Okay, tell us the differences between US and UK dialect.

[Deja Q]

In the US, we say "Drunk". In the UK, you lot say "Pissed"

In the US, we say "Elevator". In the UK, you lot say "Lift".

In the US, we say "Politician". In the UK, you lot say "Self serving pompous twit"


So, what other differences exist?

[Aristus]

1. Us: toilet. Them: loo.

Us: athletic shoes. Them: trainers.

Us: George W. Bush. Them: Self-serving pompous twit.

[cobalt1999]

2. well...

The first time someone asked me for a fag, I was quite taken aback.

[Deja Q]

3. Well, you COULD have given them my number!

:spray:

[cobalt1999]

8. LOL!

Yes...well, I was in a bit of brain lock at the time. It's not exactly the kind of question I was prepared to answer.

The other confusing one was to go "bird hunting" (pick up women).

[KamaAina]

4. Us: cigarettes. Them: fags.

Keep that one in mind before labelling a Brit as homophobic. In a similar vein:

Us: courage. Them: pecker. Use these in a sentence:

"It certainly must take a lot of pecker to quit smoking all those fags."

More innocuously:

Us: truck. Them: lorry.

Us: goat pee. Them: beer, or better yet, ale. :beer:

Us: mindless twaddle. Them: telly.

edit: unsure of usage in header

[hyphenate]

5. The boot in the car is the trunk

Knock you up means come to visit you at your home
A queue is a line, like at the grocery store
The telly is the TV here

Give me awhile to think about it

O--a few grammatical ones:

colour=color
centre=center
connexion=connection
spectre=specter

Some s's in UK are z's here: organisation=organization; realise=realize

On edit: a skip is one of those huge garbage dumpsters

[grannylib]

6. Moving staircase vs. escalator; full stop vs. period (man, was that

confusing as hell for an eighth-grade (third form) girl living in England for the first time since she was six, holy shit...
Rubber vs. eraser, that's a good one.

[KFC]

7. The trickiest of all: fanny

When I lived there, being an American, many Brits prodded me to comment on a woman's fanny. Luckily,I had been forewarned. It is on the other side over there.

[Deja Q]

9. That's a bit of an odd euphemism...

:rofl:

[KFC]

14. I know. Those Bastards have shifted female body parts 180 degrees

No. I have not been drinking.

[ChoralScholar]

10. policeman = bobby

f**k = bugger

[Lady Effingbroke]

11. Good link here...

The American-British British-American Dictionary

Culture

The difference between Australians, Brits, Canadians & Americans

Australians: Dislike being mistaken for Pommies (Brits) when abroad.
Canadians: Are rather indignant about being mistaken for Americans when abroad.
Americans: Encourage being mistaken for Canadians when abroad.
Brits: Can't possibly be mistaken for anyone else when abroad.

Australians: Believe you should look out for your mates.
Brits: Believe that you should look out for those people who belong to your club.
Americans: Believe that people should look out for & take care of themselves.
Canadians: Believe that that's the government's job.

Australians: Are extremely patriotic to their beer.
Americans: Are flag-waving, anthem-singing, and obsessively patriotic to the point of blindness.
Canadians: Can't agree on the words to their anthem, when they can be bothered to sing them.
Brits: Do not sing at all but prefer a large brass band to perform the anthem.

Americans: Spend most of their lives glued to the idiot box.
Canadians: Don't, but only because they can't get more American channels.
Brits: Pay a tax just so they can watch four channels.
Australians: Export all their crappy programs, which no-one there watches, to Britain, where everybody loves them.

Americans: Will jabber on incessantly about football, baseball, and basketball.
Brits: Will jabber on incessantly about cricket, soccer, and rugby.
Canadians: Will jabber on incessantly about hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, and how they beat the Americans twice, playing baseball.
Australians: Will jabber on incessantly about how they beat the Poms in every sport they play them in.

Americans: Spell words differently, but still call it "English".
Brits: Pronounce their words differently, but still call it "English."
Canadians: Spell like the Brits, pronounce like Americans.
Australians: Add "G'day," "mate" and a heavy accent to everything they say in an attempt to get laid.

Brits: Shop at home and have goods imported because they live on an island.
Australians: Shop at home and have goods imported because they live on an island.
Americans: Cross the southern border for cheap shopping, gas, & liquor in a backwards country.
Canadians: Cross the southern border for cheap shopping, gas, & liquor in a backwards country.

Americans: Drink weak, pissy-tasting beer.
Canadians: Drink strong, pissy-tasting beer.
Brits: Drink warm, beery-tasting piss.
Australians: Drink anything with alcohol in it.

Americans: Seem to think that poverty & failure are morally suspect.
Canadians: Seem to believe that wealth and success are morally suspect.
Brits: Seem to believe that wealth, poverty, success and failure are inherited things.
Australians: Seem to think that none of this matters after several beers.

[Spider Jerusalem]

12. Let's see...

Just relating to automobiles, we have: boot (trunk), bonnet (hood), hood (convertible top), wing (fender; the front fenders are 'driver's side front wing' and 'offside front wing'), gearbox (transmission), windscreen (windshield), gear lever (gearshift), tyre (tire)...

Then there's accumulator (battery), torch (flashlight), biro (ballpoint pen), sellotape (Scotch tape), elastoplast (band-aid), and many many more...basically, there's a good chance that if it something was invented in the past 150-200 years, British and American English have different words for it.

[StellaBlue]

13. God, where to begin?

I lived there for four years. Off the top of my head (after four pints tonight):

bonnet = hood (car)
boot = trunk (car)
windscreen = windshield (car)
aerial = antenna (car or radio)
tyre = tire
fanny = pussy
bum = butt
fag = cigarette
ciggie = cigarette
oy! = hey! (it's not just for jews!)
biscuit = cookie
jam = jelly
bloke = guy
bird = girl
full stop = period (punctuation)
sweets = candy
pudding = dessert
hand brake = emergency brake (car)
jumper = sweater
trainer = sneaker/tennis shoe
fiver/tenner = five pound bill/ten pound bill
note = bill (money)
cheque = check (money)
ring = call
knock up = wake up (hotel)
holiday = vacation (no word for US sense of holiday)
crisps = chips
chips = fries
flapjack = granola bar
shandy = lager and lemonade
lemonade = Sprite
cloudy lemonade = US lemonade
coving = ceiling cornice
worktop = kitchen counter
floorboard = baseboard
ill = sick
sick = vomiting
tap = faucet
petrol = gasoline
queue = line (of people, cars)
drink driving = drunk driving
spacca = spazz
bollocks = balls
Bob's your uncle = voila! / there you go
pissed = drunk
cheesed off = pissed
lorry = truck
single = one-way ticket
return = round-trip ticket
band = any musical group (e.g. Destiny's Child or the Beatles!)
Yankee = any American
football = soccer
American football = football
wanker = masturbator / jerk
minger = very ugly person (usually female)
loo = bathroom
toilet = bathroom (the bathroom is ONLY a room with a bath)
childminding = babyisitting
carer = someone who watches someone (babysitter or eldery nurse)
lift = elevator
moving staircase = escalator
you lot = y'all / you guys
serviette = napkin (lower class)
setee = sofa (lower class)
Nana = Grandmother (lower class)
torch = flashlight
Sellotape = tape / Scotch tape
tissue = Kleenex (maybe that's just a Southern US thing, anyway)
toilet paper = toilet roll
underground = subway
subway = underground walkway
infant school = nursery school
primary school = elementary school
comprehensive = high school
college = vo-tech school
university = college
surgery = clinic (medical) or open house held by a politician, such as an MP
tea = dinner (at least in Yorkshire)
long drive = 30 miles

It goes on....