British vs American Words

British vs American Words List

ADDucation’s list of British vs American words list focuses on words and phrases which could be misunderstood, cause confusion, embarrassment or are just plain funny. We’ve left out simple spelling differences and words which have obvious alternatives. The English language evolves every day and cultural exchange is alive and well comparing British vs American words. British TV shows are popular in the US and American TV series are popular in the UK so maybe this list will be redundant one day? In the meantime it’s fun to explore and celebrate the differences between British vs American words.

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US Word/Phrase	UK Word/Phrase	Category	Notes on British vs American words
government programs	government schemes	Government	Americans would use the British work “schemes” for devious plotting
diaper	nappy	Baby	Cloth diapers are commonly called terry nappies in the UK
baby carriage	pram	Baby	Pram (from perambulator) is often used for any wheeled baby transport in UK
stroller	pushchair or buggy	Baby
pacifier	dummy, comforter	Baby	Also referred to as a binky or soother in some countries
crib, baby bed	cot	Baby	Cot is more commonly a camp bed in the US.
table a motion	table a motion	Business	In the US the motion has been postponed. In the UK the motion is ready to discuss now!
Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)	Bankers’ Automated Clearing Services (BACS)	Business	There’s also CHAPS, EFTPOS, SWIFT, IBAN but they don’t work between the UK and US, Paypal does work.
pantyhose	tights	Clothing	Tights are thick pantyhose in the US.
panties	knickers	Clothing	Generally both refer to underwear for women.
pajamas	pyjamas	Clothing	Sleepwear, both of Persian origin, with lots of abbreviations including PJs, jimjams, jimmyjams, jimmies or jammies.
vest	waistcoat	Clothing
undershirt	vest	Clothing	Also semmit in Scotland and Ireland.
sweater	jumper	Clothing
jumper	pinafore dress	Clothing
cuffs	turn-ups (trousers)	Clothing	Shirts and jackets may have cuffs in the UK, but not pants!
intimate apparel	lingerie	Clothing	Lingerie sounds so much more romantic doesn’t it?
custom-made	bespoke	Clothing	Bespoke normally applies to fashion.
raincoat	mac, macintosh	Clothing	A Mac in the US in an Apple computer.
windbreaker	windcheater	Clothing	Or a cagoule.
bathing suit	swimming costume	Clothing	Men wear swimming trunks in UK.
fanny pack	bum bag	Confusing	Embarrassing British vs American words difference.
bum	tramp	Confusing
ass	donkey	Confusing
pants	underwear	Confusing	Pants can be trousers, jeans or slacks in the US.
rubber	eraser	Confusing	A rubber is a condom in the US, in the right context rubber would be understood in the UK.
thongs	flip-flops	Confusing	Thongs are similar to g-strings in the UK.
suspenders	braces	Confusing	Braces are used to hold up trousers in UK.
garter belt	suspenders	Confusing	Suspenders do not hold up stockings in the US.
fag	cigarette	Confusing	Offensive term for homosexuals in the US.
hooters	noses	Confusing	US slang for bosoms is UK slang for noses.
pasties (nipple coverings)	meat pies	Confusing	Cornish pasties are famous.
purse	handbag	Confusing	Women in the UK use purses to hold money, which they put in their handbag along with many other items.
pitcher	jug	Drink	Some UK pubs do sell beer in pitchers.
beer	lager	Drink	UK beer (IPA style) is typically flat and not chilled.
soda	fizzy drink	Drink
college, university	Uni	Education	Uni, short for university.
high school	comprehensive school	Education	Or secondary school, academy schools, grammar schools.
elementary school	primary school	Education	Or infant school.
principle	head	Education	Head teacher, headmaster, headmistress.
resume	CV	Education	CV short for Curriculum Vitae which is Latin for “the course of life”.
school quiz	test	Education	Quizzes are generally for fun in UK, tests tend to be more serious.
recess	break	Education	Tea break, lunch break etc.
sophomore year	second year	Education	Both countries have freshers/freshman first years.
parentheses	brackets	Education	Brits understand parentheses but commonly refer to () as brackets. Brackets are also used to hold up shelves.
cut or skip class	play truant	Education
Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter, GFCI	Residual Current Device, RCD	Electrical	Circuit breaker.
can	tin	Food
popsicle	ice lolly	Food	Typically on a wooden or plastic stick.
sucker	lollipop	Food	Sucker also means a fool in both countries.
chips	crisps	Food
fries	chips	Food	Fries are usually thin, chips are usually chunky.
cotton candy	candyfloss	Food
plastic wrap, Saran wrap, plastic film	cling-film, food wrap	Food
oatmeal	porridge or porridge oats	Food
cookies	biscuits	Food	Cookies are also available in UK.
biscuits	crackers	Food
jelly	jam	Food
jello	jelly	Food
legumes	pulses	Food	In the UK (Canada, Australia & NZ etc.) pulses refer to the dried edible seeds of some plants in the legume family, e.g. lentils, beans chickpeas and split peas. Officially a legume is any plant of the Fabaceae/Leguminosae family and since some leguminous plants are not edible we think the Brits win this one.
Zucchini	Courgette	Food	[Brit says] Courgette from french cuisine.
Eggplant	Aubergine	Food	[Brit says] Courgette from french cuisine.
Fava beans	Broad beans	Food
Endive	Chicory	Food
Cilantro	Coriander	Food
Arugula	Rocket, salad leaves	Food
Scallions	Spring onions	Food
Swede	Rutabaga	Food	British vs American words are often different for vegetable family names.
baking soda	bicarbonate of soda	Food	Or just bicarb.
ground beef	minced beef	Food	Or just mince.
sprinkles	hundreds and thousands	Food	On cakes and trifles.
frosting	icing	Food	It’s sugar either way.
takeout	takeaway	Food	Food to go or delivered.
molasses	treacle	Food	Sugar syrup.
English muffins	muffins	Food	Oddly you can’t buy what Americans call “English muffins” in England. You can buy muffins but they are the more substantial 18th century ancestors from The Muffin Man nursery rhyme era and not the same at all. So think of “English muffins” as exclusively “American muffins”! In the UK try “Crumpets” instead. Toast them and top (don’t split them) them with butter and savory or sweet toppings of your choice – and share your thoughts/toppings in the comments.
squash	marrow	Food	And other gourds, but in UK we do have Butternut Squash.
rain boots, gumboots, rubber boots	wellies, Wellington boots	Footwear	Wellington boots were made popular in the UK by Arthur Wellesley the 1st Duke of Wellington.
sneakers	trainers, plimsolls	Footwear
green thumb	greenfingers	Garden	Skilled (or lucky) gardener.
shedding (hair)	moulting	Hair
bangs	fringe (hair)	Hair
bobby pin	hair grip	Hair
braid	plait	Hair
flashlight	torch	Hardware
faucet	tap	Hardware
wrench	spanner	Hardware
C clamp	G clamp	Hardware	[Brit says] They look more like the letter G though don’t they?
vise grips	Mole grips	Hardware
dumpster	skip	Hardware
Scotch tape	Sellotape	Household	Both brand names for pressure sensitive adhesive tape. Sometimes called “sticky tape” in the UK.
Kilroy Was Here	Chad: Wot No…	History	Chad and Kilroy graffiti emerged during World War II from an original British cartoon published in 1938. The British “Wot No” slogan followed by another word is still widely used today. The original “Wot No Sugar” slogan referred to food rationing during WWII. The origin of “Kilroy was here” is disputed but can be seen all over the world. Interestingly “Foo was here” is used in Australia and other names around the world include Smoe, Private Snoops, Clem and Sapo.
closet	wardrobe	Home	Depends on context, a wardrobe in the UK is for hanging clothes but a “water closet” is sometimes signed a WC but more commonly “Toilets”.
drapes	curtains	Home
garbage can	dustbin	Home
apartment	flat	Home
do the dishes	wash up	Home
wash up	wash your hands	Home	In the UK wash up would be doing the dishes.
zip code	postcode	Home
package	parcel	Home	In UK a package would be bigger than a flat envelope.
first floor	ground floor	Hotels	Very irritating.
second floor	first floor	Hotels	Even more irritating.
lobby	foyer (of a building)	Hotels
front desk	reception	Hotels
mononucleosis	Glandular fever	Illness
laid off	redundancy, made redundant	Jobs	Not good in either language.
RIF, RIF’d, pink slip	P45	Jobs	if you get your P45 you’ve been fired!
silverware, flatware	cutlery	Kitchen	Knives, forks and spoons.
stove	cooker	Kitchen	Or range.
burner	hob	Kitchen
broil	grill	Kitchen	Cooking method using direct heat from above.
planter wart	verruca	Medical	On feet.
Acetaminophen	Paracetamol	Medicine	One of those British vs American words that really should be standardized worldwide.
check	cheque	Money	Both pronounced the same.
raise (salary)	pay rise	Money
buck	quid	Money	A buck is a dollar, a quid is a pound.
traffic circle	roundabout	Motoring
flat tire	puncture	Motoring	Equally annoying in either language.
windshield	windscreen	Motoring
highway, freeway, expressway	motorway	Motoring
divided highway	dual carriageway	Motoring
intersection	crossroads	Motoring
beltway	ring road	Motoring	Typically around major towns and cities.
overpass	flyover	Motoring
guitar pick	plectrum	Music
realtor	estate agent	Occupation
Mortician	Funeral director	Occupation
Liquid Paper / Wite-Out	Tipp-Ex	Office	Both brand names for correction fluid with many other variations worldwide.
senior citizen	OAP	People	Old Age Pensioner
making out	snogging	Personal	Sings: “USA and UK sitting in a tree, K-i-s-s-i-n-g!” from the popular US children’s playground kissing song
mouth guard	gum shield	Personal
booger	bogey	Personal
cooties	lurgi	Personal	“the dreaded lurgy”, the lurg etc, non specific illness.
hot flashes	hot flushes	Personal	Common menopause symptom.
pads	towels	Personal	Tampons gets the message across in both countries.
yard	garden	Places
downtown	city or town centre	Places
sidewalk	pavement	Places	Path is more commonly used today. A pavement was traditionally formed using “paving slabs”, they’re mostly asphalt these days
mall	shopping centre	Places	Mall is also in common usage across the UK.
main street	high street	Places
gas station	petrol station	Places
laundromat	launderette	Places	Although the UK has launderettes they are not as common in the US.
bar	pub	Places	Abbreviation for Public House.
boardwalk	promenade	Places	Typically at a seaside.
pharmacist, drug store, pharmacy	Chemist	Places	One of those British vs American words that really should be standardized worldwide.
liquor store	off license	Places	For takeout/takeaway purchases.
subway	underground	Places
boardwalk	promenade	Places	Typically at a seaside.
c.rosswalk	zebra crossing, pedestrian crossing	Places
line	queue	Places	Typical usage includes “wait in line”, “join the queue” etc.
parking lot	car park	Places, Motoring
parking garage	multi-storey car park	Places, Motoring
spunk	courage	Rude
semen	spunk	Rude
fanny	front bottom, vulva area	Rude	Incorrect usage could cause offense in the UK.
beaver	pubic hair, front bottom area	Rude	In the 1988 movie The Naked Gun Frank (Leslie Nielsen) says “nice beaver” to Jane (Priscilla Presley):
butt	arse	Rude	Arse is ass or butt in the US.
buns	bread rolls, sticky buns	Rude	Buns are not butt cheeks in the UK!
pecker	courage, spirits	Rude	“Keep your pecker up” means “keep your spirits up” in UK. It’s not slang for penis!
vajayjay	vagina	Rude
shag (rug, dance)	sexual intercourse	Rude	Use carefully!
sleep, nap	kip	Rude	A kip house is a brothel in the US.
expert	boffin	Science	Alternatively Scientist, nerd, techy, engineer etc.
Fall	Autumn	Seasons	Fall, because the leaves fall. OK, so why not call Winter Cold because it’s cold?
lucky, fluky	jammy	Slang	Probably from early use of having expensive jam considered lucky.
soccer	football	Sport	Soccer was originally a British word which declined in use except in the context of international football including soccer in the USA.
football	American football	Sport	John Cleese tries to explain:
sweatpants	tracksuit bottoms	Sport	Or trackie bottoms.
baseball	rounders	Sport	Both broadly similar games but rounders uses a smaller bat swung with one arm, mostly played in schools.
track and field	athletics	Sports	One of those British vs American words that really should be standardized worldwide.
counter-clockwise	anti-clockwise	Technology	[Brit says] You don’t have counter-bacteria in the US so why counter-clockwise?. [American says] You take countermeasures not anti-measures, right?
phone, cell phone	telephone, mobile phone, mobile	Technology	As time passes will we eventually just settle on “phones”?
call (telephone)	ring	Technology
Kerosene	Paraffin	Technology
Gasoline, gas	Petrol	Technology	In the UK gas powers home heating and cooking but not cars.
two weeks	fortnight	Time
tire	tyre	Transport
trunk (of car)	boot	Transport
hood	bonnet	Transport
truck	lorry	Transport
cab	taxi	Transport
station wagon	estate car	Transport
airplane	aeroplane	Transport
railroad	railway	Transport
travel trailer	caravan, mobile home	Transport
RV, recreational vehicle	camper van, motor home	Transport
RV park	caravan site, caravan park	Transport
mass transit	public transport	Transport
vacation	holiday	Travel	“Staycation” is becoming a popular expression for a “holiday at home” in UK.
vacationer	holidaymaker	Travel
zero	nil	Sport	In football (soccer) zero is never used. If the score is 2-0 you say “two-nil” not “two-zero”.

“England and America are Two Countries Separated by the Same Language” – George Bernard Shaw

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