Talk:Glossary of American terms not widely used in the United Kingdom/Archive 1

Archive 1

MOVE (To Those Who Contribute to This Article, Part Two)

Given that my idea is endorsed by authoritative West London Dweller, this article has been renamed as List of words mainly used in American English (link updated to List of American words not widely used in the United Kingdom because of proposed deletion of redirect page - TrevorD 19:23, 9 May 2006 (UTC)). Same goes for the List of British English words not used in American English.

Also, I move that this article and its British sibling clearly differentiate BrE from AmE (as the companion page List of words having different meanings in British and American English/rewrite does) and not merely be English-to-English glossaries. Accordingly, this page should use American spelling, and the List of words mainly used in British English (link updated to List of British words not widely used in the United States because of proposed redirect deletion TrevorD 23:03, 9 May 2006 (UTC)) should use British spelling. This would be darn good also for ESL students, many of which often confuse the two dialects.

To Those Who Contribute to This Article

Ok guys, this page borders on the ridiculous anymore. Every feller that humbly attempts to add a word to this list is promptly blocked by a Briton who claims, "But I have heard this word!" ProhibitOnions, for starters I'm not British. There's not just England (or UK, whatever). Second, how much do you use the phrase "Miranda warning?" Is this a page about usage, or about your understanding American words & expressions? This page is utterly useless "as is." Just purely academical. Just look at the title. What does "words not used in British English" mean? Does anyone go postal on you Britons if you try to use one of these words? Does anyone bust you, Mirandize you, and put you in a prison cell? And the very same holds true for the British counterpart of this page, List_of_British_English_words_not_used_in_American_English. Given that you Britons understand the vast majority of Americanisms, is American English bound to disappear? As the English language is not carved in stone, what we should strive to do is capture the real essence of dialectal differences, focusing on common usage on either side of the pond. The way Yanks speak as opposed to the way Limeys speak, and vice versa. Usage, guys. That's what matters. It don't mean a thing if you know what "upping the ante" means. That phrase is as American as apple pie. I presently am working my a** off to achieve this, see List_of_words_having_different_meanings_in_British_and_American_English/rewrite, and won't let anyone of you throw a monkey wrench into my plans.--JackLumber 13:48, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

First of all, please stay civil. Before you launch into personal attacks, it might interest you to know that I am, in fact, a US citizen. Furthermore, I do not think this article needs to be rewritten, just contributed to without polemics. ProhibitOnions 14:28, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

I apologize for sounding rude to you, Prohibit. Nothing personal, indeed. But I definitely think that this article and its British counterpart need spiffing up soooooooooo bad. Well, since you speak both BrE & AmE, you should be aware of the argument I brought forth. But maybe you sometimes confuse British and American usage, don't you :) ? I could boldy rename this page and change its layout, but I didn't, as I respect you and your work. Will you ever forgive me? --Jack

It may interest you to know that my Google search for "mirandise" turned up 143 hits. I'm not going to draw any conclusions from that, but it amused me to do it. Ben Arnold 00:01, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

That's precisely why I renamed this page and its British cousin. No {American, British, Australian, Canadian, etc., pick one} English word is never used in {pick another} English. Plus, Britons borrow each & every single American-born word on a regular basis and then (some of them) trash American English as a corruption. More talk about this can be found here and here.--JackLumber 13:33, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

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)

I'm a couple of years and a week late on this, but I understand that in the U.S. they have "sports pages" of a newspaper, whereas in Commonwealth English we have "sport pages". Ben Arnold 30 June 2005 05:05 (UTC)

Not in most of the newspapers I'm looking at, and even if this were true, "sport" (the concept) and "sports" (all kinds of...) are both used universally, with slightly different meanings, so this would indicate a stylistic preference, rather than a different word with the same meaning. ProhibitOnions 10:32:00, 2005-08-18 (UTC)

And at the risk of beating a dead horse, I think in the US it tends to be all singular or all plural: "Can you hand me the sport page?" or "It was in the sports pages." Now...I'm confuddled.--Esprit15d 16:03, 31 January 2006 (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

AFAIK, it's a euphemism, only used to avoid the unpleasant connotations of "rape" in the supermarket. ProhibitOnions 10:15:30, 2005-08-18 (UTC)

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]. 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? RickK 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? RickK 05:50, Nov 25, 2004 (UTC)

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

Thanks. RickK 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]]

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]]

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]]

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)]]

I'm American (Southern Californian, to be precise), and I've heard the term "wall wart" fairly often over the past few years, but emanating only from computer/tech people. --bamjd3d

"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)

or Rice Bubbles and Rice Krispies

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], 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)

Not a word I have ever heard used except on US TV/film imports to the UK, didn't even know particularly what it meant before reading this article, except that it was some form of housing. Sfnhltb 20:53, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

Commonwealth English

I've just stumbled upon this article. Shouldn't the title be List of American English words not used in Commonwealth English?

The British English article says that the term British English isn't used much in the United Kingdom, where English English, Scots English and Welsh English are preferred. Besides, most of the differences in this article are just as applicable to other English-speaking Commonwealth countries as they are to the U.K. I can speak for Australia and New Zealand, at least. Canada may be different, but the term Commonwealth English is known to be limited in its application to Canada, which has strong U.S. influence. Ben Arnold 30 June 2005 04:21 (UTC)

I think you're right. --Yath 1 July 2005 22:57 (UTC)

Done. Ben Arnold 9 July 2005 05:30 (UTC)

Just came in now. I think it was a bit premature, but it's done. You may wish to move the article back and revert my changes now... Felix the Cassowary 9 July 2005 12:42 (UTC)

Done, I'm afraid. A lot of useful work has just been deleted. Let's discuss this first. If you want to note that words are used in Australian English but not British English then fine, but don't just delete them. It should also have been discussed more fully before this article was renamed. -- Necrothesp 18:38, 12 July 2005 (UTC)

I've fixed the title in light of your reversion. The thing is, there's two sorts of words on the list: Those that aren't a part of British English (but are otherwise World English), and those that are a part of American English (and not World English). Personally I'm not really sure why this list finds its way into an Encyclopedia, surely it'd make more sense to use categories (or similar) in Wiktionary to automatically generate the list, which could then be used for any pair (or triplet, etc) of English dialects. Felix the Cassowary 23:47, 12 July 2005 (UTC)

Wall jack

If "wall jack" is American usage, it must be confined to particular regions. I've lived in Southern California most of my life and I've never heard it. With regard to "plug," the entry is definitely correct: many Americans will (inaccurately) say "Where is the plug?" when they actually mean outlet, which, insofar as I know, is the proper American term, if one can be so presumtuous as to make such a claim. "Jack" refers only to outlets for telephone lines, although nowadays it may be coming into use for LAN or ISDN lines as well, which closely resemble those used for the telephone. --bamjd3d

I live on the US East Coast, and jack here is telephone, LAN, etc... here as well. Something you stick the electrical prongs into is an outlet or a plug.--Esprit15d 15:53, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure "wall jack" is used by techies in the UK, although it might be of a more recent vintage simply because the pluggable telephone was introduced in the US nearly a decade earlier. I resist the urge to remove it. --ProhibitOnions July 4, 2005 00:38 (UTC)

"Wetback"

should this really be here? There is no British equivalent to this word because the UK does not have the same amount of immigration from Latin America as the USA does. It is not like station wagon/estate car or windsheild/windscreen - meaning two seperate words for things that are both very common in both countries.

They'd be very wet if they immigrated from Latin America to the UK in the same way! -- Necrothesp 01:47, 6 August 2005 (UTC)

Agree, delete for the reasons you gave. --jrleighton 12:52, 18 August 2005 (UTC)

Guys, your comments don't seem to make sense to me. I put this entry in, because it is a word not used in British English - your comments seem appropriate if I had put it in the article List of words having different meanings in British and American English - for this article I don't understand your comments. Perhaps I'm just being thick? Could you clarify why you think it shouldn't be in this article? -- WLD 17:44, 18 August 2005 (UTC)

The reason Brits don't use the word 'wetback' is because Brits don't have the concept. It's like saying that 'kangaroo' is an Australian word not used in British English because kangaroos only exist in Australia. — Felix the Cassowary 02:36, 19 August 2005 (UTC)

Duct Tape

I'm British and have never run across anyone who didn't understand what I meant by duct tape. The same conclusion seems to have been reached at Talk:List of British English words not used in American English a few months ago, but it wasn't deleted from this page.

Yeah, duct tape is as American as apple pie (and British as scones apparently).--Esprit15d 15:51, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

Usage?

Most Americans know what "Autumn" means, and may very occasionally even use it without regarding it as a Britishism; yet the overwhelming tendency is for them to use "The Fall" - I think I'm going to start a page on this if one doesn't exist. To be honest, I think it'd more useful and constructive to unify the pages on differences into a giant table - leaving "blanks" for explanations of words not used in each "dialect". Any thoughts?

Promsan 2K5/SEP.

British English

What exactly is "British English". Does it include all British Countries, eg, South Africa? I really hate the way that the British (ie English) change the meaning to suit themselves of the word "British". It always means English, but the term can be changed to mean/not mean Scottish, Canadian etc. I presume by British English, it means English as spoken in England only. Many of the terms listed would not be spoken anywhere else. Wallie 08:58, 2 October 2005 (UTC)

Well, I would hazard a guess that British English is English spoken in Britain, wouldn't you? Not England, but Britain. Scotland is part of Britain, you know! -- Necrothesp 12:50, 2 October 2005 (UTC)

This issue is addressed in the main article, American and British English differences, Wallie. You might to look it up.--Esprit15d 15:50, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

Page Name

Perhaps this should be moved to List of American English words rarely used in British English as 'not' is perhaps too inflexible a term. exolon 03:16, 1 November 2005 (UTC)

This page and its BrE counterpart are soon to be rewritten as "List of English words used chiefly in American (respectively British) English" or something, with a notation akin to what we are presently doing with the List of words having different meanings in British and American English/rewrite. This will hopefully render these pages neater and more maintainable. --JackLumber 21:17, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

Hobo

I live in the Mid-Atlantic Southern US, and the word hobo is commonly, very commonly used. Maybe in some parts of the country it isn't used, but I don't think its usage should be cited as rare, because here, if you see some drunk vagrant or shell-shocked vet sleeping against the wall of a strip joint, you have, my dear, a hobo (or maybe a bum).

Triplex

I am an American, and I have never heard of a "triplex" referring to a home until I read this list. I'm still not entirely sure what it is. Although I guess it would be like a duplex, only with three houses. This term is never used in my region, and I do not think it is a very common word. I also think that it should be removed from the list. --guy91

Well, basically "triplex" is everything that is composed of three parts. Usually this brings to mind a "triplex theater," but yes, trust the real estate freak, someone does use the term to refer to a 3-apartment dwelling or a 3-story apartment, although this usage is not as well established as "duplex." (Someone uses "duplex" even to refer to a "triplex," go figure.) This word is a perspective entry for the List_of_words_having_different_meanings_in_British_and_American_English/rewrite (where incidentally I relocated "duplex" just today), provided that things like "triplex house" are unknown to Britons. --JackLumber 20:57, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

Relocated. ----JackLumber 12:29, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

I am an Indian living in USA California . The word Triplex is used here for sure as I am looking to move out from my apartment and found some landlord listed their unit as part of a Triplex. As per muself I exactly dont know what is Triplex means thats why I was searching in Google and came across this website.

Raj

That's fun! I hope we helped you. Best wishes for your... relocation!--JackLumber 19:30, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

Mom

"Mom" and its diminutive "mommy" are used in the Birminbham dialect of British English, and almose always spelt that way too. TharkunColl 12:23, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

Bullhorn

UK: (changed to) loud hailer (Tannoy is a fixed public-address system, not a portable megaphone) -- Picapica 23:11, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Eraser

I've got a really simple question, do British people ever say the word "eraser"?

Yes, rubber is also used at times (but may be being deprecated due to its use in slang for condom's) Sfnhltb 20:43, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

No, Britons (like myself) rarely use "eraser": we always use rubber. Most Britons have never heard of it being a condom. --Celestianpower ^háblame 18:37, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

Backpack

This is used fairly commonly in British English as well, if someone else agrees I guess they might want to remove it. Rucksack is also used here, but not as frequently. Sfnhltb 20:43, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

If you want... but please be aware that backpack was born in the USA, and the OED in 1989 flagged it as "Chiefly U.S."--JackLumber 12:08, 29 March 2006 (UTC) And "rucksack" was born in Germany.

Sorry - I don't agree with you Sfnhltb. In my experience, 'rucksack' is/was used far more frequently than 'backpack' in the UK. I won't be tempted to generalise from the single example of my own experience, but I would be inclined to go with the OED. Obviously, your experience differs, which demonstrates the situation is at best, confused. WLD 09:14, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

Sometimes it feels like regional differences are kind of overpowering us—they wouldn't let us give an account of "standard" American or British usage (maybe because there is no such thing!) By the way, what about knapsack? -- JackLumber 11:56, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

The usage I am familar with is that a rucksack is a large bag with straps allowing it to be carried on the back, approximately equivalent in volume to a suitcase, whereas a knapsack is a small bag with straps allowing it to be carried on the back, approximately equivalent in volume to a briefcase. These days, knapsacks are increasingly referred to as day-packs, although, if anything, knapsacks in my recollection are smaller than what is called a day-pack. I don't know if 'day-pack' is an Americanism. WLD 12:29, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

Neither do I—as weird as it may seem ;-) Anymore recent coinages (like daypack) are hard to backtrack—globalized communication systems, information superhighways, the whole kit and caboodle. Interestingly, my perception slightly disagrees with yours, WLD—I would basically treat "knapsack" and "backpack" as synonyms, with minor distinctions—"backpack" is way more recent; the original knapsack was carried by soldiers, the original backpack had possibly an aluminum frame (or a parachute in it); since then both terms have gone beyond military or camping/hiking backdrops. A daypack in this context would be a light and/or small backpack.--JackLumber 13:36, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

Ok - our experience differs, which is completely normal. It looks like backpack, daypack, rucksack, knapsack, bergen, etc. are rough synonyms, with exact usages varying. Knapsack looks to be the oldest term, with the Shorter OED giving early 17th century for knapsack, and mid-19th century for rucksack. It gives backpack as "Chiefly N. American" for both noun and verb, and no date. A Bergen is a rucksack supported by an external frame, and is probably a corrupted brand name. Bergen is used extensively by UK ex-army types, no date given, but probably a mid-20th century usage. Daypack isn't listed in my fifth edition (2002). I would suggest an American backpacker using a backpack is a UK walker (or possibly a rambler) using a rucksack or knapsack. WLD 14:54, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

Got some dates. The first recorded occurrence of "backpack" is from a 1914 American magazine (By folding a blanket..it is convenient as a back-pack); as you see, it was originally the load in a knapsack, rather than the knapsack itself [Webster's 3rd (1961) doesn't allow for backpack=knapsack, but weirdly enough talks about fire extinguishers to be carried on the back]. But the verb showed just 2 years later (Back-packing is the cheapest possible way to spend one's vacation in the wilderness). The trademark Bergen (from Bergen, Norway) was apparently registered in 1923. CALD & OALD both agree with your description of "knapsack" and both regard it as either American or UK old-fashioned. And yes, you gave me raw material for the List of words having different meanings in British and American English—a rambler to me is primarily something like this...--JackLumber 12:27, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

WLD (and everyone else), you keeping an eye on this one yet? While rewriting the "backpack" entry to factor in this very discussion, I found out that the backpack article says the word packsack is used especially in Britain. Too bad all sources flag it as "now Chiefly North America" or plain "North America." In my own idiolect it would come third after "backpack" and "knapsack"; googling "packsack" yields 410,000 matches, "site:uk packsack" only 183. I suspect it was the usual "I-don't-use-that-word-and-therefore-it-must-be-British" fellow American...--JackLumber 13:02, 5 April 2006 (UTC) (Yeah, yeah, Google doesn't count for much---"site:us acclimatise" gives 139 results...)

acclimatise/acclimatize

I know that the policy is for either but it strikes me that if this is going in a UK deifinition field then it should just be acclimatise as we would never use "acclimatize". --Celestianpower ^háblame 19:00, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

No. It would cause confusion. In UK usage, "acclimatize" is accepted, but "prize" (meaning lever, force) and "analyze" are not. So writing just "acclimatise" could mislead a non-British reader. --JackLumber 14:18, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

No, it isn't. In Britain, we wouldn't ever use a "z" like that and I feel its more misleading to write acclimatize as if you wrote that here, you'd be wrong. --Celestianpower ^háblame 14:29, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

So why does Oxford University Press, for instance, endorse -ize spellings? Are the Oxford folks just a bunch of dorks? --JackLumber 19:51, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

In short, yes. The Oxford English Dictionary is wrong on this count. --Celestianpower ^háblame 20:18, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

But do you know why Oxford does that? --JackLumber 20:28, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

I don't know - you'll have to take that up with them. I blame Inspector Morse (okay, sorry, you probably won't understand this reference). --Celestianpower ^háblame 21:34, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

But I do know -- JackLumber 11:32, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

Page move

Marco79 - please see message here TrevorD 16:40, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

Done. I think I got them all. Marco79 23:47, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks. (I found a few more but have now fixed them.) TrevorD 10:54, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

Misc.

Jack, thanks for fixing "critter" & "learner's permit". I found the spelling "crittur" in Chamber's, but agree that if it's unusual it's not worth including. TrevorD 10:54, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

newsboy/girl

I have removed newsboy/newsgirl from the list, because the use of these words are almost nonexistent. It is almost always paperboy/papergirl. guy91 9:57, 18 May 2006

Well... it depends... but you did the right thing anyways... more at Talk:List of British words not widely used in the United States#Newsboy/girl... --JackLumber, 12:10, 19 May 2006 (UTC) Hey, but haven't we met before? You are the guy who asked about triplex apartments, ain't you? Been awhile since I've heard from you... Welcome back, then!

Bath

Q. from JackL.: "Btw, do Brit have things like "2 3/4 bath homes"?"

No. What does it mean?

"Bath" would always mean the tub, not a room.

"Bathroom" MUST have a bath, or at least a shower, in it.

"half bath" is not a UK term, but if I heard it (and didn't already know the Americanism) I would interprete it as a short bath, probably for sitting in rather than (half-)lying in.

We would often refer to "bathroom en suite, or to a house having 2 (or more) bathrooms.

And I think we'd probably say "house" rather than "home" when discussing the structure and facilities.

TrevorD 11:37, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Bath = bathroom, especially in real estate jargon (has an entry on D.M. list btw). 1/2 bath is as in the article; 3/4 bath means a bathroom with a sink and a toilet _and_ the shower stall, but _not_ the bathtub. So a 2 3/4 bath home (yes, house would be the "regular" term in AmE too, but home is widely used, again, especially by Realtors and in "technical" language) is a home with 2 "full" baths (i.e., with the bathtub) and a 3/4 bath. I personally know the phrase en suite, but it's not much used in the U.S. --JackLumber, 20:45, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

To my understanding, an en suite bathroom is one attatched to a bedroom, for sole use bythat bedroom. I've never heards the phrase "bathroom en suite" in that sense, or "2 3/4 bath homes" (I would probably respond to its use with "What on earth is a 2 3/4 bath home when it's at home?" --Celestianpower ^háblame 21:08, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes, my mistake - I should have said "en suite bathroom", which is as Cel suggests. It would often be used in Estate Agent (Realtor) literature, and describing guest accommodation (hotels, etc.). -- TrevorD 23:16, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Affirmative Action

I suggest that (see article) be used only when no equivalent term exists in the UK, and the word would not be readily understood. We have affirmative action here, but its called "positive discrimination".--Adzz 06:18, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

Ambulance Chaser

I think this is very well known, and oft used in the UK. The tabloids love this term.--Adzz 06:18, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

Sustained both. Hmmm.... affirmative action and positive discrimination? I'll let you decide which is the worse of the two :-) JackLumber, 12:18, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

Note: by "both" JackLumber is referring to Adzz's comments under "Affirmative Action" and "Ambulance Chaser". Powers 12:48, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

Australian Words

Checkers is called draughts in Australia. A frozen dessert on a stick is an ice block. Sneakers and runners are interchangeable, though I think sneakers is more common. Sandshoes is also common, pumps is very old fashioned and not used. Pram and pusher are used in South Australia. Ozdaren 08:26, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

You might want to improve the Popsicle article, then... Thanks so much for your note, Daren---this page and its siblings (List of British words etc., List of words having different meanings etc.) don't attempt to cover varieties of English other than British and American; the information about Australian English and other dialects is therefore obviously incomplete, and mostly added by occasional users. Best, JackLumber. 12:44, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

I like all the British words. They have an antique quality about them. I recently queried a gentleman in his mid 80's, his vocabulary was full of those uncommon words. I can understand how historical Australian figures such as Bob Menzies were British to their boot straps. Ozdaren 10:48, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

Minor Disputes

Though perhaps it's coming from Americans, 'bro' is definitely in use here in the UK. I'm not sure how wide the usage is, though.

Say, you guys did way better on this page than the Brits. There were lots of mistakes on this page's counterpart, but that's the only one I found here! Cheers! 86.131.159.4 (talk) 20:12, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

Here are some more I'm pretty sure are common in the UK:

bud dweeb gee-whiz: Although I guess it seems quite old-fashioned by now. hickey: Just as common as 'love-bite' which sounds a bit twee. snuck: The UK uses 'sneak', so why would the word not exist in its past tense form? stick: Used as a shortened from of gearstick. I don't think I've ever heard the term stickshift though. yellow light: I know it's amber officially, but I'm fairly certain many people use yellow colloquially. AneurinM (talk) 12:48, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

The point about 'snuck' is that the past perfect in BrE is 'sneaked'. (e.g. "He sneaked in by the back door.") 'Snuck' is almost never used these days. But I'm not sure whether words which are differently conjugated in the two languages belong here. Rachel Pearce (talk) 23:23, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Snuck is definitely used in Ireland (which is more heavily influenced by BrE than AmE -Orathaic —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.43.110.113 (talk) 13:39, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

This entire list is suspect. Americanisms are widely known due to the fact that American TV shows and movies are widely distributed. Some of the words on the list are not common enough to warrent being of note. Arroyo? Really? No, that is Spanish, not used in English except as a name for a place that already was named by the Spanish when they controlled western part of modern day USA. We need to start making good citations and start taking stuff off this list that is unsupported. — fcsuper ^{(How's That?, That's How!)} _{(Exclusionistic Immediatist )} — 03:19, 7 September 2011 (UTC)

Narc

'Narc' is used in the UK as a pejorative for an authority figure, however its usage is seen as old-fashioned.

Anchor

Strictly speaking, an anchor is not a synonym for a newsreader. Traditionally, a British newsreader could be, say, an actor, whereas a news anchor is not only the presenter of the news but theoretically the lead journalist behind it (hence the metaphor in the term). Not everyone reading the news on television is necessarily an anchor.

FWIW, German practice generally includes an anchor and a newsreader (the former introduces the show, composes his or her own introductions to out-of-studio pieces, and is allowed to exhibit a certain amount of personality, whereas the newsreader reads the news briefs in a formal tone on-camera), and Deutsche Welle TV news followed this practice in English, using both terms.

 ProhibitOnions  ^(T) 15:02, 26 July 2006 (UTC)

Objection sustained, entry fixed. JackLumber. 15:08, 26 July 2006 (UTC)

ATM Machine

I'm from England and come across the term ATM fairly frequently - maybe it is just me. --Joshtek 15:05, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Just good ole regional things, I guess. Check out Talk:Automated teller machine, where some Brits say they never use this term. JackLumber. 19:25, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

It's beginning to creep in, largely due to globalization (sic). I still think most people in Britain would call it a cashpoint. 64.236.80.62 15:43, 8 August 2007 (UTC)

ATM is common, at least in my experience. I prefer "hole in the wall", personally. Regards, —Celestianpower ^háblame 23:41, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

I had once thought that those who disappeared for a short time after drinking a good amount were peeing when they said they were using the "hole in the wall" but apparently is was getting money for the next round of drinks. FeatherPluma (talk) 05:26, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

ATM or atom is commonly used in Ireland. -Orathaic —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.43.110.113 (talk) 13:40, 8 August 2008 (UTC)