Comments on: 10 British words and phrases that Americans don’t use

By: Aileen

Aileen — Mon, 02 Oct 2023 11:03:31 +0000

Cheers meaning thank you is, or was, more a London/south of England thing. I remember hearing a Londoner saying it 40+ years ago as a child in the North and not knowing what he meant as he wasn’t holding a drink . It may have penetrated the North more now, as London ways are won’t to do (like American ways )… hard to say as I’ve been in London more than 30 years. Plonker comes from a slang word for a part of the male anatomy (not sure whether you have Guardian-level tolerance for “rude words”, or Telegraph), and is a bit rider than wally. See also twat – more rude still. In Scotland wallies (pronounced like tallies with a short a) is slang for false teeth.

By: Frances E. Stockley

Frances E. Stockley — Tue, 08 Aug 2023 23:50:58 +0000

Superb! In relation to Shakespeare!!

By: Angela Wright

Angela Wright — Sat, 25 Mar 2023 14:45:17 +0000

Sorry I meant say in my previous post that arse is also used in the same way that Americans use ass but is perhaps less polite.

By: Angela Wright

Angela Wright — Sat, 25 Mar 2023 14:26:53 +0000

I often read, and heard the American ambassador say, that British people pronounce arse as ass. This is not true.
Arse is pronounced as it’s spelt and is used about some who is behaving badly and possibly stupidly. (To be very rude arsehole is used).
Ass (as in donkey) is used to to describe someone foolish.

By: Gillian

Gillian — Sat, 04 Feb 2023 14:23:03 +0000

I am in America now but as a young girl in the 70s, I remember condoms being called French Letters. That may be antiquated now 40 odd years later!

By: Peggy

Peggy — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 08:17:35 +0000

When I spent a year in US with my two young daughters, we lived on Long Island and early on I took them to the beach where I sat reading and the children were drawing. Then the elder aged six called over to her sister, to throw the rubber over to her. She did and shortly after I had a very embarrassed Anerican lady crawl over to me, to explain that ‘ over here we call it an eraser’’. She didn’t explain what a rubber was so I had to look it up when I got home!
Later I was in a NY taxi and the driver asked how long we’d been over. I replied ‘about a fortnight’. The driver took his eyes off the road, and stared at me and the car swerved into next lane, as I gasped and cars honked, he straightened up, apologised and said it was like hearing Shakespeare talking, as he hadn’t realised people still used the word!

By: Bob

Bob — Sun, 27 Nov 2022 13:27:05 +0000

English is the language spoken in the UK by its natives. American English is a version spoken in the USA.
Words in both versions can migrate to the other version
Pavement is another word with different meanings either side of the pond

By: Anne Langston

Anne Langston — Sat, 08 Oct 2022 01:17:48 +0000

I learned a lot. Keep it up!

By: Vicki

Vicki — Fri, 17 Dec 2021 21:16:24 +0000

Ha! Well, yes, of course you’re right about there being English, Welsh, Scottish (and we could add Scots there which could be different) and Irish. But in linguisytics we also use the terms British English and American English to distinguish between two important variaties. Similarly we distinguish between Spanish Spanish and South American Spanish and so on. It’s painting with a broad brush, but the distinction is useful in lots of ways.

By: Vicki

Vicki — Fri, 17 Dec 2021 21:06:00 +0000

In reply to Paul Yates. Oh yes Paul! That's another phrase American's don't use. :-)