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| English and American - Two Very Different Languages |
By John C. Pine
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 John C. Pine is the executive vice president, chief operating officer and co-founder of ULiveandLearn. He worked in corporate communications after a 24-year career as a journalist and technologist with Reuters, the international news and information company, for more than 20 years, with postings in New York, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Nicosia, Barcelona and London.
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"England and America are two countries separated by the same language," said George Bernard Shaw. |
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The United Kingdom and the United States have grown much closer since that pronouncement, with politicians in London and Washington speaking of the "special relationship" between the two nations.
And while London has long been a top destination for American tourists, and Florida is the U.S. holiday spot of choice for Britons, there are many linguistic traps into which both "Yanks" and "Brits" can fall. None are fatal, but some can be painfully embarrassing.
Cultural barriers may also be difficult to traverse without a bit of education. Narrow-mindedness should be left at home, and patience with the locals will do wonders for your reception and outlook. The informality of Americans and a tendency to be entirely too open about their personal lives can be truly embarrassing for many people from the British Isles, particularly those over the age of 50. This does not mean Americans should try to be stiffly cold on meeting someone from England, Wales or Scotland, but they should be aware that they could be providing far too much information, too soon.
Making generalizations about any community is dangerous at the best of times, but when you are branding an entire country with preconceived notions, you are bound for trouble.
There are hundreds of basic differences between American and English, and we have provided a handy chart that you can take with you on your next trip across "The Pond". Here are a few that could cause you to be baffled, bemused, embarrassed and confused. |
| Free Willy and Your Bound to Be Nicked |
The film Free Willy, about a boy who releases a whale from captivity in a marine theme park, was praised as an inspirational study of animal rights in the United States. In London, the title alone sparked more raucous laughter than many comedies--and that was before audiences had even seen the show. The reason is simple--the word willy in England is slang for penis.
Fanny Packs Are Out, Bum Bags Are In
The English use fanny when speaking in slang of a woman's genitals. Golf fans had a tough time getting used to the fact that British Open and Masters champion Nick Faldo's caddie was a Swedish woman named Fanny Sunesson.
A Briton's "bum" is an American' "butt", or rear end. For a man, the bum bag is never worn over one's "pants" but rather the "trousers". Pants in the U.K. refer to women's underwear, which can be called "panties" but are commonly known as "knickers". A thong is a thong is a thong ... |
| Don't Get Pissed, Even If You're in a Pub |
Telling the English that you're "pissed" about the poor exchange rate will create confusion, as this has everything to do with drinking and only incidentally to do with getting angry.
Example: "Your man was pissed as a newt by closing time." |
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| Carrying a Torch |
| This doesn't mean you're lovesick, but you are prepared if the lights go out. As in: "Hand me the torch, I can't see a bloody thing." |
| Your Car Wears a Bonnet, not a Hood |
As in, "Open the bonnet, we should check the oil." A hood belongs on one's head, or in Sherwood Forest.
And what an American calls the trunk is designated the boot in the British isles, though the "Denver boot" has been adopted by the U.K. to immobilize cars that have violated local parking rules, as in, "Can you give me a lift, mate? They've booted my Range Rover." |
| Fill 'Er Up, Mate |
...With unleaded petrol, not gas, or gasoline. In the United Kingdom, gas is strictly reserved for natural gas.
To adjust your engine, a mechanic may use a spanner, never a monkey wrench.
And if you are an American in the East End of London and hear someone refer to you as a "petrol tank", they are using polite Cockney rhyming slang: Petrol Tank = Yank. The more impolitic East Enders might choose to use the phrase "septic tank" if they are not particularly fond of Americans.
Being Taken for a Ride
Sticking with the automotive theme, Americans will be driving on the "wrong side" of the road, but will most likely need to use a car park. The British may understand if you say, "Where's the parking lot?"
A woman lawyer friend of mine recalls with a red face the smirks and smiles generated when she and her girlfriends, who were hitch-hiking through Ireland after college, spoke gratefully over a few pints in a pub about having been given a "great ride" by Mr. O'Malley or young Liam that morning or afternoon. This, they found out later, refers to sexual intercourse.
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| Rubbers Are Used After Your Mistakes |
A rubber is a device used to eradicate pencil or pen markings, and is not slang for a condom. You may hear condoms referred to as sheaths or contraceptives, but never as rubbers.
"Knocking someone up" means to call (from sleep), as in "I'll knock you up at around seven o'clock tomorrow morning." Vulgar American slang uses the same phrase to indicate that a man has impregnated a woman. "Did you hear that Bill knocked up Mary?"
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| Got a Fag? |
A fag is British slang for a cigarette, as in "Have you got a fag, mate?" On a similar note, a faggot is a food product, made of chopped liver. In America, both words are pejorative terms for gay men.
Gardeners, Too
People who raise prize-winning tomatoes or rutabagas in America are blessed with "green thumbs." Their counterparts across the sea will instead be praised for all of their digging digits; they will have "green fingers".
Cottage gardeners will grow aubergines in the U.K., but eggplants in America. Yanks rake leaves in the fall, and not the autumn.
Just Desserts
Americans asking for jelly to go with their toast will be met with a confused waiter in Britain. If asked, "Will you have whipped cream with that?", you may get a hint that jelly refers to gelatin, or Jell-O. Fruit spreads are almost always called jam or preserves.
A biscuit is the Americans' cookie, and a Briton's pudding covers a wide range of desserts, and not just the creamy, usually chocolate dessert that Americans often enjoy with whipped cream.
Click on "Next Page" (below) for a by-no-means comprehensive glossary of words in daily use on both sides of the Atlantic. (Anglo-American Web links are found at the end of the list). |
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