Talk:List of American English words not used in British English

Suspenders

I thought "suspenders" => belt AND stockings? Still, not being a hosiery expert... Martin

Sausages

Martin I think you're being a bit over-zealous in removing some things. Why remove blood sausage? Blutwurst IS black pudding, and it is always called black pudding in the UK.

I'm under the (possibly incorrect) impression that blutwurst and black pudding refer to two very similar but subtly different dishes. Blutwurst, when imported into the UK from Germany, is called Blutwurst or blood sausage. --mrd

AFAIK Blutwurst is black pudding made in Germany. But who calls it blood sausage in the UK anyway?

Tuxedo etc

Why remove tuxedo? The word may be understood in the UK, but dinner jacket is almost always used in its stead. Mintguy

hmm... ok, you've convinced me on this one. --mrd

Also hood and trunk were specifically indicated as being in the context of a car. The uses for those words in other contexts is the same as the US. Mintguy

So they should be on the list of words with different meanings, no? Martin

No. Because in the context of headgear bonnet and hood have the same meaning, but in the context of of a car, the words do not have different meanings, they have have no meaning.

Would you put bloody (which is in the list of UK words as a synonym for damned) in words with different meanings, because in the UK and US it means covered in blood. I think not, because it is a different context. The context of hood/bonnet trunk/boot was listed. Hood, bonnet, trunk and boot all have the same meanings both side of the pond outside of the context of a car, and car was specified as the context in this list. Mintguy

You think not... but you think wrong. :) Martin

For "heck-care" see the page hisotry of the t.A.T.u. article:

heck care attitiude (f*** you -> heck care)
f*** you attitude (rv incomprehensible americanism)
negative attitude (HAHAHa funny. Removing some pov)

Slang, admittedly, but so is "bloody", above. "So-what" is a UK view of an equivalent, based on Google. Andy G 20:39 23 Jun 2003 (UTC)

(Later) "So-what" was changed to "Devil-may-care" by Zundark. But he is from UK too. US opinions? Andy G 20:32 24 Jun 2003 (UTC)

This American has never heard the phrase "heck care attitude" before, but who knows what kids today are saying. ;) A google search indicates it may be Singlish. (And indeed, the phrase was added to t.A.T.u. by a user from Singapore.) --Brion 20:36 24 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Sports

Why is "sports" not Brit English? We have "sports days", "sports cars", "sports jackets" and "sports bras" (although not all at once). Why is "sport" not US English? Do Americans say "boxing is a contact sports?". Removed it. Andy G 22:09 23 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Canola

Canola is not a synonym for oilseed rape (it's a patened variety of rapeseed) so I substituted rapeseed, rape for it. Trontonian

query

Do Brits use the word "bullhorn" for "hailer"? And is it "hailer" or "loud hailer" TIA -- Viajero 09:04, 19 Nov 2003 (UTC)

As a Brit, I use never "bullhorn" nor "hailer". "loud hailer" is okay. Stewart Adcock 18:49, 19 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Duplex

At least in part of the US duplex when used in real estate means an apartment with two floors [1] (http://www.bartleby.com/61/91/D0429100.html). The usage that is common in at least the north-east of the United States is that a house divided in two is usually called a two-family house; the use of the term duplex for such properties is not that common in my experience. — Alex756 04:32, 10 Dec 2003 (UTC)

In California, a duplex is two houses at the same level, with a single common wall. RickK 04:33, 10 Dec 2003 (UTC)

That's a semi-detached house in the UK, often abbreviated to "semi". We also have the distinction between flats which are multiple residences within the same building sharing a single external entrance (I believe that equates to apartments in the US), and maisonettes which have an external door each. There's also granny flats, but as usual I digress :-) Phil 10:43, Dec 11, 2003 (UTC)

Well, in the US we have both apartments and condominiums, which can have the same look, but apartments are rented and condominiums (condos) are owned by the people who live in them. Then there are townhouses, or row houses, which is a long line of single-family houses, usually multi-storied, with common walls. RickK 16:42, 11 Dec 2003 (UTC)

A row house is a terrace house in the UK Secretlondon 16:43, Dec 11, 2003 (UTC)

In Ireland also, but townhouse is often used for a small terraced house. Bmills 16:44, 11 Dec 2003 (UTC)

ZIP Code vs. postal code

Should this really be in the list? The two are not really equivalent, although they serve equivalent functions; the zone improvement plan differs from the postal code. --Daniel C. Boyer 20:43, 13 Feb 2004 (UTC)

They're the closest match we have, really. violet/riga 23:25, 17 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Strictly speaking, the ZIP Code is the postal code used in the U.S. But I have yet to see the generic form used by itself in the States. Dunno if that makes either or both words candidates for the list, as ZIP Code is an expired trademark (see discussion below...). --ProhibitOnions 23:38, 2005 May 12 (UTC)

Remove these?

These I really don't think should be in:

truck - lorry (interchangable in the UK)
elevator - lift (we do use that word but it means a different thing - should be in List of words having different meanings in British and American English
deck (of cards) - pack (interchangable in the UK)
closet - cupboard, wardrobe (interchangable in the UK)
apartment - flat (interchangable in the UK)
cookie - biscuit (should be in the other list instead)

violet/riga 23:25, 17 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Removed write me/us/them vs write to me/us/them This is a grammatical difference Dainamo

Normality returns

The word "normalcy" is a much-publicized error of President Warren Harding's, and is just as incorrect in American English as in British.

Maybe so. But the fact is that many Americans do use it (search for it in Google if you don't believe me) and no Britons do. It even appears in the Oxford English Dictionary as an Americanism. So surely it does belong on this list. This list doesn't just include words which are technically accurate, but words that are actually used. -- Necrothesp 23:29, 18 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Actually, normalcy is (like many words in American English) an older word that died out in Britain long ago. It's not incorrect in either American or British English, though it may be inelegant in both.

Vegetable marrow

Is a vegetable marrow a particular kind of squash, or a generic term for all of the vegetables Americans call squash? Is "squash" used in Britain at all? Rick K 00:48, Nov 24, 2004 (UTC)

A marrow is a large member of the squash family, which is very large and also includes courgettes (zucchini), cucumbers, melons and pumpkins. The word "squash" is not in colloquial use in Britain. --Minority Report (IT or PR enormity) 01:00, 24 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I should add that there isn't really a particular species of marrow. Any sufficiently large member of the squash family which doesn't look enough like a traditional American halloween pumpkin is likely to be dubbed a marrow in Britain.

--Minority Report (IT or PR enormity) 01:07, 24 Nov 2004 (UTC)

So if I added vegetable marrow to the British side, could I just say "squash" on the American side? Rick K 05:50, Nov 25, 2004 (UTC)

Yes. --Minority Report (entropy rim riot) 13:37, 25 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Thanks. Rick K 20:34, Nov 25, 2004 (UTC)

What about a baby marrow which a commonly used alternative to small courgettes (zucchini)?--Jcw69 10:43, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Slang and/or pejorative terms

Should the following be added:

limey
redneck
yankee
wetback

and other similar words? People for whom English of any form is not their primary language may well not be familiar with these terms, even though some are used extensively in Hollywood films and in newspapers. It took me a while to find out that 'yankee' meant something different inside the USA than outside, which was quite confusing. If they shoudn't be added here, where should they go? -- WLD 23:29, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Yellow light

American	British
yellow light	at traffic lights. In British English this is always referred to as the amber light.

I took this out. People tend to stop calling them amber lights as soon as they have passed their driving test.

[[User:Paul Tracy|Paul Tracy_{/talk</sub>]]}

Legally it is known as amber but it is mostly called an orange or yellow light--Jcw69 10:38, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I don't agree with this. I've been driving in Britain for nearly twenty years, several of them as a professional driver, and I can't recall hearing anybody call it anything other than an amber light. I agree with removing it, since it doesn't seem a particularly appropriate entry, but not for the reasons given. -- Necrothesp 10:47, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I also have been driving in Britain for a long time. Have you really never heard someone talk about 'going through a yellow light'? Interestingly enough if you ask someone to name the sequence of lights they will always say 'amber' as that's what it's called in the Highway Code.

People use both terms, → it is incorrect to say this is always referred to as the amber light → it doesn't belong on the list. [[User:Paul Tracy|Paul Tracy_{/talk</sub>]]
As I said, I agree with its deletion. I simply don't agree with your statement that "people tend to stop calling them amber lights as soon as they have passed their driving test" or Jcw69's that "it is mostly called an orange or yellow light". And I've certainly heard people talking about "going through an amber light" (and have used it myself of course), but not a "yellow light". -- Necrothesp 15:51, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)
My statement is, I admit, poorly worded: I did not mean to imply that I meant everybody in Britain. As for Jcw69's that "it is mostly called an orange or yellow light" - well I've NEVER heard it called an orange light. But there are people in Britain, and plenty of them, who call it a yellow light.
[[User:Paul Tracy|Paul Tracy_{/talk</sub>]]
Well, I visited Britian a number of times from South Africa where we speak an English dialect closer to British English than American. Just slang words change. Here it is called amber light but on the streets it is refered to as orange or yellow. Maybe I'm just colour blind. Sorry to confuse, just putting a different spin on things. How about adding two extra columns - South African English and ANZAC English (Austrialian and New Zealand)? --Jcw69 08:54, 15 Dec 2004 (UTC)}}

Underpants

American	British
underpants	pants (some regions), knickers (usually female), underpants, cacks

I'm American, so I'm not sure if this is a mistake. If Britons do, in fact, use the word "underpants", then it should be removed from the list (?) -- Jacottier 23:54, Jan 22, 2005 (UTC)

Yup. Now removed. Commonly used and well understood in Britain (although "pants" is possibly commoner). -- Necrothesp 00:07, 26 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Fmt change

I changed this list to a definition list format because it's a list of words with their definitions. This allows search engines like Google to figure out the semantic relation between the words and their definitions and provide more valuable content when searching for meanings of words. If you don't like the way the definition lists appear, then I would lobby to change the CSS formatting for definition lists. The markup, however, is semantically optimal. It's a list of definitions, so the appropriate markup is a definition list. It's not tabular data, so a table is inappropriate. Nohat 00:13, 18 Feb 2005 (UTC)

"wall wart"

As an American, I have never heard the term "wall wart" and suspect it might not be widespread enough to include in this list.

--Yath 06:10, 31 Mar 2005 (UTC)

re "wall wart" - it looks widespread enough to be used in advertising - see http://www.samash.com/catalog/showitem.asp?itemid=22104; http://www.musicmall.com/cmp/wall_wart_removers.htm; and for an example of common usage, see http://www.glitchbuster.com/wallwart.htm
WLD 10:45, 31 Mar 2005 (UTC)

"Wall wart" is a cute slang term for "power adapter" or "AC adapter" — I first encountered it in the Passport to World Band Radio, a fairly international publication, a few years ago. There's nothing specifically American about it, as far as I can tell. --ProhibitOnions 23:08, 2005 May 2 (UTC)

O.K. - having seen your objection, I did some further research and found .uk websites that use wall-wart. If you can find some British publications that use 'wall wart' with quotation marks, youo should be able to get it entered in the OED as it isn't there now. The OED doesn't accept website references as citations, but accepts print publications. WLD 09:13, 2 May 2005 (UTC)

"xerox"

As for "xerox", if, as the page states now, it is "still used in the UK by some older people", then the usage in both places is exactly the same and it doesn't belong in this page.

--Yath 06:10, 31 Mar 2005 (UTC)

re xerox, it depends Where You Draw The Line. Similar caveats at other entries: gotten, hickey, liquor, tuxedo. Joestynes 07:37, 31 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I've heard "to xerox" many times in both countries. The Xerox company has never been happy about this usage.

Which is why I removed both of them (xerox & wall-wart). --ProhibitOnions 21:53, 2005 May 1 (UTC)

Life Savers

There is really no place for Life Savers on this page. You'll note that brand names are not generally listed here. Are we going to start listing all brands that have a presence in only one of these countries? I'm sure there are innumerable sweets that could be listed under those conditions. --Yath 22:47, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC)

"Are we going to start listing all brands that have a presence in only one of these countries?"
Why not? That's actually a Very Good Idea, as it acts as an aid to understanding media from America. I had no idea what 'Life Savers' were until I visited the USA and found out, by accident, that they were a form of candy. That clarified the meaning of a particular sentence in a novel I had puzzled over for quite some time. I happen to know what 'Mountain Dew' and 'Gatorade' are, but those brands do not exist in the UK. Neither do 'Burma Shave' or '66' gasoline. There are other brands dotted around, such as Kleenex and Hoover, which are used generically in one area but not the other. I would say that if the information is useful, it should be included. WLD 01:56, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)

It definitely sounds like a job for a separate list, though, as such a list would be in the hundreds or thousands. Also, there are so many regional variances within the US alone, I can't imagine the task being easy. --Darksasami 07:19, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)

If there get to be too many, then we'll move them to a separate list. For now, since there are just a few, we should just tolerate them, rather than delete them. They only cause harm in theory, and we should only do something about them when they are actually causing problems. Nohat 07:50, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Mountain Dew and Gatorade do indeed exist in the UK, though without the same level of popularity and (evidently) public recognition they enjoy in the US. Burma-Shave is known in the U.S. for its historical popularity, especially for its roadside advertising, but is not a well-known brand today.

Point being, it's quite difficult to come up with a list of products that are household names on one side of the Atlantic and unknown on the other. Some cases are: same product with different legacy brand name (Lay's, Walkers); exact same product sold under a different name (3 Musketeers, Milky Way); products available everywhere but with drastically different popularity levels (Weetabix, Grape-Nuts), and similar products in respective markets (Life-Savers vs. Polo Mints; Sellotape vs. Scotch tape, etc.). Add in the rest of the English-speaking world (Tim Horton's, Hungry Jack, Tayto, The Bay, etc.) and you could go on for a long time.

Perhaps if it were restricted to "trade names used near-generically" it might be OK, but we could still have dozens of items. Reduce it by bringing in the "similar products dominating respective markets" as above, you could make a case for, well, Life-Savers/Polo Mints, Sellotape/Scotch tape, and possibly Elastoplast/Band-Aid, though everyone in Britain knows what a Band-Aid is.

A few of the words on the list actually were trademarks, or attempts at such, at one point (I note gasoline, pantyhose, and arguably ZIP code), which explains why they are different in the first place.

--ProhibitOnions 21:46, 2005 May 1 (UTC)

I've thought of another one: Windex vs. Windolene. But then again, having not bothered to look this up, I think they fall under the "same product, different name" rubric (oh, now that I mention it, how about Frosties/Frosted Flakes?), though both names are used pretty generically in their respective country. --ProhibitOnions 23:15, 2005 May 4 (UTC)

Movie

I dispute that the term movie - found on this list - is never used in British English in 2005. Certainly its use comes from hearing it in American media, but it is nonetheless an understood and used term in the UK today. Do others dispute this? Unless I receive comments to the contrary, I'm going to remove "movie" from this list. Moncrief 17:37, Apr 14, 2005 (UTC)

I agree; not all Americanisms belong on this page. Joestynes 06:49, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Motion picture

Having removed "movie" without objection, I now suggest we remove "motion picture" for similar reasons. I believe "motion picture" (rarely used today outside of Hollywood awards ceremonies or promotional material even in the U.S., by the way) is wholly understood in the U.K. and is used nearly as often there (i.e., admittedly not very, but that's true in the U.S. too) as it is in the U.S. "Motion picture" is an old term in both places. Object now if you disagree. Moncrief 06:13, Apr 21, 2005 (UTC)

It's an old and more technical term, not otherwise in common use (Seen the new Bruce Willis motion picture?), but understood everywhere. It does not belong on this list. --ProhibitOnions 10:46, 2005 May 2 (UTC)

I've removed it. Moncrief 22:13, May 2, 2005 (UTC)

Shill

Please could you say was this removed, ProhibitOnions? It's listed in my references as N.American slang. WLD 09:13, 2 May 2005 (UTC)

That's certainly its etymology, but it's a word that seems to have entered general educated usage; I've seen it in UK editorial columns and the like. In any case, it's not a particularly common word in the US either, and it's not slang anymore, although it may have been in 19th-century Brooklyn. The related verb "to shill for" (ie, to promote or advertise) is probably more common.

--ProhibitOnions 10:42, 2005 May 2 (UTC)

Hmm. I suppose part of the issue is determining exactly when a word moves into 'generally accepted' British use. If you were to set someone the task of writing an article in British English, would they use the word 'shill'? Americans are known to write articles in British media and vice versa. I put it into the article because I had had to look it up and found that it was listed as N. American slang. I take the view that this article in Wikipedia should be made more useful by being inclusive rather than less useful by leaving out arguable or marginal cases. There is, of course, a difference between words understood by those that speak British English, and the vocabulary that is naturally or preferentially used when producing their own speech or text. Anyway, to use Wikipedia jargon, I'm an 'Inclusionist', whereas you seem to me to have a more 'Deletionist' tendency. Vive la différence. WLD 16:49, 2 May 2005 (UTC)

I'm not a "deletionist"; it's just that whatever its origins, shill is not necessarily a slang word anymore. It's also not a particularly common word, which is why it might not be understood by everyone; but this is true of a lot of "vocabulary words" and doesn't automatically make it an American English word not used in British English. Having said that, eBay has certainly popularized the word. I would suspect that anyone in a position to look out for shills probably uses the word, including those in the UK, and that's why I don't think the word belongs on the list. --ProhibitOnions 23:04, 2005 May 2 (UTC)

I agree. Moncrief 20:06, May 3, 2005 (UTC)

O.K. I had to look it up, and it was listed as N. American slang, which is why I put it in the article in the first place. Obviously Things Have Moved On, as English is wont to do. Have a nice day! WLD 21:56, 3 May 2005 (UTC)

Condominium

I'd like to ~~remove~~ edit the meaning of "condominium" on this list. First of all, I'm not convinced the word isn't used in the UK (Edit: I may be wrong about that. On further perusal, it's very difficult to find "condominium" used on a UK website). But still: In any case, I really don't think "block of flats" is the appropriate equivalent word in the UK. When used in the US, "condo" or "condominium" much more often than not refers specifically to ONE condo within a condo complex or converted apartment building. The word isn't meant to describe a block of flats (we'd say "condo complex" to signify it was a collection of condos. Moncrief 20:10, May 3, 2005 (UTC)

Well, I would suggest that it should probably be moved into the List of words having different meanings in British and American English, as I'm more familiar with the first definition in the Shorter OED: "Joint control of a State's affairs vested in two or more other States.". The second definition, listed as N. American is: "A set of flats, group of cottages, etc., rented or bought by a group of people; a unit of property so held." I think the key point is that you don't own the individual unit in which you dwell - you own a proportionate share in the whole complex - perhaps an itinerent lawyer could confirm or deny. I don't think that particular legal structure exists in Britain - or if it does, it's not common. WLD 22:08, 3 May 2005 (UTC)

"Condo" is commonly used in the US to mean a particular dwelling, owned by the resident, so it is in fact the opposite - you do own the individual unit in which you dwell but the entire condo complex together abides by certain rules and regulations and generally pays association fees to maintain itself. It isn't really at all a "block of flats" - which is just a block of apartments in American English. There may indeed be no direct equivalent in the UK (though I'm a bit surprised as condos are extraordinarily common in the US), but the translation certainly shouldn't be the generic "block of flats," to which no sense of ownership is implied. Edit: The Wikipedia article on condominium explains its US meaning well. Are either of these two terms commonly enough used in the UK that we could use them for the UK equivalent: "unit title" or "commonhold"? Moncrief 02:07, May 5, 2005 (UTC)

Originally, the word condominium referred to the legal arrangement whereby the ownership of the property is split between individual ownership and communal ownership (from Latin con ("with") dominium ("domain")). As Moncrief said, individual owners own their individual units, and typically a homeowners' assocition owns all the common areas, like the physical structure of the building(s), the land, hallways, landscaping, etc. Individual unit owners pay fees to the homeowners' assocation to fund the maintenance of the common areas. See condominium, which explains how it works more clearly. Over time, the word came to refer to a unit owned in this manner, and this is now the most common usage in the U.S. and Canada, because it's a usage with far more everyday applicability. The meaning referring to an entire building or complex of buildings owned in this manner is listed last in e.g. Merriam-Webster [2] (http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=condominium&x=0&y=0), and is not a very common usage. As such, it is likely to cause misunderstandings. My guess is that because the legal arrangement is not commmon in the UK, the spread of meaning from the legal arrangement to the actual thing described by the arrangement did not occur. This is definitely one for List of words having different meanings in British and American English. Nohat 02:30, 5 May 2005 (UTC)

Condo, if considered as a distinct word from condominium, is probably unique to North American English, and may be an appropriate candidate for this page. Also, I second Moncrief's request for someone familiar with UK terminology to verify if either of those terms are well-understood and appropriate translations. Nohat 02:33, 5 May 2005 (UTC)

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