American English vs. British English

Another suggestion from my "Your Turn" post was to share some of the common phrases and words over here that are special to the United Kingdom.  It took us a while to get the hang of a couple of them, and it never fails when we hang out with our local friends there is always a new one we learn.  Jeff's dad also got us this hilarious, but very informative dictionary called "The UK to USA Dictionary: British English vs. American English" which is about the translations between the two countries.  We haven't had to break it out, but it would have been helpful in the first few months here.  I joke with my local girlfriends about the "language barrier" and they normally look at me like I'm crazy...which I am.

I can honestly say, I have been corrected or stared at funny when using some of the American-English terms.  For the most part people know what I am saying, it just screams "You're American, aren't you?!" As if the accent enough doesn't give it away...the lingo for sure will! Speaking of the accent, I have a side story that happened just this past weekend.  Jeff and I were picking up Burger King after our flight back from Denmark at a rest stop.  Jeff went to the "toilet" while I ordered the food.  The minute I opened my mouth and said "I would..." all the people around me turned and stared at me.  I was embarrassed, as I had never gotten that dramatic of a look when I spoke. I guess I fooled them...I look like I'm English, but I talk like an American. Jokes on you! ;)

Back to the real topic of this post...here is a table I created with the American words vs. the British words.  Take a look at the suspender-braces one.  A trainer at the gym told me a funny story about an American he knew who worked as a waitress here in England.  Her boss told her she needed to get braces as a part of her uniform.  She was outraged, as why would she need braces for her mouth or even braces for her legs.  After many many minutes went by, they finally realized the meaning of that particular vocabulary word was "off".  Needless to say, she did not have to visit the dentist to get braces to be a waitress.

As you're thinking, "Stop with the stories, and let me see the list!"...Enjoy!

I'm sure I missed a few words...but least you get the general idea of the differences. 

When fact checking a couple of these vocabulary words, I came across a program similar to Rosetta Stone that can teach you to sound like a native.  Maybe I should have taken that course, so I could come back with an accent or better yet...to fit in over here! Cheerio!

On to the next adventure...