British person: Hi! It’s so good to see you. Welcome to England. How was the journey?
American person: Hey it’s great to see you. It was long!
British person: Are you tired? American: I am exhausted. I don’t mean
to be rude but is it ok if I go right to bed? British: Of course! Would you like something
to eat first?
American: Maybe just a snack. British: What do you fancy?
American: Do you have chips? British: Yes, we have some in the freezer.
They’ll take about 20 minutes in the oven. American: … What?
Ah, British English versus American English. It’s the subject of many
English learning videos and many conversations between English learners and English speakers.
Hello Everyone, Anna here from englishlikeanative.com the site which helps you
to speak English with confidence. And for those of you who would love to have an English accent,
you can download my free guide to sounding British by clicking on the link below.
Ok so UK vs US, We’re so fascinated by the differences between the two languages
and how one word can mean something totally different depending on where in the world you are.
Most of our vocabulary is the same, but there’s the odd word which is completely different.
Those are the words that we’re going to be learning about today.
We’re going to be focusing on 25 words which are typically different
in British vs American English. Maybe I’ll do a British vs Australian one too. Give the video a
thumbs up and leave a comment if you’d like to learn more about Australian English in a future
video. Anyway, that’s enough chatting. We’ve got a long list to get through so let’s get started.
1. The first example is the one in the scene at the beginning of this video and it’s one that
you’ve probably already heard of. In Britain, we would use the word ‘chips’ where in America,
they would use the word ‘fries’. As with a lot of examples on this list, ‘fries’ is a word that is
also seen quite commonly in the UK too nowadays, but we usually use it to mean thin ‘chips’,
like the ones you might get at McDonald’s. 2. The second is the British word ‘crisps’ which
are called ‘potato chips’ or just ‘chips’ in America. Now do you see the confusion?
3. The third example has also already been used in this video and that is the word ‘film’.
In British English, we watch a ‘film’, but in American English, they watch a ‘movie’.
4. Similarly, in British English we would use the word ‘cinema’
to describe the place where you might go to watch a film on the big screen. In American English,
they call that a ‘movie theater’. 5. The fifth example is the word
‘Autumn’. That’s the word we use in British English to describe the season where it’s
beginning to get a little bit colder, the leaves are turning orange and brown and it’s time to put
the shorts away and get the coats out of the cupboard. We call that ‘Autumn’ but in the US,
they usually call that ‘Fall’. Which word did you learn? Did you learn ‘Autumn’ first, or ‘Fall’?
6. I’ve noticed that there are a lot of words which are to do with transport which vary between
British and American English so let’s focus on those for a bit. The first is a ‘Taxi’.
In British English, we would call a car in which you pay a driver to drop you at a location
a ‘taxi’ but in America, they are more likely to call it a ‘cab’. There is one exception to this,
which is a specific, traditional kind of London taxi which is called a ‘black cab’.
You can’t book a black cab, you just have to find one on the streets of London which
is available to take you where you want to go. 7. Number seven is ‘car park’. It makes sense.
It’s the place where you park your car. In British English, we would call that a ‘car park’. In
American English, they say ‘parking lot’. 8. Number eight is the panel at the front
of the car that lifts up to reveal the engine et cetera. In the UK,
we usually call this the ‘bonnet’ but in the US, they tend to call it the ‘hood’ of the car.
9. Over to the other end of the car, the bit in the back where you can store your bags or
anything else you’re taking with you while you travel. In the UK, we call this the ‘boot’,
but in the US, they call it the ‘trunk’. 10. Number ten is quite specific but you
never know when it might come in handy. In the UK, we use the word ‘flyover’ to describe a bridge
which carries one road over another. In the US, they would call it an ‘overpass’.
11. The next example is a large, heavy vehicle used for transporting goods. In Britain, we call
this a lorry, but in America they call it a truck. 12. Another word which is different in the US
versus the UK is the word ‘motorbike’. We use the word ‘motorbike’ in British
English where in American English, they would use the word ‘motorcycle’.
13. A road which is specifically designed for fast-moving traffic is called a ‘motorway’
in British English, but in American English they call it a ‘highway’.
14. This one is only a subtle difference but it’s an easy one to get wrong. The row of letters
and numbers on a plate which is attached to a car. In the UK, we call this a ‘number plate’
but in the US, they call it a ‘license plate’. In the UK, these must be on the front and back
of the car but I believe in the US, you only have to have a license plate on the back of the car,
so there’s another little difference. 15. Moving on, if you are travelling on foot,
you will walk on the ‘pavement’ in the UK but in the US, you would walk on the ‘sidewalk’.
16. If your car is running low on fuel, you could say you need to get ‘petrol’ or ‘fuel’ or ‘diesel’
if that’s what your car runs on. We tend to use the word ‘petrol’ to mean all of those
things in the UK. In the US, they use the word ‘gas’ or ‘gasoline’.
17. Similarly, the place where you go to get petrol in the UK is the ‘petrol station’.
The place where you go to get gas in the US is the ‘gas station’.
18. If you’re from the UK, you might go on ‘holiday’ but in the US, they would call that
a ‘vacation’. ‘Holiday’ in the US means a national celebration, such as Christmas or 4th July.
19. The British love to queue. It’s polite to stand in a queue if there are several
people waiting for something so you know that you will all get
a fair chance. ‘Queue’ has a funny spelling. It’s Q-U-E-U-E. In the US, they call this a ‘line’.
20. Our next is right here (hold up a handbag). In the UK, we call this a handbag. In the US,
they call it a purse. 21. Similarly, in the UK,
a ‘purse’ is what a woman typically keeps money in. The male equivalent is usually called a
‘wallet’ in British English. However, in American English, the word ‘wallet’ can be used to refer to
the money-keeping receptacle for both genders. 22. To wash your hands in the UK, you would
turn on the tap. However, to wash your hands in the US, you need to turn on the
faucet. ‘Tap’ in British English has the same meaning as ‘faucet’ in American English.
23. In the UK, we hang our clothes in a ‘wardrobe’, but in the US
they hang their clothes in a ‘closet’. 24. Speaking of clothes, we would call this (use
an example) a ‘zip’ in the UK and it is changed very slightly in the US; they call it a ‘zipper’.
Only a tiny difference, that one. Zip vs zipper. 25. Lastly, a word that causes a lot of confusion
is ‘trousers’ in the UK, which are called ‘pants’ in the US.
‘Pants’ actually means underwear in British English so you can imagine the confusion when
someone speaking in American English says ‘I like your pants’ before we realise that they
actually mean trousers. Panic over. So there we have 25 words
which are different in British versus American English. Did you enjoy this video? Let me know
by clicking the thumbs up button. Did I miss any? I know I missed a lot, there are
so many words like this. Share any differences I didn’t include on this list in the comments
so we can all learn together and let me know if you’d like more of these UK vs US videos
or if you'd like me to look at the difference between British English and any other versions and
variations of English happy to do that too let me know in the comments and I'll see you again soon