Talk:Glossary of American terms not widely used in the United Kingdom

Airplane?
Airplane is used just as widely, if not more widely, than aeroplane is in the UK. Just thought I should note that...
 * No it isn't! Snalwibma 19:15, 9 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Have you come here for the five-minute argument, or the full half-hour? (grin) That said, I would tend to agree with Snalwibma. WLD 20:07, 9 October 2006 (UTC)


 * A thought... The anonymous contributor who started this thread would be correct if he/she had said that airplane is completely understood in the UK. There is no fear of misunderstanding in this case. It's not an American term like fanny or cooties, one of which means something different here, while the other is (I think) completely unknown. But I take it the purpose of this article is not merely to deal with possible causes of confusion but also to point out different usages, regardless of the likelihood of their being known by UK speakers of English. Snalwibma 20:23, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

I'm not going to delete it unless others agree, but I would consider airplane/aeroplane to be more of a spelling difference than two different words. More like Colour/Color type thing.86.176.167.3 (talk) 10:39, 12 April 2011 (UTC)

hang-up?
Used as an adjective in "hang-up clothes", or as a noun meaning (I believe) wire clothes hangers. I first heard this in California on my first visit to the US, and never heard it in the UK. -213.219.187.253 02:31, 11 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Not common as I've never heard it before. I'm  a New Yorker so perhaps it's a "Valley Girl " slang term.  Hang-up is used to mean to end a telephone conversation or as ones psychological foible, though. GCW50 18:03, 24 April 2007 (UTC)


 * As far as I'm concerned most people in Kansas say "hang-up". As in, "go hang-up your clothes". --Bentendo24 (talk) 20:30, 31 July 2009 (UTC)

Bum bag?
A Fanny pack should be approximately a bum bag, because no one actually uses the term and just call it a bag ("fanny-packs" are used by tram and taxi drivers in England). Also the article should give reference to British fanny, meaning vagina.


 * 'Bum bag' was used in the UK when they were popular; the use of both the bag and the term have declined.

Savings account
The term savings account is very widely used in Britain - in fact, I believe it to be the standard name for this type of account. (I wasn't aware that they were ever called anything else.) AdorableRuffian 09:35, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Disagree; a 'checking account' is a 'current account' in UK parlance, while a 'savings account' has always been known as a 'deposit account', to my knowledge Carre 16:04, 9 October 2006 (UTC)


 * The standard UK term can be either savings account or deposit account. I have just checked the Collins dictionary and the Concise Oxford, and both give "savings account" as standard. I therefore think savings account does not qualify for inclusion in this list, and I propose its deletion. Snalwibma 16:20, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

Duct/duck tape and chapstick
As a Brit, I've certainly come across, and used the terms duct and duck tape in place of gaffer tape - gaffer tape being informal/slang, duck being brand name (so maybe should have TM against it?). Likewise, have come across chapstick, although I suspect a more common usage in the UK would be lipsyl (brand name). Haven't changed the main page, since I don't know if these are just me, or are common in the UK. Carre 14:32, 9 October 2006 (UTC)


 * As far as I am aware (and the Collins Dictionary confirms this), duct tape is perfectly standard in British English (though gaffer tape says "Brit", suggesting it should be included in List of British words not widely used in the United States. Actually, I always call it duck tape, and I think most people do. It's a trade name, but it is much easier to say. Standard advice for small-boat sailors: "If it moves but shouldn't, duck-tape it. If it doesn't move but should, WD40 it." I therefore propose deletion of duct tape from this list, and I will add gaffer tape to List of British words not widely used in the United States. Snalwibma 16:31, 9 October 2006 (UTC)


 * Actually, gaffer tape and duck (duct) tape are two different materials in both "languages." Duck tape has a plastic liner and was designed by Johnson and Johnson to waterproof metal ammunition cans going to the Pacific in WWII. It's very sticky and leaves a mess when removed.  Gaffer's tape omits the plastic inner layer and has a less agressive adhesive.  It comes off cleanly and was designed for temporarily holding electrical cables in place.  I have rolls of both at home.  GCW50 18:09, 24 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Chapstick I think should stay just as it is, with an asterisk denoting widely used in GB too. That is exactly what the dictionary says - "chiefly US". Snalwibma 16:31, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

49er?
Is this really a word per se? It's a reference to a historical event, and since the historical event happened in the U.S., of course it's more commonly referenced in American English. It's not exactly commonly used in American English, either, apart from the name of a sports team (which is a proper name, so not relevant for this page). I'm going ahead and removing unless/until anyone objects. --Delirium 00:19, 10 October 2006 (UTC)


 * I agree that 49er should be omitted as a proper noun (and because it's perfectly well used and understood in the gold-rush sense in the UK). But - just in case 49er makes a reappearance here - note that it is also the name of a sailing boat: 49er (dinghy). Snalwibma 15:35, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

Soccer
I have just reinstated this word. Yes, it is used by some people in Britain (I think the person who deleted it is correct - it is used in British public schools to distinguish it from "rugger") - but it is worth including because (a) it is not the standard UK term and (b) I assume one of the functions of this list is to provide a reference for speakers of American English on which of "their" words are not so widely used "over here". In my experience (coming from Ireland to England and constantly finding myself saying "soccer - sorry, I mean football"), soccer is very much not a standard BrEng word! Snalwibma 08:33, 13 October 2006 (UTC)
 * People actually play soccer in the UK? I thought everyone there played "football".  --LizFL (talk) 17:12, 8 October 2009 (UTC)

Actually, in the UK "rugger" is just called rugby, and "soccer" is called football. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wta121 (talk • contribs) 15:53, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

Tardy
I deleted this entry a while back, and someone has just put it back. I have now asterisked it, because I feel it is pretty standard BrEng usage too. I still think it can be deleted, but this time I'll see if anyone else has any opinions first. Snalwibma 08:30, 15 January 2007 (UTC)
 * The distinctive AmE usage is as a noun. It's a (rather old-fashioned) adjective in BrE, but the meaning "instance of turning up late for something (work, school, etc)", particularly the plural, "tardies", is AmE only. Tevildo 18:34, 11 August 2007 (UTC)
 * My tardies seem much longer from the inside... DewiMorgan (talk) 05:53, 23 September 2010 (UTC)

Wrench
This has just been added anonymously, and I have asterisked it. Seems pretty standard BrEng too - though no doubt the standard word is "spanner", and "wrench" is normally part of a compound like "monkey-wrench" or "mole-wrench" (are those trade names, I wonder?). In BrEng, a wrench is a spanner with adjustable jaws. Am I right? I am in two minds whether "wrench" should remain in, with an asterisk, or be deleted on the grounds of common meaning and usage. Snalwibma 17:36, 29 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Mole is the maker and is a trade name. Spanner is the normal term for the fixed jaw nut turner, whether a flat thing or a box shaped thing. Socket spanner is a detachable head type of box spanner, but usually referred to as socket. Wrenches are normally adjustable, as in Mole and Stilson types. However some plumbing gadgets (like the one with pegs projecting from a flat head) are called wrenches too. Wrench is never used in the UK for the flat or ring headed spanner. Peridon (talk) 20:41, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

Paper Route
I'm an American and I lived in the United Kingdom for a few years and I had a paper route during this time. From my experience both countries call it a paper route - not just Americans. Lngarrett 17:45, 2 April 2007 (UTC)
 * paper round is the more common term in the UK 195.10.3.194 14:18, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

SUV
I would say SUV is fast replacing 4 by 4 as the standard term over here (although many people might not be aware of what it stands for)
 * I'd disagree there. MPV has replaced People Carrier, but I almost never hear SUV - and I am connected with the motor trade. Peridon (talk) 20:43, 2 February 2009 (UTC)


 * I'd disagree too. Not all SUVs are 4x4's (Not all of them have the necessary 4WD suspension.) --LizFL (talk) 16:53, 8 October 2009 (UTC)

Sophomore
The listing for "sophomore" suggests that the term "sophomoric" comes from the American usage of "sophomore" when applied to a student or a band's music. One need only consult a dictionary to find the word is from the greek "sophos", meaning "wise", and "moros", meaning fool. The word itself means "wise moron" and has nothing to do with any cultural connotation imposed upon it. The writer has got it backwards. I will make the needed correction.

Here is the old text:
 * sophomore : a second-year college or high school student (Trinity College Dublin has sophister in this sense); (adj.) the second in a series (as in, an athlete's "sophomore season", a band's "sophomore album"); hence sophomoric, conceited and overconfident of knowledge but poorly informed and immature (UK: undergraduate has this extended sense)72.78.161.113 19:52, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Truck
Why not add truck to the list. I know from watching BBC shows that Brits say "Lorrey."72.78.161.113 20:05, 30 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Already on the combined list. "Lorry", incidentally. Tevildo 21:37, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Roil
Unusual in both places, but not a US/UK distinction, I would say. Rich Farmbrough, 14:35 21 December 2007 (GMT).

"Great Britain" is incorrect in this title
This page should be moved to List of American words not widely used in the United Kingdom or perhaps List of American words not widely used in Britain. Great Britain is an island, not a nation. In fact, the article's (correct) opening sentence contradicts the title:

This is a list of American words not widely used in the United Kingdom.

Swedish fusilier (talk) 04:08, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

there should be an article on a list of british words not widely used in America —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.162.203.12 (talk) 15:51, 29 January 2008 (UTC)


 * There is: List of British words not widely used in the United States Rachel Pearce (talk) 17:18, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Actually 'Great Britain' refers to the geo-political union of England, Scotland and Wales. British is a nationality and therefore a nation. 'Britain' is the islands name. -Sam —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.105.221.99 (talk) 23:43, 7 April 2008 (UTC)


 * That's not what it says here. Lusanaherandraton (talk) 01:23, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

n-alarm fire?
Living in the US I often heard the phrase "four-alarm fire" (or as it may be "three alarm fire" or whatever) in news reports. I was never sure what it meant, but I assumed that it meant a fire so severe that fire tenders were summoned from adjacent areas to assist the main responding brigade. I have just found a nice article on Slate. I will try to condense this into a one-line definition, but where should it go? At the top with the numbers? Under A for Alarm? Rachel Pearce (talk) 11:41, 17 February 2008 (UTC)

I think referencing it in a sentence would be great. But I’m also not sure where to put it.--DavidD4scnrt (talk) 10:03, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Bachelorette v Spinster
removed my addition "(UK: spinster)". Edit summary: problem is, 1) spinster is not a UKism and 2) it's not exactly synonymous with bachelorette

Admittedly, I am somewhat surprised at the connotations revealed by various dictionary defs. But as for point 1, my intention was simply to answer the question "What do Brits call this?" not to comment on whether the word is also used anywhere else in the world. Is there an unwritten rule against this?

I guess you could well ask whether there is an equivalent British term.... -- Smjg (talk) 01:26, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

From what I've seen on films etc, the American 'bachelorette party' is what we would call a hen night or hen do. So 'hen' is a (partial?) equivalent. 217.205.244.218 (talk) 01:27, 8 June 2008 (UTC)
 * That's not exactly relevant, since the current definition is about the noun "bachelorette", not the phrase "bachelorette party". -- Smjg (talk) 11:05, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

"Dog and pony show"
Is this term known in the UK? Corvus cornix talk  23:46, 24 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Hmm, I am a Brit but not sure. I have heard this plenty of times before, but my dictionary (the single-volume OED) lists it as 'N. Amer. informal' User:tinot —Preceding comment was added at 22:33, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

Ballpark
I don't think "ballpark" belongs here at all. It would belong in List of words having different meanings in British and American English, except that I don't think it does have a different meaning. The literal meaning is, I believe, reasonably well understood, it's just that there aren't any ballparks in the UK; and the figurative meaning is pretty universally understood. Rachel Pearce (talk) 08:42, 2 May 2008 (UTC)
 * If you delete ballpark because there aren't any ballparks in Britain, then you also delete brownstone! Brownstone (to stick with that example) is probably fairly well understood in Britain, but it is nonetheless a distinctly American word. Anyway, there are ballparks (of a sort) in Britain, but they're called stadiums, sports fields, etc. I think ballpark used literally is specifically AmE. The figurative meaning is shared, but I suspect many people who use it in Britain don't really know what it (literally) means. So I'd support moving it to LOWHDMIBAAE, thus: BrE = blank / Common = a range of approximation or accuracy ("in the ballpark"; "a ballpark figure") / AmE = a baseball stadium. SNALWIBMA ( talk - contribs ) 09:46, 2 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Fair enough. Having lived in both places I'm sometimes inaccurate in my assessments of what most Brits (or for that matter most Americans) would understand by a word. In both directions, actually. Some words I thought were unknown in the UK migrated there while I was living abroad. Rachel Pearce (talk) 09:53, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

- Isn't ballpark the area where a hit is valid, rather than the whole stadium? If so, then the word sure as hell (do they say that in Britain?) belongs here. Maesena (talk) 17:19, 18 September 2013 (UTC)

Pitcher vs. Jug
When I was in a restaurant in England we asked for a pitcher of water to be brought to our table and the waiter (and everyone at the surrounding tables) looked as us like we were insane. The waiter asked, "A picture of water?" "No, a pitcher, a pitcher." "A picture." "No. Pitcher.  You know, something large you hold liquids in; it has a spout and a handle." "Oh! You mean a jug?" "Yes. Yes we do."

I'll take that to mean that the word "pitcher" as a liquid container is not commonly used in the UK. --ScreaminEagle (talk) 17:46, 25 June 2008 (UTC)


 * It's all dealt with at List of words having different meanings in British and American English, and has been discussed on the talk page there. Pitcher and jug have almost exactly opposite meanings in British and American English. British jug = American pitcher. British pitcher = American jug. SNALWIBMA ( talk - contribs ) 18:30, 25 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Having said that, I'm frankly amazed they didn't know what a pitcher was. It's not uncommon to refer to large jugs of water or other drinks as "pitchers" in restaurants in the UK and most people would know what it meant. Was English not their native language? -- Necrothesp (talk) 16:58, 2 July 2008 (UTC)


 * No, he was very English. It was just outside of York, too, near the college if I recall.  Maybe he was trying to mess with the stupid American tourists?  We ran into a couple of those along the way.--ScreaminEagle (talk) 22:57, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Misunderstandings ..
Many of the differences here are not lexicographical or colloquial in nature and should hence be ommited. For example: Amber alert, amtrac, boombox and so forth. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.227.219.52 (talk) 21:06, 25 July 2008 (UTC)

Page move?
Can anyone explain to me why this page was moved from the perfectly acceptable and descriptive original title "List of American English words not used in British English" to the less than entirely accurate List of American words not widely used in the United Kingdom. What are "American words"? Words are not owned or possessed by a nation or a continent but are formed within the context of a language or dialect. American English and British English are the principle dialects of discussion on this page, both of which are used outside of the USA and the United Kingdom. I'll grant you the addition of the word "widely" may have some merit, but the current page title doesn't work for me. Jooler (talk) 08:05, 1 September 2008 (UTC)
 * It appears some sort of page shuffling was initiated in 2006 by User:Jack Lumber. Note this query also applies to related articles such as List of British words not widely used in the United States Jooler (talk) 08:10, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

Lots of minor points for discussion
I have lots of issues with this article. On the whole I think it good but I disagree on many points. I don't want to go hurrying to my reference shelf right away, and in particular the style of the article seems deliberately to be avoiding the use of obscure or non-Engish references or whatever, so I shall attempt to continue that style, but just off the top of my head:

I realise this article is not intended to be a phrasebook. But this and its companion seem to me much better than the tabular style used in the third, listing differences. Feel free to reject, amend, or accept any of these. Having lived in the US, Canada and UK I am kinda used to juggling with them.

401k should we not put fractions into standard style (1/2)? acetaminophen/paracetemol should we note this as a (generic?) trademark? Or indeed just maybe put Tylenol before acetaminophen. amtrac: when I worked on them we called them tracked vehicles. I have no citation. catercorner: I believe this is BrE, at least cater-corner, but can't remember from where. I think maybe in Diary of a Nobody o (authors' -- brothers-- names escape me) or J. K Jerome? (Three men in a boat). Will find if useful. castup: think this is in Fowler but deprecated. charge account/credit account: at leats in this part of the UK charge card is now more common than charge account counterclockwise: also archaic or dialect widdershins dime: the english expression to turn on a sixpence is also used to be able to reverse one's position quickly-- sometimes literally (e.g. in soccer) sometimes metaphorically. driver's license: don't think we need "full" before the UK definition though I imagine this has been discussed already. Emergency brake: I would add "and cables" after "lever"-- the whole point being that it does not require the brake hydraulics to be working. flatware (holloware) I belive the usual UK spelling is hollow-ware. gotten: I believe this is in Shakespeare somewhere, but besides "ill-gotten" we also have "forgotten", "misbegotten", "ill-beggotten" (arch. born out of wedlock). grits: maize is not in BrE sweetcorn. It is just er corn. As in the stuff you make cornflakes of. I think a hypercorrection here. John Hancock: Occ. in BrE called a moniker, thumbrint. John Q. Public: The man on the clapham omnibus. This has never become "person on the..." and is probably the only phrase in which "omnibus" is still in common use for a form of transport (it is still used regulary for an anthology). lerner's permit: L-plate. (UK drivers must display a plate with a large red L on a white background.) letter carrier: nonsexist language now more common in UK. Not postman but P we should add pants. Or perhaps that is best in the words of different meanings article. postal worker. Obviously it is not the purpose of this article to change language, but it is the case. postgirl or postwoman seems very less common I think just because it lacks euphony. New York Minute: Not quite sure it is really equivalent but consider jiffy? or a shake of a lion's tail? or something like that? Perhaps best to leave it to the article. Roustabout: This is still relatively common in my part of the UK. Shill: I think this has become more common in the UK, perhaps partly down to the term "shill bidding" on eBay. I can't give a citation here but it is just my feeling it has. station wagon: No problem but while I think of it I don't think on any of the three related sites "estate" in UK = "project" in US/Canada. two bits: I will dispute "two bob" I have never heard this used in that sence. For "two cents" you can cite Flanders & Swann lyrics The English the English the English are best.. I wouldn't give tuppence for all of the rest. Yellow light: there is difficulty in grammar here which for me I found confusing. I suggest "The amber and red both light simultaneously before the light changes to green". Though I am not entirely happy with that. I finally worked out that "advance" was being used as a verb, but that in itself was confusing to me. It would not have been in speech but is in writing.

Sorry this has been so long and I imagine 90% of it will be rejected. It is a good article but I think needs some cleanup.

Love

SimonTrew (talk) 23:12, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

Problems with keeping this list in Wikipedia at all
Firstly, modern British culture is to a large extent American culture. Of course there are many differences, but the movies are largely American, the TV shows are mainly American, the shoes are American, the soft drinks are American etc etc. Youth culture is particularly Americanized.

Secondly, there are always a lot more young people than old.

Thirdly, language changes very quickly, even within a generation let alone between generations.

Fourthly, language use differs widely between "speech communities" (A term used in Socio-Linguistics. Definitions of the boundaries of these include, but are certainly not exclusive to, age and region). [Part of Socio-Linguistics 101]

Because of all the above, there is no reliable source. Lists printed in books are necessarily out of date, no one person is representative of the language as a whole, and so there is no expert opinion. Only the negative is possible: "I know those words, I hear them often, so they are not uncommon (to my own Speech Community)." Or, much out of date, sources for the use of those terms in British books and/or British TV shows becomes available.

So,


 * The article is barely suitable for individual editing.
 * Consensus as to what *is* uncommon is never going to be reached.
 * Consensus as to what *isn't* uncommon is unlikely to be reached.
 * Where consensus is reached, the data will almost certainly be at least a generation and a half out of date.

I'm a 36 year old from England, so probably just over the age of the majority of English speakers in the country, but nonetheless the idea that "bro", "dude" and "ho" are uncommon in the UK is ridiculous to me. It's at least six years since the numerous times I have been asked to give "a ballpark figure" in a work context, let alone the many times I have used it myself. And, Jeez, no-one can seriously be asserting that "airplane" is an uncommon spelling or (representation of) pronounciation, can they?

Citations of their usage could be found in popular culture no doubt, but I'm not going to spend any more labour on editing a page that I don't think should be in Wikipedia.

What I will say is this:


 * Wikipedia is not a dictionary. And this page requires dictionary-level research.
 * A page for which individuals cannot hope to find anything close to up-to-date data has no place in an encyclopedia.
 * A page which tells me words I use all the time are "uncommon" is irritating. And de facto wrong.
 * "I like this page" / "It's an interesting list" are not good reasons to keep a page.
 * Wikipedia is not for keeping arbitrary lists with no basis in fact.
 * Hence this list is not informative.
 * I strongly recommend this page is put up for deletion again.
 * If people want to view such a list, it should be hosted off-site. What people "want to see" is not solely what Wikipedia exists for.

There is nothing encyclopedic or factual about this list.

If this page is kept for any reason (it should be a good one), then I urge the following article policy: any words touted as uncommon are individually cited as such from a current (this years) dictionary. Then, Wikipedia is parroting a dictionary (which is itself always hopelessly out-of-date when it comes to matters of inclusion/exclusion of new words and argot), without being as useful as one. So, no, I can't actually see any reason it should be kept.

--Ddawkins73 (talk) 20:12, 2 February 2009 (UTC)


 * I agree, this article and its opposite (List of British words ....) suffer from multiple issues, and I see them as irredeemably flawed - I find that I disagree with many of the presumptions of usage, as well as many definitions, and hold that these two articles can never be more than POV. As interesting as these two silly lists might be they do not deserve to be in an encyclopaedia. Fanx (talk) 19:16, 23 August 2009 (UTC)


 * Ddawkins73, you make some very questionable claims there. "TV shows are mainly American"? The content of the five terrestrial channels are still overwhelming British. Youth culture certainly takes cues from America, but few American youth would see British youth as they same as them. Most music genres popular with British youth are firmly British. Nick Cooper (talk) 10:27, 24 August 2009 (UTC)


 * The fact that the two lists exist at all is indicative of significant cultural linguistic differences between are two countries.
 * I believe there is some value in them as a record of our nations' respective linguistic differences (Administration/Bankruptcy, Lorry/Truck, differences in "fanny" usage, etc. George Bernard Shaw once described England and America as being "two countries divided by a common language.") --LizFL (talk) 17:08, 8 October 2009 (UTC)


 * Delete it. It's all subjective nonsense. The only language which exists by the name of English, is English.--86.162.33.86 (talk) 06:39, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Widely used in the UK
The following as they are used and widely understood in the UK. SunCreator (talk) 16:31, 25 October 2009 (UTC)
 * 101
 * AC
 * Airplane
 * ballpark
 * boardwalk
 * bro
 * cell phone
 * charge account
 * counterclockwise
 * diaper
 * driver's license (although spelt licence)
 * drugstore
 * Elevator
 * French fries
 * garbage
 * hobo
 * jack off, jerk off
 * mailbox
 * mom, mommy, mama, mamma, momma
 * mom-and-pop
 * outage
 * pantyhose
 * public holiday
 * SUV
 * track and field
 * wastebasket

Oh dear, yet another article poorly attempting to separate 'American' English from, well, English English. Some quotes:

"From a purely phonetic point of view, second language learners find British English speech easier to understand."

"The British are generally more familiar with Americanisms than vice versa, and due to the vast number and extreme differences in their regional accents and dialects, are fairly flexible about the use of English, while Americans tend to be more insistent upon correct use of their version of the language."

"The Brits are more likely to adopt Mid Atlantic speech forms when in mixed company (code shifting)."

"American English speakers outnumber British English speakers by about 6 : 1."

... I guess us Brits are just confused as to why this separation needs to exist in the first place, whereas the Americans are falling over themselves in order to make a 'valid' "American" English distinction. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.162.33.86 (talk) 06:27, 17 December 2009 (UTC)


 * "I guess us Brits are just confused as to why this separation needs to exist in the first place"


 * British English and American English are both dialects, like Castilian Spanish and Catalan. Perhaps you'd rather think of American English as being just "inferior British English", but any linguist alive today would find that laughable.  There are differences in usage, spelling, and vocabulary, and that's enough to merit a distinction. --160.79.34.2 (talk) 21:01, 16 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Català, the Catalan language, is not a « dialect » of Castillian Spanish. What a statement! Charvex (talk) 23:49, 21 November 2010 (UTC)

101
I added a definition for 101 before noting that it had previously been deleted. I feel it is certainly as uncommon in the UK as many of the other terms here, furthermore it is particuarly difficult to search for a definition given its numeric nature. It is one of the few terms where I had to actually ask someone what it meant when I arrived in North America. AndyCivil (talk) 21:53, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

You've obviously never watched 'Room 101' on UK TV. - 101 deleted (again) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.240.38.253 (talk) 15:16, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

Deletion reversed because the reason given is invalid. Room 101 (TV series) conveys an entirely different meaning from the 101 defined here and is named after Room 101 in the sense of George Orwell. AndyCivil (talk) 05:57, 13 June 2010 (UTC)

Deletion reversed (again) because the reason given is (still) invalid. I have to assume that the person who deletes this entry either believes that the 101 in Room 101 has the same meaning (it doesn't) or is familiar with the American meaning through watching American import TV shows. AndyCivil (talk) 02:57, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

Deletion reversed (again) because the reason given is (still) invalid. If the person who repeatedly deletes this entry could give me a valid reason, I would stop reinstating it. AndyCivil (talk) 01:21, 21 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Andy - your justification sounds good to me. And I'm neither American nor British. These anonymous IPs are not communicating well. I invite them to try harder here and actually have a DISCUSSION!. HiLo48 (talk) 11:53, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Deletion reversed (again) because the reason given is (still) invalid. Thank you for your support HiLo48. I find it sad to engage in a battle over something so trivial, but since I am at least 95% sure I'm right, it would seem rather pathetic to give up. I wish the user from Opal Telecom would discuss this, instead of simply deleting the entry over and over. I have asked several UK people about the use of '101' in the sense of 'basic knowledge' and they confirm that this is not commonly known in the UK. The Opal Telecom person seems to think that the TV show Room 101 (TV series) is evidence for the use of 101 in the UK, but Room 101 does NOT mean "basic knowledge about rooms". It means "the things you fear" and was named after Room 101's use by George Orwell in the book Nineteen Eighty-Four. In a curious twist of irony, the very fact that George Orwell used the phrase Room 101 is proof of my point, because otherwise he wouldn't have used it because of the potential for confusion. Confusion that Mr Opal Telecom seems to be lost in. AndyCivil (talk) 00:47, 25 June 2010 (UTC)

Had to reverse the deletion again; all the above reasoning still valid. AndyCivil (talk) 04:43, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

Corn/Maize
I belive the British refer to any grain as corn while in the US and Canada corn refers to maize. Should this difference be included?--75.185.247.18 (talk) 19:55, 12 June 2010 (UTC)

Corn is already listed in the List of words having different meanings in British and American English, it's not appropriate here. AndyCivil (talk) 03:00, 15 June 2010 (UTC)


 * I believe the British use many different names for many different grains, and have been doing so for many centuries. Most of them have been in use from way before they first heard of corn. HiLo48 (talk) 04:49, 15 August 2010 (UTC)

Kitty-corner, catty-corner, catercorner. What?
The entry says - kitty-corner, also catty-corner, see catercorner. I am none the wiser. My native language is Australian English. Can someone translate please? What's it mean? And why? (And, having done that, add the definition to the article please.) HiLo48 (talk) 04:46, 15 August 2010 (UTC)

There is a full explanation under 'catercorner' on this page. One feels that the word should be a link, but only sections have named anchors to link to, not individual words. The entry for catercorner does have a link to the definition of the word. AndyCivil (talk) 14:30, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

COPASETIC would be a good word to add to this list.
Copasetic –adjective. fine; completely satisfactory; OK. 1915–20, Americanism ; of obscure orig;  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 190.131.28.129 (talk) 22:08, 14 November 2010 (UTC)

Pig
pigs (slang) police officers, a reference to the tightly coiled antennas found on the rear of US police cars, which resemble a pig's tail

It has nothing to do with the antenna on police cars; this couldn't be more made up. Not to mention if the person who spewed that line is referring to cellular phone antennas, those didn't even exist until the 70's.

In fact according to the straight dope, it's much older than that, and actually British in origin!

"If you thought the term pig arose in the 1960s, you're in for a surprise. The OED cites an 1811 reference to a "pig" as a Bow Street Runner--the early police force, named after the location of their headquarters, before Sir Robert Peel and the Metropolitan Police Force."

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2209/why-are-the-police-called-cops-pigs-or-the-fuzz —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.51.201.140 (talk) 16:31, 19 November 2010 (UTC)


 * Agree this should be on the list. It's probably more common in the UK than the US. Can it be removed?  Tu rk ey ph an t 18:46, 27 December 2010 (UTC)

5-O
"5-O" was used in the 2011 British film Attack the Block. Would a term be used that wouldn't be understood by its domestic audience, or should it be removed from this list?

cffrost (talk) 09:21, 17 September 2011 (UTC)

Pavement
Anybody feel up to adding 'Pavement' to this? It's one of the more confusing ones since it actually means the completely opposite in the US as it does in the UK.

Lawrie (talk) 05:16, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

Words "Preserved" in AmEnglish no Longer used in BrEnglish
I'd like more info or a section on words that originated in Britain but have since fallen out of favor there, while still in common usage in American English. One such term is fall as synonym of autumn. I believe "fall" had been used in England up until the Victorian era when it fell out of favor and has become archaic, whereas it's alive and well (an even more common than autumn) in the US. 98.221.141.21 (talk) 09:48, 24 September 2012 (UTC)

Action Man/G.I. Joe
Re "Both action man and G.I.Joe are considered separate toy lines, and both are common in the UK.", I believe only film tie-in G.I. Joe products are avaialble in the UK, not Action Man style figures. Mutt Lunker (talk) 10:27, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

Semester
This word is recognised and understood by anyone who attended a British university, or knows someone who does or did so since them mid-1980s, as almost all British universities divide their teaching year into two semesters. It therefore doesn't belong here, but possibly in the 'List of words having different meanings in the UK/US' if the American meaning is substantially difference. LDGE (talk) 02:13, 28 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Agreed. Well known in UK and the first recorded use is British. Removed PRL42 (talk) 14:35, 28 August 2013 (UTC)

Mass deletion of terms
As the vast majority of entries in this article neither cite the definition or that the usage is chiefly American/not widely used in the UK, all of these are liable to deletion. That said, the recent mass deletion of entries is overwhelmingly of terms that are not widely used in Britain. It may be that people in Britain are aware of the terms and some of them rarely may be employed but nonetheless, if they are not widely used in Britain and they are cited as such (which I am endeavouring to do) they have a place here.

Citations from dictionaries carry much more authority than a post of a google search (particular where entries largely indicate American coinages anyway). Mutt Lunker (talk) 22:11, 5 May 2013 (UTC)


 * When a dictionary indicates an American coinage, or indicates the word is more common in America, that shouldn't be confounded with the question of whether the word is widely used in the UK. Results of Google searches can be used to demonstrate that a word is widely used in the UK.


 * Airplane : Search for word "airplane" restricted to websites that have .CO.UK in their domain name: http://www.google.co.uk/search?&q=airplane+site%3A.co.uk . Result: Google says there are "about 1.7 million results". Search for word "airplane" restricted to the website DAILYMAIL.CO.UK. http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=airplane+site%3Adailymail.co.uk . Result: Google says "about 10,000 results" are associated with that word at that site. One typical example is this: "Manchester City star Jerome Boateng set to miss next month after freak airplane accident".


 * Band aid: With the search restricted to .CO.UK domains, http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%22band+aid%22+site%3A.co.uk, returns 90,000 results. Typical example: "... it is a band aid solution to a deeper problem....". Another: "...a band-aid may be insufficient to patch up the wounds".


 * Suppose it can be demonstrated that a certain word is widely used in the UK (e.g. airplane), while at the same time an equivalent other word is even more widely used (e.g. aeroplane). The existence of the more widely used equivalent (aeroplane) in no way contradicts the fact that the other word (airplane) is widely used.


 * The list consists of words which are more widely used in the US, words for which an equivalent alternative is more widely used in the UK, but a large minority of these words are actually widely used in the UK (even though not as widely used as the alternative word). This is the problem with the list. To repeat, many words should be removed from the list because they are in fact widely used in the UK (and the existence of more widely used equivalents is irrelevant). Seanwal111111 (talk) 22:58, 5 May 2013 (UTC)

If you have a dictionary entry (particularly, in the case of this article, a British one) which indicates a term is chiefly North American that is pretty definitive. The idea that web sites with ".co.uk" domains are only going to contain British terminology is erroneous. We don't ignore the rest of the English speaking world. How many entries for "airplane" are for the film of that name alone? Yes, people are familiar with many of these terms from American media and may not need to have them explained, yes they may be coined in Britain sometimes, that does not show they are widely used. If a citation indicates a term is chiefly North American, extrapolations from other evidence do not suffice to counter this (that would be WP:SYNTH); only a citation actively stating its widespread usage in Britain would contradict the first citation.

(Incidentally, though most of the terms you removed I was familiar with or had at least heard of, some I had never even heard of, let alone heard widely in use in Britain (breadbox, direct deposit, heavy cream, wash rag).) Mutt Lunker (talk) 23:40, 5 May 2013 (UTC)


 * "Breadbox" is the same thing as "bread box". You can buy one under that name at many purely UK-based online shopping sites including: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here -- and many more can be pulled from the google search here. Those links are to websites that are selling breadboxes to UK consumers under the name "bread box" or less often "breadbox".


 * Bread box is part of international standard English. It is not American. The same goes for "direct deposit". All you have to do is look at the Internet, and you will be compellingly convinced of that within a couple of minutes, from taking a sample of the 400,000 results for "direct deposit" reported by google from websites with .CO.UK in their domain names. Same goes for "heavy cream" and "wash rag" -- these along with direct deposit and bread box are standard international English phrases, whose meaning is clear to every native English speaker in every part of the world, and the phrases can be used in the UK by anyone without any reservation of any kind, and are in fact used quite widely. Seanwal111111 (talk) 00:23, 6 May 2013 (UTC)
 * You need to be careful when making statements such as "whose meaning is clear to every native English speaker" as it is essentially POV. I am a native English speak of many years standing and I would imagine I'm qualified to call myself 'widely read' and yet I had never, until a few minutes ago, seen or heard the expression 'direct deposit' and (as I have not yet looked it up) have absolutely no idea what it means. I can infer that 'heavy cream' is some category of cream but without looking it up I have no certain idea what (probably whipping or double). I'd agree that 'bread box' is fairy obvious (but, again, that is POV) but is a 'wash rag' something you use on a car, a floor, or in a factory? PRL42 (talk) 08:12, 6 May 2013 (UTC)
 * Which part of "wash rag" do you not understand, the "wash" or the "rag"? Seanwal111111 (talk) 17:11, 6 May 2013 (UTC)
 * The "meaning (of a term being) clear" is neither here nor there; the issue is the wide usage of the term or otherwise in one culture as opposed to another. That one may divine the meaning of a term new to one does not make it widely used. Mutt Lunker (talk) 20:49, 6 May 2013 (UTC)
 * There is absolutely no need to be offensive. Particularly so when you make yourself look foolish by failing to understand the problem even when it has been clearly explained to you (and that is before we even consider Matt's point, above). Yes, it is clearly inferable that a 'washrag' is most likely to be something that is used for washing something, however, before looking it up I would have assumed it was a piece of scrap cloth for washing something like a car. PRL42 (talk) 06:48, 7 May 2013 (UTC)


 * I entirely agree with you when you say a wash rag, aka washrag, is a piece of scrap cloth for washing something. A rag is a rag in international plain English, of course. The usage of "wash rag" to mean a facecloth, a non-rag you buy in a towel shop, is a dowdy provincialism in the USA. It is not as widely used in the USA as equivalent international English words such as washcloth and facecloth. Meanwhile in the UK, wash rag is pretty widely used in its international plain meaning, and in the USA as well people also use wash rag in its international plain meaning, or so I feel.


 * Speaking of dowdy provincialisms, Search.Google reports the following about "aeroplane" in the UK:
 * The various websites of the UK government (i.e. any site with gov.uk in its domain name) have 827,000 search result pages with the word "aircraft"; 414,000 search result pages with the word "airplane"; and 28,000 search result pages with the word "aeroplane".
 * The website of British Airways (britishairways.com) has 6,000 for "aircraft", 82 for "airplane" and 39 for "aeroplane".
 * The website of the UK Civil Aviation Authority (caa.co.uk) has 41,000 pages with "aircraft", 817 with "airplane", and 2,550 with "aeroplane".
 * The website of the London Daily Telegraph daily newspaper has 52,000 for "aircraft", 3,800 for "airplane", and 3,800 for "aeroplane".
 * The website of the Belfast Telegraph daily newspaper (unrelated to the London Telegaph) has 14,000 for "aircraft", 1,160 for "airplane", and 550 for "aeroplane".


 * Those numbers from Google search cannot be taken literally. But they are good rough indicators of relative proportions. I do not clearly understand how Google search comes up with the above numbers, but I know the numbers include associated pages that are not strictly part of my search request. Anyway, the numbers are good rough indicators and they show that people in the UK use the two International English words "aircraft" and "airplane" (and the parallel "airport"), and the dowdy provincialism "aeroplane" is very far from dominant. More to the point, the numbers show that "airplane" is in fact pretty widely used in the UK though "aircraft" is preferred. Seanwal111111 (talk) 19:59, 7 May 2013 (UTC)

There is a pronunciation difference here and usage of these words is (probably largely) verbal and not just written. I don't think I've ever heard a Brit pronounce the word without the "-o-" sound, unless they are referring, for instance, to the film or otherwise quoting an American usage.

"Aircraft" tends to be used in official, particularly international, contexts specifically to avoid the aeroplane/airplane difference, not necessarily reflecting common usage.

Not sure how you did your searches and not sure if either of them tell us much but, for what it's worth, I get the following ratios for aircraft/airplane/aeroplane, if I look at the site itself rather than via google:

https://www.gov.uk 149/8/50

http://www.britishairways.com (both via UK and US English) 15/15/0

http://www.caa.co.uk 10347/92/581

http://www.telegraph.co.uk "about 23800"/1380/3920

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk 6067/326/638

and I'll also sling in http://www.guardian.co.uk 19175/1852/3711 (whose style guide specifies "aeroplane")

The vast majority (if possibly not all) of the press usages of "airplane", from the sample I checked at least, are in stories relating to North America or North Americans.

But no need to argue the toss about these figures anyway as we have four authoritative works of reference which say that "airplane" is "N Amer", "US & Canadian", "chiefly North American" or "US for". Mutt Lunker (talk) 00:06, 8 May 2013 (UTC)
 * For your information when you want to restrict your search to a particular site or domain, the syntax that's accepted by the search engines is: site:NAME where NAME is a name you supply. For instance to search through Google restricted to Wikipedia for the word "airplane" you write: site:wikipedia.org airplane . To search only at the English-language Wikipedia you write: site:en.wikipedia.org airplane . To restrict a search to sites on the internet that have .org in their top-level domain name: site:.org airplane . That syntax was originated by search.google.co.uk and is now largely accepted at search.yahoo.com and search.bing.com. You can also get the equivalent through a dialog box on the "advanced search" page of the general-purpose Internet search company.
 * The following searches for "airplane" restricted to gov.au sites (Australian government) and explicitly excludes pages containing "aircraft" or "aeroplane": http://www.google.co.uk/search?num=100&q=airplane+-aeroplane+-aircraft+site%3A.gov.au It claims to find "about 110,000 results" for airplane. Then "about 173,000 results" for aeroplane, then about 2 million results for aircraft. Thus in Australia, as in the UK, airplane is in pretty widespread use, rougly on the same order of magnitude as aeroplane, even though aeroplane is a little more common. The would-be "authoritative works of reference" appear to be misinformed and are probably copying one from another without investigating actual usage. Seanwal111111 (talk) 02:13, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

Chambers, Collins, Oxford, Cambridge and you can add Longman are all misinformed would-be "authoritative works of reference" that don't carry out research?! Wow that's some story. How have they been pulling it off all those years? Are you actually serious?

Until you've proven that these world-renowned publishers are incompetents or fraudsters, in Wikipedia as WP:RSs they kick two users waving internet stats at each other well into touch. If you could come up with a WP:RS that supports your own theories, that could be taken into consideration but let's withdraw from the realms of the absurd. Mutt Lunker (talk) 10:02, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

More citations
Whatever the merits of the terms in question above and the related discussion, the vast majority of the terms in this article have no supporting citations whatsoever. I have now either cited or removed all the terms queried by User:Seanwal111111 and made a token start with the rest by completing entries for "A". I hereby encourage and invite the citation of the remainder, otherwise they are WP:OR. Mutt Lunker (talk) 23:49, 5 May 2013 (UTC)

2 by 4, two by four
A two-by-four is a piece of wood of any length according to the standard wood manufacturing size of 2 by 4 inches thickness. I find it used quite a lot in street language here in the US. Is this also used in Britain, or would it qualify for the list? Maesena ((talk) 17:00, 18 September 2013 (UTC)
 * Very common expression in Britain although I believe it's inaccurate as wood is cut to metric based sizes. PRL42 (talk) 10:00, 19 September 2013 (UTC)

Barrette
My wife, born in Indiana, knows a barrette to be a "hair clip". Maesena (talk) 17:29, 18 September 2013 (UTC)

Addicting vs Addictive
Americans use "addicting", English people use "addictive"; to describe something causing or tending to cause addiction. 70.238.219.62 (talk) 03:57, 30 May 2014 (UTC)

Fender bender
I agree with the vast majority of User:Mutt Lunker's edits, but we have a very minor difference of opinion about whether "fender bender" is a term (two words) not widely used in the UK, or is just an extension ("it's elaboration of a term which also has common meaning") of the term "fender" that has a different meaning in the UK. The removed entry was: ; fender bender : (slang) a minor road traffic accident. (UK: no direct equivalent, but the words bash, bump or prang are commonly used in a similar situation) It's hardly worth arguing over, but does anyone else have an opinion?  D b f i r s   12:49, 25 March 2016 (UTC)
 * Per my edits summaries, as the term "fender" has common meanings as well as a distinctively American one, the place for that entry is already appropriately at List of words having different meanings in American and British English: A-L. The term "fender bender" is an example of usage of the American term "fender" idiomatically which can appropriately be added to the American def at "fender", per numerous other such idioms in entries at that article. If it's added here, someone assuredly will think that if fender bender is here, the parent word should also be here and add it in again. The idiom is not widely used in the UK precisely because the word has "different meanings in American and British English". Sorry if that sounds pedantic but I'm conscious that these related articles attract well-intentioned clutter (as well as copious OR), so any move that can avert such things is worth aiming for. Nice to see someone putting thought into the matter though. Mutt Lunker (talk) 16:32, 25 March 2016 (UTC)
 * I agree with you on the removal of clutter, and that someone will probably misunderstand, but I still think that the two-word term is distinct from the single word that doesn't belong here because, as you quite rightly said, it belongs in the other article.   D b f i r s   20:12, 25 March 2016 (UTC)

Widely-used v. widely-understood
There's a difference between those two, and from a practical point of view (e.g. for people trying to write for general consumption), it's a lot more useful to have details of terms not widely understood.

Most of the terms in this list are widely understood, if not widely used, in UK, because of the global prevalence of American-English terminology. As an obvious example, nearly every English speaker (in the world, not just in UK) understands the word 'elevator'. However, in UK the word 'lift' is commonly used, and 'elevator' sounds pretentious.

I'd therefore suggest deleting most of this list, then renaming it. Chrismorey (talk) 01:56, 19 April 2017 (UTC)
 * It's much easier to establish use and a list of use is a worthy subject of an article, so changing it into something else would lose that. If you think a list based on understanding is worthwhile, establish a second article but I would think the inclusion of the bulk of entries would be difficult to establish and open to dispute.
 * I don't understand your advocacy of the removal of the word elevator whilst noting that it's use in the UK woyld be notably deprecated. Mutt Lunker (talk) 05:58, 19 April 2017 (UTC)

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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20160920130844/http://www.chambers.co.uk/search.php?query=maven%20&title=21st to http://www.chambers.co.uk/search.php?query=maven%20&title=21st
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150402143237/http://www.chambers.co.uk/search.php?query=suck&title=21st to http://www.chambers.co.uk/search.php?query=suck&title=21st
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150912022730/http://www.chambers.co.uk/search.php?query=waste+basket&title=21st to http://www.chambers.co.uk/search.php?query=waste+basket&title=21st

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Lower 48
As the Outside (Alaska) article doesn't mention or discuss the term "lower 48" and is not an exact match for the definition would a better link for the latter term be Contiguous_United_States. Mutt Lunker (talk) 22:53, 6 April 2018 (UTC)

Gun law terminology
There are a number of terms seemingly widely used in the USA to do with firearm legislation that are very rarely used elsewhere, such as "shall issue", "may issue", "concealed carry", and "open carry". (I'm sure there are more, but they haven't sprung to mind just yet as I write this.) A discussion of some of these recently occured at Talk:Overview of gun laws by nation. Worth adding to this article? HiLo48 (talk) 22:05, 26 April 2018 (UTC)

Dago (insult)
Don't the Brits say "wog" instead of "Dago"? 109.116.98.112 (talk) 20:11, 17 October 2022 (UTC)


 * No. “Dago” is generally used for people hailing from the Iberian peninsula.  There’s a wog page which explains it. Mr Larrington (talk) 19:20, 10 June 2023 (UTC)

Badass and Gravure Idol
Are "Badass" (cool and tough-looking person) and "Gravure Idol" (a model on an erotic magazine) terms rarely used in UK?

I recall that "ass" is spelled "arse" in the UK and it's a very offensive word, so having it part of a word meaning "cool" is an americanism (though it may have recently been imported in the UK too).

Gravure Idol, on the other hand, is a term almost unheard of in Europe. 109.115.88.196 (talk) 17:40, 1 February 2023 (UTC)

Wiener
Wiener means sausage but is also a slang term that means "penis". It's stated by wiktionary to be not used in the UK, at least in its main meanings of "sausage" and "penis".

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wiener#:~:text=(Canada%2C%20US%2C%20colloquial),to%20partake%20in%20certain%20activities. 93.144.189.243 (talk) 19:54, 12 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Wiktionary is WP:USERGENERATED so, like Wikipedia (see WP:CIRC), not a WP:RELIABLESOURCE. What's more, it claims the term does have currency in the UK to mean "An irritating or disliked person". In my experience, the term is not in wide UK usage but I am not a reliable source either. Try an online dictionary (e.g. Cambridge, Collins, Longman, Macmillan, Merriam-Webster) and if it states the usage is mainly US (and not UK), that should suffice. Mutt Lunker (talk) 20:37, 12 May 2023 (UTC)