of common words.

Rout instead of route, shallat instead of shallot, erb instead of herb etc.
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And math, that really gets me, obviously in their lesson they can only do one sum a session...:p
 
mr_x_plosion said:
US - English

Jello = Jelly
Jelly = Jam
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Although I partially agree with you, the proper name for what we would call jam is actually conserve (with fruit bits in) and jelly if it is a smooth texture.

i.e. Strawberry conserve (jam) and Crabapple jelly (also redcurrent is used a lot, and put on roast dinners).
 
RobH said:
Rubber (UK) = Eraser (US)
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True, but you have to be a bit careful. Whilst Rubber (UK) = Eraser (US)...

well, A female friend of mine went over to work in the US and shouted across the office whether anyone had a rubber she could borrow. Of course, to the yanks Rubber = Condom :D
 
SiD the Turtle said:
Well a kettle to them is the quaint variety you use on a stove. They didn't quite understand what I was after so I ended up boiling the water in a pan to make some tea :o

Question though, what on earth do they boil the water for coffee in?
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I think kettles are very ritish things, you never really see them on the continent either. Also in American films and TV shows when they are boiling water they appear to always use a metal (old fashioned) kettle on the stove?

Mohinder said:
They found it, they named it... we changed it
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It was found by a Brit.:confused:
 
We don't have one way of speaking in the UK - we have regional differences in words.

The US is much bigger and they have a much bigger population too.

It is not quite fair to say Americans say this or Americans say that. Only some do.

One big area that hasn't been addressed yet is the whole area of business babble. Oue trans Atlantic friends seem to love coming up with silly phrases like "raise the bar", "drop back ten and take a punt", "Run it up the flagpole", etc etc and our British friends seem to think it is ooh so clever to start using these moronic phrases over here to, probably to hide their total lack of flair in their jobs. If OP starts looking for American Business Babble phrases that have made it over here to replace very plain concepts and terms he will have a wonderful time.
 
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